The alarm of my phone rang loudly waking me up from a blissful trance. With eyes barely open, I reached out for my phone, only to find it after a couple of tries.

I squinted my eyes to look at the time on my phone because without my glasses or lenses I am practically blind.

It was 7:15, which means I had woken up 15 minutes later than the normal time. Terrified of being late, I hurriedly pushed the covers that calling me back to the soft bed and rushed to the bathroom.

I quickly grabbed the toothbrush and toothpaste and squeezed the toothpaste out of the tube on to my brush. Some of the toothpaste fell on my shirt, but now was not the time to regret that.

With the toothbrush in my mouth, I rushed to the kitchen to make some tea. I gathered the ingredients and put them in a kettle on the stove.

"Don't forget to put basil and honey. Its good for health. ", my mother's voice echoed in my mind.

I quickly collected them as well and added to the items which were already on the stove.

I returned to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. I grabbed my towel from the shelf and laid out the attire for the day.

I settled on a light blue shirt and black formal pants along with black kitten heels. I ironed the clothes neatly, as I was too tired to do it the day before.

Hanging the towel around my neck, I returned to the kitchen to turn off the gas.

The wall clock said 7: 40 already and I needed to increase my pace to catch up to my daily schedule.

Grabbing my hair tie from the nightstand, I tied my hair and I rushed to the bathroom to take a shower, keeping in mind that I had about 10 minutes to do so.

Wrapping the towel around my body, I came out of the shower to cook some breakfast and lunch for the day. I desperately looked at the wall clock and it said 7:55.

Fuck fuck fuck. I quickly grabbed the pancake mix and whipped the batter frantically. I took out a pan from the cabinet and heated some butter on it. I wish I could enjoy the pleasing smell of the pancakes getting cooked, but the rule book that said that we needed to be in the office by 9, forbade me to do so.

I carefully poured the batter on the pan and let it cook, while I chopped up a carrot, an onion, and capsicum. I flipped the pancake in between the chopping and also heated the tea which had gotten cold.

I made another pancake and sprinkled them with some choco chips. Taking them out on a plate, I could not wait to devour the chocolaty goodness.

I poured the heated tea in a cup and took a bite of the pancake.

I looked at the wall clock again and the wall said 8: 15. Great. Kindly note the sarcasm.

Chewing the food in my mouth, I took chopped cabbage and a mashed potato out of the refrigerator and added to my already chopped ingredients.

Taking another big bite of the pancake, I cooked the veggies in a wok with a little bit of oil and then the mashed potato with some sauces.

Having gobbled up most of my first pancake, I forked out a big share of the second one and forced it in my mouth.

I removed half of the veggies I had cooked and packed them in my lunch box along with some bread putting a lid on the rest of the veggies in the saucepan.

I carefully placed the lunch box on the dinner table and finished the rest of the pancake before putting the plate and every other dirty utensil in the sink.

The wall now said 8:30 and god knew I was late today. I would be breaking my perfect record and that gave me an unsettling feeling.

The tea in the cup had gotten cold again so I microwaved it and set it on the dinner table.

I put on clothes and grabbed the brush and contact lenses from on the nightstand and my bag from the closet. Adulting is difficult, I tell you.

I made my way to the door, drinking the semi-hot tea, putting the cup in the sink and grabbing the keys from the key stand on my way. I pushed my feet in my kitten heels and shut the door behind me. I checked it twice to make sure it was locked because dad had taught me to always do that.

My watch said 8:43 and I had caught up to my daily time table. I pressed the elevator button and the elevator opened with a 'ding'.

I combed my hair in the elevator and tied it in a neat bun. Thankfully, there was a mirror in the elevator, giving me the ability to apply my favorite nude shade of lipstick without the fear of it getting smudged. The elevator stopped multiple times from the 22nd floor to the ground, and the doors opened again just in time for me to finish applying my mascara.

The office was about 5 minutes away from where I stayed because the building was on the company campus itself. So I had given myself 5 minutes of buffer time just in time to reach by 8:55.

I met Ishaan in the building lobby, like every day, as all most employees stayed at the company campus and he happened to stay in my building itself.

Reaching the company entrance, we swiped our Ids on the key card door and pressed our fingers on the fingerprint biometric scanner. The beep along with the red blinking light indicated that we got authorized and could make our way in.

Finally swapping our access cards on the floor authentication system, I was engulfed the familiar environment of the taps of keyboard keys and ticks of mouse clicks, the taps of the footsteps going to and fro in the lobby, and the smell of coffee.

The wall clock on the floor said 9:00 A.M and I had kept myself from breaking my record. Smiling to myself, I mentally prepared myself for a long day. This was the routine and I liked it. I knew what to expect from the day and it satisfied me.

Routine was peace.

*** Flashback ***

The bell rang loudly the students rushed to their classrooms. I was a little late because mom couldn't prepare my lunch on time, and it annoyed me. I do not like being late. I have told mom the same multiple times but she just does not know time management, especially when she has to go to work herself.

How hard is it to make a sandwich?

I know I am being rude here, but I was very annoyed at her.

Every day was a little different and a little exciting because of him, and if not for him, the school for me would have reduced to just a monotone routine.

I peeked into the classroom beside mine. I looked up once again at the name board hanging above the door.

8-A it read. This was the right class. My eyes searched for that one person, they always do. It was the first day of the 8th Grade. As much as I wanted to be in his class, our classes were shuffled in the 7th Grade, and only seeing a glimpse of him was something I had to be content with.

"Hurry up, Yuri. ", Ikshaa urged me, simultaneously looking towards our class, to see if the teacher had entered.

"I can't see him. ", I whined.

" That is because he is not here. ", Rairi comes from behind me and puts her hand around my neck.

Rairi and Ikshaa were my two best friends, like any other cliche 3-people group. When our classes shuffled, Rairi was put into 7A, while Ikshaa and I were put into 7B. Both of them were aware of my little crush on him. Rairi was the one who passed information about him to us last year. The 4 boys were getting popular in their class for being delinquents, but he wasn't like that. He was a kind person and an intelligent student. Rairi always tells us how he always helps his classmates with any kind of problems that they have.

Suddenly I was pulled back, and I found myself running towards my class. " Hurry, the teacher is here. ", getting hold of my hand and practically dragging me towards our class. "See you later Rairi", Ikshaa shouted.

We entered our class and took our seats. The class was still in chaos and the teacher was cleaning the board before starting the day.

" Alright students, quiet down. ", she teacher said in a loud voice. The class took around a minute to settle down and then there was pin-drop silence. She was one of the most liked teachers in our school, so students were pretty obedient to her.

" Alright, the classes are going to be shuffled again this year. ", she said evoking loud groans and noises of disagreements from the class.

I, on the other hand, was hopeful that I would be shuffled to his class. I may have good Karma because in about 10 minutes I found myself along with Ikshaa and other classmates of mine, in front of class 8-A.

"This year is going to be so exciting, "Ikshaa squealed from beside me.

I hope so.

I looked around to locate where he was sitting, and my eyes found his. How can anyone not fall in love with those brown eyes? It was only for a millisecond that we made eye contact, but it made me nervous.

"Stop staring at him.", Ikshaa leaned on to me and said through her teeth.

There was a place empty behind him so I took Ikshaa's hand and pulled her to the empty seat.

The other students had not yet settled down, so I had some time to spare to enjoy the moment of being so close to him before the teacher started with the lecture. The teacher had left the class and taking advantage of this, the class was in complete chaos.

"Whatever happened to sisters before misters?", I heard Rairi's voice say. I turned to see Rairi plopping her elbows on our desk with a betrayed expression on her face.

Right Rairi. I should have looked for her first.

"It is dead. ", Ikshaa confirmed, rolling her eyes and giving me an accusing look.

I just smiled sheepishly, guilty but not regretful.

Rairi practically pushed us with her ass, to make space for her on the desk. So now it was three of us cramming together, but we did not mind because that is how it always has been.

All three of us have been best friends since first grade. Rairi was the outgoing social kind and Ikshaa was the friendly kind. I, on the other hand, was not comfortable talking to a lot of people. I don't know if it was because I was a borderline introvert, or because I found people stupid. Maybe both. The only people I talked to were my two best friends.

I was busy admiring his back when his back got taller, and he stood up to go talk to the people on the other side of the class.

"Why the fuck would you take my seat?", someone roared from beside us.

All three of us, turned our heads in shock to face this person. Destin was standing there, fuming.

"Sorry, we did not know this was your seat. ", Ikshaa apologized, "But can you take the desk next to us? ", she pleaded.

"No. ", he stood his ground. "Get up.", he roared again.

"I don't see your name here Destin. ", Ikshaa fired back. This just added fuel to Destin's anger and both of them got into a glaring contest.

Rairi and I were playing our parts here, switching our gazes from Ikshaa's eyes to Destin's and back to catch the one who blinks first.

Don't blink Rairi, don't blink, please.

"Destin ", a smooth voice called out. He had come back from his completing his socializing duties. "Just take the desk beside them. ", he said rolling his eyes at Destin.

"Bro, you know how important it is to take the last row right? ", Destin argued with him. "It makes us look cool. ", he continued in a whisper.

Did I mention we were sitting on the last row?

And no Destin, it does not make you look cool, it just makes you look like you want to cause trouble.

"Sit with me. ", he invited and Destin agreed.

The teacher came in and the class settled down.

"Alright right students, My name is Mr. Gupta and I am going to be your class teacher for this year. I have a sheet of record of students in my class for this year. In a minute we will be starting with the attendance. ", he said scanning the class vigilantly.

A loud whistle interrupted the class, and much to our surprise it was heard from somewhere very near to us. To be specific, my ear located the source at 12 o clock.

The class giggled, but the 2 guys sitting ahead of us, very proudly, giggled louder at their own antics.

It has not been even 2 minutes into the lecture, and these guys are intent on causing trouble.

But oh boy, his laughter was contagious, and not just for me, because I found myself along with Rairi and Ikshaa to be giggling as well.

"Quiet class, ", the teacher said with very little emotion is his voice. "Destin, I need you to switch places with Sasha. ", he ordered.

A girl from 2 desks in front of us, got up, and made her way to Destin's desk. Destin switched to her place with a sulking face. Serves him right.

The class settled down once again, only to be interrupted by the two students dashing inside the classroom. The came to a halt when they realized that all pairs of eyes in the classroom were on them.

With a mixture of fear and guilt in their tone, they said, "May we come in? "

The teacher heaved a deep sigh, "You are already in the class. " He stared at them for a minute, for no apparent reason, but then signaled with his hand for them to get in.

They rushed to take the empty desk beside us.

When the class settled down once again, the teacher grabbed this opportunity to start with the attendance. "Micheal...", he started with the roll call.

"Hey, we are going to be desk partners so why don't we introduce ourselves. I am Sasha", the girl in the front desk, said with a warm smile.

"Sure sounds great. ", Rairi chirped. "My name is Rairi. "

Before Ikshaa could introduce herself, Sasha tapped on her desk partner's shoulder to gain his attention. He looked at her and then turned back to look at us. "Sorry, I was zoned out. ", he said grinning.

" Hey, I am Ikshaa. ", Ikshaa said waving her hand lightly, now passing the turn to me.

" Hi, I am Yuri. ", I said nervously, tucking my hair behind my ears. How can one not be nervous, when one has those beautiful brown eyes looking directly at one's self.

He smiled at all of us, before realizing it was his turn.

"Oh, right. I am..." he began.

There was not a single soul in the school who did not know him.

"Augusthya."

*** End of Flashback***

~~~

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