Jivika~

'Another day. Another trouble.'

I guess that should be our class's motto. The 'trouble' had not been brought yet but I can sense it coming. Looming upon our doomed fates, as some of the literature maniacs would quote.

"You are thinking what I am thinking, right?" questioned Maahi, glaring at the Kumbh Mela  near the window. The crowd was unmissable.

I nodded. Words were not needed.

Two of us staring at the same sight, led the other four to crane their necks. As the seconds swept, more spectators gathered for the viewership of the circus. Moments later, let me be frank, seconds later, we witnessed the dramatic closure.

More like 'crash-er'.

Glass shreds, so tiny that our biology teacher would have said 'not visible to the naked eye', strewn all over the granite tiles.

Now the spectators increased and the actors decreased. Seems like diffusion is taking place.

The cry and hue. Fingers pointing at the others, people running here-running there, while the glass shreds lay still, immobile. "Ooh's" and "Aah's" erupted in the air, as our eyes went wide, judging the aftermath.

Oh, the chaos!

The next minute, Pranav had his hand wound around Shreyansh, limping his way through. He settled on the bench, his leg stretched along the seat's length. The cuts on his feet did not  look pretty. The crowd gathered around him, offering him comfort. And that's when Suganthi Peter, the lady who taught us chemistry and biology, walked in.

What is it with teachers and wrong timings?

"Good Lord! What is  happening?"

Her dramatics never, mind you, never  failed to amuse me.

Her horror stricken face got me chewing the insides of my cheek, barely controlling my laughter. Her eyes, shifted between the window and the troublemakers. Muttering all the prayers she could muster, she yelled out.

"Call Sonika ma'am, go Amaan go!"

Mrs. Sonika Sehwat, our class teacher and Math teacher, the sweetest and one of the sanest teachers I have ever seen. And that is a big achievement in our school. Not a single student would exist, who would hold even the slightest hate towards that lady.

And qualities of a good teacher;  when she sees her student hurt in any manner, she would suffer twice the wave of panic we would.

Couple of days ago when Kiara had a slight fever ma'am had gotten so  worried, that she walked to the store and bought medicines for her. Nursing her back to health. It was just sheer luck that she did not call up the ambulance.

Walking into the class with a bang, the eerie silence contributed its bit in telling her about the situation. One look at our dearest teacher's face, I could predict that her blood pressure must have shot up like a 190-metre six.

"Pranav! Yeh kya hai?"
["Pranav! What is this?"]

How can a person have the perfect tone to express 'anger, concern and care' at the same time? Let that remain an unsolved mystery.

"Ma'am, its nothing. Just a small accident!" he lied, gritting his teeth.

Giving the whole audience her infamous glare, she stood still expecting an explanation. Earning none, she sighed, and borrowed the tube of ointment from Suganthi ma'am. Squashing it, she punished the innocent tube with her anger. Swiping the paste and dabbing it on his feet, she started the work.

Drenched with guilt and embarrassment, the boy inched a step back, offering to do it himself.

"Ma'am, I'll manage."

Ignoring him, she put forth her questions.

"Is it hurting? You want to cry? Its okay, you can!"

"No ma'am!" he yelled, horror painting his face at the mere thought. At the same time, his eyes were shut tight. The same followed for his mouth.

"Why were you standing near the window?" she questioned.

"Ma'am ... uh ... reflection?"

She looked at him baffled. Guess we all did.

"Reflection? Seriously? You should've used a mirror then! Our school's washroom has plenty of them!"

"Ma'am only  the girls washroom has mirrors! Ma'am even the school is unfair to us! This is gender discrimination! Ma'am you agree with us, right?"

What?

I am confused.

What? That was the issue?

Speaking in whispers, Kiara filled our ears.

"Ya. Even Pratik was complaining about it. His words, I quote: You girls have such spacious bathrooms, that too with mirrors! Apparently, he and his friend had stepped into the girl's washroom, one Sunday morning, when they had cricket practice. And trust me, for some weird reason, he was fascinated."

"That ... I don't even know what to say!"

The statement was coming from Lavanya. Which clearly meant that it was a big deal. Who could do weirder stuff than us?

Faking a cough, Sonika ma'am had our attention, yet again.

"Well, that is a very important issue which should be addressed then, I guess. Who are our class monitors? Ah! Jivika and Amaan, write up a polite and decent letter to principal ma'am, requesting for mirrors please."

Trying to get what she said, I nodded and shared a glance at my fellow monitor.

I looked.

He looked.

We looked away.

And we looked back again.

~