#PointOfView Avni(Shree)
Kolkata always looked beautiful from a distance.
From far away, it was all glowing streetlights, old buildings, yellow taxis, crowded roads and the endless sound of a city that never truly slept.
Beautiful.
Alive.
Normal.
But I knew better.
Every city had two faces.
One it showed the world.
And one it hid behind locked doors.
I pulled my bag closer and stood outside the tall iron gates of St. Alaric's Senior Secondary School.
Students walked past me in groups.
Some were laughing.
Some were arguing about exams.
A few were discussing weekend plans.
And, of course, some were already talking about crushes.
I almost smiled.
Normal lives.
I hadn't had one of those in years.
My fingers slipped into the pocket of my jacket, touching the folded admission letter inside.
I didn't need to look at it.
I already knew every word.
Shree Malhotra.
Grade 12.
Transfer student.
That was the name everyone here would know.
Not Avni Lahiri.
Never Avni Lahiri.
That name belonged to a girl the world believed was dead.
A girl whose existence had been erased.
A girl who had disappeared for a reason.
I had spent years making sure nobody could find me.
And now...
I was voluntarily walking into the one place where I might finally find the truth.
I looked up at the school building.
Tall.
Elegant.
Perfect.
Almost too perfect.
My eyes travelled to the highest floor.
Behind those dark glass windows was the office of the man who ran this place.
Victor Vardan.
The principal.
The respected genius.
The man everyone admired.
The man I knew differently.
My jaw tightened.
Monster.
That was what he was.
And one day, he was going to remember exactly who I was.
I lowered my voice.
"You don't even know who's walking into your world."
Then I walked through the gates.
---
The receptionist barely looked up.
"Name?"
My heartbeat didn't change.
"Shree Malhotra."
The lie came easily.
Too easily.
She checked the papers.
"New admission?"
"Yes."
She nodded and handed me a few forms.
"Sign here."
I picked up the pen.
For a second, I stared at the blank line.
Name: Shree Malhotra.
I signed.
There.
Another piece of my real identity buried under a fake one.
The receptionist gave me my schedule and pointed down the hallway.
"Class 12-A. Second floor."
"Thank you."
I turned away.
The moment I stepped into the hallway, my expression changed.
The school looked exactly how a prestigious institution was supposed to look.
Awards.
Certificates.
Photographs of toppers.
Trophies.
Perfect students smiling from framed pictures.
Everything screamed excellence.
I stopped beside one of the photographs.
So many achievements.
So many smiling faces.
And yet...
Something felt wrong.
A school this obsessed with perfection always had something to hide.
I continued walking.
Second floor.
Camera.
Two exits.
Staircase.
Another camera.
I memorized everything without thinking.
One exit led towards the main corridor.
Another towards the back staircase.
There was a blind spot near the corner.
I noticed it immediately.
Old habits.
I didn't choose them.
They had simply become part of me.
I reached the classroom.
12-A.
I stood outside the door.
For a moment, I didn't move.
This was it.
The beginning.
Not just school.
Not just pretending.
This was the first step.
The first step toward finding the truth.
And revenge.
I took a breath.
Then opened the door.
---
Twenty pairs of eyes turned towards me.
The classroom fell silent.
I suddenly became very aware of the fact that I was the newest person in the room.
The teacher looked up.
"Yes?"
"I'm the new student."
I straightened my back.
"Shree Malhotra."
The teacher smiled.
"Oh! Come in. Everyone, welcome Shree."
A few students smiled.
Some whispered.
Others simply stared.
I walked towards the empty seat near the window.
With every step, I could feel their eyes following me.
I sat down and placed my bag beside the desk.
Then I looked outside the window.
The school grounds looked peaceful.
Almost innocent.
But something inside me refused to believe it.
I had come here for answers.
I wasn't going to leave without them.
I rested my chin lightly against my hand.
Stay calm.
Observe.
Don't trust.
Simple rules.
Rules that had kept me alive.
The bell rang.
The teacher began speaking.
I tried to listen.
But something caught my attention.
A strange shift in the classroom.
Whispers.
Excitement.
I looked towards the door.
It opened.
A boy walked in.
He wasn't trying to attract attention.
He didn't need to.
He carried himself with the calm confidence of someone who had never needed to prove his importance.
Neat uniform.
Perfect posture.
Sharp eyes.
The teacher immediately smiled.
"Class, you're all familiar with him."
The boy stopped near the teacher's desk.
"This is our school topper."
A few girls exchanged looks.
The teacher continued.
"Please welcome Abeer Sen."
A ripple moved through the room.
Abeer Sen.
Apparently, his name was enough to change the atmosphere.
I watched him carefully.
He didn't react.
No smile.
No wave.
Nothing.
He simply stood there as though the attention didn't matter.
The teacher pointed towards the seats.
"You can take your usual place."
Abeer looked around.
Then his eyes moved towards the only empty seat.
Mine.
He walked towards me.
I didn't move.
He stopped beside the desk.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he sat down.
Beside me.
I could feel several eyes burning into the back of my head.
Especially one.
I glanced towards the front row.
Richa Valdan.
Her expression had changed.
Her fingers were tightly curled around her pen.
Interesting.
I looked back at Abeer.
He opened his notebook.
Nothing about him seemed particularly friendly.
Calm.
Distant.
Unreadable.
I turned slightly towards him.
Our eyes met.
His gaze was sharp.
Not curious.
Not impressed.
It felt almost as though he was trying to figure me out.
"You're new," he said quietly.
I nodded.
"Shree."
He looked at me for another second.
Then looked away.
That was it.
No introduction.
No unnecessary conversation.
I almost smiled.
Interesting.
Around us, the classroom had already started whispering.
Girls were talking.
Someone had pulled out a phone.
Another student was staring at Abeer as though he'd just walked into a movie.
Abeer ignored all of it.
Or pretended to.
I looked towards Richa again.
She was staring at me.
Not at Abeer.
At me.
And suddenly, I understood something.
I hadn't even been here for an hour.
Yet somehow...
I had already stepped into someone's territory.
I leaned back in my chair.
Great.
Exactly what I needed.
The teacher continued the lesson.
But I wasn't really listening anymore.
I looked around the classroom.
The students.
The cameras outside.
The principal's office somewhere above us.
Abeer beside me.
Richa watching me.
Everything felt connected.
Like pieces of a puzzle I couldn't see yet.
I had come here believing my biggest problem would be hiding my identity.
I was beginning to realize that wasn't going to be the hard part.
The hard part would be discovering who else was hiding theirs.
---
The bell rang for lunch.
The classroom immediately came alive.
Students stood, talked, laughed and rushed outside.
I packed my things slowly.
I didn't like crowds.
Crowds made observation harder.
Still, I followed everyone towards the cafeteria.
The noise hit me immediately.
Students everywhere.
Tables filled with groups.
Laughter.
Arguments.
Food.
Phones.
Normal teenage chaos.
For a moment, I almost felt like I belonged.
Almost.
I found a quieter table and sat down.
I opened my lunch.
Then I noticed someone standing nearby.
I didn't have to look up to know who it was.
Richa.
Her friends stood behind her.
She looked at me.
Then at the seat beside me.
Then back at me.
I waited.
She smiled.
It wasn't a friendly smile.
"So..."
Her voice was sweet.
Too sweet.
"You're the new girl."
I closed my lunchbox.
"Apparently."
One of her friends laughed.
Richa's eyes narrowed slightly.
"You seem very confident."
"I've been told."
She stepped closer.
"You should be careful."
I tilted my head.
"About what?"
"About where you sit."
I looked around.
Then back at her.
"It's a chair."
A few students nearby laughed.
Richa's smile disappeared.
For a second.
Only a second.
Then she leaned closer.
"You don't know how things work here."
I stood.
"Then I suppose I'll learn."
Her eyes hardened.
"Maybe you should learn quickly."
I held her gaze.
"I usually do."
Neither of us moved.
Then someone called Richa from across the cafeteria.
She stepped back.
"This isn't over."
I picked up my lunchbox.
"I didn't think it was."
She walked away.
I watched her go.
Then looked towards the upper floor.
Victor's office.
Something told me this school had far more problems than one angry girl.
And I had only just arrived.
---
Back in the classroom, I sat near the window again.
Ira approached me quietly.
"Shree?"
I looked up.
"Yeah?"
She glanced around before sitting beside me.
"You should be careful with Richa."
I smiled faintly.
"Everyone keeps telling me that."
"Because it's true."
Ira lowered her voice.
"Richa doesn't like people who don't bow to her."
I looked towards the front row.
"And what happens to people who don't?"
Ira hesitated.
"They don't last."
I studied her face.
She wasn't joking.
"That's supposed to scare me?"
"Yes."
I leaned back.
"It didn't."
Ira looked at me for a moment.
"You're strange."
"Maybe."
I smiled.
"Or maybe I'm just not scared of the right things."
She didn't answer.
Neither did I.
Because there were things far more frightening than Richa Valdan.
Secrets.
Lies.
The past.
And the man sitting somewhere above us who believed he had buried all of them.
---
The final bell rang.
Students began leaving.
I stayed seated for a moment.
The classroom slowly emptied.
Abeer packed his books.
Before leaving, he glanced at me.
"You really are new."
I looked at him.
"Is that a question?"
He shook his head.
"No."
Then he left.
I watched him disappear through the doorway.
I didn't know why, but something about him bothered me.
Not because he had done anything wrong.
Because he noticed things.
And people who noticed too much could become dangerous.
I stood and picked up my bag.
As I walked out, I looked towards the highest floor one last time.
Victor's office.
Dark glass.
Closed door.
A secret waiting behind it.
I smiled faintly.
He thought his past was buried.
He thought Avni Lahiri was gone.
He thought nobody would ever return to expose the truth.
He was wrong.
I had returned.
And I wasn't there to make friends.
I was there to find out what happened.
To uncover every secret.
To understand why my family had been destroyed.
And eventually...
To make sure Victor Vardan remembered my name.
Not Shree Malhotra.
Not the transfer student.
Not the quiet girl sitting beside the window.
Avni Lahiri.
The girl he thought was dead.
The girl who had just walked into his school.
And this time...
I wasn't running away.
I was coming for the truth.
The first day was over.
But the war had only just begun.