I and Kimayra went to our room. There were three lofty beds with beautiful coffee coloured bedspreads.

There was a huge wardrobe on the side to keep our clothes, a full length mirror attached to it and a dressing table nearby. Beautiful brown curtains that matched our bedspreads hung on the windows which overlooked the backside garden. It was the usual sight to me, but Kimayra flitted around the room marveling at each inch of it..

"This is really cool", she said, "When I first thought about hostels I pictured a cramped up big hall with rows and rows of beds. But this is candy land."

I was amused at her intense pleasure, "Well there are some typical boarding school factors here too", I said.

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Like a super annoying warden".

We both laughed.

"Is she that bad?" Kimayra asked uncertainly.

"No. Not really. But only as long as keep your rooms neat, don't soil the hostel, dress properly when you leave the room, don't talk to boys in front of her and don't get into her way too much".

"Woah!" she said, "Maybe this is not as much of a candy land as I believe it to be".

We both laughed again.

We soon started unpacking. After a few minutes our other roommate, Naira Sharma joined us. Now Naira is a really nice person but the quirk about her is that she talks too much and gives people a headache.

I couldn't help wondering if her own twin sister had asked for a different room for that very reason.

Even though I'd already spent one whole year with her, I hadn't really got used to her endless ramblings.

"Oh you two have already started unpacking!" she exclaimed in her unwavering bubbly voice.

"Yes, yes", I muttered without looking up. She was standing in front of me like a coconut tree.

But as usual she wasn't paying attention to what I was saying. She then turned to Kimayra, " And you're the new girl right? Kimayra Mehta from Mumbai? See I know all about you!"

Kimayra opened her mouth to say something but Naira didn't let her speak, "I always believe you should be armed with your facts. Information is power, guys. Trust me. Kimayra we are roommates now, after all. And we've got to be open with each other. But this Hina here never listens to me. She never opens her mouth and says anything to anyone."

Kimayra didn't know whether to laugh or not, she compromised by pulling out more clothes from her suitcase.

Naira saw it, "Man! You're in a hurry aren't you? I can tell you this. It's only because you're new blood. In a few days you'll see that all the hype over the discipline in boarding schools is a big hoax. People think boarding school is Game Of Thrones. But it's actually How I Met Your Mother. Isn't it Hina? I gotta tell you this too, Hina's father actually met her mother here! How cool is that?"

Kimayra looked shocked that Naira was rambling all my personal family business to her like that.

But Naira still didn't let her speak, "Since I never unpack on the first day, I'm just going to sit down and chill".

And the moment she sat down she resumed her jabbing.

"Did you see Yuvan and Rakul making out in the portico?" she suddenly asked, "How I wish the warden catches them one day!"

Well, one more quirk about Naira is that she knows the buzz, going on every corner of the school because of her over large mouth and even larger ears. So it's almost impossible to lie to her.

"Who's Yuvan?" asked Kimayra looking confused.

"Oh Yuvan Kapoor is Rakul Chakraborty's boyfriend. They're a big item. But lots of other girls have a crush on Yuvan. I gotta tell you all about it".

"No you don't", Kimayra said politely, "I've to go down to the office..to..umm..get something", she said and ran out of the room.

Personally, I was convinced that Kimayra running out of the room had nothing to do with office work at all.

But Naira who is as thick skinned as a rhino, was not bothered, "Why is she running? Well, never mind. Hina you listen".

And I listened.

My next three hours were spent listening to every single detail of Naira's vacation to France that summer, her cousin's wedding, the fight her parent's had had the previous evening, the new series she had watched on Netflix and on and on. And surprisingly Kimayra's office work seemed to be going on all that while.

I finally managed to escape when the bell rang for lunch.

The next day, the new academic year begun.

During the morning assembly, our principal Ms Agnes officially welcomed us all back. Then the new student council members were sworn in infront of the entire student body . Our new student body president Harshad Roy gave his acceptance speech which was greated by thunderous applause. He was clearly a very popular choice.

Then came the announcement for the Annual Academic Decathlon, which is like the Indian version of the United States Academic Decathlon.

It was a competition consisting of ten rounds. Students who were interested were asked to sign up. Later there would be a selection test to choose the students who would actually participate.

I decided to try my luck and subsequently signed up without giving it much thought.

Our new classes started. Our class teacher was an economics teacher calles Ms Koppikar . She was very young and I'd heard that she was very stern but right then she seemed quite cheerful.

Most of the teachers in Mira were either young and unmarried or people in their late forties who could afford to stay away from their families.

The usual 'beginning of the year' rituals started. Admission sheets were collected, register numbers were allotted and locker keys were given.

In the evening, we had our swimming class.

After our practice laps were over, our gym teacher let us free. Some people continued wading in the water but most others got out, and went to sit in groups and chat.

"Why are they seated separately?", Kimayra asked pointing to Rakul, Yuvan and a few others. They were sitting on a gallery near the pool. Apart from them everyone else were seated on the floor on the edge of the pool.

"That's the popular crowd", I explained "They don't mix with others. And we actually call that, the popular gallery because nobody else sits there".

"Oh", Kimayra bit her lip, "I've always been against these social boundaries. I wish everyone could talk to everyone without any limitations".

I was impressed beyond my will. Some people make the rules of social hierarchy. Most others follow those rules because they're either scared of breaking them or don't care at all about the whole social hype. But I'd rarely seen someone who bashes the rules.

"What about the student council? Do they encourage all this?"

"Oh they are not bothered", I said trying not to sound bitter, "But you know, if I were Student Body President, I would have that gallery demolished".

"I would rather have social boundaries demolished", said Kimayra.

"Girls, please!" Ishaan interrupted us, "For God sake, it's only a gallery!"

"Well you can't deny you wish it wasn't this way", I said immediately.

"No I can't", Ishaan shook his head, "But I'm not going to waste a perfectly good day talking about the popularity thing".

"If we don't talk about it, how will it get solved?" I asked.

"If you talk about it, will it get solved?" he asked, "People, social hierarchy is a reality. It will always be. So when we can do nothing about it, why can't we just forget about it and have fun? It's an imperfect world folks, but it's the only one we've got".

"Woah! You're a preacher Ishaan" said Kimayra.

"No he's not", I said immediately, "That's Iron Man's dialogue".

"Hina! You just ruined my moment of glory. How mean!" Ishaan chided.

"Okay, okay you can skip the sermon now", I said. I was used to being a victim to Ishaan's regular lectures but I didn't want Kimayra to suffer the same.

"Alright", Ishaan smiled, "Shall we jump into the pool now?"

I glanced across at the water. Naira, Neeti and a few others were taking laps.

"You only want to go there, because the chicks are hanging out there", I smirked at Ishaan.

"Shut up Hina", he said "Are you coming or what?"

"Yes, yes", I said. I looked at Kimayra expectantly.

"No. Both of you go. I'll just hang out here on the edge of the water".

"Yeah okay, Yuvan is getting into the water now", I said, "You can do some sightseeing if you want" .

"Hina don't give your pervy ideas to Kimayra", Ishaan berated me.

"It's okay Ishaan. I might actually want to do some sightseeing", said Kimayra. All three of us laughed.