Everyone's eyes were on me while I was talking with Ayushi.
For a moment, I thought maybe I should stop talking to her.
People here loved making stories out of nothing.
And I didn't want her name getting dragged into those rumors too.
So I quickly changed the topic.
"I still have to finish my coaching homework," I said.
She simply said,
"Okay."
I moved to another desk and pretended to write something in my notebook.
That's when the person sitting behind me said,
"Hey, you… you're from Section D, right?
So that means you know Shibu?"
I turned slightly toward him.
"Yeah, I know him.
But why are you asking?"
He looked at me with disgust.
"You scum.
I'm the one asking questions here.
Stay in your limits, otherwise you'll regret it."
For a moment, I felt everyone's attention shifting toward us again.
But I didn't want to become the center of attention anymore.
So I just ignored him.
"Teacher, can I go to the restroom?" I asked.
After getting permission, I walked out of the classroom.
When I entered the restroom, a few of my previous classmates were already there.
We exchanged a few casual talks, and after a while, Shibu entered too.
"Hey, Shibu, how are you doing?" I asked.
"As usual," he replied casually.
"Just chilling, that's all."
"Someone in my class was asking about you," I said.
Shibu looked at me curiously.
"What's his name?"
"Maybe Suraj," I replied.
"He has dark skin. Do you know him?"
Shibu immediately nodded.
"Yeah, I know him."
"Are you two good friends?" I asked.
"Nah," Shibu said with a laugh.
"He's way too clingy.
Whenever he gets into trouble, he expects me to clean up his mess."
"He tried to threaten me in class," I said.
The moment I said that, all the classmates present there lost their cool.
They were ready to beat that guy up, but I stopped them.
"I don't want to create another mess right now," I said.
"I'll sort this out by talking to him.
And I don't want to repeat the same mistakes I made in the past."
After hearing that, they finally calmed down.
So I headed back toward my classroom.
As soon as I entered, the period bell rang.
The next class was PT.
Everyone started heading toward the ground.
I was never really interested in PT classes, so I usually sat alone under the shade of a tree.
And today was no different.
I was sitting at my usual spot when Ayushi suddenly walked toward me.
"Your sketching is really good," she said.
I looked at her with slight surprise.
"How do you know that?"
"When you went to the restroom, I tried to see which subject you were studying," she replied.
"But why?" I asked.
She ignored my question and smiled faintly.
"Your sketching isn't the only thing that caught my attention."
I looked at her quietly.
"Then what else did you notice?"
She looked directly into my eyes.
"You're a really good liar."
There was an unusual anger on her face.
Before I could say anything, she suddenly called the other girls.
"Look, we've got an artist in our class."
Everyone started praising my sketches.
But somehow, the expression on Ayushi's face bothered me more than their compliments made me happy.
And after that, she ignored me for the rest of the classes.
School ended.
And eventually, I reached home.
There was so much happening at school that I felt completely exhausted.
So after reaching home, I took a nap.
Suddenly, the alarm rang.
I looked at the clock.
It was already 3:30 PM, and my coaching class started at 4:30.
So I quickly ate something and rushed out of the house.
Even though I still had enough time, I was still running through the streets.
The reason was simple.
I wanted to be the first person to reach coaching… just so I could see Nikita.
So I took a shortcut.
After a few minutes, I finally reached the coaching center.
But I thought maybe I was still late, so I decided to check upstairs first to see whether she had already arrived or not.
I checked every classroom.
She wasn't there.
So I started walking downstairs again.
And just when I reached the entrance, I saw her.
Her father had dropped her off on his bike.
I still clearly remember it.
She was wearing a green suit that day.
For some reason, I immediately pretended that I was going outside.
Then I quietly sat on one of the bikes parked nearby.
Nikita was standing near the entrance with her friend.
It's true that I was trying to distance myself from her.
But no matter how hard I tried, I still couldn't stop myself from admiring her.
I kept looking at her.
"And slowly, I started regretting my decision again."
Because she was looking at me too.
But sometimes, we have to live with regrets so the people we love can live peacefully.
So I broke the eye contact between us.
Later that night, I quietly took out a blue diary from my bag.
I wrote a few lines in it.
And then placed it back inside the bag again.