Of Fallacies And Fate

f i f t e e n

"She has known sadness, and it has made her kind". -Nathan Filer.

f i f t e e n

Samairah pretended that people weren't giving her wary looks as she sat with a good amount of appetising food on her table in that bustling canteen. Of course, people hardly ever ate alone in that canteen, so that was one reason for people to look. And even if they did, they certainly didn't pile up the table with food. Little did they know that she was waiting for her two friends and that was the reason that she hadn't touched a single morsel of food despite having mouth watering food right in front of her. Now that she thought of it, people might've thought she was crazy.

Added to all this was the fact that Freshers had just passed by and Samairah was often a victim of stares and people talking in hushed voice as they passed around her. Well, that was the norm or rather little fame that came with being crowned in that party. And the fact that they had little population didn't help for her to sneak away from being the centre of attention. But more than being crowned, Samairah had a feeling that those hushed whispers had something to do with rumours about her and Soheb.

Very much thanks to Nikhil.

She had been giving him cold shoulder ever since Monday. It was his fault that he had shouted 'Finally' so loudly moments after Soheb had given her the rose and people noticed the two of them. Wasn't it the best gossip? Pairing up people was always the hot topic in every college. Even if the rumours held no truth to it. People would add up their own masala to the gossip to heat things up.

"It will get better as time passes by", Nikhil had said to her when she went bat shit crazy on him on Monday after being the victim of unabashed stares and not so hushed whispers.

Four days had passed by. It was Thursday. And yet the intensity of it all remained the same. It didn't get any better.

The untouched food in front of her was getting cold, also her stomach started to growl. But she wouldn't start eating unless Sana and Saba came. Although, they did warn her that it might take time. Where were the two of them? It is actually a very funny story. Sana slept in Miss. Sheetal's class. It wouldn't have been a big deal if it was someone else but Miss Sheetal is the kind of professor, who is one of a kind. She is more of 'I will devour you, if you won't follow my orders' kind. Being forty five years old and yet unmarried, she had a temper that would scare off the Hulk to shivers. She was one of the old school professors who were very strict when it came to classes and assignments. She didn't even like students drinking water in her class.

Not even after asking her permission. Which students hardly ever asked nowadays to drink water. Not even in school. Maybe primary school students did. Even that, Samairah thought, students wouldn't do nowadays.

Samairah remembered her first class ever as clear as a day. Ten minutes had elapsed since Miss Sheetal had entered the class, not to mention the fact that she was exactly on time for her class. And exactly meant exactly on ten am dot. Not a minute earlier neither a minute later. And in those ten minutes, she gave a curt smile and started off with her introduction which was interesting only upto her name and subject because no sooner had she said that about herself, she had started with the rules they had to follow all through the year, as long as they attended her class.

She had resisted the urge to frown and thank goodness that she didn't because right at that moment, a girl sitting on third bench opened her bottle and had started to chug down some water unaware of the fact that for those forty five seconds or so, she was the victim of Miss Sheetal's glare. She wouldn't have drank water the entire day had she known the lecture that would follow after her ignorant act.