Chapter 2: Chapter One

Typical Start Of A Day

I step inside the class and quickly take the registers kept on the teacher's table. I sit down on the first bench which is my seat and start filling the Assignment Register. After that, I open the Attendance Register to put tick marks beside the names of the students who are present.

I quickly take out a folder that is full of extra sheets I need to give to the absentees of yesterday and distribute it to them. I go towards the board and take a big chalk to write the date, day and time table on the board for the day. After I am done, I sit back at my seat and take out a book to read.

"Suman", I hear an excited voice and look up to see Naina, my best friend approaching me. I smile at her and she comes grinning, taking a seat beside me. As usual, she snatches my book to see what I am reading. Until, we are interrupted as a daily routine.

"I need your help today. Suman", Ms. Gupta, our class teacher, stands at the entrance and nods at me. She turns around and goes. I stand up to help her out.

"When does she not need her help?", Shravan, the backbencher and topper of our grade chuckles and does a high five with his friends who laugh at his lame comment. "As if she has a problem with it. Teacher's pet", his rumoured girlfriend Riya enters inside and smirks.

I feel upset at their jokes but ignore them. "Free people", Naina curses under her breath glaring at their direction. I give her an assured look and exit the class room to go into the staff room where the teachers stay. A big 'students not allowed' board hangs on the door.

I knock on the door and peek inside. Our mathematics teacher allows me in by nodding his head with a stern look on his face that is quite obvious. There is a thing which is believed. That is, Maths teachers are generally very serious.

Ms. Gupta hands me some practice worksheets and ready reckoners for a poem she is going to teach us today. Together they are a lot and I stumble backwards due to their heavy load. But then, feeling too embarrassed to actually tell her my problem, I exit the staff room.

She stops me and keeps one register too on the big bundle making my jaw drop. However, she goes back to the staff room as I gulp seeing everything that can fall any time. As if my words have a habit of coming true, the register does fall down but a hand holds it before it touches the floor making me sigh in relief.

I see Shravan getting up as he takes half of the sheets without saying anything. "It's ok", I tell him so that he keeps these back on my hands. I don't want more insults from his group. "It is not. Let me help you when you know that you need it", he says to me and goes forward.

I follow him and we enter the class as the whole class goes in a silent mode making me roll my eyes. He keeps the bundle on the table with the register and then I keep it beside his bundle. "I need something in return for this help", he says to me.

I feel the urge to say it was him who helped me even when I didn't ask for it but stopped. "Yes? ", I ask him. He avoids answering and goes to my seat. He opens my bag and takes out the registers. It's definitely to complete his work as he is missing much of his studies due to the upcoming match that will happen in another school.

He takes them and I shake my head. Naina gets up and we go to the library to spend another half an hour there. I take a biography book of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar to read and don't even realise when the time passes. "Suman. Let's go", Naina says to me standing up.

I frown seeing only half of the book completed but keep it back on the shelf. I go with her and we exit the library. We reach upstairs and are stopped by our physics teacher. "Suman dear. Please give these files to Mr. Singh. He must be in the basement", she tells me and I smile at her taking the files.

Naina goes back to the class while I go downstairs in the basement. I give the files to Mr. Singh and take the path leading to the isolated corridors of the school because of the crowd of children on the stairs. They will definitely make me miss my lectures.

I hum a song as I pass the various rooms but stop in front of one when I hear a voice. Am I imagining things? No. Because another cry comes out. Even if it is in a hushed voice. Due to the deadly silence surrounding this area, I hear this voice.

I go towards that door and keep my ears on it. It is indeed not my assumption. Someone is inside. Trapped in this locked room. "Hello", I knock on the door and step backwards hoping this is not some horror movie turning live when already enough crazy things are in my life as I am a tenth grader.

"Is anybody there?", I ask, gulping a little. The voice stops and I feel someone coming near the door on the other side. "Suman. It's me", the scared voice says from inside. I don't know why but this voice seems quite familiar.

I have heard it somewhere. But, where did I hear it? "You are...", I mumble. Then my eyes widen in realisation as I seem to recognise who this hushed voice belongs to. Which seems quite unbelievable right now. "Yes", he says.

"Shravan", I raise my voice in surprise.