Kuch Kuch…
Part 2
Kripa realized that she hadn't fallen on the ground yet and had unconsciously closed her eyes too. She opened her eyes slowly and instantly jerked slightly frightened by what she saw right in front of her. She stared ahead with confusion in her eyes then slowly it registered in her mind that what she was staring at were "eyes". They didn't belong to a female, she observed. She stared at the eyes, observing them. She was amused that the pair of eyes she was staring at didn't move either; they were staring at her too. She let out a small-and-low-one-second giggle. She moved her hand, the one which was resting on the shoulder but she wasn't aware of that, near the one of the eyes and used her index finger to touch the white area, sclera, in the eye near the iris which caused a sudden jerk, the eyes she was staring at closed shut very tightly, and an 'Ouch' sound from someone was heard. Kripa felt another jerk and after a second she found herself standing, with confusion in her eyes, in front of someone. The person hadn't let Kripa fall, even after she had touched one of the eyes which belonged to the person, instead the person had instantly pulled Kripa up so that she could stand and the person could feel their eye.
Kripa felt awkward standing there, she felt that the person who was apparently a man, had hurt his eye.
Kripa asked, hesitating at first 'Erm…are you okay?'
She got no reply. She asked again 'Umm…have you hurt your eye?'
The person slowly stopped rubbing his eye, he felt better then. He looked at her first then started to scold her which took her by surprise 'Are you asking me if I've hurt my eye?'
Kripa felt a little taken aback 'Erm…umm…yah.'
Kripa saw an expression of fiery take over the man's face.
The man scolded 'First I save you from falling down and then later you poke my eye. Well thank you. That's all I was wishing for since I came here.'
Kripa had no idea what the guy was talking about so just to finish it off she told him 'Sorry. I hadn't meant to.' With that she left him and ran down the stairs but a little slowly now, wondering what had happened a while ago.
Kripa had been waiting for 15 minutes; she even went to the back side of the school where teachers usually parked their cars. But no car had arrived.
Tired of waiting, Kripa slowly walked up the seven floors to inform Mr Shah that the teacher hadn't arrived yet.
Mr Shah had given her the code number to the staff room door during her Maths lesson yesterday so that Kripa wouldn't need to wait for a janitor or another teacher to come and open the staff room door for her. Kripa typed the code number on the keypad outside the staff room door. She entered the staff room and walked towards Mr Shah's cabin.
She opened the door to the cabin but when she saw someone sitting facing Mr Shah, she closed the door quickly hoping that she hadn't disturbed them. Mr Shah had seen her, as he was facing towards the cabin's door, he called out 'Kripa come in.'
Kripa opened the door again, a little hesitatingly, hoping that she hadn't interrupted anyone. She stepped in, Mr Shah nodded, she quickly glanced at the person's back then looked at Mr Shah 'Sir, I was waiting downstairs and I even went to the car park but no one arrived.'
Mr Shah held his hand up for her to tell her to calm down and not worry 'Kripa don't get tensed. I think when you went down; the teacher came up from the other staircase so you didn't see him coming. Anyway, Kripa come forward.'
Kripa walked forward a few steps. Mr Shah stood up, coming forward from around his desk. The person also stood up and while the person was turning around to face Kripa, Mr Shah did the introductions 'Kripa this is Mr Khanna.' Kripa glanced at the person who had just turned around and just noticed her at the same time too. His eyes were blank and Kripa's mouth was open but she closed it during the same second when she realized that her mouth was open. Mr Shah didn't notice any of that; he continued after a second's pause 'And Mr Khanna, she is Kripa, my student. She's a very talented student. And Kripa will be the one who'll be assisting you during all your lessons and whenever you need any kind of help please ask Kripa or anyone from the staff including me.' Mr. Khanna had, after the one second's blank expression in his eyes, his one eyebrow raised and when he heard that she'll be assisting him he had raised both his eyebrows raised in amusement which was obvious in his eyes and not to mention the slight hint of a small smile playing on his lips.
Kripa instantly knew that she wouldn't be behaving with him like she did and does and will do with other teachers. This guy wasn't the teacher type, even though he was an assistant teacher, he was no way going to be on her favorite teachers' list. No matter how he would teach, what he will do, she would never behave with him like she would do if it were any other teacher. She could just feel this, it was her instinct.
Kripa greeted Mr Khanna 'Good morning Mr Khanna.'
Mr Khanna replied 'Good morning. By the way, you can call me Angad.'
Kripa quickly glanced at Mr Shah, who just smiled and she looked back at Mr Khanna.
Before she could say anything, Mr Khanna looked at Mr Shah and asked 'I'd like my students to call me by my first name…umm…is that okay here, at school?'
Mr Shah smiled 'Yes, that's fine in your case.'
The men smiled, Kripa didn't want to call the new teacher, even if he's an assistant teacher, by his name. She felt suffocated in the cabin.
Mr Shah looked at his watch worried suddenly, he looked up at Mr Khanna 'I'm sorry Mr Khanna but I have to rush now. I'm on duty on the ground floor.' He turned to look at Kripa 'Kripa can you show Mr Khanna his cabin. I'll excuse you if you get late for class. I would have shown the cabin myself if I wasn't having any duties today.'
Kripa's insides were yelling 'Oh no!' but she managed to smile and say 'Yes sir. I'll show.'
Mr Shah turned to look at Mr Khanna 'Okay Mr Khanna, I'll see you during recess.'
Mr Khanna smiled 'Sir, you can call me Angad.' Mr Khanna had addressed Mr Shah as "sir" out of respect because Mr Shah was a senior by age and by profession too.
Mr Shah smiled 'Okay, Angad it is going to be then. So Angad, see you during recess.'
Mr Shah left the cabin; Kripa had turned towards the cabin door as Mr Shah was leaving the cabin. Now after Mr Shah had left, she wondered what she should say. She was feeling awkward; she knew if she turned around she'd see Mr Khanna a few feet behind her, looking at her.
She closed her eyes tightly for a brief second and then opened them and turned around slowly hoping that she didn't have any expressions on her face which indicated she wasn't enjoying any of it.
She gave an awkward smile and said 'Erm…hi. So shall we go now?'
He pretended to think deeply then slowly began 'Aren't you the girl who just met me downstairs a while ago?'
Kripa tried her best to remain composed 'Umm…yah.'
Mr Khanna immediately changed his expressions and suddenly charged towards the door while saying 'I think I have to call Mr Shah back.'
Kripa immediately panicked and in a haste she pleaded 'Sir, please.' Just as those words came out of her mouth, she realized what a big mistake she had made. The first time in her school life she had done something like that.
Mr Khanna turned sideway to look at her with a grin 'Scared huh?'
Kripa moved her gaze elsewhere 'Sir shall we go now?'
Mr Khanna replied 'Oh sure. But first you call me Angad.'
Kripa looked up at Angad, there was a hint of sternness in her eyes 'I don't call my teachers by their first names.'
Angad chuckled 'I'm not your teacher.'
Kripa's eyes showed confusion in them so Angad spoke again 'Assistant teacher. That's different.'
Kripa looked like she wanted to roll her eyes but to maintain the little respect she had control over herself to give Angad, she didn't roll her eyes 'Be it teacher or assistant teacher, they are still teachers.'
Angad clarified with a grin 'I'm more like your boss now, as you are going to be my assistant.'
Kripa chose not to speak for a moment, she tried her best not to sigh heavily and asked 'Sir, can I lead the way to your cabin, please?'
Angad chuckled inside and gestured with his hands to let her go first 'Of course. After you.'
Kripa lead the way to Angad's new cabin and held the door open for him to go in first.
Angad observed the cabin 'It's bigger than I expected it to be. Nice.'
Kripa just stood near the door like an obedient student cursing the new teacher, assistant teacher, in her mind.
Kripa wondered 'When will this teacher let me go? First period has begun already.'
Angad asked 'Kripa, which floor is your classroom located on?'
Kripa replied 'On the fifth floor, room 505.'
'Hmm…505.' Angad repeated for himself to himself.
He asked again 'When's your English period today?'
Kripa replied like an obedient student 'The last two periods before school ends, sir.'
Angad nodded taking the information in slowly and then asked 'Do I get some kind of timetable or…' before he ended his question Kripa answered 'Sir, it's all in a folder.'
Angad-Oh is it so? So where's this folder?
Angad searched on his desk for any folders containing the information he needed. Kripa went forward, towards him, and picked up a folder and handed it to him.
'Right.' He said while taking the folder.
He was going through his folder whereas Kripa grew restless, he looked at her from an angle and after a few long seconds asked 'You have to go to class?'
Kripa nodded uncertainly not knowing if Mr Shah would like her to stay here or go back to class at the moment.
'Okay. You can go.' Angad replied in a casual tone.
Kripa began to walk away when he asked 'Are you going to come during recess?'
Kripa wondered what Mr Shah had told her then after a second nodded while saying 'Yes, sir.'
Kripa was going out the door when she heard the new teacher say 'Be careful, don't poke someone else's eye.' She instantly looked back at Angad, at first she was confused. Then the meaning hit her and her face changed its color to a slightly red shade with embarrassment but it was also because of the anger burning inside her to which he grinned. Kripa left the cabin, once she was outside the staff room door she wondered when she had poke anyone's eyes that day. She tried to think hard about what had happened after she had almost fallen when she was running down the stairs. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember any of it. She had no idea about what had happened after she had fallen and before she saw Angad while she stood on her feet. That part of the whole scene was blank in her memory. She wondered that if she hadn't fallen on the ground then how did she fall or how she had managed to prevent herself from falling. In no time she was outside her classroom door, knocking on the door instinctively.
The teacher let her in. She went to her seat when she suddenly remembered something she told the teacher 'Sir, I left my bag in Mr Shah's cabin. Can I go back and get it?'
The teacher let her go. Kripa ran up the stairs to the seventh floor. She was just entering the code on the keypad of the staff room door when the door opened and out came Mr Khanna. Kripa looked at him confused as to why he wasn't in his cabin. Angad was standing at the door so Kripa said 'Sir, excuse me, I need to get my bag.' He held his hand up which was holding something, her bag. 'I was going to come down to give it to you.' Kripa took her bag and said 'Thanks sir.' And then she was off again, running down the stairs and in no time she had entered her classroom and was having Physics lesson.
The bell rang after an hour. Kripa went to the classroom next door to find Kashish. She couldn't find her so she asked one of Kashish's classmates 'Do you know where Kashish is?'
The girl looked around the classroom to which Kripa rolled her eyes; she had looked around the classroom herself already that's why she was asking another girl about where Kashish was. The girl replied 'Umm…I don't know, she's not here.' Kripa quickly replied and asked 'Thanks. And one more thing, do you have any idea where Sujal is?' When she said the word "Sujal", she was sure the girl's face changed a little. The girl had slightly jerked, her eyes had become slightly wider…maybe fresher and her cheeks had become a shade of pink. Before the girl could start searching for Sujal, her eyes once again did something when she looked behind Kripa but it was a mere surprised-blink and then she looked back at Kripa and smiled 'He's behind you.' Kripa turned around to see Sujal with a questioning look on his face then she looked back at the girl and smiled 'Thanks.' The girl said 'No problem.' and then walked away. Kripa turned to look at Sujal's questioning face but before he could ask anything, she asked first 'Who was she?'
He thought for a while 'I don't know…I…' Kripa interrupted 'You don't even know your classmate's name. Wow Sujal, you're great!' He looked at her and snapped in a friendly way 'I know that already. But don't be jealous, I'll feel guilty. Anyway, her name's Priya.' Kripa repeated the name to herself 'Priya….hmm…' Sujal asked 'Why?' She replied with a question 'Does she have a crush on you or something?' That took Sujal by surprise 'What? Why? Why do you think that?' Kripa replied in a casual tone 'I asked her about where Kashish was, nothing happened but when I asked about you, she turned slightly red and I think she got a little shy too.' Sujal raised his eyebrows 'Wow. Didn't know that. Who knows, maybe she does?' he said with a smirk. Kripa rolled her eyes 'Honey, don't dream. It hurts when dreams break.' She patted Sujal's cheek. Sujal asked 'Yah whatever, so why were you finding us?' Kripa replied 'Oh I had to go up to the staff room so I was finding Kashish to tell her that I won't go to the canteen during this recess. Can you tell her that when you find her?'
Sujal shook his head sideways sighing 'Girls, man.' Kripa was going to kick him but he moved back, missing the kick. He told her 'Yah go, I'll tell her. See ya.'
'See ya.' she said and ran up the stairs to the seventh floor.
Kripa knocked on Mr Shah's door. No one answered so she knocked a few more times, then a little harder too. She opened the door slightly to see if anyone was inside. No one was. She got confused and wondered where they all could be. Then she remembered the new teacher's cabin, maybe they all were there. She walked towards Mr Khanna's cabin. She knocked on the door a few times and this time someone opened the door.
It was the new teacher who opened the door. He smiled, Kripa smiled back awkwardly to which his smile turned into a grin.
They both went inside. Kripa greeted the other two teachers. The two teachers and Kripa were sitting across Angad.
Mr Shah spoke 'So Angad have you already looked at the papers?'
Angad replied 'Yah, I did. I want to ask Miss Karen, what do you want me to do today during class?'
Miss Karen replied 'Well Angad, I'd like you to improve their spellings and pronunciations at the moment.'
Angad nodded slowly 'Okay. So where will I be teaching them if you will be teaching them in room 505?'
Miss Karen looked at Mr Shah 'I think there's another room booked for Angad's class, right?'
Mr Shah nodded 'Yes. And that's room 206, on the second floor.'
Angad nodded slowly, taking in the information 'Okay.' He spoke again 'Okay then. I'll start preparing the materials for the lesson.'
All the three teachers smiled at each other. All of them stood up, seeing all of them stand up, Kripa also rose from her seat.
Mr Shah asked 'Angad, do you need Kripa for preparing today's lesson.'
Angad thought for a while then nodded 'I think that's better since it's my first day here.'
Miss Karen spoke 'Okay then. I think Kripa and you should start preparing for the lesson now, the recess will be over in about 8 minutes. I don't think that's enough time.' Miss Karen looked at Kripa 'Kripa, are you free during the next recess?' Kripa nodded 'Yah, I am.' Miss Karen finalized 'Okay then, you two can meet here, or wherever you decide to meet up next, during the next recess and continue with your work.'
Mr Shah and Miss Karen were leaving when Angad spoke 'Mr Shah, one minute please.'
Miss Karen left the cabin.
Angad glanced at Kripa, who saw a kind of grin behind the new teacher's eyes, then back at Mr Shah.
Angad asked 'Sir, do you know any girl in this school who…'
While speaking, Angad had heard a small gasp from Kripa which Mr Shah hadn't heard at all. He tried his best to suppress the grin forming on his lips and continued speaking '…is gifted. Or maybe even a boy.'
Mr Shah thought for a while.
Angad saw Kripa relax from the corner of his eyes, he grinned to himself. Of course he had done it on purpose and he had thought that Kripa would have guessed that too. If she was smart enough to do so.
Kripa wondered what on earth was wrong with this new teacher of hers. She didn't like him at all anymore.
Mr Shah broke the silence 'I don't think our school has got any gifted students.' He thought once more and concluded Yah, we don't have any gifted students in this school.'
Angad pretended to nod slowly taking in the information.
Soon Mr Shah also left, leaving Angad and Kripa alone in Angad's cabin.
Kripa felt cold.
Preview: Lesson preparations.
Edited by Shazia_haya - 17 years ago
Love Friendship Dating and Relationships
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