Broken Pieces - Finding Way To Eachother's Hearts

44

It had been more than a year since Naina joined the school. She was now in sixth grade while Aditya in tenth. And since he was in tenth grade, he was no longer the volunteer and they both rarely crossed eachother's paths. They barely saw eachother and that was only during the assembly where she stood in the front and he stood in the corner of the last row.

And then it was finally the time for the Annual Day programme. They all had practiced and had been preparing for this day from past three months.

St. High school was being decorated in the occasion of annual day's function of the year 2000. The students were getting ready for their performance and so were the teachers who were helping to get them ready and some looking over the stage work. Some students were volunteered to organise with the help of the selected teacher for particular works and some just came to watch. The function would be starting at six in the evening. There was still an hour of time.

The program was organised with the mix of dances, plays, songs and speeches. The performances were organised according to their classes.

Pre schoolers to ninth grade students were going to dance, excluding fifth and tenth grade students who were going to enact two different plays. Amongst them, few students were selected for singing invocation song.

As minutes passed, parents arrived. Some along with their students who had not participated in the programme. The volunteers taking care of the guests and parents and all the other arrangements along with their teachers. The participating students sat in the back stage class wise.

Aditya was in the play and had dressed himself in a white shirt, black pant and blazer with black tie around his neck. His was playing the role of a father as he was the tallest one in his class. That didn't bother Naina. But the thing which bothered her was that, there was a role of a mother of the same child too! And that was being played by his classmate.

She just couldn't believe that she was actually being affected by it and hadn't understood what she felt was jealousy.

Amongst the crowd were seated, Naina and Rasika along with their dance group, who were dressed up in their costumes. Their hairs left open with the side craft. Since Naina's hairs were very long, she had fold them leveling until it reached just below her shoulders. They all had their make up done by the beautician who dolled up their faces. But Naina forced him to use lesser than the minimal make up as she didn't like the feel of all those cosmetics to be applied on her skin.

Rajesh on the other hand, had opted himself as photographer. He was neither in dance not in the play. All he did was taking pictures from his father's camera for himself.

He took pictures of teachers and the students he knew mostly and then his classmates. Along with theirs, he had taken pictures of Naina too. Who was busy in distracting the Pre-kg child who was plump and fair and cute, who had seen his parents and almost cried wanting to go there. But Naina managed to distract him.

As the clock ticked striking six, the programme was started with the welcoming of their principal, management and chief guest. And the lamp was lit mean while, the invocation song was being sung.

At the same time in the back stage,

"Kalpana mam, I am Nikita's mother. I am sorry to inform you late, but she won't be able to perform as she has got chicken pox" said a woman who looked in her late twenties.

"What?!"

"Yes.... I couldn't call you earlier as I had been with her to the hospital"