Khusi's eyes wandered over the long rows of books as she tried to find one to spend her time. She had a period off but both Minaskshi and Zeenia had classes, so she decided to read something rather than spending 40 minutes lazily on her phone.
Over the last couple of weeks all three of them had bonded over pretty well. Though Khusi kept to herself most of the time, neither Minakshi nor Zeenia gave her a single chance to be alone when they were at the school, nor on weekends.
After the first encounter with Zeeniya in the market, neither of them had brought up the topic of that man ever.
Her eyes finally stopped on a book as soon as she saw the writer's name.
The Blue Umbrella.
Smiling softly, she took the book out of the shelf and went to the school cafe. Spotting an empty chair in a corner, she sat down, reminiscing her teen days when she used to read that book at least once every month. It was one of her favorite works by the famous author.
"Have you heard about Prachi? She hasn't been coming to school for the last 2 days." Khusi was deeply engrossed in the book, when a few whispers caught her attention.
Two male teachers were hanging around in the canteen, chatting with the school clerk.
"Really? Wasn't she the one who was very rebellious? I think she joined 6 months ago. Poor soul. I wonder what happened to her."
Their words caught Khusi's attention and she pushed herself on her feet walking up to them, curiosity bugging her brain. The moment they uttered 'poor soul' she realized something was wrong.
"Excuse me, what's the matter?" Khusi asked.
Their faces snapped towards Khusi and their eyes widened as if were caught doing something guilty. Shaking their heads, they walked away.
Khusi's eyebrows furrowed at the odd behavior but she didn't pay much heed to it.
She was just about to go back to her seat and start rereading the book when a voice called her out.
"Khusi!" Minakshi ran inside the canteen before realizing what blunder she had made. Shouting in the canteen was strictly prohibited.
"Oops sorry," she apologized, grimacing at the chef who was shooting her daggers.
"Vice principal sir is calling you," Minakshi informed, sitting down beside Khusi, peeking inside the book.
"Me?" Dread settled upon Khusi's chest. She was scared of going anywhere near the Principal's office. Unfortunately the Vice Principal's office was beside his.
"Yes, what are you reading?"
"Do you know why he is calling me?" Licking her lips nervously, Khusi slid the book towards Minakshi as she gazed at the pictures.
"No, but he had stopped Zini too, when we were on our way back towards the staff room. I don't know why."
"Alright."
With trepidations nipping her stomach Khusi made her towards the Vice principal room. Thankfully the principal sir wasn't in his room, so Khusi didn't have to face the scary man.
"Sir, you called me?" Khusi knocked on his door. Zeeniya was standing beside his chair as the man instructed Zeeniya.
"Yes Khusi. Come in."
As soon as Khusi entered, Zeeniya eyed her with pity. Khusi sensed something was wrong with the way the Vice-principal was rubbing his hands.
"What is it sir?" Thankfully that man was far less scarier than the principal so Khusi could talk to him without breaking a sweat.
"I got the information that you're quite good with handling kids, am I right?"
Khusi nodded, unsure of where his question was leading.
"I am already short of staff, as you might have seen, so I have a proposition for you."
Khusi had noticed that too. The school had over 2000 students in the primary section, but hardly 10 teachers. It got hectic a few times to handle so many kids. But that's not what caught Khusi's attention. It was the proposition part.
"Okay," Khusi drawled eyeing Zeeniya who blinked at her in reassurance.
"Nothing to be worried about. The class teacher of UKG isn't coming for a few days. We need a new teacher if she doesn't show up within the next week. As they're really small, it is difficult for my other staff to handle them. So I am suggesting you to take their classes."
Khusi's gaze winded at his words, and her eyes pricked. Pre-primary section? Was she getting another demotion?
"Before you jump to any conclusions, you're not getting any demotion. Consider it over time. We will be paying you extra too for taking their classes."
At his statement, Khusi sighed in relief. She couldn't take another blow in her career path. But taking up extra work ... she wasn't sure whether she could do that.
"But sir, I don't think I have a lot of time to take their classes. My schedule is pretty much packed up, except maybe one or two free periods per day. And ... "
Before Khusi could continue her ranting, the vice-principal held out his open palm which effectively shut her off.
"The Principal will take care of it and get you your new schedule. For now, go with Zeeniya and get familiar with the kids. They might be a little bit tough to handle," his words were sharp and screamed no-nonsense.
Reluctantly Khusi nodded and left the Vice-principal's office, her shoulders snagged down, with Zeeniya hot on her heels.
"Let me make two things clear to you before you meet the tiny devils," Zeeniya mentioned.
"What?" Khusi hated changes. It took her more than a week to get comfortable with her new students and the schedule. And there she was again, getting prepared to take classes of the pre-primary students.
"Never let them drag you down to their imaginary world. Take part in it but don't get too engrossed. You wouldn't even realise when you will get too involved and your 45 mins will be over," Zenniya advised, taking a lead on Khusi's gait and passing her.
"And the second?"
Zeeniya's steps halted and she turned back to gaze at Khusi, her eyes slightly narrowed.
"Don't try to interfere in their personal life too much. They will try to share about their parents and family, talking about the problems in their home. Don't take all of them to your heart. Some might be true but most of them are a part of their imagination."
At Zeeniya word, Khusi was nonplussed. "They could do that? Aren't they like 5 or 6?"
"Huh! You don't know, girl." Zeeniya shook her head as if she was talking from personal experience but Khusi didn't bother to ask anything else.
The pre primary section was located on the east side of the school premises, on a separate plot of land, detached from the primary section buildings.
Khusi's mouth fell apart as she gazed around her. The area was at the foot of a hill, covered in beautiful lush green vegetation, sitting in the lap of nature. There was a playground, a path to walk on and beyond the rides were the buildings.
"Wow," she whispered, amazed at the breathtaking view.
"Don't get dazzled. You would need to come here often," Zeeniya adviced, ignoring her surroundings, walking inside one building.
Khusi quickly shook her head and followed Zeeniya who walked with steady steps, and a confident gait. She knew her ways around that place.
"And then as soon as I glared at him, you know what he did ? He dropped his knife and started crying." A chirpy voice caught Khusi's attention as she stepped into the classroom behind Zeeniya. A tiny girl was standing on a bench, her hands resting on her hips as she animatedly recited an event to her classmates.
"Class, pay attention here." Zeeniya clapped her hand to alert them. All of their heads snapped towards Khusi and Zeeniya, when the little girl shrieked, jumping down from the bench.
"Zini ma'am!" The girl ran towards Zeeniya, her little body colliding with Zeeniya, a wide beam plastered on her face, a dimple popping out on her left cheek.
"Good Morning little monster. I can see that you're managing the class pretty well, huh?" Zeeniya chattered, her pitch considerably lighter.
"Yes, after all I am the monitor. I need to stop them from talking and making commotion."
Khusi's lip tipped upwards at her words. The girl looked comical with her hands on her hips, her posture taunt.
"And that's how you're managing it? By doing all the talking by yourself? Huh? You little monster," Zeeniya grabbed the teeny figure and ticked her. She broke into a fit of laughter, her eyes squinted in glee.
Zeeniya was still ticking her when the girl's eyes fell on Khusi and she swatted Zeeniya's shoulder, telling her to stop. Zeeniya pushed herself on her feet and turned her attention back to the children, who were eying Khusi with curiosity.
"Now, I want to introduce you to your new teacher, class. This is miss Khusi. She will be taking you classes from today."
The little girl stumbled towards Khusi and peered up at her through her lashes, extending her hand, a prominent birthmark catching Khusi's attention as it peeked from behind her hairline.
"Welcome Khusi miss. I am Yuti Mathur, the monitor of this class."
~ ••••• ~
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