Summer had continued, as summer should.

A saree clad woman used the pallu of her simple cotton attire to wipe the sweat off her brows as she bent over a potted china rose to water it. The humid weather of West Bengal was treacherous, not sparing anyone within its grasp.

A curious adolescent spoke up, "Ma." the 'aa' sound bouncing up and down three octaves, as generally a child does.

"Hmm?"

"Why do the ants, grasshoppers..." she paused to think of more insects, "beatles...and you! Why do you all work so hard in the summertime?" Then a mischievous smile lit up her face, "Why don't we just wet our faces and sit in front of the cooler? So much more fun!"

"Ah.... but dita, don't you remember the tale of the ant and the grasshopper? Do you remember the moral of the fable?"

"One must always work hard in the summer of our lives, it's hot, it's hard and it's cruel; but it always pays off in the seemingly gloomy and dull winters."

And so she had remembered what summer was for, and postponed the resentment she had piled up against her father, and her situation.

It had been over two weeks since school had begun for Nivedita and that meant, life had finally fallen into place, or so she would like to console herself with. Going to school kept her busy, and she thought less. Because whenever she didn't, her cheeks would go red and a strong headache would take over her senses.

Her palm slammed itself on the wooden desk. Ruled sheets flew to the floor creating a white tornado, just like the one which she was in. Messy, and white, the colour which showed things exactly the way they were.

"Ugh."

A long beep burst throughout her room. Effective alarm, as her father called it. Little did he know his daughter hadn't had more sleep than 5 hours lately and had been effectively winning the who-wakes up-who match since day one.

5:28 am.

^^^

She had two months of work pending. She couldn't be any less bothered, but her father might be. He hadn't paid the fee for one of the best schools in town for her to recklessly leave things to be done, undone.

This might have explained her presence at the cyber cafe hub nearby making multiple prints of notes lent to her by the teacher, for she could not afford to see her father stressed because of her anymore. Yes, she was still rebelling but a middle class child even rebels within their own budget. A budget which restricted letting any useful penny go to waste.

The big printing machine made a rumbling sound, something was stuck in it."Bhaiya, ye dabba phir band pad gaya. Aaj hi ye kaam chahiye!"

Her brows arched in frustration. The air conditioning wasn't really banging.She peeked outside the glass window to see that the black seat of her bike was no more in the shade and was getting hotter by the second. The man at the shop did not blink an eye to her complaint and kept stapling the printouts into stacks.

"Madam dikkat hai to kahi aur karwa lijiye." he said without even sparing his customer a glance.Irritated, she dug into her jean's pocket and slammed a 20 rupee note on his table, grabbed her sheets and stormed out the door.

She put on her helmet and inserted the key. Pushing it a little back to get it on to the road the revved the engine and drove off.As her scarf fluttered in the hot air blowing it into a pink butterfly, her thoughts flew back to school.

A certain someone had peaked her interest and not in a pleasing manner. Throughout her life, she had been a diligent student, the kind which wasn't ashamed to raise their hand in class even when the irritated stares of multiple students envied her or loathed her. She continued to raise her hand, whether it was to answer, to participate or to question. This did get her a little famous but it wasn't something she actually cared about.

But here, something strange happened. She did raise her hand, multiple times. But no one really cared. Did she crave attention? The mere thought made her nauseous.

No, it couldn't be. But she did crave credit which she deserved and hadn't been getting. Apparently this guy called Abhimanyu was god here.

Naam Abhimanyu rakha hai to kya bhagwaan samajhne laga?

She couldn't understand why every answer she gave would follow up with a cross examination with this other Abhimanyu guy's answer and whenever he would add something more to it, she felt a little more humiliated than before. She wasn't that petty, she went home and worked on what she had done wrong but the next day always felt like she had put way too much effort into something no one cared about and she ended up looking like a fool because he made it all look too effortless from his side. The teachers' encouraging smiles also started to feel belittling.

And so she decided, credit and flattery went hand in hand for him.

She had fair points to the debate. For example, the stupid weekly tests. She had aced her physics paper he had not. Far behind by four marks; then why was he the "brightest student of our class"?

She shouldn't be acting like a Chatur,yes, she knew. And life wanted Ranchos. But even during the chemathon she was the first one finishing and winning. Even then people credited him for something trivial. Wait a second, where am I again?

"Madam bike chalani nahi aati to khareedi kyu!" It was a red light. Was. Now it is green.

One would know had they not been daydreaming.

"Aapko zaban chalani nahi aati to chalai kyu?" She wanted to scream at the auto driver honking behind her, but it was her fault.

"Hmph."

^^^

Ever since his birth, Abhimanyu always felt like everyone around him was in on a secret which wouldn't ever be shared with him. He always had a feeling that the people around him knew more than he did and didn't wish to include him in, as if he was unworthy. This led to an early development, maybe even forced, to learn whatever he could. And this feeling of exclusiveness faded away.

Until recently. He felt like she was challenging him.

Abhimanyu had tried speaking to Nivedita about three times? Only to receive a name, which was the maximum level of introduction she was ready to give; a hmm and silent treatment.Had he done something wrong? Here he thought he was an absolute gentleman; if not talking to ladies and just being chivalrous was presumed so. And like a tick it kept on itching him. He did not understand how he had offended her, or was she born this way?

Last week in the chemistry lab Abhimanyu had been asked to assist her in her salt analysis since she was a new student. Khaak new student.

"Colour?" he asked.

"It's pink." No eye contact.

"Must be..." he murmured looking at the given scheme.

"Cobalt."

"Oh."

"Pass me the sulphuric acid."

"Uh, we haven't done the prelims."

Smirking, she said, "I know. But the colour is without a doubt pink and no other prelim will lead you to cobalt."

Genius.

Except for...

"Heat the ..." she scratched her brow, even fumbled,and hesitatingly said, "test tube?"

He raised his brows, not believing that this girl who needed zero assistance was asking him to just heat a test tube? And she looked this freaked out about it?

Must be definitely phobic.

"Abhi? Kaha khoya hua hai?" Dev asked him as they walked in the school corridors moving towards his class. Recess had just finished and the next period was one not to be messed with.

"Nothing."

^^^

"Ma'am is there no other option? I have almost all the notes and I'm doing all I can on my own as well. If only you could give me a class in the after-school remedial? I know you will be on leave but then maybe with another teacher?" Nivedita asked almost desperately. This was the moment she internally boiled at her father's decision to shift in the middle of the session. No one knows you, no one respects you, how can you expect things to work out in your favour?

"Bacche you joined school pretty late, so it's really difficult to teach you a two month syllabus. Especially for physics."

The teacher seemed to have an air of robotic monotone, which became repetitive when she didn't try hard enough to help out the student. This was expected, it was DPS.

"Why don't you go to one of the students? I'm sure someone will help you out. Why not Abhimanyu? He isn't far off from your place and he is one of the best students we have."

Best, right.

There is no one else on the leaderboard is there? Neither would she compromise.

So Abhimanyu it is.

^^^

It was afternoon at the grounds of DPS when Eleventh "H" found themselves having a break at the football grounds as their computer science teacher decided to take a post vacation break.

The green grounds reflected the slightly overhead sun rays from a point behind Nivedita's head as she slung her bag around one shoulder, the other hand swinging as she marched into the middle of the outdoor basketball court.She had spotted her target already.

Standing right outside the D ring of the court, eagerly waiting for his teammates to pass him the ball, stood Abhimanyu wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"Abhimanyu Thaapar!" echoed the stern voice of a certain new student who had caught his attention.

He whipped his head towards his right, almost catching a strain as his eyes squinted in the sunlight. She is calling me? He thought.He waited as she completed the five metre distance between them and gave her time to breathe a little. Her small pants heaving her entire body up and down. Seems like someone had power walked after a long time, he chuckled; to which she raised a brow.

What's so funny?

"I need your help."

Very convincing. I mean, could she be any more pleasing?

Abhimanyu continued dribbling the basketball on the court as he nodded to a few team mates shouting at him from across the court, asking them to wait. Playing cool when you have the upper hand is a pleasure even the best of us can't deny, and this right here was just your average teenage guy.

"I am two months late here. The physics teacher refused to help me and suggested your name instead." Nivedita said not looking at him but at the guys playing across them with a football for the basketball. Making eye contact felt even more embarrassing than actually asking for help.

"Okay?" he questioned, not really knowing what he wished to hear.

She was weird. And he wanted to simply know her.

"So when can you help me, that is, if you want to?" she asked him, looking at him properly for the first time. She probably had a small ego problem, but no one could take away the fact that she was more earnest than anyone.

He had a light stubble across his jawline which seemed to be well kept and his hazel brown eyes seemed to glow like in the sunlight.He seemed to be in thought. A lady was in need, apparently. But going as far as giving lessons when he himself had school?

"The CS teacher will be absent for a week and we can bunk the substitute classes easily. There's a long time for exams and CS being a fifth subject no teacher can teach us then. How about I teach you in school? We could use the library."

Woah wasn't he quick at figuring out plans? Show off.

Ah, did he really have to do this? Why not say No?

"Deal." She nodded and turned around, her pony tail flying into a circle. Just when she was ten metres away...

"Wait!" she suddenly heard him shout.

And palat.

He jogged the small distance between them and stood a little closer to her than before.

"Could you.. maybe use both straps of the bag?" she looked confusingly at him. The height difference wasn't much and she gave him a questioning stare.

He scratched the back of his neck anxiously, and looked sideways hoping to not explain himself, but her penetrating gaze demanded otherwise.

"It's good for the back... that's why there are two padded straps on your bag." He gave her a sheepish grin.

She continued staring at him knowing that wasn't the real reason.

"Ah, I give up. I get OCD okay? That's it. It's a habit, I can't tolerate things out of order or place." He shrugged.

This, she thought, was amusing.

She gave him a small smile and turned back round, and shook her head like one of those movie characters talking to themselves. He was way more simple than she thought.

One strap on.

Why does she have to do that?

Ten steps away and he continued gazing.

Fifteen steps.

Both straps on.

He ran to the court with a smile on his face.

^^^

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cheenikam.