"Roll no. 21?"

"Present ma'am!"

"Roll no. ... "

Her voice resonated in the silent classroom, the students sitting restlessly on their tiny chairs as Khusi took the attendance. It had been 3 weeks since Khusi was made the class teacher of UKG, and so far she had been able to keep her sanity intact. 

Dealing with children was hard, but dealing with small kids ... she needed another level of patience for that sort of duties.

"Roll no. 28?"

Silence.

Khusi's eyebrows furrowed as she checked the row. 

Roll No. 28 : David Joshi.

He had been absent for the last 6 days. 

Not bothering too much about it, Khusi quickly finished the task in hand and looked over the class. Another teacher was already hovering near the door, to start his period.

"Okay kids, now I don't want any kind of complaints from the other teachers that you were misbehaving or chatting during the class . If you manage to maintain zero complaints for 7 days, there will be a surprise gift for all of you next week."

The class roared with cheers and enthusiastic comments as Khusi smiled inwardly. Zeeniya had been giving her a lot of tips recently regarding how to tackle those kids and so far everything was in control.

Khusi collected the attendance diary and was just about to walk out of the classroom, when Yuti's voice caught her attention.

"Yes Yuti," Khusi asked, leaning down a bit. The tiny girl reached only upto Khusi' mid thighs.

"Miss, one student is not coming for over a week now."

Khusi's eyebrows shot up at the little girl's protective tone. She passed her a smile and sat on her knees in front of her, gesturing the other teacher to go inside and start his class.

"Who is it?" Khusi asked.

"David," Yuti replied, fumbling with her skirt. 

At the familiar name, trepidation arose in Khusi's heart, but she didn't show it in front of Yuti.

"Is he your friend?" Khusi's eyes raked over Yuti's face. She somewhat looked familiar but Khusi couldn't put a finger to where she had seen her.

"Yes, he is my boyfriend. But that's not the main point. We have to bring him back to the school. He can't stay at home all the time."

Yuti's words caught Khusi's attention. She felt as if Yuti was saying that it was harmful for David to stay at home. She swallowed down her urge to chuckle at the term boyfriend. 

"And why do you think so, Yuti? Maybe he is sick or out of town?" 

To Khusi's words, Yuti shook her head. "No, he never leaves without informing me. I am sure he is in some kind of trouble. Please Khusi ma'am, you have to help me to save him."

Khusi couldn't help but laugh at the seriousness in Yuti's words and her expression. She was sure there was no reason for them to worry about David, but for the sake of calming down Yuti, she promised to look into the matter.

• • •

Her knuckles hang in the air in front of the door as Khusi puffed out a shallow breath, cold sweat dripping down her forehand. After trying to look for the contact number of the students for hours, and failing, Khusi didn't have any other choice but to discuss the matter with the principal.

But even after trying for the last 15 minutes, Khusi couldn't gather enough courage to knock on his door. 

"Miss Khusi, would you please do the honor of knocking already and come inside."

Khusi shrieked, her wild eyes roaming around her as she tried to look for the source of the harsh tone. Her gaze finally stopped on the upper right corner of the door, where she spotted a CCTV camera and a speaker.

Grimacing inwardly at her foolish behaviour, she slapped her forehead but then quickly realised that she was being watched, and composed herself. 

"May I come in sir?" she meekly asked, peeking inside.

The Principal hummed, checking some papers, a rimless spectacle resting over his nose.

"What do you need?" 

Khusi didn't know whether to sit or not, so she stood across the Principal's desk. 

"Actually sir, one student from my class has been absent for the last 6 days, and he hadn't submitted any letter for leave. I tried to look for his contacts but couldn't find anything."

At Khusi's words, Mr. Agartala's gaze snapped towards her and he kept his papers aside. "Who is it?" he enquired, tapping his chin, his gaze mildly concerned.

"David Joshi."

As soon as he heard the name, the apprehension in his eyes vanished, replaced with a resentful look. His nostrils twitched, and Khusi watched with perplexed eyes as Mr. Agartala's face turned ruddy with every passing second.

"Leave that boy alone. There's nothing you need to worry about," he snarled, making Khusi take a step back at the ferociousness of his tone.

"But sir, I really have to know whether he is okay or not. Can you please provide me with his contact number ... "

Before Khusi could finish, Mr. Agartala stood up with a flash, a loud smack reverberating in the room, as he slapped his hand against his desk.

Khusi fearfully took a few steps back, shaken from the sight of the raging man infront of her, her heart beating furiously. 

"For the last time, mind your own business. Stay away from matters that doesn't concern you. You do not share any personal relationships with the boy so you don't need to worry about his whereabouts. You only take care of him as long as he is in this school. Now, get out of my room right now Ms. Mukherjee, before I throw you out myself."

Fearing to disobey and landing herself in more trouble, Khusi silently maneuvered out of the room, her heart beating furiously against her ribs.

• • •

Khusi quickly ducked under her desk, feigning to look for something, as soon as she saw Yuti peeking inside the staff room. She had been trying to avoid any confrontation with the little girl for the last 2 days, embarrassed at how to face her after the Principal sir almost threw her out of his office.

"Hey, what are we playing?" Minaskshi asked, kneeling beside her beneath their desk, the small space making Khusi suffocate.

"What the hell are you doing? Get up, she shouldn't suspect that I am avoiding her!" Khusi gritted, but it was already too late. Yuti already detected them as she stumbled inside the staff not bothering to ask for permission.

"Khusi miss? What're you doing?" she asked, her eyes widened with wonder.

Flustered at her stupid actions, Khusi pushed herself to her feet and dusted off her dress. "Nothing. Mina let's go. We have stuff to do."

Minakshi passed Khusi a confused look because the day was over and they were directly heading back to their home. But one look from Khusi and she realized she needed to play along.

"Yeah, let's go!" Minakshi hauled her bag and grabbed Khusi's hand, pulling her out of the staff room.

"Miss, wait!" Yuti ran behind them, trying to gain their attention.

"We're in a hurry, Yuti. I'll talk to you later." 

They were quickly about to sprint away when Yuti's shaky voice halted their steps. "Are you avoiding me?"

"Yuti … " Khusi drawled, not sure how to respond to that. But as soon as Khusi turned to look at her, she saw a tear rolling down Yuti's cheek and she gasped. 

"Yuti! Please don't cry. Okay, I am sorry." Khusi couldn't bear the little angel crying as they rushed towards her, Khusi wiping away Yuti's tears. 

"I am sorry, Yuti. But I couldn't find anything about your friend." 

After Yuti had calmed down, Khusi delivered her the news, sitting on a bench outside the school.

"But why not? Didn't the head sir help you?" she asked, sucking on a lollipop, spittle running down her chin.

"No, he couldn't." Khusi wiped the spittle off Yuti's face using her handkerchief.

Yuti became silent, staring at nothing specific for a long time, the silence becoming unbearable for Khusi.

"I know!" All of sudden she shrieked, jumping down the bench and grinning at Khusi.

"What?" 

"A person who can help us to find David."

"Who?" Khusi asked not taking Yuti's words seriously.

"My papa! He is a police officer. He can definitely help us. Come with me, miss. He must be at the police station." Yuti started pulling Khusi's hand trying to make her take a step forward but Khusi stood immobile. 

Police station? 

The matter was turning too serious and Khusi didn't want to get involved in any kind of complications.

"No Yuti. I think you're worrying too much. We don't have to inform the police. It's not even that serious."

But Yuti paid no heed to Khusi's words. 

"Come with me! C'mon. David could be in trouble. We should inform the cops … ," Yuti dragged, tugging Khusi's dress, giving her no option but to step towards wherever Yuti was taking her too

The Principal's words rang in her head as she shivered at the realization of where her actions might lead to. 

Stay away from matters that doesn't concern you.

Her heartbeat intensified and Khusi dug her feet into the ground, making Yuti stop. She turned around, peering up at Khusi.

"Even if you don't believe me, it's your duty to look out for your students, isn't it Khusi miss? Please?" Yuti pleaded, jutting out her lips.

Her words hit Khusi like a rock against her head. Deciding not to worry about the future she chose to do the right thing.

"You're right. Let's go to the police station."

~ ••••• ~

Vote and Comment, 🌟💬

if you're liking my story. 😇🥰

See'Ya 💫❤