Abhiya SS: Magnetic Dipoles Epilogue(+NOTE) page 168 - Page 11

Piya's POV:

I hate him. I Hate hate him. God, who the hell does he think he is? Strutting around the school with those pals of his- how on earth does he get all those marks, anyway? I've never seen him studying. Does he study the night through, or what? Not possible: he'd have dark circles under his eyes. How does he do it? He even pities me. I see it in his eyes. Probably thinks I'm something of a freak. Big deal : Half the school probably thinks the same. As if I care!

Ever since he's arrived here, I have to compete for the top position. He got it in the mid-term exams of 11^th, I got it back in the annuals. In 12^th, he inched ahead of me in the pre-boards, but thank Heavens, I got the top rank in the city- he was only 0.1% behind me though. It feels good to know I bagged a rank ten places above him in the all-India medical entrance test.

I think I might miss this, after all. It was rather nice, having someone to compete with. Because he is brainy ; I can't really take that away from him. And yeah…maybe a bit more than me. But I'll never admit it in front of him. Honestly though- I've never seen someone so intelligent and so immature. Playing silly jokes and pranks all the time. He doesn't give a hang what rank he gets. He doesn't need the top position, Abhay Raichand.But I do.

Because I'm not particularly witty or talented. I'm not even popular- I don't have any friends(not that I need them). I need to know I'm the best at something. I need to know I'm not a useless jerk, like the way my parents say sometimes. I don't know what's come over them recently- all they ever say is what a useless, good-for-nothing person I am , who only knows how to wreck a home. What's happened to them, anyway?

Di is nice to me, though. I've started living with her and her husband now. It's a pity the school insists on having the parents coming to collect report cards. Anyway, I'll be glad to be free of this place. It's our farewell tomorrow. I don't want to go, but I suppose I must- It's going to be a happy day.

The Farewell:

The school was barely recognizable with all the decorations that had been put in place to welcome the outgoing batch. There was to be a cultural programme, then lunch, and then some music and dancing. Everyone was clicking pictures of each other- well, almost everyone anyway, amended Abhay to himself. He had to admit, the girls in his batch did look rather pretty when they dressed up. Except Piya, of course- "pretty" didn't define her. It never did. She was wearing a shimmering white sari and looked more the Ice Queen than ever. He rolled his eyes mentally : she wasn't worth bothering over. "She's looking hot, man," said one of his friends. "I know, mate," said someone else. "Never would've thought it of her." "You think she'll agree if I ask her out?" said Kabir, grinning. "Don't be an idiot, Kabir," said ABhay, sighing. "She'll probably break your nose with one of those pencil heels." "Too true," said Kabir, still grinning. "She looks really appealing, though." Abhay grimaced. "Yeah," he muttured. "About as appealing as the White Witch." He was met with blank looks. Abhay sighed. "Never mind." As much as he liked his friends, they just didn't do any reading- besides their textbooks.

"Gosh, is she still studying?" exclaimed Gaurav. "Look- she's sitting with a notebook or something." Abhay glanced over. "Yeah, she's good at taking down notes real fast," he quipped, much to general amusement. Just then, she looked up- right at him. "Oh,man," said Gaurav, "I hope she didn't hear that." Nobody answered, Piya was walking up to them. Abhay and his friends exchanged looks.

"Having a nice time?" she enquired in a dangerously silky voice as she approached them. "Yeah , we were," said Abhay, "Till now, anyway." Her eyes narrowed : Abhay wondered if she was about to attack him. "Perhaps we should talk about this," she continued. Before Abbhay could answer, her gaze flicked to the boys around him. "Perhaps you would be so kind as to leave us alone," she said, still in the same cool voice. As they went- no one messed with the Head Girl- Abhay looked her in the eye. "If you want to smash my face, please do it now," he snapped. "I haven't got all day." Piya looked confused. "I wasn't going to," she said, in a very small, meek voice. "I just-" she paused, her hands twisting, "Look, I've been pretty- incredibly- unpleasant to you. We've said some pretty nasty things to one another, but, well- I didn't mean all of it, you know. It was nice competing with you. I thought, since we're never going to see each other again….." She took a deep breath and held out her hand. "We should part on a pleasant note." Abhay stared at her for a whole minute. "Yeah, okay," he said finally , shaking her hand; they let go extremely quickly. Piya looked as though she wanted to say something else, but then turned and walked towards the chair where she'd left her notebook. "Piya dear!" he heard their class teacher, Mrs Sharma, call out. "Do come here a minute." Piya changed tracks, walking up to her; Abhay saw Mrs Sharma send her to fetch her handbag. As Piya walked away, he went over to the chair. He wondered what she'd been scribbling so fast.

It wasn't a notebook. It was a sketch pad.

Overcoming his initial shock, he flipped through the pages. There were paintings of old men and women, wrinkles lining their faces, still landscapes, pretty girls, and one page that held many pairs of eyes, each holding a different expression. He felt stunned : He'd never though Ice Queen had a heart to draw with. As he replaced the sketchpad, a loose page came out and fell on the ground. He picked it up. It was an unusual painting. It showed rose petals lying free, detached from the flower, each pierced by a glass shard. And all of them seemed to ooze blood. Just then he noticed the petal that still clung to the flower. Quietly, he folded it and slipped it into his pocket; he really couldn't explain why it fascinated him so much.

As he went home after the farewell party, he wondered again about the mystery that was the Ice Queen. Unknowingly, a memory flickered in his head.

Flashback:

He was going to the staffroom to deliver some copies for correction to the Physics teachers. Walking through the corridor, he heard muted voices coming from what he had presumed was an empty classroom. Intrigued, he paused to listen. "I can't go on any more, I don't want to live," he heard the voice of a girl, accompanied by racking sobs. "Calm down, darling," he heard another familiar voice say. Curious, he snatched a peek into the room. He stood in shock. Piya was crying, in the arms of their Biology teacher. As he watched, she pulled away, and tried to wipe her eyes, it did nothing to stem the flow of tears. Her face was swollen and blotchy, but there was no mistaking the curly hair or the bright head Girl badge on her chest. He turned away from there. Dimly, he was conscious of approaching footsteps : he realized there would be some awkward questions to answer if a teacher saw him standing there. Trying to forget what he'd just seen, he moved towards the staff room.

End flashback.

Now, as Abhay thought about about it, he realized that Piya was more complicated than he'd thought. He hoped she would be okay …that she was successful, and happy. But time tends to dim the memory, and soon he forgot about her. Piya was soon pushed to the back of his mind.

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