Part 4- The Outcome of Your Best Friend Liking a Weirdo
Day 1: June 13, 2014 - The end of the day at school.
Ted, your problem is all you do is think, think, think. I'm teaching you how to do, do, do. - Barney Stinson, How I Met Your Mother
When she strode out of the canteen, I couldn't help but feel guilty that it was because of me that she left early. Rahul sat there giving me accusing looks for making her run away. Of course, it wasn't enough that I was feeling bad, being my best friend, he had to make me feel even guiltier. That's apparently the way a best friend works.
"What is wrong with you Armaan? She's such a cool girl. Plus, she's a tennis player. I mean, seriously? Can't you think before you start accusing her of something? It's not like she knew what a terror Mrs. Bethany was anyway. I swear dude, you're nuts." Rahul told me, taking a bite out of his slice of bread.
"It's not like I did it on purpose. Maybe she had some work to do?" I told him, trying to convince myself that she genuinely had a reason to leave.
Seeing that it was almost time for lunch to get over, I forced Rahul to eat soon so we could reach our class fast because Sanket Sir was always on time unlike the other teachers we had. We reached the class and like after the first break, Nikki was again on with the interrogation but this time, Rahul was the victim and I thanked the skies above that it wasn't me.
"Rahul, how is the girl? What is her name? Is she nice?" Nikki bombarded him.
"Nikki, why don't you just ask Armaan?" Rahul told her, trying to get me into trouble.
"He's useless Rahul which is why I'm asking you. So, who's she?" Nikki asked him.
Before Rahul could answer, Sanket Saxena entered the room. Dressed in black and white just like every day, he entered the room, making the whole class go stiff and silent. He emanated that kind of power', the other teachers believed.
"Class, we'll be having lab today with the 11th grade students because it's their first Chemistry Lab class and they have no idea about the ethics so like last year, it's your turn to guide them now. I'll be calling out your partners' names now and this is all based on chits so I don't want to hear any complaints.
After calling out many names, he finally reached the last two people, Rahul and me.
"Rahul Garewal, you'll be with Muskaan." He said but then said, "Sorry, you'll be with Riddhima Gupta. Armaan Mallik will be with Muskaan Chaddha."
Rahul turned to give me a wide smirk while I just gave him a clueless look even though I knew what that smirk was for.
"What?" I asked him but he didn't answer and then began paying utmost attention to Sanket Sir.
Sanket Sir left for the Chemistry Lab while all of us took our lab coats and followed him out of there towards the lab. It was a long walk to the lab as it was on the other side of the school and by the time we reached there, most people were tired while Rahul and I were the first and second to reach. We entered and saw Miss. Kirti next to two girls, scolding them for breaking a beaker. We tried to get a look but we didn't know who it was. On the table next to them, we saw Riddhima and one curly haired girl giggling. I was hoping that curly haired girl wasn't Muskaan because her laugh was infectious, and weird. I also knew that if I ever laughed in chemistry, it would be the end of my perfect record because Sir would not spare me.
After glaring at Riddhima and the girl and finishing with the scolding session, Miss. Kirti came towards us. "Who are your partners?" she asked us.
Rahul and I told her our partners and she led us towards the same table which was when I realized my perfect record was going to go down the drain, because the curly-haired girl was Muskaan. I hit myself on the head to which Miss. Kirti looked at me with her eyebrows raised. I quickly brought my hand back down and went to the table where Rahul was already standing and was in conversation with Riddhima and Muskaan was giving him a weird, love-struck kind of look.
"Hey? Muskaan, I'm your partner. Armaan Mallik." I said, holding my arm out to her. She still didn't turn so I slightly touched her shoulder and she turned all of a sudden, almost falling. She looked like she was star-struck at first but she recovered soon enough.
"Students, your seniors will be helping you out with the experiments for the next two lab classes you have and after that, all of you are your own so learn as much as you can in these two classes. The first reaction we'll be seeing is..." she drawled off. Soon, everyone was absorbed in their own reactions and we were desperately trying to get it right. We were given instructions that we could only guide them and not help them physically.
All of us seniors were trying to get our respective juniors to do best and Riddhima had an advantage because Rahul was brilliant at chemistry. Meanwhile, I was living a nightmare. Muskaan was very clumsy and she couldn't for the life of her figure out how much is 2 grams. I feared an explosion would be taking place soon, seeing how it was going. I looked to my left to see Riddhima doing her work perfectly. How I wished she was my partner. Muskaan was a complete disaster.
Somehow, I got through the whole ordeal unharmed. It was surprising considering the fact that Muskaan was no less than an explosive.
As soon as class was over, I ran away from Muskaan and dragged Rahul along with me, scared that my life was in danger. Actually, I had other reasons as well but this seemed most plausible.
After reaching class, Nikki too caught up to us and she seemed to have forgotten the whole thing with Riddhima so she let it drop but after Nikki was gone, Rahul began the lecture again about how I was rude to her and how great Riddhima was and how amazing she was and how well she did at chemistry and how Riddhima was the best junior he ever met. After going through two hours of how Riddhima was perfect for me, my friend' started taunting me about how I should be nicer to her in Recess since she was new and I should make an effort to talk to her. Well, so much for my best friend being my best friend. I guessed the Muskaan issue had to wait for another day.
This update is the S-word. But if you still liked it, do comment. š
Love,
Ananya
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