"Alankrita."
Alankrita breezily walked to the front of the class and took the sheet of paper Vilochana ma'am held in her hands. She smirked when she saw the large '10/10' scrawled across the top.
Ruhan prodded her shoulder the moment she sat down. She simply held her test up, and chuckled to herself when she heard Ruhan groan.
"Come on, you got full marks?! There's no way I can top that!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air and earning a disapproving glare from the teacher. Alankrita giggled at his apologetic look and said, "Your last mark was a three. Anything higher is good."
"Yeah, but for the last two months I've been under your expert guidance, so my hopes are high."
Alankrita huffed, "I'm just saying, don't expect a miracle. But I'm sure you've done well," she added when she saw his face fall.
"Ruhan."
Ruhan swallowed a gulp of air and shuffled to the teacher's desk she handed him his graded test, and Alankrita swore she saw the corners of her mouth twitch. Suddenly, Ruhan leapt into the air with a tremendous "YES!" grinning widely at the teacher as some students tittered nervously under the teacher's disapproving look. Alankrita rolled her eyes. Ruhan was an idiot, but he was a cute one.
Vilochana ma'am silenced the class with one steely glare, and said, "Good job, Ruhan. Very well done." Ruhan nodded a thanks and shuffled back to his seat, looking at Alankrita with an expression of pure shock. "Congratulations," she said, smiling at him.
"This is the first time in the last four months that she's spoken to me without yelling at me. I think I see a flying pig outside the window."
The rest of the period went smoothly, with the teacher handing out the tests and discussing the answers with the class. The bell rang and the students all stood up as the teacher left the room. Alankrita gathered her books and put them in her bag as her next period was P.E. She looked up and her eyes met Ruhan's, who leaned towards her and softly said, "Thank you," before he was herded away with his friends.
*****