Road Not Taken ✔

Chapter 6

Ruchi is severing her punishment. Suspension at school has really tarnished Ruchi's image not only in our class but in the whole senior wing as everyone knows about her suspension and it is the hottest gossip topic of school. So, I have made two friends from my class in absence of Ruchi the devil. Both these girls are really sweet and kind to me. So, let me give you a bit of intro of both my new friends. I have befriended Cherry and Taniya. Cherry D'Souza is a bubbly and cheerful girl who can make you laugh hard on your death bed too. Taniya Bhatia is a chirpy bird who loves talking and she is a pro at cooking. Both of them are a great company to have. These days lunch breaks are really fun with Cherry and Taniya .

Divya and I hardly meet these days during recess break because she has different set of friends from her class and other commerce sections. Slowly Divya and I are drifting apart but I don't feel bad about it because with time involuntary changes occur due to circumstances, some changes are good and some are bad but this is a good change for me and Divya .

I felt like I was in shadows of doubts and worries but Taniya and Cherry has brought a better side if me which is fearless ,daring and confident. I don't have any problem if Divya makes new friends and be with them because we both only met at lunch break in school as we both travelled separately to school because my parents  have purchased me a scooty to travel.

Its been a month since the school started and July is about to end. My mom wants to enroll me in a coaching class for medical entrance preparations. So, right now I am sitting in an air conditioned office and a middle aged man is smiling at me . I can say this is the fakest smile I have ever seen in my life. This man is the manger of the coaching institute in which my mom wants me to take admission. This manager is narrating how this is the best coaching institute in the country with several branches in Mumbai, Kota , Bangalore and other metropolitan cities. My mom was already in awe of this coaching and hearing this manager she is convinced that this is the best coaching ever. This manager hands me a form to fill up while I look up to mom in a dilemma of what to do next as I am still not sure about studying in a coaching institute because I have never taken any formal coaching /tuition before in my entire school life. My mom gives me an assuring smile  and I fill up the form hesitantly .

After filling the form my mom and I go to the fees counter and she pay my fees for the next two years of medical coaching. My mom pays 2 lakh as the tuition fee and another 50 thousand rupees for the books, study material and other facilities such as Wi-Fi , parking lot  , coaching merchandises ,library facilities etc. Well the fees could have costed 3 lakhs to us but due to my excellent grades in high school they offered me a scholarship  and relaxed 50 thousand from the total fee .

The manager told us that the classes for 11th standard will begin from next week. We returned home and I sighed as after a week I will have a tiring schedule which will become my routine for next 2 years.

Next day I woke up for school and went to school . School was uneventful because the devil is in her den . I mean Ruchi is still serving her suspension . But soon her suspension is ending and she will return to school .

After 1 week

Ok....let me get ready for coaching . It is my first day at coaching and I want to look presentable. After dressing up I look myself in the mirror . Mom and Dad are at hospital while Reena didi and our cook are on leave . So, I pick up my school bag , scooty keys and lock up the house carefully. I sigh one last time looking at my home as this is my first day to coaching and I wanted  my parents to wish me luck but they are struck at work but I have adjusted to their lifestyle and I understand that they have a workaholic profession .

I ride my scooty to the coaching and after 30 minutes I reach to my coaching. I park my scooty and go towards the reception area . This building is no less than a five star hotel with lavish interiors. I ask the receptionist about where I need to go to attend my every first lecture. The receptionist instructed me to go to third floor , hall no.3 . I nodded and went to the elevator . Yes! this coaching institute has an elevator too. As stepped inside the elevator I noticed this building has seven floors.

When I reached third floor I saw students in the hallway. These students are my batchmates .After a few minutes a man came and instructed us to line up. All started lining up and I also joined the que .Then a peon came with some sort of identity cards. Then we were instructed to wear these id cards around our necks . We told were that our batch will be called newbies since we are the junior most students of the coaching.

At around 3:45 pm we were allowed to enter the hall no.3 and within 15 minutes the hall was filled up with around 80 to 100 students. At sharp 4 pm a teacher named Sanjay Jain came and introduced himself as our chemistry teacher . I was impressed by his teaching from the very first lecture as he taught complex topics of Atomic Structure with ease and even taught us tricks to remember hydrogen line spectrum formulas . After an hour this interesting lecture came to an end. Physics and Biology lectures will start from tomorrow so we were free to go home .

I went to the admin block on the first floor and got a printed time table from the coordinator of our batch  . Yes this institute has its own faculty of teachers , admin staff, people working in bank and finance department , librarian , people working in the canteen and the list goes on. So, this coaching can be called a mini version of school.

After getting my time table .I went to the basement parking lot to get my scooty to ride back home . As I approached near my scooty I noticed my scooty keys were missing and I got a mini heart attack thinking if I had lost the keys . But then I calmed myself and looked around my scooty and saw the keys lying near the front scooty tire . I sighed in relief and bent down to pick the keys and I was about to stood up when someone stepped on my hand.

I winced in pain . I wanted to smash this person's face who was trampling my hand on purpose. By now my fingers must me red and swollen as the person was applying full force on my hand by his feet . I am boiling in anger right now so, with all my power I let my swollen hand free by swinging away the leg which was stamping my hand like a paper weight .

As I straighten up myself I saw a face smirking and smiling at me shamelessly . For few seconds I was shocked to see this evil face again and then a wave of anger hit me .

I shouted " What the hell Ruchi! How dare you hurt me like that ! " .

Ruchi laughed shamelessly and said " Well you are right I have come straight from hell to make your life miserable. I have the right to hurt you like this as  I got suspended just because of you . Now I will make sure that your life is awful at school and coaching. "

I gave her a look mixed with anger and confusion. She understood my confusion and said "Oh don't stress your tiny brain. I am your batchmate at this coaching too. So, get ready to face the most painful next 2 years of your life." With this statement Ruchi winked at me and went away.

I stood still in the parking lot with shock .Argh...this Ruchi the devil can never let me live in peace . She has always caused me troubles . I guess even the stars are against me because this city has so many coachings but to my bad luck Ruchi came in the same coaching institute as mine. Now I know these 2 years of my life will be the most  difficult ones.

*****CHAPTER  ENDS************