Chapter 7
The results of my exams were smooth. I had gotten great marks and everyone was shocked at how a girl like me could get such good marks.
“You have to tell me your secret,” they would say.
Eighth grade hadn’t been easy but I had made through it. Now was my chance to prove that I could get through ninth grade too. I was walking up the sloping path towards the building of my high school. It wasn’t a new feeling any more. In fact, it just gave me the same old worn-out feeling.
As I entered the building, I saw a group of noisy, chattering kids gathering around a list that had been put up. Among those kids, were Leandra and Aanam. I drifted my gaze and spotted a thin lady with messy hair. She had a strong resemblance to Selena. Oh no! Her ghost is still haunting me, I thought.
“Hi Natasha,” A voice behind me said, catching my attention.
I turned around and saw Aaron, the cute ninth grader grinning at me.
“S…S…Sup!” I managed to blabber, folding my arms uncomfortably.
“So…in the ninth grade now huh?”
“Uh...yeah!”
“Well, take it from an experienced ninth grader, its gonna be hard for you.”
“Hmm”
“Umm…I heard many guys have asked you out and you have said no.” I could hear a bit of hesitation and nervousness in his voice.
“I don’t want to say yes to any random guy, you know.”
“Am I one of the random guys?” He asked in the cutest way…in a way that no one could say no.
I looked at him, trying to make my best attempt not to look shocked. I wanted to hug him tight and thank him for making it so much easier for me!
“I don’t think so.” I smiled, trying to look calm but inside I was ecstatic. I was bubbling with excitement and trust me, keeping a straight face at that time, was probably the hardest tasks of my life.
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I was sitting in class, sleeping with my head on the messy desk. The class was in pin drop silence. All that could be heard was the fan and Selena’s voice booming into my ears. Yes, Selena! If I haven’t mentioned before, Selena had been promoted here and just when you can’t think life can get any worse, she’s teaching us history, the most boring subject in the history of the world. I mean, who the heck would promote a teacher with the IQ of a peanut to high school! I looked around and spotted Leandra taking down notes. It wasn’t a good time to disturb her. Remember this, disrupting Leandra and her notes can get you in serious trouble.
I opened my note book and tore a piece of paper and wrote in the shabbiest handwriting:
"Sup! You going to the red and gold ball??"
I looked around to see who was the closest to me. It was Tina. Stealthily, I passed it on to her, making sure Selena hadn’t noticed.
Sooner than I had expected, Tina threw a chit write back at me. On the piece of paper, in neat handwriting, contrasting greatly with mine, she had written:
“Don’t think so…no date !!!!”
I wrote a reply to her and just when I was passing it, Selena opened her mouth, which was believed to never have said something pleasant. Who was I kidding? I couldn’t get through this.
“Miss Natasha! This is a class room, NOT a playground.”
Yeah, like we pass chits on the playground, I thought.
“Both of you, out of my sight, now!”
How I wish, I could say that to her. Shamelessly I got up and dragged my feet towards the door. I wore an expression of embarrassment but inside my heart was leaping and dancing and even singing in the most out-of-tune way. So much to get out of a class!
We both were outside the class, leaning against the rough wall and far away from the world of silly kings who thought they had done great jobs by surviving wars. They couldn’t survive our high school for even one week.
“Oh my gosh! That was so embarrassing.” Tina’s shrill voice rang in my ears.
“Yeah yeah. Whatever. So what about the ball.” I said, totally cutting her off.
“Umm…I don’t really know. What about you? Going with Jared?”
“What makes you think that?” I quizzed, honestly confused.
“You know, He’s the only guy we’ve ever seen you so close with so…”
“Whoa whoa whoa! Jared’s just a good friend. I am going with Aaron,” I felt a sense of pride when I said this.
“Oh! Since when did that happen?”
“Never mind.” I blushed, slightly. “You don’t have any date?”
“Not really. I asked a couple of guys but they want to try their luck with Aanam since Josh isn’t in the school anymore.” She said, slightly humiliated.
Tina had always been beaten by Aanam in the “boys” field. First, Tina liked Josh but Aanam got him and now, the boys liked Aanam so Tina didn’t have dates. Poor girl! But she is a sweet girl who held no grudges against anybody. She still maintained to have a good relation with all of us.
“As a friend, Natasha, I’ll tell you something,” She began, with seriousness written all over her voice. “Aanam has changed a lot.”
I looked at her, surprised. Not because of what she had said but because I had thought the same thing. Aanam had always been my best friend but these days there was something going on with her. She was simply getting us involved in vague arguments and drifting apart from me and Leandra. I never talked about it to Leandra or Aanam…or anyone. This was the first time some one had shared the same view about Aanam with me.
“She has become a bit of an attention seeker, you know what I mean?” Tina spoke the words as I wandered into my own thoughts about Aanam.
like this. 