Monday,12th September 2022
Sushant, Lizz, And Then A New Friend.
The morning began with an English lecture, followed by the chemistry class for the Radcliffe students, which meant we had an hour and forty-five minutes before the math doubt lecture.
The English lecture had plenty of discussions, mainly stories of Disha Mam's college, where she taught, and food.
"Yess!! I have tried the Vada Pav from Santosh.", she said.
"Ha mam, it's amazing," the students agreed.
"And how about that DJ Vada Pav?" Disha mam asked.
"Never tried it," I instantly answered.
Others rated it as an outstanding place. I had even heard of it since I was in school, that it was in front of Jalvayu Vihar. But I could never find it, even though I had been in that area many times.
And so the huge break of one hour and forty-five minutes after the English lecture served as an opportunity.
'Chal,' replied Sonali when asked to come along. Geeta was the one to guide us as we all walked towards Jalvayu Vihar. And as I saw myself standing in front of the famous DJ Vada Pav, I realized it was actually behind the main road—that's why I could never find it.
The pav had dry coconut chutney, and the vada's stuffing was equally dry..., made up the DJ vada pav. All of this cost 20 rupees, another note I was going to regret giving away. From there, Sonali left for home, saying, "Who's gonna sit in a doubt lecture with no doubts?"
The doubt lecture was still eighty minutes away, so Kirti and I walked back to the Kamdhenu commercial building.
Climbing up the staircase, I was looking at the system update on my phone, which had changed the control button colors to blue, which was fascinating. We saw three girls running towards the lift as we approached it.
"Aap logo ka konsa lecture hai?" I asked the short girl, who had almost fought with me during the Ganesh celebration.
"We don't have any lectures right now."
"Acha okay," I replied respectfully.
"Aap logo ka hai kya?" she questioned.
"Naah."
This was another aspect of how people reacted with time. This girl, whom I saw in the service lift so many times and almost fought with, was being kind that day. She appeared really cute, and her height reminded me of Aastha.
Hearing my reply, the girls entered the lift. I was still clueless about the remaining time when Kirti suggested that we should sit in room number 510 if it was empty. The second girl among the three of them was wearing a cropped denim jacket, straightened hair, and a black mask covering her face.
"She's Lizz," Kirti told me in the lift, adding that Lizz is nice to talk to and that she knows her. Keeping in mind that students of Radcliffe were still having their chemistry lecture in class 509, we directly approached the door of room 510.
I opened the door to see those three girls again, sitting and munching Kurkure and chips they had brought with them. I
quietly went and sat on the bench in front of them. Kirti was eating her tiffin, and the three girls were chatting.
"Why did you bring this flavor?" the short girl complained.
"Now I bought what I found," the other one justified.
"Is that the green chutney one?" I couldn't resist interrupting.
"Haa."
"Oh, sorry, I didn't offer you," the short girl apologized, offering me the packet.
"That's fine," I told her, taking some from the packet.
"Is that Galaxy J7?" I asked, looking at her phone.
"Yes."
"Ohh. I used it a lot. It broke this year when it slipped out of my hands. And then I got this one."
They were still chatting, and I was bored with Instagram. We were still an hour away from the doubt lecture. I needed something to talk about, but these three girls were busy among themselves.
And Then It Was Ramesh
The door opened, and a boy walked in.
"You people are still here?" he questioned, then came and sat on the same bench beside me. Healthy but also of a fine height, I recognized him from the morning's English lecture.
He was Ramesh.
"Aap logo ko 10th me kitne aaye?" I finally broke the ice by asking a question that 11th graders usually asked when they meet for the first time.
"Are, what kind of question is that, dude? Such a wrong one," the short girl complained again.
"Mujhe 94.5 aaye the," the third girl, who had hardly spoken, mentioned her marks with a wide smile.
"And I got 85," the short girl revealed.
"And you?" I asked the boy beside me.
"Me? Uh… 75."
They all had scored less than I did. I didn't want to tell them my score until one of them asked me,
"Aapko kitne aaye?" the 94.5% scorer asked me.
"I got 93 in ICSE."
"Wow," she reacted.
"Even you got 94.5 na?" The short girl appreciated her.
"Are, but he got in ICSE," she justified further.
"So, you all are from which school?"
DAV," the 94.5% scorer said.
"Achaa woh, 'Dangerous Adivasi Vidyalaya'," I commented.
The three of them laughed loudly, and that was the moment when we all started talking about various things.
"Dude, we all always sit at the back."
"Nah, I always sit at either of the first two benches," I said proudly.
"Mujhe Sushant ne bataya tha," amongst all of us saying something, I heard her. "...ki wo Tanish ke sath bethta hai," Lizz said. "Ha, he always sits with me," I nodded.
So, this was Lizz. The girl whom Sushant had waved at from across the road as we crossed Shilp Chowk.
That hour passed quite quickly, and the doubt lecture began. Sunny sir said that we could go to the library and study if we had no doubts, to which I readily agreed. I moved out and was surprised to see Sushant waiting for me outside.
"Taanish Bhai," he always called me in that way.
"That black-masked girl in the classroom was the one you waved a hand at that day?" I opened the topic of Lizz.
"Ha, she's from my school. And I regularly talk to her."
"Hmm."
"Means I tell her everything," he said, being sincere.
"So you told her about me, too, that I sat with you and all?" I grunted.
"Ha, see, you are my best friend," he said, putting his hand around my shoulder. "Means I know you the most here."
"Of course, of course."
********
Two days later, I received a suggestion for Naira's ID on Instagram. It was from her Instagram ID that I found out her name. I had seen it before but hadn't paid much attention. I sent her an Instagram request and then discovered Rushika's profile, the 94.5% scorer, and also Sanjana J, the lehenga girl whom I considered my senior.
sent both of them requests as well.
I found out that all three of them had accepted my follow request, and I received a follow request back from Naira and Rushika. Interestingly, the third one didn't follow me back. She had the name "s n j n a". She was the one Sanjana was told about, the lehenga girl from B1.
"Leave it, she probably has an attitude," I said to myself. She had around 350 followers on Instagram and followed about 348 people. I looked at her following list and saw all of them—Sushant, Prashant, and even him, whose name surprised me.
"Maybe she doesn't know what he says about her. Otherwise, she wouldn't let him hang around on her Instagram," I chuckled to myself.
It was more of a 'whatever' moment for me. It's her choice. Maybe she didn't know me, or maybe she had some attitude. But who even cares? I had many school friends and juniors who didn't follow me back, and she was just another one added to the list.
********
"I just saw her at the party that day, and that's when I felt an attraction."
"Who got attracted to whom?" I asked, placing my bag on the bench.
"You know Sanjana from B1?" a girl asked me.
"Oh, that B1 girl?"
"Yeah, she has a face like a duck... I saw it in her DP. So? You have a crush on her?" I turned towards Paresh.
"I did. Just for a day," he admitted.
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