Chapter 1
"Is that all?"
The three boys standing in front of him nodded sheepishly and avoided his eyes. But he kept looking at them. One of them dared to look back at him and he just motioned them to go away. Without wasting another moment, the three of them dispersed and walked away from him as fast as they could.
KD sighed and massaged his temple lightly. Things got annoying once in a while. It was true that he could do anything for money as long as they didn't go against his rules. But doing the same thing over and over again? Those stupid students could just never learn to be discreet with their banned stuff. More often than not, they got caught and after laying low for a few days to avoid attention, they came back crawling to him to solve their problems. It was good for him as he could charge them more but it was tiring nonetheless.
Sighing, he leaned back against the tree and looked around at the ground. Royal Academy was still full of its colorful students. Rich and arrogant mixed with simple and down to earth. It really was a circus here. He had loathed the school at first mainly because of the attitude of the students here but slowly he had learned to manage. After all to win some you have to lose some.
Randomly, his eyes rested on the girl sitting on the stairs at the far end of the ground. He crossed his arms, an amused smile on his lips as he watched her writing on her notebook. One hand holding the pen and the other holding her hair which were flying as the wind touched her face. There was an annoyed concentrated look on her face which he knew only came when she was frustrated at the turn of events. Sure, he didn't talk to her or even looked at her in front of everyone but there was a thing called "silent observation" in which he was an expert in.
Minutes passed but he didn't move. He just stood there looking at her silently, his face graced with a rare smile which deepened at some memory of three years ago.
"New student?"
The first words she had said to him, the first genuinely kind words he had heard in the school full of rich and pompous. He had been surprised by her. The short, chubby girl, grasping her the strap of her bad in one hand and a chocolate in another. She was different from all those super-model kind of girls he had been seeing since the moment he had entered into Royal Academy. She was looking at him curiously and he was taken aback by her frank kindness. Simple and sweet, that were the first words that came into his mind about her during their first conversation. Now that he thought about it, it wasn't even a conversation. She had done all the talking and he had just stood there and replying with single word answers.
She stopped writing and looked up. Then down in her copy and shook her head. Biting the end of the pen, her eyes widened as she saw her copy in disbelief. A broad smile appeared on her face and she quickly scribbled something more before putting down her pen and applauding shortly.
"Maths." He shook his head and chuckled as the air of celebration surrounded her. She must've solved a difficult question, he figured. Solving questions without anyone's help always made her surprised like this. She wasn't made for maths, she had admitted once and he had agreed. She was more of an arts person, the only one he feared would beat him in English. But she never did. Maybe it was because he was always one step ahead or maybe because she never tried, he wasn't sure.
"Pata hai, mujhe maths ke baare mein nightmares aate hain. So scary."
She packed her things and stretched her legs and relaxed her stiff posture. Now that she was relieved, she casually looked around the ground, humming while she did so. And just as casually, she caught his eyes.
He was still looking at her.
Seeing a familiar face, another smile appeared on her face. A smile of happiness and success. And without saying anything, he understood it. Silently, standing a far from her, he clapped in appreciation. Her smile turned into a small laugh and she mouthed a thank you to him. He smiled in return and broke the eye lock to look at sideways. When his gaze returned to her, she wasn't alone.
Ranveer crouched behind Panchi, holding her by the shoulders. She was talking to him excitedly, probably telling him about her recent success. He was nodding mischievously. Above the noise, KD couldn't listen what he said but Panchi's annoyed expression told him that Ranveer had again made a teasing remark. She shrugged off his hands from her shoulder and turned her face angrily. He laughed and sat beside her. In a moment, both of them were laughing.
The traces of the rare smile disappeared from his face. The usual grim and serious expression made its way on his face. Shrugging, he walked away from his spot and into the school, leaving behind the two best friends.
"Hey Panchi, stay away from this loser."
"Ranveer, aisa nahin kehte! Keshav, he didn't mean it."
"Oh please, I did mean it. Now let's go."
Panchi listened to Ranveer as he recalled a recent event that had happened. Her ears were listening to what he said but her eyes were searching for someone else. When she couldn't find him, she sighed silently and looked at Ranveer, forgetting all that had happened a moment ago.
If only things had been a little different...
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Not a very interesting chapter, I admit. But this was just a build-up. Expect some flashbacks, memories and conflicts leading to the finale. Thanks for you generous response! 😳
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