[Scene: Canteen of Trinity High School]
The aroma of delicious food filled the eating area, accompanied by the gossip noises of the students. Rakesh and Samir struggled to find a seat in the crowded space, their hands holding a bowl of noodles.
"Looks like we would have to eat standing.". Samir said while pointing at a long bench with no chairs.
"At least we will get a space for this bowl. Something is better than nothing," Rakesh said approving of Samir's idea.
Samir swiftly went across the canteen towards the long bench while Rakesh followed, but as fate would have it, they were stopped by four guys, well-built, giving off gang-member vibes.
Rakesh gritted his teeth as soon as he landed his sight on them.
"Hey, you look who we got here. The guy has a failure with daddy issues.". Said one of the four guys while leaning towards Rakesh.
Samir:
"You can't say-"
"It's fine, Samir, don't engage them.". Rakesh ignored the guys and went forward.
"Follow me, Samir."
"Too bad he chickened out of a fight.". The guy, who looked like the leader of the group, spoke idiomatically
Meanwhile, near the long bench, Samir stood confused because of what had happened, and then Rakesh spoke.
"They were my classmates, well, ex-classmates to be precise. People like them make me feel like it's a good thing I failed, two more years with them would've made me go crazy."
Rakesh placed his bowl on the table.
"Come on, put your bowl here too, what are you waiting for, and angel to feed you?"
Samir, caught off guard, awkwardly put his bowl down.
"But still, Rakesh getting held back and seeing all your friends moving ahead must suck."
Rakesh:
"I had no friends in that class to begin with though."
Samir's eyes widened.
"Eh? Why?"
"Everyone in that stupid class sucks, selfish and arrogant people, always pulling down others."
Both Rakesh and Samir took a sip of the soup mid-conversation.
"There are people like that in our class too. But only a few. An entire class of them? Changing class must've made you happy then."
Rakesh raised an eyebrow.
"Honestly, I was pretty depressed for a few days. I let my parents down by failing in the exams. They lost all hope in me "
Rakesh's voice cracked a little as the words came out of his mouth
"Good thing they have another son."
Samir was speechless. He couldn't come up with a quick reply. So what followed was a few long seconds of silence which wasn't awkward but respectful
[Scene: Late night Rakesh's home]
Rakesh was trying to sleep, but the loud music downstairs wasn't letting his ears rest.
Rakesh (internal)
"How long are they gonna let him do this?"
It was Rakesh's brother's birthday, the supposedly better of the two. The celebration was extravagant. For their household's economic standards.
Rakesh (internal):
"Not even a cake for my birthday and this much for him? Being bright has its own perks, I guess."
[Scene: Next day at school]
Samir and Rakesh again stood at the long table in the canteen, even though there were seats available this time.
"Man, you look sleepy." Samir casually remarked after a few words with Rakesh.
"Do I? It was my brother's birthday yesterday."
"So you stayed up all night partying?". Samir asked as soon as Rakesh finished his sentence.
Rakesh flinched at the fact that he actually wasn't even an active member of the party. He just ate and went back to his room. The reality that he was so distant in his brother's birthday party made him zone out for a moment.
"You here?". Samir blinked.
"Yeah..Yeah, I was at the party all night.". Rakesh replied after coming to his senses.