THE BACK BENCHERS

7.Dejavu

A thin work book in his arms, a water bottle, rolled up sleeves, impressive height, gelled up hair and beard. Imagine a protagonist from a sci-fi film, with smart looks. This guy was no less than a hero . His eyes flawlessly stared me, his lips curved in a small grin.

Woah! That was the most cunning grin, I've seen so far. A chill went down my spine. I take back my words about the protagonist part , he literally stares at me like a heinous villain waiting to shoot me. 

"Okay! Today's going to be fun" he announced. "No new chapter for today, but instead we can discuss the answer for today's paper,  prepared by me." finished his sentence with an evil wink and grin in my direction. Students sitting right under his nose, the front benchers which consist mostly of A graders, smelt his plan accurately, turned their heads to my direction with the same evil stare like him.

I swallowed a huge lump in my throat. 

"Why don't we ask our new topper to do the honors" came out the words finally.  The whole class turned towards me. I slowly stood up, surprisingly my legs didn't wobble and I felt confident than I thought. 

I walked towards the board.

I don't know how many hours went by. The board was filled with my white markings. Silence dominated the air. I was panting mentally, my thinking ability was put to the ultimate test today. He asked every damn question from nook and corner of our text-book and sometimes even from the book which he has in hand, is that even our syllabus?. He looked at me suspiciously, scratched his head and beard, gave another question. This process continued for so long. 

The entire front bench now had their eyes peeping out from their spectacles.  Well, u guys must have witnessed my friends' reaction especially Liam's. His eyes almost came of its sockets, he was so surprised, yes more surprised than when he'd discovered I lost my memory. His jaws were ajar, his reaction was as if I invented a portal to another planet.

I must say he took this challenge too personally, he taunted me for a silly mistake I did very rarely. The school bell rang, breaking the silence. The faculty stared at me for one last time before he exited the class, but alas he said "Class dismissed".

The white chalk dust painted my hand completely that it became a part of my skin now. I glared at my friends from far away, both of them were discussing something amongst themselves. Suddenly Liam came towards me and asked "How did u do it man?"

I flashed an 'I told u' look at Liam and walked away quietly. As I walked out the whispering and buzzing noise became louder behind me. I walked fast, as far as my leg could take me. I went out to the balcony to grasp some air. My head swam around, just trying to process the last one hour. I felt the same way, I woke up in the hospital after I lost my memory, my head felt heavy. I felt like my head was getting heavier and dragging me back. I gave in and my head hit the floor with a loud thud. Luckily, Liam seemed to have followed me, he quickly grasped me from behind took me to the med immediately. 

When I opened my eyes, Jack stood before me. His eyes blinked with a start when I woke up, he went out to call the doc and Liam. Man, this guy Jack, he literally cares for me. I actually feel more warmth from him even than my so called 'mother' at home. 

To heck with this 'dejavu'. 

For a moment I thought I had time-travelled and started the same day I lost my memory in the hospital. But unfortunately, no. I'm in the school's med bed. The doctor declared it was dehydration and prescribed me some electrolyte. I looked at my friends and told "I want to go home. My head is getting heavy, I can't stay here anymore." Jack nodded in approval and nudged Liam to mimic him the same. Well, I could clearly read what's going on in his head, he simply needs to know how I answered those questions. 

Suddenly the schools' speaker echoed:

"High school students who are graduating this year are requested to come to the staff room to check ,confirm their records. Any further changes will not be entertained. Thank you."

Yeah, thank you for that, I'm having a migraine now, but even in that pain, something from the back of my mind popped out. Not a sound, a memory, a vision flashed before me. 

A big auditorium, the host announcing " We now welcome the batch of 2020 to participate in this farewell event". All young students lining up for their last day of school life. Then suddenly some a girl  came up to me calling a name, the one that came into my mind when they called me duke for the first time in the hospital.

"Regan" her voice shrieked in joy. She came and threw her hands around my neck. 

The image faded, the memory weakened, a sharp pain at the back of my head. Today seems to be a dejavu day. I smiled and said to myself 

"Seems like I have graduated high school already, but what am I doing in grade 10 with a different name ?."