Agent 024

D-DAY

We had English Literature the next period.
"Good morning class.", Mrs Gulati greeted us.

Half the class got up grudgingly while some leaned back onto their bench in the maximum erect posture they could afford in the second last period.
The remaining remained hidden in the back seats turning their bodies at all angles to hide themselves. I rolled my eyes. So much for not standing for five seconds.

"Everyone except Arun and Anurag sit down.", the teacher said.

We sat down, looking at the two unfortunate people heading towards their doom.

" You two find it hard to stand up?", she asked.

" I didn't see you entering, ma'am.", Anurag said.

"And what kept you so busy.", our teacher asked.

" We were discussing what you would teach today.", he answered.

" That is the lamest excuse I have ever heard. Both of you sit down and make sure you stand up the next time. ", she said.

"Sorry ma'am.", they said, sitting down.

We opened the book to read Act 5 Scene 2 of 'The Tempest'.

After forty minutes of writing down the translation and notes, we packed our bags as the bell rang indicating the end of school for today.

Bidding goodbye to my friends, I hurriedly changed into my sports dress - a white plain t-shirt with my name on the back written in bold black letters, blue shorts, white ankle socks and shoes. Tying my hair back into a bun, I kept my bag in the sports room, grabbed my water bottle and hurried into the field.

Almost everybody had already reached. Our coach, Mr Shankar is very strict about punctuality.
Besides we had D competition tomorrow. Shankar sir had been preparing us for it for more than a month now.

We did our usual stretches and excercises. I started jogging around the field for warm up. Karan joined me.

"Hi.", I greeted him

"Yo. ", he replied.

Karan is a long distance runner like me. We specialise in the long distance races like 800, 1500, 3000 metres races and such. We hold the school record for the fastest run in the school marathon in the boys and girls category respectively.

We jogged silently slowly gaining momentum. After running three rounds of the field we settled down on the field near the stands. The other athletes had just started their warm up jogs.

We sat there gaining our breaths. I could feel my heart pumping against my chest. I was already drenched in sweat. The fact that it was sunny today didn't help.

"How was your day?", Karan asked.

"Pretty normal I would say or as normal as it can go for the accidents - magnet, Tisha Dutt.", I said.

He chuckled. "Is burning the chemisrty lab a normal part of your day, then?"

"I am gonna sue the person who spread that rumour. Honestly, can you believe it? Okay, I know I am capable of causing a lot of accidents. But burning the lab. Jeez no. I respect public property or in this case school property."

"Relax, girl. Just joking.", he held up his hands in sign of peace.

" What about you?", I asked.

"The usual. Computers and Physics were the only subjects I didn't nod off in. Still surviving in Maths and Chemistry. I can't wait to pass out of high school and join a sports college and be done with Chemistry forever.", he said.

"That sounds like a plan. Care if I join too?"

"Sure. Don't you plan to go to the University of Advanced Technology and Sports?"

"Yeah", I said.
"Wait. I never talked to you about UATS."

"You didn't. I just guessed."

"Oh, great.", I mumbled.

"Maybe tomorrow leads you right into your dream college."

"Yeah sure. And Salman Khan would marry next week. Let's go before the coach gets mad at us."

I got up while Karan stood there not ready to go for another round. He is always lazy. Not that I'm not. But when it comes to sports, I am full on active.

"Common.", I said, offering him my hand.

"Fine mom.", he teased me at my strict attitude, taking my hand and getting up.

"By the way, I was serious, you know about your college."

"And how exactly would I go there?", I asked. "There is no information about how the admissions happen. The official site just says that applicants are chosen based on their skills. But how - blank."

"USAT is also participating tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"You know they participate in like one competition per year?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So they will be there tomorrow. They will see you run."

"I would never have guessed that. They would be there tomorrow so they would see me run. I thought they would sit there blindfolded."

"Miss sarcasm personified, what if you get selected tomorrow on the basis of your skill."

"Maybe. Though it is not quite probable."

"We'll see tomorrow."

His words played in my head as I came face to face with the fact that I had just won the 3000 metres race. And the cherry on the cake was I had defeated USAT. This was happening. I could not believe it. This was a dream come true for me.

Hey readers. Our agent is soon entering her new journey towards ...
Well, be sure to catch the next chapter to find out where this victory takes her.