Dear Diary,

Today, I had a nice little walk down memory lane, and I recollected some of my unforgettable days of sixth class. I just wanted to share a few with you. Like the day we went to the active farm school....

"Are you sure Ashleigh ? I dont think it's a good idea." I said.

"Oh, come on ! What's wrong with this combination ?" She replied, holding on to her glass of Pepsi.

"Oh, well... It's just that.. who eats chips dipped in soft drink ?"

Ashleigh sighed."Ian had oranges with sauce and rice with cookies. Nothing wrong with this, is there ?"

"I guess you do have a point."

"Then give me the chips !!" She promtly snatched the packet from me. I nodded. 'She's not going to change.' We were almost there. Samantha couldn't come and Kadienne was with some other girls.

"We're here ! Leave your haversacks here and come on out !" Ms.Sweetcream announced. Me and Ashleigh looked at each other. This was going to be so exciting !

We all gathered around a gazebo and were served tomato with sugar. I thought Ashie hated tomatoes but, well, she ate around 10 of them. Then we...

*Transplanted rice saplings (that was the worst part.)

*Ploughed and planted seeds in a field (it was a 22cm x 20cm piece of land TYVM)

*Sprayed pesticides in a bunch of fields (that was the best part !)

*Made animal feed (how do they eat that stuff ?)

Another day which I quite can't forget is the annual day...

We all sat around our 'Truth or Dare' table. There was only half an hour left for our program.

"Okay, look, makeup is mandatory for everybody." Ms.Stella, our incharge, announced in front of the class. "Including you, boys."

"What ?" Martin gasped.

"So, I guess you'll need powder, mascara..and even lipstick." I joked.

"Ian would definitely look like a polar bear with all that powder." Ashleigh gave a back-up joke. I laughed and gave her a high five. Once the makeup was done, neither of us could control our laughter. They din't have much - just powder and lipstick on. And Ashleigh was right. Ian did look like a polar bear.

"That's it. I'm going to wash this off." Martin said.

"Yes. I'm coming with you." Andy, another boy defended him.

"Oh, come on, you look beautiful !!" Samantha said, walking over to us.

"We don't care how we look ! Lemme just go get this off." Ian said and left the room, followed by Andy and Martin.

And then, a few days after the annual day, there were some things which you need to know.

I was sitting with Ian....again. I noticed Ian fiddling with something on the table. He turned to face me.

"Uhh..Lily, actually, this ant here is..... dead...." He said.

"So what ?" I ask

"I think we should create a death certificate for this."

I slammed my head on the table. Where does he get such ideas ? Anyways, I pulled out a small sheet of paper and a pen. It sounded silly but still fun and amusing.

"So, what's his, her, it's name ?" I asked.

"Pintu."

"Pintu ?"

"Yeah. It's the name of the hero in Tevar."

Tevar was a bollywood film. Our class students were fans of such movies, especially Happy New Year and PK and a few others.

"Ok. What's his age ?"

"1836"

"As in, 1836 months ?"

"No. 1836 years."

"What ?!!" I was surprised, but wrote it down, anyway.

"Cause of death ?"

"Murder."

"By ?"

"Me."

I looked up at him."Mr. Ian, you are under arrest for murdering Pintu." I said with a sarcastic smile.

"Oye.."

I got up and held up the paper,"Everyone look at the DEATH CERTIFICATE MADE BY ISHAM FOR PINTU THE ANT !!!!" I shouted, not so loudly.

"Uhhh, Shall we play truth or dare ?" Ian nervously pulled out a pen from his bag. Changing the topic, huh ? 

"Okay." I sat down. Ian pointed towards the nib. "Question." and then towards the back. "Answer."

Ian spinned the pencil. I got question and he got answer. Ashleigh and Ryden -who was playing with his ID card came up to us.

"Playing T or D without us, huh ?" she asked gleefully.

"You're both welcome to join." I turned to Ian."So, Truth, Dare, Situation or Firehouse ?"

"Firehouse." Ian said.

"Ian, there's a little.. problem here." Ryden said as he tried to sit beside Ian, but was blocked by his bag.

"Ian, why don't you keep your bag down ?" I suggested.

"What ? NO !!" Ian grabbed his bag. "There are Shalimar Diamonds in this !"

I face palmed. Ashie rolled her eyes and promptly grabbed the bag from Ian and put it down.

"And, there's the official 8th wonder." She clasped her hands as Ian frowned.

"Okay, back to the game, you have - Dustbin, Friend, Best Friend and Girlfriend. The options are - Ashleigh, Martin, Mike and me." I said.

"I'll go for the finger choosing thing."

That 'finger choosing thing' was like chits, only, it was done with fingers, where one finger represented one option and the other person chose a random finger. I put four of my fingers in front of him. Soon, these three options were done,

Dustbin - Ashleigh

Friend - Myself

Best Friend - Mike

Ashleigh knudged me. "Oh no." She whispered.

"What happened ?" I whispered back.

"There is only one field, and one option left. So that means..."

I realised what happened. "Shit." I mumbled, clasping a hand over my mouth. The three of us turned to face Ian.

"What happened ?" Ian asked nervously.

"Well, um, you see.." I began.

"The thing is that.." Ashleigh continued.

We exchanged a look and turned back to Ian.

"Your girlfriend is none other than Martin." We said in unison.

Ian's eyes widened. He looked like a frozen block of ice...not that he's colour of ice. We all saw Martin coming towards us.

"So, playing Truth or Dare without me, huh ?" He sat down beside Ashie.

"Hey ! Martin ! You aren't allowed here ! Get lost !" Ian shouted.

Martin glared at Isham."Shut up or I'll kiss you !"

Our jaws dropped open. If only he knew....

"What did you say ?" Ashie asked him.

"I said - I will kick you." Martin repeated.

'Ohhhh' I thought. Martin said 'kick' but it sounded like'kiss'.

We continued the game for some more time. I noticed Ms.Daniela near the window, so the rest of them hurried up to their places. Ms.Daniela walked into the class. We all stood up to greet her. She signalled us to sit down when Hannah walked upto her. She was talking to her, occassionally glancing at us.

'I have a bad feeling about this.' I thought. Ms.Daniela faced the class.

"So, Hannah, why don't you tell me the names of whoever was playing in the class ?" She asked.

Hannah held her head high like the perfect little girl she is. "Lily, Ashleigh, Martin, Isham and Ryden, ma'am."

'What ?!' I thought. How could she ? I mean, what's wrong when we play a small game while the teacher's not in the class ?

Ms.Daniela gave us a look. We knew what it meant - to stand up in our places, and we did.

"So, tell me. What game were you playing ?" she asked.

Whaaat ? What kind of a question was that ? We all just kept quiet.

"Ma'am ! We were helping Ian." Martin.

"Y-yes, ma'am. We were helping him make a death certificate." I backed him up.

Ashleigh nodded."A death certificate for Pintu."

She looked puzzled. "Who is Pintu ?" She asked.

"Pintu is an ant." Ian said, quietly.

She walked up to our place and looked at Ian's desk. The dead ant, and two other ants were there.

"Where are all these ants coming from ?" She asked, still puzzled. Her gaze then drifted towards Ian. "Have you taken a bath today ?"

"Yes.." His was turning red

Ms.Daniela held Ian's jacket. "When was the last time this was washed ?"

"About 30 days ago.."

Ms.Daniela sighed."That's why these ants are here. Take that off."

"But.."

"Take that OFF !!"

Ian slowly took off his jacket and put it in his bag. She went near the board, probably to resume...

"Ma'am ! WAIT !! They're lying ! I swear, they were playing a game !" Hannah shouted.

Before I was sooo rudely interrupted, Ms.Daniela was probably going to resume classes when Hannah had to ruin everything.

Ms.Daniela glared at us. "Tell me, what were you playing ?"

Silence.

"Look, if you don't tell me, I'm going out of the class."

Still silence. Ms.Daniela turned to the door and walked towards the outside. As soon as she reached the threshold, a voice was heard.

"We were playing Truth or Dare, ma'am !!" It was Ryden. Ms.Daniela smirked.

"Tell me one thing. You were playing Truth or Dare, and you couldn't tell me the truth ?"

She signalled Ryden to sit down. "Anyways, I'll check your books now. Roll no.1 ?"

"I-it's me, ma'am." Ashleigh said, looking down.

"I'm sorry dear. I'm not interested in checking your copy." She said bluntly. Same was said for me, Martin and Ian as well.

After the class,

"Guys, I think we should go apologise to Ms.Daniela." Martin said.

"Yeah. I'm with you." Ian replied.

"Wait. What are you talking about ?" Ashleigh was clearly against the both.

"Yes. You want to apologise to a teacher.." I looked at Ms.Daniela for a second, "like her ?"

"Well, what else can we do ?" Martin said a little louder.

"Fine ! Do as you wish ! I don't care !" I said and sent him away.

And the next day,

"Hey there." Ashleigh greeted me as I took my place.

"Hey." I greeted her back.

"So, you think we should apologise to Ms.Daniela ?"

"Yeah. After the way she talked about us to Ms.Sweetcream in front of the class, I think we should."

"Lets' go."

And then, a few minutes later,

"Ms.Daniela !!" We caught her outside her class just before she entered.

"Yes ?" She asked. Me and Ashleigh looked at each other.

"We're sorry, ma'am." We said in unison and gave her our copies, which we carried with us.

She took them, checked them and handed them back to us. When she was giving me my copy, she said, "Lily, you see, you got quite the reputation at this school. Don't try to ruin it."

"Come on let's go." Ashleigh said in a low voice. On the way back to our class, there was only one thought in my head.

'Why in the world did she say like that ?'