Tenth Grade was Fun!

6. STORMY SEA OF MOVING EMOTIONS

"Wow, you don't like her too..." I trail away unsure what to say.

"Duh." I-think-it-is-Mia deadpans and sits beside me...and I actually didn't feel violated.

"And to answer your questions, it's the list of students chosen by the biology teacher for the tenth grade Biology presentations in the upcoming exhibition in our school and she wants the digits so that she can create a chat group for queries regarding this." She elaborates for me.

"Oh...and we'll be working with her?" I ask, hoping the answer would be a no.

"Unfortunately, yes." I-think-it-is-Mia answers, "But we can probably allot her and her minions for Friday and we can take up the Saturday slot."

"Aye, aye cap'n, good thinkin'." I say with a tip of my imaginary hat.

Sharing a laugh, I write down my mobile number beside my name and pass it to HD twins and they do the same.

"Well, I haven't introduced myself properly. I'm Mia. And I hate DQ with passion."

"DQ...?"

"Oh! We can't keep saying Drama Queen in front of her now, can we?"

"Well DQ it is then. I'm Rithvika. And well, you know how similar our interests are." I say with a smile, feeling comfortable with Mia.

"I'd love to sit and talk about our interests but uh, I have to finish this list and come up with something because DQ wasn't really called by the teacher." Mia says deflated, getting up and starting to walk away.

"Thanks for the save!" I call out.

"Anytime." She replies, flashing a smile and continuing her work.

That was...the most comfortable I've ever gotten with a girl after what my ex-best-friend and some other girl friends including Dram— I mean, DQ did.

And all I can hope for is that Mia won't do the same.

But I still can't shake off the nagging within me about what DQ said...

Once the end-of-school bell rings, I pack my bag and walk towards Nikhil's class with a spring in my step.

I see him heading towards me and we meet halfway.

"What's got you so hap— OH! You're Pa's calling you today for the first time since he went to the ship this time right?"

"Yep. And he should have known how many months he'd be on the ship this time. He said that it was going to be only six months." I spoke with a wide grin.

"Well, tell him I said hi." Nikhil said hooking his arm around my shoulders.

"Sure Nikki!" I lean into him as we walk to our buses.

I make it on time to my bus, but since I was early, I go with Nikhil to a shop that was nearby to get some snacks.

"The regular?" He asks me with raised eyebrows.

"Yes. But don't get the Doritos. Coke's enough." I confirm and I rummage inside my bag to find my wallet.

Once I've got the money I look up to see Nikhil heading to the cashier to pay for the both of us.

But I rush quickly and slam the money on the counter. Looking at this, Nikhil takes the money to put it into my bag. I quickly turn and run away from him before he could, a laugh bubbling up in my chest.

But it goes back inside when I found myself in the road, a car zooming towards me, honking rapidly. My eyes widen and my hands fly up to cover my ears bracing myself, but I was jerked forward by warm hands.