Abhiya SS: Magnetic Dipoles Epilogue(+NOTE) page 168 - Page 6

"Now everyone, please welcome a new student in our class," said the teacher, smiling broadly, revealing her rather large teeth. Abhay looked warily at the 11^th standard class he had been admitted to…. After his father's transfer. "Do introduce yourself, dear," said the teacher, smiling motherly. "I'm-" Abhay cleared his throat. "Abhay Raichand." "Excellent!" said the teacher. "Now, you wouldn't mind sitting next to……" She looked around the class. "Of course! Piya Jaiswal! Piya dear, you'll help him catch up with the schoolwork, won't you?" Abhay took his bag and went to sit next to the pony tailed girl with curly hair.

She looked up at the teacher. "Yes, ma'am," she said, and went back to writing down notes from a thick book. Feeling slightly nervous, Abhay took his bag and sat next to her. She looked very severe, he thought. Without speaking, she took out three notebooks. "I'll be studying Physics tonight, so I'm afraid you'll have to make do with Biology, Chemistry and English. And I'd like the notes tomorrow." She spoke as though it was a command. "Thanks," said Abhay. There was no reply.

As the day passed, Abhay found himself feeling rather bored without anyone to talk to. After the first period, Piya wouldn't speak more than five words to him for the rest of the day. She didn't seem the talkative types anyways. He wondered if she would engage in conversation with him. "Um…excuse me, what's written after the fifth word of the second line?" he asked, pointing to the blackboard during the last period. "and the chalazal end are directly opposite each other," she completed in a monotone without looking at him. Abhay mentally sighed. She was so boring!

It didn't take very long for him to make friends among the boys, after two or three weeks. But Piya remained the same as ever, quiet when alone and snappish while spoken to by anyone. "It's not surprising she hasn't got friends anymore," remarked lanky Gaurav. "She's so arrogant and selfish that no one would like to be friends with her. " "Really?" said Abhay. "Why?" "Oh, because she's one of the top students of the school, I expect," said someone else. "She's so full of herself." "She's proud because she's a top student?" said Abhay. "Yeah," said Gaurav. "She's always the top student in our class, right from the beginning." "She wasn't always like this, thought," said Kabir. "She was a really nice person till class 9^th or so. Then she became all high and mighty, and obviously, lost her friends." Abhay stayed silent. Piya was too weird for him.

The next big event happened at the end of the mid-term exams. For the first time, Abhay pipped Piya to take the first position by two marks. Abhay rolled his eyes : he had been expecting it anyway. He'd always been terrific with marks : work came naturally to him. Just then, he caught a glimpse of Piya's face. She was looking shocked, hurt and…furious. He heard her mother, who had come to collect the report card. "Oh, of course, I've been telling her all the time, she just doesn't study, she hasn't got a care on the world….." and on, and on. Abhay stifled a laugh- his mother hadn't said a word of criticism when he's come on the bottom 10 only last year. He looked at Piya: her face had suddenly gone hard, blank, her teeth seemed to be clenched. She didn't say a word. But as her mother turned, he saw her move a hand roughly over her eyes.

He felt suddenly guilty. Over the days, he noticed how Piya seemed to withdraw even more into herself, studying during recess and sports classes. He felt a tinge of pity- with such a slave-driver for a mother, no wonder she was a bit funny in the head. So when the annual exams arrived, Abhay made sure to make a few mistakes that would ensure that Piya came first.

She did, of course. Her mother didn't say much that day, and Abhay felt a grim pleasure in knowing that Piya would probably not be punished at hme….till she turned around and put out her tongue at him.

Things did not improve in class 12^th. Piya, gleeful at being top dog, went out of her way to make things difficult for Abhay. She taunted him often, and unfailingly snickered whenever he made some mistake, no matter how small it was. And soon enough, Abhay heartily disliked her and mentally decided NEVER to act like a fool again.

He came very, very close to hating her the time she stuck out a leg and made him fall facefirst into a puddle of mud, then gave a vicious half-smirk at him.

Short update, I know...Let me know what you thought😳