Chapter 5
A week passed by. High school was no more the perfect fantasized dream I thought it was. Home work was piling up, the pressure of getting boyfriends was increasing and teachers were stricter. In fact anything I ever did was wrong according to the teachers and when some one else did the same thing, it was excused somehow or the other. In short, it was a nightmare where everyone was trying to pull me down except, of course, Aanam and Leandra.
I sat in my geography class, while the teacher blabbered something about tectonic plates. My thoughts ran back to that morning when Leandra had broken to me, the most shocking news of the century.
“Shocked?” Aanam had asked, the dimple n her right cheek appearing as usual.
“Of course!” I replied.
Leandra just stood there, watching the silence between us. None of us said a word but our eyes and expressions said numerous things to each other.
Aanam’s look told me, “now don’t look at me like that. So I fell in love, sue me!”
Leandra’s face clearly said “What is so shocking? He is not a bad guy, you know.”
And my expression clearly stated “But why did it have to be Josh?”
What got me out of this thought was Jared’s chit. It read:
“So??? Aanam found Josh…you got anyone??”
Wow! Rumors sure did spread fast in our school. Two hours ago, Aanam tells me something confidentially and the next, some sneaky eavesdropper transfers the news to Jared. I fished a pen from my pouch. Seriously, the only time I ever used this pen was when I had to write chits or doodle hearts on my note book.
I scribbled in a handwriting that resembled scrambled eggs:
“What the hell are you talking bout??? Josh?? From where did Josh come in the scene?” And very smartly, changing the topic, “Btw, did you learn for that big test thingy we’re supposed to have?”
His reply was quick:
“AHH! Shabeen doesn’t like josh! Oh my god! Oh my lord! Don’t think you can lie to me man. Baba…I know everything!!!”
That was typical Jared language and he did a pretty fair job of translating it on paper.
I looked at Aanam, who was clueless, sitting right next to me.
“You told Jared? Dumb girl.” I whispered.
“Err...Kinda. He was forcing me.” She replied, not failing to show her teeth.
“Don’t you know what a gossip monger that guy is?” I whispered, in a whisper which is a whisper and a shout at the same time.
All she managed was a dumb smile.
I slapped my hands against my forehead; this love story wasn’t going to go too far.
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Oh! How wrong I was that day. I was sitting in my class after lunch, clueless of the things that were going on in the library without my knowledge.
The teacher announced that a surprise Hindi test and everybody started moaning. As everyone would have expected me to, I didn’t, because I had something else in my mind- Jared and Aanam were missing. Probably they were bunking, not what bothered me. What made me restless was the fact that Aanam didn’t invite me for the bunk plan. We were bunking partners, how could she forget?
The test began, papers were passed and whispers were heard. I looked at the paper blankly. It was quite evident that these papers were carefully examined and approved by the UOMLH (Universal organization of making kids’ life hell). Aanam was a Muslim, so obviously she was good in Hindi. Seeing that she wasn’t present in class, I opened my note book and wrote two questions on the first page.
“Psst…Tishaa…Psst…” I whispered.
She looked at me from the corner of her eye. I motioned my hands, pointing to my book. She saw if the teacher was around and swiftly snatched the book from my hand even before I realized it.
After scribbling something on it for a while, she passed it back to me. I saw the teacher taking her rounds. I held the book in my hand but the minute I saw her walking towards me, my hands started shaking and the book fell off my hands. Picking it up was an option, but at times like these your brain stops working just to make the effect of it even worse.
She walked over to me and picked up the book.
SHIT!!!!!!!!!!! Wait, wait. I don’t have to panic. Maybe she’ll just keep the book on my desk and walk off, I reassured myself.
She flipped the pages and I didn’t know why but she found the first page the most interesting part. Her face became even more serious.
I looked down at my paper and pretended to write down something while I actually drew crooked lines. My heart was beating rapidly and my throat had frozen. I knew playing “innocent” wasn’t going to work. I knew it was over. I just knew it!
Tishaa was equally nervous. She was looking at the back with one eye, cracking her knuckles anxiously.
My teacher made an irritated expression. Oh hell! I just wished for one thing at that time. I wished I could rewind this whole thing.
My teacher opened her mouth and uttered those memorable words in Hindi, “kiska book hai? Naam bhi nahi likhaan!, Whose book is this? And why isn’t the name written?”
I was shocked at her dumbness. She was holding a book which the students were using as a medium of cheating and staring right at that page but all she was bothered about was the name! Man, she was stupid. Tishaa gave me a sly smile and I almost burst out laughing.
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“You don’t know what happened during Hindi today?” I laughed, catching up with Aanam outside the library.
“And you don’t know, too!” She gave a suspenseful smile.
“What?”
“Josh,” she squealed excitedly.
Her smile said it all, it didn’t even need any kind of explanation. “What? How? When? So fast?”
“Its me who did it, baba. I am the mastermind behind it.” Jared walked from the library, giving me a mischievous smile.
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