"I don't know why, but today the pressure feels too much," Roneet thought. "The stakes are high. If I mess up, Kiara will be sad… I need to do it."
"I… I'll continue from here," said Roneet.
"Roneet, can you be a little louder?" said Simran ma'am.
Inside, Roneet burned with irritation. Why does she always do this to me?
"I–I will continue from here," he repeated quickly, voice trembling.
Just do what Kiara told you, he reminded himself.
His hands were shaking, voice uneven, as he spoke too fast while presenting the slides.
From behind, Arnav and his group started laughing.
"Hahaha, damn it, he's so pathetic," Arnav whispered.
Even Nikhil smirked.
Kiara watched with frustration. "Tch…" she muttered under her breath.
Roneet stumbled on a word. "A–aa…" He froze.
"Why can't I remember?" he thought, panic flooding his chest.
"What are you doing? Speak!" shouted Kiara from behind.
"Can't you even present one single slide? Damn it!"
Roneet's pressure spiked. His breathing grew shallow.
"I explained everything so easily—just read the points!" she yelled again.
Roneet panicked. He began reading directly from the screen, eyes darting back at her.
"He can't even read…" thought Kiara, shaking her head.
Then it happened — one difficult word came up.
He mispronounced it completely.
What!? Kiara thought, eyes widening.
The class burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha, what did he just say?" Arnav shouted, holding his stomach.
Even Simran ma'am struggled to hide her smile.
Roneet stopped. Frozen.
"Hey, what happened? Finish it!" Kiara said sharply.
He couldn't. His throat was dry, his eyes lowered.
"Okay, enough," said Simran ma'am finally. "Kiara, come ahead."
Kiara stepped forward, avoiding Roneet's eyes. They stood side by side.
"I'm giving you both 12 marks," said Simran ma'am.
"Kiara, you performed well — you were outstanding. But you lacked teamwork. Instead of supporting him, you gave him more pressure."
"How is that my fault, ma'am?" said Kiara. "I explained the pointers clearly, I gave him the easier slides — if he can't even present three, how can that be on me?"
"Watch your tone," said Simran ma'am. "Accept your fault. I gave you the choice to pick your own partner."
"Tch… that was my biggest mistake," Kiara murmured under her breath, only Roneet heard.
"I even gave you a chance to present next week," continued Simran ma'am. "So yes, this one's on you. Accept it."
Then she turned to Roneet.
"And you, Roneet — you need to learn a lot. A lot. I honestly thought you wouldn't even open your mouth. But you did, and you tried your best."
"T-thank you, ma'am," Roneet said softly.
Kiara stood silently, jaw tight.
"But since you both presented today," said Simran ma'am, "I'll give you five extra marks. So your total is 17. That's the second-highest so far — I don't think anyone else will cross 15 in the next lecture."
The class gasped. "What!? That's not fair!" students shouted.
From the back, Nikhil stared at Kiara's frustrated face.
What happened now? You chose that loser, he thought bitterly.
Kiara still didn't look satisfied.
"M-ma'am, can I go to the washroom?" asked Roneet quietly.
"Yes, sure," said Simran ma'am.
Roneet walked out silently.
Kiara went to remove her laptop.
"Kiara, your PPT is beautiful," said Simran ma'am. "Can you send it to me later? I still don't understand how you made it so quickly."
"Yeah, it must be Kiara who made it," one guy said.
"She's perfect," added another.
Kiara looked up.
"Roneet made the PPT," she said simply.
The class went silent — shocked.
Kiara walked back toward her bench, laptop in hand. As she passed Kabir, he leaned back in his chair, a smug smile curling at his lips.
"Rough day?" he whispered just loud enough for her to hear.
Kiara's eyes flicked toward him — then away. She didn't answer. She just walked past, her jaw tight, and sat down on her bench without another word.
For the first time, the classroom noise felt too loud. The laughter, the whispers — all of it pressed against her ears like static.
She glanced once at the door where Roneet had left, then back at her blank laptop screen.
Roneet stood in the bathroom, staring at his reflection in the mirror. His hands were still trembling. He clasped one hand over the other, trying to steady it.
"Stop trembling… damn you… fucking loser," he muttered under his breath, tightening his grip.
His reflection stared back — pale, exhausted, ashamed.
"Even after she explained everything, I still fumbled," he said bitterly. "It's not her fault… it's mine."
Before he could think, his hand rose and struck his own cheek with a sharp slap. The sound echoed against the tiled walls.
"I don't deserve any sympathy," he whispered. "I brought this on myself. If I had just tried… if I'd started back in school… I wouldn't be suffering like this."
He raised his hand again, but froze as he heard the door creak open — footsteps entering the bathroom.
Roneet quickly turned on the tap, splashing cold water on his face. He wiped it dry with his sleeve, took a shaky breath, and walked out — his reflection fading in the mirror behind him.
Roneet entered the classroom where Simran ma'am was teaching.
"May I come in, ma'am?" he asked quietly.
"You may," said Simran, continuing her lecture.
Roneet walked to his bench and sat beside Kabir. Kabir glanced at him but said nothing.
After a few moments, Kabir broke the silence. "You've gone quiet again," he said. "And why's your right cheek so red?"
Roneet didn't reply. He just stared at his notebook.
A minute passed before Roneet finally spoke. "Kabir… can I really be like you one day? Is that even possible? Just tell me honestly."
Kabir turned his head slightly. "No. Not at all," he said flatly.
Roneet nodded slowly. "Thank you for not giving me false hope," he murmured.
Kabir smirked faintly. "It's not about you. No one can be like me," he said simply.
Roneet looked down again, his pen unmoving over the blank page. Kabir glanced at him once more, then looked away — uninterested.
The lecture finally ended.
"So, that's it for today," said Simran ma'am, closing her notebook. "We'll continue in the next class."
She paused, then added, "One more thing — about your internals. They'll be for thirty marks. You'll have to conduct a survey related to the topic you presented today. I expect at least sixty responses. The group members will remain the same."
"What?!" Kiara blurted out. "Ma'am, why can't we have different groups?"
Simran looked up. "I've already given you internal marks for this presentation. The next one is linked to it. If you change partners, you'll have to redo today's class activity and present again next week — but your marks will be capped at fifteen, no matter how good it is."
"But ma'am—" Kiara started, but Simran had already gathered her things and walked out.
Kiara sat down heavily, rubbing her forehead. Because of him, my grades will go down, she thought, frustrated. She rested her head on the desk.
Kabir leaned back in his chair, watching her. "She's a bit childish, don't you think?" he said casually.
Roneet shook his head. "No… she's right. Because of me, her marks might go down. I'm a burden to her."
Kabir shrugged. "I don't know what you're saying, but she is a bit much sometimes."
Roneet stood up suddenly.
"Where are you going?" Kabir asked.
"To apologize," Roneet said quietly.
He walked over to Kiara's bench. She didn't even look up as he stopped beside her.
"I-I'm sorry, Kiara… because of me—"
"Are you done?" Kiara cut him off sharply. "Then go."
Roneet's lips parted, but no words came out. "O-okay…" he murmured, and turned away, walking toward the door.
Kabir watched silently as Roneet left. The class slowly began to empty, filled with murmurs and side glances.
Kiara stayed seated, staring blankly at her table.
Suddenly, a hand rested on her shoulder.
She looked up — it was Nikhil. He leaned close, his voice low near her ear.
"You're the one who chose him over me," he said with a smirk. "Now see where that decision got you."
Her eyes narrowed, but he kept going.
"You've been rude to me since the beginning, Kiara. But my heart's big — I'm still ready to accept you in my group." He straightened up slightly. "We can present again next week. We'll get fifteen now, and thirty in the internals. Think about it."
Kiara's eyes twitched — part shock, part anger.
"I'm getting late. See ya," Nikhil said, making a playful call-me gesture as he walked out.
"Woooh!" some boys in the back cheered teasingly as he left.
"My number's on the class group," Nikhil added loudly, grinning before exiting with Arnav.
Kiara let out an irritated tch, shoving her laptop into her bag with sharp movements, her face tight with frustration.
Arnav, Nikhil and the boys strolled down the corridor, voices loud and dangerous.
"Hahaha — I wondered how we'd humiliate him today," Arnav said. "Turns out, he did it for us." He laughed, pleased with himself.
"Why so quiet today?" Arnav nudged Nikhil.
Nikhil's jaw tightened. "I'm going to shut him up today," he said low. "He shouldn't be messing with the girl I like."
Arnav snorted. "She grabbed his hand first. That's on her."
Nikhil's eyes flashed. "I'll teach her too once she's mine." He spat the words like a promise. "He had a choice — between us and her — and he chose her. He's not scared of us anymore."
"Then we beat him like a punching bag for an hour," Arnav suggested with a grin. "But not today though — I've got to go out."
Nikhil's face darkened. "I don't care. I'm going to kill him today," he said quietly but without hesitation. "I'll make sure his parents don't even recognise him."
Arnav laughed again, but the air between them had gone colder.
Roneet walked alone on the footpath, the school building shrinking behind him. She's angry with me, he thought, and the memory made his hands tremble more than anything else. I don't stand a chance with her, he told himself, staring at his own reflection in a parked car's mirror. "God, I wish I had a chance," he whispered.
A few steps on, a thin, mangy dog limped toward him, eyes pleading for food. Roneet dug into his wallet — only twenty rupees left. Instead of buying a ride home, he bought a biscuit and fed the dog, patting its head gently. The animal was old; it could barely see. He watched it eat and felt something like warmth for the first time that day.
He was straightening up when a hand gripped his shoulder.
Roneet froze. Panic flooded his chest.
He turned slowly — ready for whatever would come next.