At That Moment ✔

🤍.4

19th march 2023

PREETA'S POV

"Maaa mai aagayi "

"Preeta beta.... How was school today?" Mom asks as soon as I walk in the door later that day.

She's coming down the stairs with a basket full of clothes.
I shrug and drop my car keys on the small table beside the door.

"teek thi ."

"teek thi ?" Her brows pull down.

"kuch Hua hai kya ?"she continue

Kuch hua ! Bahoot kuch hua but ....There's no way I'm telling Mom about the mishap with my assignment. Mom and I are close, but what teenage girl is close enough with their mom to tell them they pretty much announced to their English teacher that they have a major crush on him?

'No freaking way.'

I avoid Mom's eyes because she's always been able to tell if there's something wrong with me.

"Nahi kuch bhi nahi hua ... It was just a typical day at school."

It was so far away from a typical day. I'm pretty sure I'm the only girl on the planet to ever do what I did.

"Okay then." Maa still doesn't sound convinced, but she doesn't push, thank goodness.

"Dinner will be ready in a couple of hours. We're having meatloaf."

"That sounds good," I reply, already heading toward the stairs.

"Let me know if you need any help cooking"

Once I'm in my room, I toss my book bag on my desk and toe off my shoes. Pulling my phone from my back pocket, I plop down on my bed, laying so I'm facing the ceiling.

I pull Alnya 's name up on my phone and press down on it. It rings three times before she picks up.

"Hey, prrrreee, whatcha doin'?"

I throw my arm over my eyes and let out a sigh.

"Wishing I could move back home ASAP and never step foot in SWO again."

"Uh oh." I hear a door slam on her end.
" preeta betiya ..bathao alnya maa ko .... ki whose ass I have to kick." she said

Alnya, my best friend since grade school, is the complete opposite of me. She's outgoing, doesn't have a shy bone in her body, speaks her mind, and won't hesitate to come to the defense of anyone she cares about. Luckily, she cares about me.

"Mine," I sigh. "I messed up, alnya. Vo bhi ....Really badly."

Over the next fifteen minutes, two of which I have to pause and grit my teeth because Alnya was laughing so hard, I tell her, about what amounts to be, the worst day of my existence. She already knows of my crush on Karan sir so that comes as no surprise. She interrupts me several more times to ask questions.

"This has to be some kind of joke, right? I mean, you honestly didn't hand in a written fantasy of your teacher. Wait a sec." There's shuffling on her end before she comes back on the line.

"No, it's not April Fool's Day." She pauses long enough to whistle.

"Damn girl. You really did it this time."

"I know!" I cry into my phone.

"How in the world can I show my face in his class again?"

"Well, look on the bright side,"

she says. "At least it wasn't a peer-review paper."

She has a point. It's one thing to have my teacher read it, it would be doubly worse if both he and another student did. Even so, it doesn't make me feel any better.