Abhi spent the weekend doing pretty much nothing. In the meantime, her parents found out about the accident, and they were worried. Abhi did her best to avoid the parents as she felt guilty. So she was relieved when the weekends were over.
During the weekend, she conducted experiments and made important observations. Eating human food replenished her stamina, which was consumed when using divine power. Staying with her family also had similar effects. However, more experiments were required before reaching any conclusion.
Next Monday, when she went to school, she was the centre of attention.
This had a bit to do with the accident and a lot to do with her change in attitude. Alen started paying attention to her when she stopped sneaking glances at him. The teachers started paying attention to her when she started asking questions and stopped doing homework.
In simple words, the Abhi that used to follow all the rules strictly became a bad girl who didn't give a rat's ass about rules.
Sleeping in classes, questioning teachers, threatening other students, extortion, skipping private tuitions, and many more 'crimes' were added to her list. The rumours exaggerated everything, and in just a few days, she became the final boss of St. Mary's High School.
At least, that's was how Abhi felt.
But in reality, she was just a rebellious kid in the eyes of senior students. Only the students of her grade and lower grades paid any attention to her. Alen's attention on her came from his misunderstanding that she was a witch.
So when Abhi returned to school on Monday, she had a smug face.
She raised her chin and puffed her chest as she walked like a high-profile villain from the typical Indian serials.
"Do you have an upset stomach?" Arya asked unceremoniously.
"Can you just shut your mouth?" Abhi replied in irritation.
"What if I don't? Will you make my panties disappear?"
"... No."
"Can you do it if I keep quiet?"
"No. Why do you want that so badly?" Abhi was getting more and more annoyed.
"It's for educational purposes. I will buy you an ice cream if you exchange mine and Alen's." Arya tried to make a new deal.
"NO... How perverted are you?" Abhi's voice gradually rose.
"I am not. It is for educational purposes."
"Get lost, or I will humiliate you in public." Abhi roared.
"Really?..." Arya's eyes started sparkling.
Abhi sighed and smacked her forehead.
"I know you can't harm me. You can harm only those who want to harm you. Witch or not, you are still the old slimy Abhi." Arya pinched Abhi's cheeks before leaving.
Abhi felt helpless. What Arya said was true. She couldn't bring herself to harm Arya. In the worst case, she might pull her hair or punch her. But using divine power to harm her was another thing.
Time passed in the blink of an eye. Within a few hours, Abhi got scolded multiple times. She slept through half of the classes. In the end, it was the physical education period. This was something she liked about school. But at the same time, there were things she didn't like as well.
The boys were split into two groups. One of them went to play basketball while the other went to play football. The girls were split into multiple groups. Some of them were playing Badminton. Some were skipping with skipping ropes. Some were just chatting. But there was one exception.
Arya.
"Are you proud of what you look like?" The physical education coach was berating Arya.
"I don't care how I look."
"You may not. But I do. So go run five rounds."
"I don't want to," Arya replied.
"Hah! It is fine if you want to look like a fat pig for the rest of your life. I'm only trying to help you." The teacher sneered.
Arya's face was red from anger. She was being humiliated in front of her classmates. All the boys who were playing on the football ground heard it. But to her relief, no one laughed at her. In fact, the boys were staring daggers at the coach. Arya was everyone's friend. She was someone liked by everyone.
"Are you going to run or not? Do you have any self-respect left in you?" The teacher asked again.
Arya didn't reply. She ground her teeth and walked away.
"Don't do anything now." When she reached Abhi, she murmured in a low voice such that only Abhi could hear.
Abhi flinched. Just now, she was planning to teach the physical education teacher a lesson.
She just nodded and kept quiet. Once no one was around, Arya came to Abhi again.
"I will teach you how to use your power efficiently if you help me get revenge." Arya gave an offer.
"You are not even a witch. How can you teach me?" Abhi was a bit surprised.
"So you are indeed a witch. Hmm... That is true. I am not. But I think that there must be some methods for me to improve your efficiency."
"How?"
"Can you tell me the limitations on using your powers? I don't think you have infinite power."
"... Right. It roughly follows the rule of conservation of energy and mass. If I throw a stone using magic, it will consume the same amount of energy as throwing it physically." Abhi replied sincerely. She just didn't mention that the energy used was her divine power.
"Then I can help you. Your methods of using it are stupid." Arya replied excitedly.
"Why do I feel you spent the entire weekend thinking about this conversation?" Abhi asked suspiciously.
"Hihihi... I was thinking a lot and came up with some stuff. I also found that you changed after the accident. In fact, everyone knows it. But only a few know that you are a real witch. Everyone thinks that the rumours are exaggerated. At first, I too thought so."
"This is getting out of hand," Abhi murmured. By then, she had no idea what was happening around her. The school was a weird place. She became a witch without even realising it. But at the same time, no one believed it. Still, everyone treated her like a witch.
It was confusing.
"Just think about it: that day when you were handling Tina and her friends, you made their elastic old. Right? That must have consumed a bit of energy."
"Yes."
"But you could have just cut the stitching on the elastic, and it would have done similar damage. Remember, they were wearing skirts. They would have walked funny." Arya started giggling.
Abhi was shocked. What Arya said made perfect sense. She made the elastic older and it consumed a lot of energy. Cutting the elastic was far easier than that. That would have consumed far less energy.
Abhi nodded.
"So, just listen to me and I will teach you how to do it. In return, you will help me take revenge on Wednesday."
"What's special about Wednesday?"
"We have a morning assembly. Hihihi...." A burst of evil laughter came from Arya.
"Still, you need to watch your weight. It is not healthy if you...."
"I know. I know. I just didn't want him to talk to me like that." Arya murmured.
***
Two days passed.
It was Wednesday.
The morning assembly began with a prayer song and news reading. There was also the morning exercise led by the physical education teacher.
Abhi slowly turned around and looked at Arya.
A villainous smile appeared on Arya's face, and she nodded.
"1... 2... 3... ... 8... 8... 7... ... 2... 1" The physical education teacher started saying numbers as the students moved in an orderly fashion.
"Atteennntion.... Prrrr..."The physical education teacher screamed through the microphone, and it was followed by a muffled prrr sound.
Everyone froze for an instant.
Some students started snickering and looking left and right. The physical education teacher was confused about where the sound had come from. But he decided to ignore it and complete the routine.
"Exercise number 2."
"1... 2... prrr... 3... rr 4... rr..." The numbers and fart sound came one after another.
The entire school broke into a laugh. Even some teachers started laughing. As for the headmaster, he pretended to be angry while controlling his urge to laugh.
"Who... Who is doing it?" Finally, the physical education teacher could no longer control his anger, and he screamed through the microphone.
His anger only managed to increase the laughter of the students. They started laughing loudly.
But there were some who were not laughing.
The first one was Abhi. In confusion, she glanced around. The second one was Sherly. She was looking carefully at Abhi and frowning.
Abhi looked at Arya. Arya was laughing, and she secretly gave a thumbs-up. But Abhi shook her head.
What? Arya asked silently.
It's not me. Abhi signalled using her hands.
Arya froze for an instant. Then she burst into even louder laughter.
The previous day, Arya asked Abhi to make his crotch extremely itchy during the assembly. But Abhi was against this. Still, she agreed to do something. So when the fart sounds came through the microphone, Arya was excited. When Abhi said that it was not her, Arya thought that those were real, and it made her happier.
At the same time, Abhi was frowning. She looked around and found that Sherly was keeping an eye on her. So Abhi knew that it wasn't Sherly.
Abhi closed her eyes and probed using divine power.
In an instant, the entire courtyard of the school appeared in her mind.
There, she sensed the presence of a strand of foreign energy. Before she could study it, it was gone.
But just that tiny bit of leftover energy was enough for her to identify it.
"Dark power!" Abhi sucked in cold air. She looked around frantically to find the source of it. But it was gone without any evidence.
"Assembly dismissed. All of you return to your classes immediately." The principal announced with a grave face. He knew that trying to calm down the students was useless. He was cursing the physical education teacher in his mind.
"It wasn't me." The physical education teacher tried explaining to the headmaster.
"Come to my office. We will talk there."
***
There is an Asura in the school!
Unlike other Gods, she didn't have any prejudice against Asuras. She never joined the Gods in their war against Asura. This was something every God hated. But no one had the courage to complain to her. After all, she was one of the three strongest beings in the fourteen worlds and three realms.
Even though she was like that, she was still upset. It meant that there is an Asura in the middle world. Unless the other party is careful, it can cause trouble.
Abhi sighed. There was nothing she could do. On top of that, she had to be careful when using her power. She didn't want to be discovered by the Asura.
At the same time, Alen was sweating.
'Did she notice me? How can a mere witch sense my power? I am sure that she probed my dark power at that instant. If it wasn't for me reacting quickly, I would have been caught.'
'I have to investigate her further.'
That day, two news hit the students. The first one was that the physical education teacher quit. Many students were happy to hear it. The second news was the announcement of term exams. Not many were happy to hear it.
So, that was an eventful day for the entire school.
That evening, Alen decided to follow Abhi.
After the classes, Abhi went directly to her bicycle. As usual, she started pushing the bicycle instead of pedalling it.
On the way, she bought a pair of small sandals for the girl and two ice creams.
'She is too old for those sandals. Maybe she bought it for her sister.' Alen was confused as he secretly followed her.
He saw her rushing with the ice cream and the sandals. Then she took the shortcut and entered a less-used path. Alen was quite far behind Abhi, and he failed to sense divine power protecting the ice cream from melting.
"Maalaaa..." Abhi called aloud when she reached the tree. She felt a bit stupid.
There was no guarantee that the little girl would be near there. It must have been a coincidence that the little girl was there.
"BOO..."
"Eekk..." Abhi was startled.
She turned around to find the little girl standing there with an innocent smile.
"I scared you... Hi hi hi..." She giggled.
"Naughty..." Abhi caught her ear in a quick motion and pinched it.
"Ouch..." the little girl cried as she giggled.
A bit farther away, beyond a turn, Alen was hiding. He was sweating profusely. Just now, he clearly saw the little girl materialising from thin air. Abhi didn't see it. But Alen did.
'It's a ghost!...' He screamed inside his mind.