Happy reading<3
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The corridor bustled with the first day chaos. Students rushed trying to find their classes or their friends. Teachers were also busy arranging the schedule for the day.
Away from the chaos , Kabir stood idly leaning against the railing gazing at particularly nothing. A few of his friends came patting him on his back , joking with him then eventually leaving for their own task.
He checked his surroundings then carefully took out his camera-he knew he wasn't allowed to bring it but he didn't care much for the rules.
He angled the camera towards a mango tree , capturing the bird feeding her chicks. He smiled looking around for more scenes to capture.
Kabir glanced down from above where many students were gathered , gossiping. He quickly angled his camera when suddenly someone called him from behind.
"Kabir Malhotra" Mr.Singh called him , standing a little away with some papers.
Kabir startled by the sudden appearance, in a panic quickly shoved his camera back in his bag. He turned quickly towards the teacher , an innocent expression plastered on his face even though he was panicking inside.
"Gooddd morninggg sirrr!!" Kabir sang receiving a few laughs from the passing students.
"Kabir!" Mr.Singh warned him ,he just smiled sheepishly in return.
"Help me carry these papers to the class." He handed him the bundle of papers.
Kabir did a dramatic salute, stomping his foot on the ground hard. "YES SIR!" He smiled innocently.
Mr.Singh shook his head already knowing it wasn't worth scolding him. "Come fast!" he ordered, leaving Kabir-who still stood in a saluting position.
Kabir settled on the last bench , bag kept on either side of the table. He quickly glanced at the students in front who seemed busy doing their own things.
He took out his camera , checking how the last photo came before he was interrupted. When the image came into view, a frown appeared on his face.
Three students stood at the side talking as sunlight fell on them. The trees were captured in their soft movement covering half of the image. It was perfect except-a figure running across the screen her ponytail caught mid-swing, a dash of blur ruining the picture.
"Tch! Could have been a perfect picture." Kabir sighed. He angled his camera again towards the window where sunlight fell.
Click
Kabir smiled looking at the picture. He loved capturing quiet moments like these, finding something no one else noticed. The banging of the duster brought him back to the moment.
"Class!" The class teacher, Ms.Singhania , a young teacher, banged the duster on the table ,trying to grab the students attention.
"Good morning everyone! I'm Mishka Singhania, your economics teacher." She said with a smile. The students greeted her back with enthusiasm.
"So? Any new admissions this year?" Ms.Singhania asked, looking at familiar faces.
No one raised their hand confusing Ms.Singhania as she was informed that there will be a new admission. She opened her mouth to say when a voice interrupted.
"Good morning,mam!"
Ms Singhania turned her head to look at the girl who stood at the door smiling and huffing as if she ran here , holding the handle. She smiled at the teacher asking whether she could come in.
"Yes, please." Ms.Singhania said gesturing her with her hands to come. "You're the new admission?"
"Yes mam," The girl replied smiling, nodding her head in affirmative.
"Please introduce yourself."
The girl nodded her head , she turned towards the class now. She smiled, "Hello everyone, I'm Ishika Sharma. I hope we get along."
"Welcome,Ishika. You can sit at the front desk...looks like no one loves to sit in front." Ms.Singhania commented seeing the front desks empty.
Ishika sat on the seat alone though everyone did smile at her- but no one came and sat with her. She ignored the heavy feeling , taking out her notebook and focused on the class.
"Alright class! Say yes when I say your name for attendance." Ms.Singhania announced and started marking the present students one by one.
"Ishika Sharma,"
"Present Miss!" Ishika replied, raising her hand. Ms.Singhania smiled at her.
"Kabir Malhotra,"
"Present mam!" Kabir shouted mischievously, standing up with both of his hands raised up.
Ms Singhania sighed already aware of his behaviour. "Aur jor se bolo!" She said while glaring at him.
Kabir nodded seriously and then-
"JAI MATA DI!" He shouted after a pause. The rest of the class erupted in fits of laughter. The teacher too tried to keep a neutral face though her lips curved a bit.
"Kabir Malhotra!" Ms.Singhania glared at him. "Come sit here with Ishika in front." She ordered gesturing for him to come in front.
"Mam..." Kabir trailed. Ishika looked behind , tilting her head a little.
Kabir paused whatever he was going to say , he felt himself drawn to the soft hazel eyes. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding- shaking the unfamiliar warm giddy feeling that made a small space in his chest.
Kabir reluctantly picked up his bag and moved slowly like a sloth.
"Kabir." Ms.Singhania warned him. He sighed dramatically.
He sat down on the seat beside Ishika , keeping his bag at the side. Kabir turned to glance at her only to find her already looking-she quickly averted her gaze.
"Hi," Kabir said initiating the conversation. "I'm Kabir Malhotra, in charge of making everyone laugh." He added as he smiled at her.
"Hello! Myself Ishika Sharma." She responded a little awkwardly.
The teacher started to teach, Ishika diverted her attention to focus on the board. Meanwhile, Kabir leaned back on the chair not bothering to write down notes.
He averted his gaze to her notebook-properly written pointers in good handwriting, highlighted accordingly.
"So...are you like a topper or something?" Kabir asked peeking in her notebook.
"Huh?" Ishika muttered confused due to her attention on the board.
"I asked are you good at studies?" He repeated his last sentence.
Ishika raised her eyebrows confused by the sudden question. Kabir pointed his finger to her notes in answer.
"Oh...yeah. I do like to study." Ishika replied , a soft smile playing on her face.
Kabir nodded, "What was your score in 10th?" He questioned after a little pause.
"97%"
Kabir's eyes widened in shock-the shock was so much that he fell from the chair he was rocking in.
"Ouch!"
Ishika gasped, her eyes widening as she stood up in surprise. Students and teacher gathered around him asking him if he was fine or not.
Kabir sat on the ground still in shock , gazing around at everyone. He slowly got up and sat on his seat making sure it wasn't rocking anymore. He nodded affirmative to the questions from others.
After making sure he was fine , they all went back to their respective seats. Kabir was embarrassed but he didn't let it show.
"97%?" He asked , continuing the left over conversation. Ishika nodded.
"What was yours?" She asked , her voice laced with interest.
"85%" He said casually shrugging his shoulder.
"It's good!" Ishika commented while noting down the pointers.
Kabir gawked at her , letting out a laugh. "You might be the first topper who considers marks below 90% good!"
Ishika brows furrowed slightly, she looked at him in confusion. "Marks don't define your capabilities. You might be better than others in a different category." She paused turning fully towards him. "Just because you don't fit in the unofficial standards set by the society doesn't mean you're less than any of the students!"
He looked at Ishika before smiling mischievously, "You're really a topper,huh?" He said amused.
"Thank you..."Kabir added then ,softly not making eye contact with her.
Ishika smiled averting her focus back on the class.
The playground was filled with the students of 11th grade doing their own tasks. Kabir sat idly on the pavement built around a huge banyan tree.
He took out his camera looking at the photo he took earlier in the morning. The running girl in the photo intrigued him as he zoomed in. The blue hairtie stood vividly against the black hair.
Kabir angled the camera in front of him , twisting and turning it. When he was slowly retreating the camera back down , his eyes wandered to her.
Ishika stood alone looking at the girls playing. A small smile played on her face , her ponytail swung every time she moved her head left to right.
Something clicked for Kabir as he smiled, he pocketed the camera. He then walked towards her, whistling a random tune.
"Planning to stand here forever?" Kabir commented , his eyes followed the movement of girls playing kho-kho.
"I'm on standby." Ishika replied after a little pause.
"Standby?"
"Yes," She looked at him now. "No one selected me for their team so if anyone takes a break, I can play."
Kabir raised his eyebrows at her. "So you are here manifesting for someone to take a break?"
"Not like that..." She trailed not wanting to admit it.
She kept quiet not making eye contact. Kabir smirked before pulling out her hairtie and running away from her.
"What?" Ishika gasped , taking a moment to process before running behind him.
"Catch me if you want this!" He shouted while running, waving the hairtie in the air.
"Kabir! Stop!" Ishika giggled while chasing him.
He stopped running, laughing while Ishika panted keeping her hands on her knees. Kabir forwarded her hairtie but retreated before she could take it.
Ishika huffed in annoyance, taking out a new hairtie from her wrist- the one she always kept for emergencies.
Kabir shrugged , keeping the hairtie in his pocket. He then turned towards the girls who were watching them.
"She runs fast. Take her to your team." With that he walked away while whistling.
Ishika smiled looking at him understanding his intention. Ipshita, one of the girls in the team welcomed her to the team.
She blended with all of them easily, her easy going coming in handy. Ipshita and Meenakshi became her friends. Though one girl kept giving her weird looks.
The girls switched from playing kho -kho to volleyball. They formed two teams- One led by Ipshita and another by the same girl who threw weird looks at Ishika.
The first few minutes went smoothly , Ipshita's team were in a lead. The ball landed in the other team's captain, she smirked slightly behind the ball as she threw the ball up.
She threw the ball with fierce force , it came harder than necessary. The ball flew towards Ishika with surprising force.
"Ishika!! Watch out!" Meenakshi shouted loudly already running towards her.
Ishika ducked down at the last moment, she would have caught it if she wasn't visibly distracted by the shouting around her.
"Are you okay?" Ipshita asked with concern while Meenakshi checked for any injuries.
"Yeah...I'm fine, thank you." She replied though she looked visibly startled.
Ipshita and Meenakshi turned angrily towards the girl who threw it. "What is wrong with you?" Ipshita spat at her.
The girl rolled her eyes , "I can't help if she can't even catch a simple catch."
"You-" Meenakshi raised her voice at her when she was stopped by Ishika.
"For your kind information, we don't have to catch the ball in this game and your service was also wrong," Ishika said , coming forward folding her arms. She narrowed her eyes at her , "Learn how to properly play before caring about whether i can catch a ball or not."
The girl looked visibly stunned , she clearly wasn't expecting for her to stand up for herself on the first day itself. Her lips twitched though she kept her silence , leaving the ground but not before throwing the ball harshly.
"Don't mind her..." Meenakshi said. "No one really likes her attitude."
Ishika nodded already forgetting about the incident that happened a few minutes before.
"We should go, the period is almost over."
All of them nodded and walked back to their respective classes. The first day ended for Ishika wrapped in a new place, unfamiliar people and feelings...
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