"You have to go near. Don't ask me, can't you understand that!" Sagarika said a little angrily.
Rishita was about to say something hesitantly but stopped when she saw Rukma.
Rukma said, "Hey, why is she here?"
"She says she wants to sit with us," Sagarika replied.
"Why are you suddenly getting close to us? What happened?" Rukma said, putting her arm around Rishita's shoulder and sitting beside her.
Rishita smiled softly and said, "I like you guys."
"Meaning?" Sagarika raised her eyebrows.
"You all are very daring. I want to be like that too." Hearing this, Rukma was about to say something when—
Just then, Ayan, who was coming from the opposite direction, bumped into them.
Sagarika glared and said, "Can't you walk properly? Do you walk with your eyes closed?"
"You walk with your eyes open first, that'll be enough," Ayan replied. He quickly ran, put his bag down, and hurried away again.
Sagarika stared in shock. How dare this boy!
"Sniju, come on, we're getting late. Prayer will start," Rukma called out. Sagarika quickly shook off her thoughts and ran.
After singing the national anthem, they stood in rows and went to their respective classes.
"Ayan is very good. I really like him. In class nine, we were in the same section. He's such a good boy…" Rukma interrupted Rishita and said, "Stop it. Why are you praising him so much? He's not that good at all—he's very arrogant."
"That's natural. Ayan is very good in studies. Besides, he plays cricket and chess really well." Hearing all the praise, Sagarika frowned. "How do you know so much?"
"You have to gather information. When you like someone, you have to know about them," Rishita said shyly.
"Like someone? What do you mean?" Rukma asked.
"Hey, stop it. We're not old enough to understand all this. We're still kids, minors. Stop talking nonsense," Rukma scolded.
"Okay fine, I'll be quiet," Rishita said and fell silent.
When the teacher entered the class, everyone, including Rishita, stood up together and said, "Good morning, Sir."
Subrata Sir asked everyone to sit and then called out the roll numbers.
Unlike yesterday, Sagarika didn't make any mistake today. She answered "Present" at the right time.
Still, she didn't get any peace. Subrata Sir called out, "The one on the last bench…"
"Wow, everyone clap loudly for this great achievement! You think I'm a fool, don't you, Sagarika? You're lying to me!"
"No, Sir."
"I know you didn't do your homework."
"No, I mean…"
"I told you two students per bench. Why are three of you sitting there? Come here."
"Me? This is my seat. Ask Rishita to get up."
"Your seat? Did you buy it? For how much? Quietly take your bag and come here right now!" At the teacher's scolding, Sagarika was forced to take her bag and stand in front of him.
"Sagarika, sit. You will sit here. I don't want to hear any objections," Subrata Sir said firmly.
Ayan tried one last time. "Sir, Himangshu will come tomorrow. Then his seat—"
"I'll arrange a seat for him too. Sit down, Ayan," Sir interrupted.
Since Ayan's request didn't work, Sagarika had to sit on the first bench beside Ayan.
After class ended, Subrata Sir left. Ayan said irritably, "Why do you even come to school if you don't want to study?"
"Hey, that's nonsense…"
The class monitor and Ayan's friend, Shatadru, along with Neha, came and sat beside him. Neha said, "You did the right thing by sending her away. There's no point in losing your prestige by sitting with such bad girls."
"It's Sir's fault. He made that girl sit in front," Shatadru said.
"Whatever. Let it go. I don't like these discussions at all. You guys go now, I'll study a bit," Ayan said. They agreed and left.
On the other side, when Sagarika returned to her seat, Rishita said, "You came back!"
"I won't sit with that boy. Not at all!" Sagarika said angrily.
To be continued…