Author's POV
"Now. Care to explain the matter?" The Father rose his brows at them once they stood in front of him with their heads hung low inside his cabin.
"Father... He punctured my tire!"
"Father, she attacked me out of nowhere!"
Both shrieked at the same time and glared at each other all over again.
Father looked at them incredulously. He couldn't believe his own eyes when he saw the two school toppers fighting like cats and dogs right inside the school premise without caring about the decency of decorum.
St. Louis prided itself in producing some highly yielding prodigies over the years and both Rishabh Rathore and Sanvi Dixit stood at the top of their year together. He had high hopes for the two in both the prospect of academic excellence as well as the yearly championship in the upcoming days.
He had over-heard about their hostility towards each other but the mindless talks made it seem to him as though it was simply a matter of ego-clash and academic competition. Needless to say, their actions today disappointed him immensely.
However, he wasn't going to let his students astray with their healthy competition being turned into some of kind of envious aggression right before he could decide whether they would be suitable to represent the school that year in the championship.
"Look, I honestly don't care about the incidents that led to that fight. You both are two of the brightest students of our school. But there's no partiality when it comes to committing a mistake.. You'll both have to bear the punishment..."
They nodded with their mouths closed like two kids caught stealing toffees together. Father smiled slightly as he weaved the best punishment for the two in his mind.
"I have heard that you can't bear each others' sight?" Father raised his brows in a questioning look and Rishabh looked at Sanvi with a glare. Sanvi bit her lip at the sudden charge.
"Okay then.. I'll make sure you both remain together in every activity of this session. Perhaps, that will be a justified punishment for both of you. And if I hear a single nag from either of your sides and any complaint against you both, you'll be suspended for the remaining school session."
Father completed his speech with a triumphant smile and the pair shot up to look at him with eyes wide as saucers.
With him?
With her?
What if they killed each other? Didn't Father wonder what might happen if the school loses two of the toppers together?
Or worse!
What if they kissed each other again?
The thoughts were endless and there was no way out. Sanvi closed her eyes while releasing a frustrated whimper. Rishabh immediately opened his mouth to counter Father's command but stopped midway when Father gestured him with his palm.
"Before you decide to disobey the punishment, I should remind you that with the suspension, you won't be able to sit for the final exams and thereby fail to graduate this year."
"BUT FATHER!" Both leaped up from their seats at the verdict.
Exams were the one thing the two agreed at. They couldn't bear the burden of losing a year, let alone missing to sit for the final exams. Their troubles to accommodate with each other seemed to be the least of their worries then.
Both mentally groaned with helplessness and looked at each other, as if immediately feeling what either of them were thinking about.
"Alright. I feel I have made myself crystal clear to you two. Just remember that I will be reported about each and every step you take. Now, walk out of my office without a single word." He gestured them towards the door before turning his attention to the book kept open in front of his desk.
He didn't even give them a chance to explain. Rishabh opened his mouth to say something when the Father asked him to get his parents to meet him the next day which immediately shut him up for good. Sanvi nodded hopelessly at this and made her way out of the cabin followed by a very frustrated Rishabh.
"You bimbo! Who asked you to pounce on me like that?" Bellowed a very irritated Rishabh once they were out of the cabin, striding towards the parking space side-by-side.
"Are you for real Rathore? YOU punctured the tire of my scooty! What made you think that I'd let you go off easy this time?"
"Does you book-eating brain not get the concept of a practical joke? Alright then! Your wish has been fulfilled. We're tangled up for the entire session now! You cannot let me off you shoulders even if you beg for it!" He remarked sarcastically.
The nerve of that boy!
"Oh I really don't want to lose my school privileges or I would give away anything to just rip that haughtiness off your face!" Sanvi groaned and stomped her foot on the floor before running off towards the gate closely followed by him.
*******
To Be Continued.