The girls of Pratapnagar Girls' High School—and even some of the female teachers—could not accept one thing: the slightly excessive attention Anurag Sir paid to Sneha. The newly arrived young and handsome Chemistry teacher, Anurag Banerjee, checked on Sneha every single day, personally carried her bag at the beginning of class, and Sneha would go straight to his cabin the moment she arrived at school.
Whispers began to spread. Jealousy among the students was obvious. But the madams were no less vocal.
---
**Minakshi Madam** (in a worried tone):
"Have you seen what Anurag Sir is doing? Carrying a student's bag! If under the pretext of teaching he starts doing other things, the school's reputation will be ruined."
**Shilpa Madam**:
"And that girl goes to Anurag's cabin all alone! What audacity she has!"
**Malvika Madam**:
"We should go to the Headmistress. It's her responsibility to stop this."
---
Eventually, they went straight to Headmistress Shreyasi Sen.
**Malvika Madam**:
"Ma'am, we are very concerned about Anurag Sir's behavior. Can a teacher give such special attention to one single student?"
Shreyasi Ma'am listened to them in silence. Some of what they said was true; some of it was fabricated.
---
The next morning, Headmistress Mrs. Shreyasi Sen summoned Anurag Sir to her office.
**Headmistress Shreyasi Sen**:
"Anurag, are you aware that complaints have been made against you? They say you are giving special importance to a student named Sneha. You carry her bag after class, call her to your cabin. Is this reasonable behavior on your part?"
Anurag was mildly surprised. Yet his voice remained calm but firm.
**Anurag Sir**:
"Ma'am, I never imagined this would become an issue. I have truly done nothing wrong. I only wanted to take a little extra care of her. Sneha is an exceptionally brilliant student. She has a bright future ahead. Unfortunately, she suffers from hypoglycemia. As a teacher, I have taken responsibility for her well-being—for her own good."
**Headmistress**:
"But you must understand—in today's society, the relationship between teacher and student is not viewed simply. If you show so much concern, it should be for all students equally."
**Anurag Sir**:
"You are right, Ma'am. But I believe a teacher's first duty is to protect a student's health and talent. I have only tried to stand by her side. If my actions have been inappropriate, I will be more careful."
---
The Headmistress's room fell silent. Anurag's face was tense. Shreyasi Ma'am sat in her chair, looking at him with a mixture of fatigue and resolve.
**Headmistress Shreyasi** (in a stern voice):
"Anurag, I understand that you mean well for her. But there is a line between meaning well and how you express it. There are hundreds of girls in this school. Taking special responsibility for one in this way does not look right from the outside. You will no longer carry her bag. You will not call her to your cabin privately anymore. And you will maintain a certain distance from her."
**Anurag Sir** (in a low voice):
"Ma'am, if that is what you want, I will never carry her bag again. I won't call her to the cabin. But her academic care—"
**Headmistress** (cutting him off):
"No, Anurag—not even that. I want you to keep a defined distance from her. Teach her class, but no extra attention. The school environment is becoming disturbed. I do not want this kind of discussion to ruin a student's future or your career."
A long silence followed. Anurag Sir sat with his head bowed, deeply hurt. It felt as though something very precious was being taken away from him.
**Anurag Sir** (slowly):
"…Alright, Ma'am. I will follow your instructions."
He stood up. Before opening the door, he glanced back once—as if he wanted to say something more, but could not.
*************************
From that day onward, Anurag Sir never again called Sneha to his cabin.
He no longer picked up her bag the way he used to.
On his face was only one effort—to stay away from her, to pull their connection back to a safe distance.
But was it really that easy?
Even while trying, he could not ignore Sneha.
The sound of her cough, her tired eyes, the quiet way she sat—everything repeatedly disturbed his mind.
He tried to reason with himself, fought to suppress his feelings, but the more he fought, the more the mountain of emotions locked inside his chest threatened to burst open.
His love for Sneha, the unconscious habit of caring for her—all of it lived inside him like an unspoken confession.
He remained silent, but the feelings refused to stay quiet.
Sometimes, the suppressed love and care he felt for Sneha would explode in his heart, leaving everyone stunned and staring.
---
Six months later.
Anurag Sir was no longer the "new" teacher at school. He had become like everyone else. Yet the excitement and whispers about him among the students had not died down.
The school's First Summative results were declared. Once again, Aishika came first.
Aishika had once more topped the school, answering every girl's taunts with her performance. No one could take her place. Deep in her heart, she had studied for Anurag Sir—because she loved him. That was why she scored the highest in Chemistry.
But the real bombshell of the school was that Sneha had come second. She had the second-highest marks overall—and the highest in Chemistry after Aishika (only three marks behind). Sneha too had studied with love for Anurag Sir in her heart. She had wanted to surprise him by coming first. She had worked incredibly hard. But she couldn't take first place.
Strangely, almost every girl in the Science group had scored her highest marks in Chemistry. The effect of having such a handsome teacher—everyone paid attention.
Still, many could not accept Sneha coming second. Since Sneha never belonged to any of the student friend groups and no one wanted to include her, every group in the school was now discussing her with envy and spreading rumors.
The school's second-ranked girl, Madhurima, and third-ranked girl, Tanisha, were the ones speaking the worst about Sneha—because they had fallen behind her.
They said: "Does a girl like her even study? She doesn't look like a topper from any angle. She looks like the kind of girl who runs around with boys."
To be continued...