Class 10

1. In the midst of it all

"Rashmi?" The teacher called out while taking attendance.

"Yes! I mean, Present Ma'am!" Rashmi said while raising her hand high up.

Rashmi Sharma was sitting on the second row, wearing her new uniform which she had bought with her father a few days ago. Her old uniform was worn out now, so her parents suggested getting a new one. Her hair was oiled and neatly combed into two braids. She had put some lip balm which her cousin gave, and her ears were occupied by some small gold and diamond earrings. She had gotten them by her uncle who had visited over the summer.

"Abhay?" the teacher called out the next name.

"Here ma'am," came out Abhay's deep voice.

Abhay Gupta was sitting in the second row, right next to a window which had him occupied. He was a sucker for scenery, it was his dream to travel around the world and look at the earth ever since his dad had taken him out on a bike ride when he was around 5. He had been obsessed with the beauty of sceneries ever since. His black, soft hair was neatly combed as his mom had nagged him all morning. He was wearing a raksha thread (sacred thread) which his parents had got from their last visit to a temple.

The morning attendance went by just like that. Each student looked their absolute best on the first day. Neat and ironed uniforms and combed hair were the norm.

"Okay students, take out your notebooks and textbooks and we will get started with the introduction of the subject," The Ma'am said, holding the grade 10 science textbook in one hand and a chalk in the other.

"Please open your textbooks to page 3," She instructed, right away there was the sound of everyone zipping their backpacks open, taking their stationary out and opening the book to the desired page. Some kids were even giggling, looking at the pictures in the book.

"Silence!" the teacher's voice roared through the classroom. Everyone fell silent in a second, mouths zipped. Maybe it was the years of teachers yelling at them or their mothers screaming on top of their lungs. Either way, they were disciplined.

Rashmi took out her new stationary from her brand new pencil case. She had bought them when she had gone street shopping with her cousin. They spent hours visiting the shops and checking out each item very intently. At the end, they both went to a gol gappa street stall and stuffed their mouths with it. That was one of the best days of her summer holidays. She looked at her orange highlighter and smiled recalling those memories.

As the teacher went on and talked, the students highlighted their textbooks and took notes when necessary.

Meanwhile, on the other hand, Abhay was having a hard time focusing. It wasn't that he was bad or anything, it's just that he never found science interesting. He dully outlined the important texts with his pencil and scribbled down some notes.

~

Just like that, half the school day had passed and it was finally lunch time. The student's favourite time of school. Everyone took their lunchboxes out and made their way out of the classroom. Some sat in the hallway sharing their lunch with their friends, while filling each other about their summer holidays and about their first day of school, while some went to play something with their friends on the ground and some just went messing around in the bathrooms.

Rashmi was walking around to see if her friend, Meera, was there where they had promised to meet at their favourite spot. It was located behind the school where they could see a beautiful view.

"I think she's already there...I should go,'' Rashmi said to herself, walking towards the spot they had decided. She hurriedly made her way towards the bench. Someone was already there.

"Wait- where is Meera?" Rashmi said, looking around and staring at the two boys who were sitting there instead of her friend. They both looked at her in union. She recognized the face of one of the two. It was a classmate who she happened to notice for a second while turning to her backpack earlier.

"Oh, Abhay?" She called out to him. As soon as she called him, he was snatched away from his thoughts and instead stared at her like she was some beautiful cloud in a clear sky. That went on for a bit, until his friend lightly shook him to bring him back.

"Huh? Oh, Hi?" He said, looking like an airhead.

"Dude, You okay?" Abhay's friend, Aditya asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. " Abhay whispered, looking down in embarrassment.

Aditya noticed Rashmi being really confused so he proceeded to ask what happened.

"Oh.. well my friend- She said she'd meet me here, but I don't know where she is," Rashmi responded.

"Hmm, well we certainly haven't noticed any girl passing by here, so I'm afraid we can't be of help," Aditya said, making an apologetic face.

"It's okay, thank you for considering it though," Rashmi responded. She was about to turn away when Abhay called out.

"Hey. if you want - You can eat with us. If you want.. I mean, unless you don't have anyone to eat with, you know?," He said shyly, putting a hand on his head and bending down more.

"Uhm...Okay. That way I can wait for my friend I guess," She replied,

The three spent their lunch talking about random stuff. Well it was mostly Abhay and Aditya talking while Rashmi gave her inputs here and there and mostly looked out for her friend. She finally came to a conclusion, her friend was either away today or she ditched her. If it was the latter, she would not forgive her friend, and probably be sad for a long time.

~

The first day of school had come and gone in an instant like that. Many of them were excited to return to school and see their friends; others were bummed to know that they were not in the same class as their friends; some made new friends; some were new to the school; and some knew it like the back of their hand. In the midst of it all, there was a boy who had developed a minor silly crush on a girl in class 10C, sitting in the second row.