The Chocolate Boy (Book One)

Chapter 4 : Bubblegum Pink

Chapter 4 : Bubblegum Pink

"I'm loving it!"

"Got lunch from McDonald's, eh?"

Ishan rolled his eyes. "I can't believe you're the same Tuhin I had met first day at school. It almost feels like a dream!"

"Go on dreaming then."

It had been two weeks since the school started. And in these fifteen days, I had no reason to go back to my rude self. I was still grumpy but that's who I am.

"Achha, tell me something, Ishan. You are quite a friendly guy, so why was this seat empty when we walked in first time?"

I couldn't keep my curiosity under check. He always seemed to get along well with everybody.

If I wasn't sitting right next to him, I couldn't have noticed the flash of hurt in his eyes.

Did I hit a sensitive spot?

But how could just an empty seat be a sensitive thing?

"We are telling you, Tuhin," the sly voices sounded familiar but I couldn't quite place them.

I looked up to find two burly guys standing beside our desk with annoying smirks on their faces. They were oh-not-so-likeable.

"Do I know you?" I said, carefully eyeing a flustered Ishan who looked on the verge of tears.

"How can you forget us, Tuhin? We are old friends of Ishan, remember? Shivam and Riyaaz?" one of them said.

Okay, that sounded familiar.

"Maybe."

"Excuse us please. Ishan, come with us, we'll take only a few minutes and then you can continue chatting with your new best friend."

Ishan stayed rooted in the seat beside me.

What on earth was going on?

"Come on, spare your old friends some time," Shivam said and leant down to whisper in Ishan's ears at which his eyes seemed to bulge out of their sockets.

"Come on now," Riyaaz tugged at Ishan's shoulder.

I watched the three of them as they left the classroom. Something about Shivam and Riyaaz kept poking me at the back of my mind. But I pushed the thought further back and tried to concentrate on the Nutrition notes in front of me.

I ended up staring at the paragraph on Proteins without really reading anything. Just as I was about to start on Fats and Lipids with a fresh mind, my sister started shouting and calling my name.

"Stop shouting, Tuhina," I said as she came near my seat followed by a bunch of boys of our class.

"What is it? " I asked in utter confusion.

"Tell him what happened," Tuhina frowned and gestured at the boys.

"He is in the boys' bathroom."

"Still crying his eyes out."

"Looks like he was beaten up."

"Yeah, I could spot some marks on face and arms."

"WHO THE HELL IS HE?" my temper always got the better of me.

"Ishan," Tuhina hissed.

I stood up from my seat at once.

"Why didn't you get him here?" I asked nobody in particular, rushing towards the door.

"Obviously I can't get inside a boys' bathroom!"

"Not you, these boys. You saw him na? So you must have been in there."