Us │✔

02 | ~ds.

Lavanya~

"Rhea, does auntie own a Schezwan factory? Whatever it is, I love her!"

Dipping her Puris into the bowl, I put it inside my mouth. Taking a bite of Maahi's Aloo-burger and Jivika's Roti-pizza, I let out a groan. This was the next best thing after KFC. And Lunch-break had just begun.

Searching for my bottle, I realized I forgot it at home. It was an easy-to-spot one, the solitary pink bottle in the class. Not my fault that people hated such a pretty colour.

Squeezed between Jivika and Maahi in the seat, I had no space to breathe. Amaya and Laysa stood side by side, randomly dancing at times. And Rhea sat next to Kiara on top of the bench, facing us. Their backs faced the entrance of the class, as they munched the Pasta away.

I had no clue how the conversation ended up to the topic we were discussing now. Somehow we started the conversation with Rhea's cold, and it ended up being about HIV virus. It was just ten minutes into the lunch break, and I could already spot Pratik at our door.

The stand-out pale skin was clearly the reason why his code name was Vampire among us. Too feminine and cliche, I know.

His footsteps were like those of a cat. You won't even realize when he came and stood behind you.

Despite that fact that we were in the same class for three years—from sixth to eighth grade—before we got shuffled in ninth, he was hell awkward with us. Of course, Kiara was with him since third grade. And then the couple were put into different sections during the mass-shuffle which happened last year, ninth grade.

I was about to tell Kiara that he was there and she could not go before finishing her lunch, but my mouth was full. And right when Pratik was about the touch her back, alerting her of his presence, the girl put in some valuable input into our conversation.

Not to mention that this was the first time she spoke in today's discussion of ours.

"If two people were having sex and one of them had jaundice at that time, then would the baby end up yellow? Of course, ignoring the fact that the jaundice-guy should've been in hospital but is not."

Oh her timing!

I almost choked on my sandwich, watching the change of expressions on his face. And Kiara and Rhea, both who were facing us, could not make the head or tail of what was happening. While the rest of us stood shell-shocked.

The whole class had gone silent, Kiara had a loud voice. Well, groups of teenagers were always loud.

"Uh—Kiara?"

She bit her tongue and her spoon clashed on the tiles, proving that she was flustered. Leaving away her lunch, she rushed out of the class dragging him along with her.

And that's when the class burst out laughing.

High on the adrenaline rush, I decided that I had to waste my energy somehow. Dragging Rhea, Laysa and Amaya, the insane ones to the front of the class, we randomly started dancing. Singing Aada Padha in all possible tunes, displaying our immaturity right out in public. Weird looks, including the ones from Jivika and Maahi who laughed their hearts out, were nothing new to us.

Ladies and Gentle-dogs.

That's how Pratik declared the fact that his girlfriend was an alien, and how Aada Padha became the anthem of our class.