Chapter Four

Before Mayra could express any concern about having a ridiculous video of her up on the internet and without her permission, they were interrupted by Mrs Dixit's glare. 

The class began, and it was surprising to see there was not a single sound which could be heard other than Mrs Dixit's snarky comments about Mr Murthy's substandard ways of teaching and chalk gliding against the board. 

She had not failed to mention how ridiculous it was that some teachers believed they could teach better with the help of PowerPoint Presentations. She suspected they were too lazy. 

Fortunately, she didn't feed on Mayra's worst fear. She did, of course, announce there was 'new addition to their flock' but didn't call her up to introduce herself and speak for two minutes about her hobbies. That'd be a nightmarish experience! 

By the time the class came to an end, the thought of how embarrassed she felt had long been forgotten. Mrs Dixit's words sure were captivating. 

But Mayra was attentive enough to point out her tiny mistake she had committed. Instead of writing a plus sign, she had written a multiply sign and as insignificant as it would seem to people who ignore Math, it sure made a huge difference in the answer. 

"Pay attention, teenagers-who-behave-like-toddlers," She cleared her throat, addressing the class. 

Tania giggled, "She's nasty but I love her for this very reason."

Mayra passed her an acknowledging smile quickly before focussing on her teacher. 

"With power comes responsibilities," Mrs, Dixit sighed before continuing, "Being the HOD, I'm supposed to assign a CR. It's usually up to the class to vote, but I don't follow that rule. I want someone obedient and attentive." Her eyes zeroed in on Mayra. She felt her heart skip a beat. 

"Your CR is Mayra Ahuja." She announced and left the class with a firm posture. 

"Congratulations?" Tania said tentatively. 

Mayra knew being a CR meant servant business. It was a kind of unpaid internship. As tempting as the offer was, she didn't want it. A frown settled on her lips. 

"I guess you're not happy?" Tania concluded. 

Mayra shook her head and got up from her seat, "It's okay. But does that mean being a part of the Students' Council?"

She received a nod. 

Her frown deepened, "I'll manage."

"I didn't expect such a reaction from you. For someone so smart and scholarly, I thought that would mean you touched cloud nine. What? I did see you burying yourself into your notepad, trying to be the first one to solve all those sums." Tania shrugged. 

"Let's just go to the canteen? We have a break, right?" 

"An hour before the last class, Bio." She picked up her phone and began walking alongside Mayra. 

The realisation struck her later, "I'm sorry. I'm sure you must want to go with your friends," She sighed. 

Tania's smile widened, "You're my friend too now. Besides, I'm always with them."

_________________

"You sit here, I'll get the food. What do you need?"

"A chicken burger and lemonade? Here," She passed her the money. 

Tania took it and vanished into the beyond-crowded canteen. 

The campus was great and being with Tania had proved beneficial to her. She had found out some of the best spaces to spend her time. The cherry on top? These places were least inhabited most of the times. 

She was currently sitting under the shade of a tree on a bench. From where she sat, she could see Samarth, busy hogging. He looked carefree, not bothered about anyone but himself and the group that surrounded him.

Although, she noticed some members were missing. She saw a girl-- calling her a diva seemed more appropriate. She was beautiful in all senses. Her hair was gorgeous; Mayra always had believed bangs didn't suit anyone but she somehow managed to pull them off so perfectly. She also wished to get some fashion advice from her someday in the future. 

There was another girl-- this guy was popular. She sat quietly but her eyes were constantly fixed on Samarth, watching him intently. The other girl, the one with bangs, however, was all over the canteen. People parted as she passed them, a sign of respect and Mayra felt amused at the way everyone looked at her-- with intense admiration. 

"So how's my Hermione Granger doing?" She jumped in her seat, startled at the sudden intrusion in her thoughts. 

Turning around she saw a face, somehow who couldn't be here. Of course, it had to be a hallucination. Did she miss her friends so much that she was now hallucinating them? She shook her head, trying to make it stop. But it persisted. 

"I'm real, darling. In flesh and blood." He winked and sat beside her. 

"Shrey?"

"Shrey Sharma. The one and only." His face broke into a wide grin which she knew no hallucination of her could conjure. 

Ignoring the delusion and believing her eyes, she asked: "I believe you are here but, how?" Her face now mirrored his, an identical smile playing on her lips. 

"I missed you too much and I knew in my absence, your high school experience would suck." 

She smacked his arm playfully. Her heart fluttered, finally settling on the fact that she was seeing her best friend. For real. 

He removed the ID card hanging around his neck and tossed it into her lap, "Shrey Sharma, Grade eleven student of St. Theresa high school."

"But-"

"... I was supposed to continue at Navodaya Vidhyalay. Yeah, I lied because I wanted to see your face when I'd walk up to you just like I did now." He was perfect, in all senses. Her best friend. 

She let out a little squeal, "I'm so happy!" She pulled him into a tight embrace.

The sweet voice of his chuckle filled the air, "It's one of the many surprises yet to come!"

"Am I interrupting something?" Tania's merry tone pulled them out of their little world. 

"No, Tania. This is Shrey, my friend and this is Tania, my new friend." She introduced them to each other. 

"Glad you finally consider me as one. It's a privilege, really. I already know, Shrey." She sighed, "Oh, I mean the first day of high school involves a lot of baseless forced introductions and conversations administered by teachers, right?" She placed the burger and lemonade on the bench, "I gotta go check on my grumpy boy. See ya, Mayra."

She jogged away, leaving them to themselves. 

"Baseless, forced conversations? I can't believe someone said that about you. I mean Shrey Sharma? The hottest bachelor in the whole of St. Theresa?" Mayra burst out into boisterous laughter. 

Playfully smacking her arm, he said, "You know, she meant 'generally'." His voice sounded hurt and that only amused Mayra more. 

"Whatever you say, Mr Sharma. I know you're used to getting all the attention, but she's different."

"How do you know that?" He lifted his eyebrow. 

"We talked."

He shrugged it away, "Forget her, tell me about you. What was that? First day...? Class Representative? One day and you've taken St. Theresa by a storm."

"Of course, did you expect any less?" She grinned and started blabbering nonsense, not once worried about him judging her. 

They talked for a while about everything. The burger laid there watching them share every single detail of all they witnessed and experienced. At a point, his phone pinged, indicating a new notification. 

"Omg, look. Our class page has posted a new prank video. I hope it's on the oldie Murthy. I hate him, always pestering me with physics-related bullshit." Shrey scoffed. 

Otherwise, she would have defended her favourite subject. But then, she was too surprised at the mention of a class page. 

Prank video. Class page? Instagram page? Oh! 

She grabbed the phone from his hands, staring at the screen intensely. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she watched the video posted on it. She wasn't in it. 

A sickly feeling arose in the pit of her stomach. Instinctively she knew, she wasn't going to stay relieved for too long.