Grimoire - Vol 1. Revelation of Rakshas

17 - Who Needs Enemies, If You Got Friends Like These?

...Okay, just checked, definitely the right class. Were these new people?

Weird time to get transfers...

"Hey babe," a voice, that I was extremely familiar with as if he were my own family, called out to me from behind me at the doorway, "oh sorry, I thought you were my boo but he would never be this early,"

"Ha ha ha, very funny," I said, entering the class and shifting to the side of the bench to make space for him on the seat. We had the long seats that were big enough for 3 people to sit comfortably—though we only had 2 people sit on it at a time—instead of individual ones in every class.

I don't know why. Cost savings, maybe.

I mean it made whispering and talking with friends in between lectures way easier but eh, I'm just glad we get to choose who we sit with. "Don't call me babe or boo. For that matter, who even says babe or boo nowadays? Just call me hon. Sounds more classy."

"Just because it sounds classy doesn't make you classy, 'hon' but okay, fair enough," Idris said, chuckling and sitting next to me. "You know, I waited for you, even gave you a call not that you bothered to pick up. But my bad, I should have realised, you were just trying to betray me and become an honour student. Traitor."

Huh, that's weird. I didn't see any calls pop up on my side. Shit, did I still have my phone on silent? And after checking it, yes, I did have it on silent. It's a real bad habit of mine.

If I may defend myself though, I just...hate that annoying notification sound. Truly hate it. No matter what sound I change it to, it still irritates me.

So I keep it in silent mode. But then the problem is that I...forget about it. Like I said, bad habit. "Ah well, guess my evil master plan has been foiled and all because I kept my phone on silent."

"Let this be a lesson for you. Also, do you really want to call this your master plan? I mean, I know you're not the brightest crayon in the box but even you must have standards."

"Why not? It has smarts, betrayal and best of all, sucking up to your superiors aka teachers, in this case."

"I don't know. The moment you say sucking up to your superiors, it sort of stops being evil. In fact, I'd say it comes off as downright pathetic."

"Well, one might say that being evil is pathetic."

"One might be stupid."

"Stupid, but right."

"Depends." Idris shrugged, thinking hard about something, "Would you consider the Joker as a pathetic person?"

Hmm, that was a good question. "I guess," I answered, "I mean, dude's painting his face like a clown every night and making evil plans all so that a man wearing a bat suit would hopefully chase after him and capture him."

"...okay, fair enough again," Idris said, raising his arms in defeat.

"Also, it being a pathetic one rather than an evil one has no relation to the plan's masterfulness...if that's a word."

"Okay, gee, you win, mate. And yes, I think it is, infact, a word."

Hey, would you look at that? I won the argument. Sure, a stupid and useless one but every win counts.

...what was the point again?

"Is my watch broken or is Aarav really early?" a girl with blue eyes said from the doorway. Why are they all saying things from the doorway? My seat is literally on the other side of the class. It's like they want to let others know I'm lazy.

And while it's true that I am, you know, lazy, it doesn't mean I like the world to know me for that.

I'd rather be known for something good.

Like fastest runner or strongest wrestler. Or maybe even the guy who can eat 20 burgers in 20 minutes.

Which, by the way, I'm very close to achieving. My current record is 20 burgers in 2 hours. Just need to shave down on those extra 100 minutes, that's all. No biggie.

I wonder if that's why I'm not as fit as I'd like to be...

"Be original, Naina, Idris already made the joke."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Times of India didn't mention that in their papers today. Must've missed that big global announcement," Naina said, making her way towards us and sitting on the bench behind ours.

"Well, technically, I just said that you were early and that you were a traitor. That watch part was completely original from Naina's side."

"See? He gets it," she said, pulling her phone out immediately as she sat down. And before you start judging her, in her case, I for sure know that she was reading up on the current events on one of those news apps.

"Whose side are you on?" I asked Idris with mock hurt, "Oh wait, never mind, already know the answer. Not mine."

"Aww, hon, don't be mad," Idris said, patting my shoulder, "To be honest, this is what you get for betraying me. So, it's all on you."

"Oh, hon, huh? Nice to see you guys get classier. I'm proud of you guys," she said with a poker face without even looking up from her phone.

"Found the news?"

"Nope, they like to stay away from heavy topics like 'this is how Aarav was made fun of today'."

"Too bad," I said, "and yeah, yeah. I woke up early and was bored so I thought might as well go early, sue me."

"Eh, too busy," they both said, finally making Naina look up and add "Jinx!" before Idris could.

Well, he lost. Now he gotta buy her a sandwich at lunch as per the rules.

And yeah, if you noticed, I lied to them. Well, half-lied.

I did wake up early. That wasn't a lie.

I believe that if you are to lie, atleast sprinkle it with some truth so that it gets easier to say it.

"Wait a minute, how come you're here?" I asked Idris, "You and I come at the same time and this is not when we get here."

"I have long legs."

That's all he said as if that was a perfectly reasonable answer to my question.

"I'm sure you do but mind giving an answer that actually makes sense?" I asked, knowing full well he wasn't going to elaborate.

"What are you talking about?" Naina butted in, "It makes perfect sense."

"Okay, correction. Mind giving an answer that actually makes sense to people who aren't a weirdo?"

"I did," Idris said, "and if you didn't understand it, maybe you need to revaluate who the weirdo is here."

"It means that he can walk faster compared to you and also means that he's been walking slower before to match your speed," Naina said without looking up from her phone. Idris, without saying a word, simply pointed to her as if saying 'what she said, she gets me.'

No, no-no-no. No. No way. "You're just a foot taller than me!"

"And that makes a difference."

Like hell it does! It's not that I'm short. It's just that he's the freakishly tall one. I swear, sometimes I feel like he's lying about his age. "Okay, that's it. No more getting off the cycle. I don't care if you have to run, I will not stop, ever!"

"You will have to...you know? Our destinations are the same. Our class is the same."

"Yes but I will not be stopping for you," I said with a smug smile. That'll show him. Heh, making fun of me.

"Nice, a great plan, Aarav, you're so smart," Naina said in a dry voice, again not looking up from her screen.

"I know, Naina, Thank you. Only you appreciate me."

I know she didn't mean it but oh well. My policy is to take compliments even if they're given sarcastically. What can I say, I'm an optimistic guy.

"Oh, do I? That's unfortunate."

...Optimism is the key to a happy life. Trust me.