Jivika~

"Tujhe patha hai kal hitman ne first innings mai kitne maare? Ek sao chihtthar!"
["Do you how many runs 'hitman' made yesterday in the first innings? One hundred seventy six!"]

Asking who this mad fellow is?

Shreyansh Jha.

Who watches test match these days? Its as old as Charles Babbage's computers and as long as Lavanya's gossips. Sighing, I ran my eyes over the chemical reaction which I had to memorize. Exams were approaching soon. And I have to, I have to  score better in Science.

"What is ek sao chihtthar ?" questioned Kiara.

"Abey firangi! One hundred seventy six."
  ["You foreigner! One hundred seventy six."]

I was not surprised. The girl who could read 'Kerala', the state where she was from, as 'Karela' [bitter-gourd], was definitely capable of anything. Reading the Devanagari script was something which her eyes could not muster. No wonder why she chose Sanskrit as her second language in ninth, she was willing to go to any extent to drop Hindi.

Rushing past us and knocking us down, Shreyansh joined the crowd near the cupboard. The boys were cleaning the cupboard and disposing the waste papers and other materials outside the class. Strange. Very strange.

Hmm. High suspicions decoded. Should I check? I'm the class monitor after all.

Nah ... I feel lazy. But seriously, what are these guys doing?

"Jivika solve this! Please!" whined Maahi, handing out a sheet of mensuration problems. Well, she had already solved it. But the answer was unfortunately, miles away from the correct one. Scribbling over the paper, I solved it in seconds.

I could handle anything except  Social Science. That subject was like a sleeping pill for me.

"Great, you solved it! Now, help me find where  I went wrong!"

Finding where you could've made a calculation mistake, was the toughest job one could ever hand you. And this girl was crazy. Even her answer was crazy. There was a definite mistake, but none of us could spot it. At last, we both gave up.

The bell for the next class rang and I slightly jumped. So early? Are there any changes today?

Mrs. Suganthi Peter walked in. Her peacock blue sari, quite striking. Surprised, I skimmed over our class timetable. It was English period, Rane sir was in school, then how come? As Sachin pushed himself forward to tell her that it wasn't her period, she raised her hand, demanding silence.

"I switched periods with your English sir."

Fishy. Something was very fishy.

The lady who could make a string of excuses any day, on why she did not want to take classes, was willing to take an extra class today. Especially, when it was a half-day, last working day of the month, and incessant rains added to the top. The gloomy weather being a reason why many children took leave today and only around twenty were present.

As she opened up the textbook, the picture became clearer.

"Children, today we are going to start with 'Reproduction'."

Of course. This cunning, shrewd woman. She had to choose the day when Mumbai was flooded with rain, to teach the most awaited chapter of the year. And knowing her, she would finish off with the chapter today itself.

"The initial part of the chapter is useless, you can do it by yourself. Now, male reproduction system. It's often not asked in the exam, its not that important. Do it by yourself. Now, female reproduction system, very very important for exams. But already done in eighth, do it by yourself. Now, let us discuss the contraceptive methods and why they are important."

All this, she declared in such a speed, that it took five whole minutes for us to figure out what was happening. And by the time that happened, she had already started off with the contraceptive methods.

"So first type: Barrier method. Second type: Surgical method. Third type: Oral contraceptives. That's all you need to write in the exams with suitable examples. Now—"

A hand shot up in the air. Sachin.

"Ma'am, can you please  give us an example of barrier method?"

"You don't know?"

"No ma'am."

"You really  don't know?"

"No ma'am."

"I believe your friends can enlighten you. Now—"

"Ma'am, even they don't know."

"Well then, child, next time when you go to the airport or the movie theaters, please pay attention to the advertisements. Because unfortunately, its quite amusing that you don't know, despite the fact that I've found you and your whole class in fact, huddled over the Mumbai Mirror  newspapers in our library."

Now, now, now. Who could deny that? It was a true fact. Huddled over every piece of Mumbai Mirror  found, were the children of our class, reading that one particular column, titled sexpert. But how come these teachers knew that? Even the librarian could not figure that out.

Forgetting all that, I asked her a few questions. And for once, the whole class had tons of doubts to be cleared. So many, in fact, that Suganthi ma'am could not start with the next topic. Troubled that the chapter was not completed in a day, she asked us to read it by ourselves. Well, no surprises there.

Disappointed, I eyed the diagrams of the chapter.

"Oye Topper!"

"See this!"

"Kya hua Amaan?"
["What happened Amaan?"]

Joining him in the corridor, I watched the scrawny boy with absolute curiosity. My pupils took their own sweet time, to adjust to the bright sunlight which was falling on us. The weather had a change of heart, I believe. Somewhere, I could hear Kiara whispering to Maahi in Malayalam. That phrase, something related to some sun after rain thing.

"Kurukkante kalyanam!"
["Fox's marriage!"]

Ignoring them, I paid attention to the boy in front of me. Few moments later, I noticed a triangular glass shred in hand.Must have been his discovery after rummaging through the dusty cupboards.

Is he going to tell me that this is Sirius Black's two-way mirror?

"Stand here!" he yelled excitedly, with the familiar glint in his eyes. The same one he used to have, while asking someone his complicated questions, or while speaking about Dhoni. Or even while bitching about Kohli.

"See that?"

What? The air?

Understanding the confusion clouded on my face, he yanked me with his free hand, positioning himself behind me. My elbows resting on the handrail of the corridor-wall, I realized that this was the same spot where Kiara and Pratik would talk for hours during lunchtime. With my front pressed against the wall and my back towards him, he circled his arms around me with the glass shred in front.

Focused absolutely at the glass piece, I tried to understand what was happening.

The beam of sunlight hitting the glass was creating a beautiful gleam all over. The white rays forming rainbow diamonds on the wall. The slivers of light basking us in its golden strips. I blinked to adjust my eyes. But eventually closed them to drown in the feeling. Drinking in the moment, I opened my eyes slowly, aligned with a drowsy, lop sided smile. Mirroring him almost.

He was standing beside me, not behind anymore. The weird warmth, not of the sun but his face. That lazy smile, the one which makes you jealous of how optimistic people can be in life, that kind. How does a moment last forever? I wish I knew.

A churning pit in my stomach. Trust me, I was smart enough to not be in denial. I was well aware of what I felt. But whether it was strong enough or just a passing wave, I needed more time to figure that out. A bit more time.

From the corner of my eyes, I could see Kiara and Maahi standing by the door, looking at us. Whispering even. Amaya joined them soon. I could even hear a tiny click of her phone, but chose to ignore it.

The boy in front of me, scratched his ear, shy all of a sudden. And I? I was amused. Very very amused. Inhaling and exhaling, looking anywhere possible except my face, he mumbled.

"Uh ... the mirror?"

"Right."

A light grin played on my lips, his actions being the cause. Breaking the spell, I angled the mirror towards his face, the light falling on him. It was so sudden, that his eyes squinted with surprise, before he gave out a shriek.

Chasing me throughout the school, huffing and puffing, he glared. Quite opposing to the hearty chuckle which emerged out of him. Laughing, I sticked out my tongue, only for him to be my reflection.

I looked.

He looked.

We looked away.

And we looked back again.

~