Jiya felt a weight side near me and her eyes flew open. She saw Ava slump down beside her.
"Hey Chipmunk!" Jiya called out excitedly, despite her day was ruined beyond words early in the morning. Jiya nicknamed her 'Chipmunk' because she was a shortie. She was just half of her size. She tried to smile in response, but it did not reach her eyes. She had dark circles under her eyes and she looked extremely worn out and tired. Jiya glanced at her face, trying to detect something. She thought back to Maddie who had not yet arrived. Being a cheerful girl, she was all smiles every day. Her disheveled appearance made Jiya worried. She was very conscious of her style.
And then, it hit Jiya. The stench. Jiya sniffed it. It smelled like the coppery stench of blood and pointed towards horrible pain and fear. Jiya nuzzled her face between my arms and her nose was brushing against the cold desk. Jiya closed her eyes and tried to see.
At first, it was all dark and cold and numb. It looked as if her brain was filled with nothing, but darkness. Then, the vision cleared slowly. The place was dimly lit and it seemed like she was trying hard to focus on her surroundings.
"What's going on?" her voice came as a whisper. It seemed like she was drunk and barely holding onto her consciousness.
There echoed nearby several kinds of laughter and they belonged to several guys. Jiya shuddered when she realized what was happening.
"Oh! We're just having some fun time with you, sweetheart!" one of them spoke in a husky whisper.
There followed another round of laughter, lasting for a few seconds.
"Water", she murmured desperately.
"Here", a voice came in, someone different.
There were a pause and some gurgling noise in the background. She gasped suddenly and started to cough, "What did you... make me... drink? What was... that?"
"Who drinks water here?" another voice followed by laughter.
"Relax, honey. It's just a cocktail!" Another round of laughter.
"I-I... have to go", she sounded desperate, "Where is Jess?"
Pause.
THUD
GASP
"No! What are you doing? Get off me!" She shrieked in pain.
Another round of laughter. And then, it faded away. Jiya looked up and saw everyone including Ava exiting the classroom for assembly. She also took note that Maddie had absented herself. Did Ava attend Maddie's birthday party? Jiya could not help but think.
Jiya sat up straight and took a deep breath. What was beyond that was unspeakable and unimaginable. Ava was a happy girl and seeing her so devastated made her shudder. Jiya stood up and exited the classroom with a sigh.
She quickly made her way up through the narrow stairway. She avoided the other school leaders with whom she would generally joke around. Jiya was a school leader too. Her duty was to maintain discipline around the school campus and volunteer for help. She stood near the bars of the balcony and peered below. Her eyes immediately found Ava. She was sniffling and rubbing her nose awkwardly. Her eyes were red and puffy. She was crying, Jiya realized. Jiya felt lightheaded as the thoughts circled in her mind. Laughter interrupted my train of thoughts. She turned around and saw the other leaders laughing heartily at some jokes.
She turned away and shook her head. For a moment, she felt that they were those rounds of laughter. The ones in Ava's memory. Something had happened to both Maddie and Ava.
I have to get both of them to talk, Jiya decided. That's the only way to make things better. One cannot change the past, but one can always find ways to secure the present and the future. I would try, she thought, there's no harm in trying.
Jiya felt so dizzy and lightheaded at that moment that she failed to realize that the national anthem had started. She came back to reality when Rashida nudged her with her elbow. She threw my hands to her sides and tried to gain an attentive posture. But she failed and it got messed up.
She sighed and dispersed into the nearest classroom after the anthem was over. She wasn't noticing the class number because she was unable to think about anything else. What if it was me in place of Ava? Or Maddie? A voice whispered in her head. Would it have been any better? No, never.
A high-frequency ultrasound boomed through the announcer present in the classroom followed by the screeching of the microphone. Jiya realized it was time for the student council president to address the assembly with the morning prayer. Mayank was their president, and they admired him. He had a great sense of humor, to begin with.
But instead of Mayank, came Piya's voice, the vice-president. It surprised Jiya to realize that Mayank was absent, which he rarely did. She frowned in thought, for Mayank was Ava's boyfriend. She propped up her left hand on the desk and placed her chin on it. Soon, Diksha strolled into the classroom and sat beside her.
"Hey!" she smiled.
"Hi", Jiya responded lazily.
"Did something happen?"
"Nope", Jiya frowned, "Why do you ask?"
"You were behaving unusually out there during the assembly."
"I felt lightheaded. That's all", Jiya pulled a fake smile.
"You okay?" Diksha pressed on.
"I am good. Fine", Jiya stressed the last word.
She nodded before glancing outside. Jiya stood up as the assembly was about to end. She quickly went to her position near the stairway. She was to make sure that the younger kids were disciplined and silent on their way to the classroom. She was unable to focus, but Rashida saved the day. She excused herself and almost ran down the stairway. She was quicker than she thought. She reached the classroom even before their class teacher, which was not always the fact. Most of the time, it was not.
She sat down on the bench and realized that Jessmeen was absent. On the other hand, Avaa was not looking great. Jiya sat beside her. She was a lively girl, cracking jokes all the time. But today she was more than silent. Jiya was clueless about how to get her talking. She was avoiding her. She was avoiding everyone.
Their Class Teacher, Mr. Shardul entered. He was her favorite teacher from the time Jiya started here at Don Bosco High School. He was their math teacher. He started on their attendance. Ava's roll number was before Jiya. But she missed it. After several nudges, she managed to break her daze and respond.
---
Jiya was unable to concentrate on the next two periods. After the short break, they started with their march past practice. Today, they would do the much anticipated common march. Green House was leading followed by Red, Blue and Yellow house.
At the end was the NCC troops. Green House Boys were led by Captain Sashank and Vice-Captain Mahesh. Jiya was the Captain for the girls while the Vice-Captain was Riya. They were already in their positions. They started as soon as the drummer announced its first beat.