Strangers?Or Not? ONGOING

Chapter 3

2014

It had been a little more than a week to the I-don't-like-you-and-this-is-revenge incident and things were as normal as they could be. Other than the fact that Anquit had made it his mission in life to get on every single one of my nerves. And boy, was he succeeding. By now, I was sure this wasn't revenge for what I did but him doing it just for kicks. Today was no different. Except that there was nothing he could say to spoil my mood. It was a Friday and I was elated at the fact that I won't have to come to this wretched place we called school for two days. Besides, my cousins were coming over for a few days and I was looking forward to meeting and spending time with them. Moreover, I had got back the marks for the Maths test we had given on Monday and guess who got a solid 15 on 15. 

I had spent all day babbling to Pragya how excited I was while she patiently listened to everything I had to say. I didn't leave her alone even when ma'am was teaching and we kept whispering in each other's ears while ma'am dictated answers for us to write in our notebooks. And that's how the first half of the day went. For lunch, we sat at the twins' table for a change. Fifteen minutes into the break, Anquit entered and I internally sighed, mentally preparing myself to ignore him and his antics. I was luckily sitting on the chair next to the wall and Pragya was on the chair which was closer to the aisle as a result of which he could not sit next to me.  They all started discussing how much they got in the maths class test while I watched. When he turned to me, asking how much I got, I ignored him as I was in no mood to answer his question.

"She got full marks!" Kriansh answered for me. 

"Tu toh topper nikli yaar. Test ke pehle toh you were like mujhe kuch nahi aata toh fir how did you get full marks?" (Oh wow you are a topper dude. And before the test you were cribbing about not knowing anything. Then how did you get full marks?) Anquit said mockingly.

"She loves maths, that's why. Duh!" Kanak replied to his question while I kept ignoring him.

He made a gagging sound before saying,  "Are you an alien? How can someone love maths? Bet you cheated on the test," he laughed. 

"No, I didn't!" I muttered under my breath. How dense was he? What was the problem in liking a subject? So what if he hated it?

"What was that? I didn't hear you. Sounded like you said, That's right! " he mocked me while everyone else at the table laughed. Weren't they supposed to be on my side? 

That was my limit. I normally ignored everything he said but today he'd crossed a line. I lost it then. And here I was thinking he can't possibly say anything to spoil my mood today.

"And I bet your father cheated on your mother! Or was it the other way around?" I spit out venomously. I felt satisfied as he stared at me, shocked, opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish, struggling to answer.

Ahh! Revenge is so sweet! I thought to myself.

My satisfaction was short-lived though, as everyone else at the table fell silent. It wasn't funny anymore and the reality of what I had just said sunk in. I shouldn't have gone that far. Insulting someone was one thing but insulting their parents a whole another. God! why don't I think before I speak. I knew I should apologise but I couldn't bring myself to. I just sat there, expressionless. A few seconds later, he got up and walked out of the class, leaving behind an awkward silence. The next minute, I got up  and left too on the excuse of using the washroom because I couldn't deal with my friends' disappointed looks anymore. It's not like they would understand. Besides, we couldn't force them to take sides or drag them into our disagreement. I roamed the corridors for the rest of the break aimlessly. At one point I saw him standing next to Ansh,  at the far end of the corridor, listening to whatever he was saying. They were too far for me to make out his exact facial expression but he seemed lost.  I turned around and bolted as fast as I could, I didn't want him to see me. If he was expecting me to apologise first, he should know better. It was his fault too. I'm not going to give in so easily.

After break got over, I went back to my class. I took my seat besides Pragya silently. She didn't say anything and neither did I. Kriansh and Kanak were sitting in their places and I didn't even bother glancing at them. This will be over by Monday I thought.

If only I knew how wrong I was.

I know this is kind of short but next chapter will be longer I promise!

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