Kalpalata Lotus - Kavetham

Chapter 2

The sun shined through the window and into Kaveh's eyes. He sat up and stretched his arms and yawned. He was still at his desk, and papers were all over it.

"What time is it?" He asked himself. Next to him, his phone read 9:10 AM. Kaveh was late to class. "Shit."

Moving as fast as he could, he gathered his things he needed and went to class. He arrived shortly after. His math professor was in the beginning of a lecture, and all of his classmates turned to look at him. Kaveh took a step forward inside the classroom and tripped a bit. Some of his classmates were snickering and whispering among themselves.

"Kaveh, you're a bit late," his professor, Mr. Wright stated. He sighed softly. "That's the 3rd time this week. Go take your seat."

"Right. Sorry, Mr. Wright," Kaveh apologized. He was a bit red from embarrassment. The fact that his classmates kept glancing at him and giggling quietly didn't help.

Alhaitham was seated behind Kaveh. He looked up from his book and spoke in a sarcastic tone. "Wow, you made quite the entrance."

Kaveh could feel his blush rise even more. He could feel Alhaitham's stare on him.  "Just shut up. No one asked."

Alhaitham looked him up and down. "You also dressed up very nicely today. Quite the attraction if you ask me."

Kaveh glanced down at his outfit. He was still wearing a plain white shirt and his gray sweatpants from last night. He glared back at Alhaitham. "You can cut the sarcasm anytime, you know."

Alhaitham rolled his eyes. His signature move. He looked back down at his book. "I could, but that would be no fun."

"Do you literally get entertainment by bullying me?!"

"Perhaps."

"Seriously?!" Kaveh groaned. "You're so annoying."

"Yeah, whatever you say."

If he wasn't in class, Kaveh would have probably punched him. It would be best to ignore him right now. He was already late. He would get into even more trouble if he disrupted the class.

Professor Wright had already started his lecture again. He was talking about some basic formulas for calculus. It was making Kaveh's head spin. He could barely the the difference between the power rule for derivatives and the product rule for derivatives. When was this class gonna end?

***

A few hours later, and after some long classes, Kaveh could go on a lunch break since he didn't have any classes at the time. It was one time during the day when he could sit and relax for at least an hour. Kaveh gets his food and sits with his roommates, who conveniently don't have any classes at this time. Cyno was munching on a fragrant steak while Tighnari had just finished his mushroom salad. He was on his phone scrolling through some app.

"I literally can't stand Alhaitham anymore," Kaveh said as he sat down. "He is so annoying, and he is such a jerk."

"Oh?" Tighnari raised an eyebrow. He looked up from his phone. "What happened this time?"

"He's just irritating!" Kaveh looked down at his soup. He sighed and looked back at Tighnari. "I swear, he has something against me. Alhaitham is always so rude towards me. He was making fun of me because I tripped when I entered class. Also, he was making fun of my outfit. Look, I didn't have time to change today!"

"You should tell him to leaf you alone," Cyno pitched in. "Get it? Because leaves fall and you also-"

"We get it, Cyno," Tighnari interuppted.

Cyno grumbled and went back to eating his steak.

"Anyway," Kaveh cleared his throat. "What does Alhaitham want with me? I feel like he exists just to make my life more miserable than it already is."

"Maybe you're just jealous of him?" Tighnari suggested with a shrug.

"Huh? Where'd you get that idea?!" He scoffed. "Why would I be jealous of him? I don't want anything to do with him!"

Tighnari chuckled. "Hey, calm down. It was only a suggestion."

Kaveh crossed his arms. "It was a horrible suggestion. I am not jealous of Alhaitham!"

"Yeah, alright."

"Hmph." Kaveh stirred his soup with his spoon. At least he only had one more class to deal with after his break. After that, he could rest for the day. Tomorrow, though, was Saturday. He didn't have any classes but a full day of work instead.

He still had some time to kill before his next class, so he went to sit in the courtyard after he finished his lunch and said bye to his roommates. Kaveh sat under the sakura tree in the middle of the soft, green grass of the courtyard. Kaveh got out his calculus textbook to study. Bright pink petals from the tree fell slowly as the wind blew them off.

Kaveh looked up from his book and at the other students. Groups of them were chattering and laughing with each other.He scanned the crowd and saw someone sitting alone reading a book. Kaveh rolled his eyes. Of course, it was Alhaitham. That guy was always reading whenever he could.

He went back to studying. The formulas were like jumbles and letters and numbers trying to look as confusing as possible. Kaveh sighed and shut the book. He put it back in his bag and got up. If he could make it through his last class, he could rest for the day. Just one more hour.

Kaveh started to head to his last class for the day.

Just one more hour, he thought as he sat down at his desk.

Just 30 more minutes... Kaveh thought as he measured every detail.

One minute.

Finally.

Kaveh let out a deep breath as he lay down on his bed. It was Friday. He was done with classes for the week. Sure, he had work tomorrow, but he wouldn't have to deal with long lectures, notes, and Alhaitham.