Chapter Eleven

"Who's going to write the Schrödinger Equation on the board?" Mrs. Dixit asked, wiping her chalk covered hands on her kurti. She added soon, "Without looking into the texbook."

Shrey didn't simply nickname Mayra 'Hermione Granger'. Oh, no. The name suited her perfectly. 

She was the ardent worshipper of the phrase 'Knowledge is power'. And she didn't fear to show off her power in front of her petty classmates who took everything for granted. Her hand shot up high into the air. Shrey tried to muffle a snort. 

"Come up, quick." The chemistry teacher commanded and she obeyed. 

She picked up a piece of chalk from the table and started writing the equation on the board. 

"Done." She said and was about to place the chalk piece back but she was interrupted. 

Mrs. Dixit asked with a raised eyebrow, "Are you sure it's correct?" She turned to the half-sleeping class, "Is the equation she's written, correct?" 

Aadhya who sat on the very first bench answered with a wicked grin, "It is, ma'am."

Mayra looked at the board and examined the equation carefully. It was correct to her best knowledge. 

"But is it complete?" Mrs. Dixit questioned. Her face flashed a funny expression, as if she was trying to hide a smile. 

"No." Both Aadhya and Samarth replied at the same time. Aadhya blushed at the coincidence. 

"Huh?" A small sound escaped Mayra's throat. She stared at the board in confusion. She had written everything, right? What had she missed? 

"Someone come forward and correct her mistake." 

Mayra lips formed a frown. How could she be incorrect. She tried to race her brain into remembering the equation again. Of course, it was right. 

Her frown deepened when she saw Samarth stand from his seat and advance towards her. She refused to go back and kept on thinking. 

He walked ahead and climbed up the platform. Instead of picking up a chalk from the table, he moved forward and stopped in front of her, only inches away. She looked at his face and anticipated a rude remark. 

Rather, to her surprise, his face broke into a wide smile and his eyes lit up. She noticed the proximity between them and for a reason, she just wanted to keep looking into his gray eyes. They stared right back into her dark brown orbs. 

For the first time, she realised how handsome he actually looked when he wasn't giving out snarky comments or playing ridiculous pranks on her. His fingers brushed against hers for a mere second. He pulled out the chalk from her hands and moved away from her to write something on the board. She felt disappointed at the loss of contact. 

God, what was wrong with her? 

A while later, he looked at her again. Now there was a smirk plastered across his face and he looked attractive, she couldn't deny that. He tossed the chalk to the table and his fingers brushed her hair, gently pushing away some rebellious strands of hair away from her face and tucked them behind her ear. 

She gulped and felt as though her ears were on fire. 

"You made one mistake, sweetcheeks. But it's okay." He said, his voice sounded dreamy. Whatever that actually sounds like. 

Sweetcheeks? 

He turned around slowly and retreated back to his seat. She watched him go and then realised that the whole class had witnessed what had just happened. They had felt the awkwardness too. Some were gaping at her, others merely trying to muffle sounds of their laughter. Shrey watched her with widened eyes. Mrs. Dixit's expression was somewhere between amused and embarrassed. 

Mayra cleared her throat and awkwardly walked back to her seat. Her cheeks were heated, she could feel it. What had just happened? She had stared into his eyes and for a minute she couldn't stop thinking of his smile and how beautiful it was. 

"Now it's correct and complete. Thank you, Samarth." Mrs. Dixit's voice pulled her away from her thoughts. 

Mayra now turned her focus to the board. All he did to improve what she'd written was equate the whole equation to a zero. 

Damn! How could she forget that bloody zero? 

Thankfully, the class ended shortly and it was time for an hour break before the next class.

"Forget it, okay?" Shrey told her. "Mayra? Mayra?" He shook her arm. 

Mayra was brought back to the real world. She couldn't remember how she ended up under on the bench under the tree outside the canteen. 

"You were saying?"

"Mayra, forget what happened. That guy's a douche." Shrey assured. 

"What happened?" She asked, trying to play innocent. 

She knew from the glint in his eyes that he'd caught her but she really didn't want to drag it more, "I have to go to the washroom. I'll be back."

____________

She splashed the cool water on her face. Her cheeks were still pink. She took a deep breath to calm herself. 

It's not big deal, Mayra. He only called you sweetcheeks. 

She groaned at her reflection. What was that supposed to mean? He had just fat-shamed her not two days ago. She wasn't even fat and now he was calling her nicknames. Cute ones in fact. 

No. No. No. Calm down, she told herself. 

The bathroom door swung open and a girl with bangs entered inside. She was in a hurry clearly. She smeared lipstick across her plump lips and brushed her hair twice. 

Mayra decided to get back as her stomach rumbled in hunger. But just when she was about to open the door, an arm grab hers. 

"Mayra, right?"

She knew the girl. It was Reanna. Apparently, Shrey had developed a slight crush on her. She couldn't blame him though. Reanna was beautiful. She could simply be titled the prettiest girl in the high school. But the bad news was, she was dating the devil himself. 

Is this about what happened in the class earlier? 

But she wasn't even in her Chemistry class. Had she somehow managed to find out from someone else? This soon? Mayra never feared confrontation. But she had no fault there, did she? He had called her a cute nickname. And the hell was it bothering her so much?! 

What was she going to do? 

"Hello??" Reanna asked again. 

"Hey! I-I'm Mayra." Mayra punched herself internally for sounding timid. 

There goes nothing! 

"You're the new CR, right?" Reanna asked with a firm expression. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest. 

"Yes?" She sounded uncertain again. What has this to with that? 

"Give it up. Only I have the right to be the CR. I've worked hard for it. I've wanted to get into the students council of St. Theresa since I was ten!" She complained. 

"Fine. Take it. It's yours." 

Mayra had never been interested in being the class representative, ever. She was more than happy to dump the responsibility to that girl. She didn't want to spend her time in high school calling out summons for teachers, pestering students to submit their assignments or be a part of the council where she'd have to communicate with people to organise activities she barely found amusing. 

Reanna nose crinkled up, "You're really giving it up?" She looked shocked. Apparently, she had thought it to be a difficult task. 

"Of course. " Mayra smiled. "I'll inform the HOD ASAP!" She said and began moving out but was stopped again. 

"Wait! You can have the privilege for the next two weeks since I'll be away. But after that, it's mine." Reanna said and passed her a fake smile before walking out of the bathroom, the heels of her sandals clicking against the tiled floor. 

Mayra sighed in relief, glad that the burden was lifted off her chest. Also, that she knew nothing about what happened earlier. 

What if this was just another situation Mayra was exaggerating? It wasn't really a big deal maybe but then she thought of the way the class had looked at the pair of them. And the smirk he had given her. 

No distractions, she told herself. 

But her subconscious knew this was just the start of something bad.