As there was little time left before classes started, there was a headlong rush among the students who arrived late to reach their classrooms. The toilet was also quite far away, so Rai got delayed on her way to Ankita.
She was trying to push her way through the crowd when somebody called her "Hey, Rai, wait a moment."
Rai turned around to find an unfamiliar boy.
"Yes?" She asked in a slightly irritated voice.
She was in a hurry yet someone was calling her right then. Biting her lips she wrung her hands, watching the boy slowly walk over to her. Getting impatient she marched closer to him.
"I was going to your class to find you. Good thing I found you here already." He smiled at her politely.
"You won't know me, so please come aside, I need to.." he began but Rai cut him off.
"I'm in a hurry. Please make it quick if it's urgent."
The boy was confounded being cut off mid-sentence but he regained his senses quickly and decided to get straight to the point.
"There's this competition..." he started but got interrupted, again.
"I'll speak to you later. Find me in my class during lunch. I'm sorry, I really need to go." Seeing it was not an emergency, she cut him off and hastened towards the washroom.
Rai knew it was rude butting in on his speech but she had a pressing matter at hand and could not care less about her image. She would apologise to him sincerely after making sure that Ankita was safe. And speaking of Ankita, the unsettling feeling in her heart increased as she got closer to the washroom. But something was wrong that day. The more she tried to reach Ankita faster the more impeded she got.
"Rai, there you are! Please tell the stu..." a teacher caught her hand.
"I'm really very sorry Miss, but I have an emergency and I have to go. Now." Rai slipped out of her hand and vamoosed.
'Is the universe playing with me or what? Why does a three minutes' walk seem like an endless road when I'm running?' Rai cursed in her heart, breathing heavily.
She soon spotted sight of the washroom and sighed in relief but someone called her, again.
Rai closed her eyes and snapped at the person gritting her teeth "WHAT IS IT!"
The girl was taken aback but she quickly composed herself and flashed a friendly smile "Baba re! Why are you being so kittle? I just wanted to ask why you're rushing to the toilet like that. Did something happen? Has your period started unexpectedly? I have extra sanitary napkins in case you need some."
"Have you seen Ankita? Is she in there?" Rai asked Esha seeing her come out of the washroom.
At this point, she threw all her politeness out of the window.
Esha went silent and became tensed for a moment but quickly masked it with an
Oh-I-remember look.
"Ankita? I saw her going to... to... to the Music Room some time ago."
"Music Room?" Rai asked doubtfully.
Ankita sucked at dance and music so it was strange for her to go there unless a teacher called.
Esha's hands became clammy and beads of sweat started forming on her forehead.
She swallowed and said assertively "Yes! She went to the Music Room."
Although uncertain, Rai nodded at her and had just taken her first step towards the music room when she heard a groan.
"Aah."
Rai wanted to ignore it but her instincts told her otherwise.
"Did you hear that?" She asked Esha.
"NO! No, nothing. Nothing at all. I didn't hear anything." Esha repudiated.
"...Hey. Why are you behaving so strangely." Although Rai was overwrought, Esha's behaviour seemed too uncanny to ignore.
"What! No, why... I'm not..." Esha denied furiously.
"Whatever I'm not interested in you. I'll just take a look into the washroom anyway since I came all the way here." With that said, Rai headed straight towards the toilet.
"No!" Esha jumped in front of her.
"I'm telling you that she is in the Music Room. Why won't you believe me?" She emphasized.
"I just want to check the toilet, why're you getting so worked up over something so simple?" Rai tried to go past her but Esha blocked her path again.
"What's wrong with you? Get out of my way?" She was already anxious enough and Esha's behaviour was getting on her nerves, she lightly shoved her aside.
"Aaaa!" Esha made a dramatic fall on the floor and screamed.
"Why did you push me?" She said and her eyes watered.
Rai squinted at her and said slowly enunciating each word "You fell on your right side."
"Huh?" Esha gave her a puzzled look.
"You're grabbing your left arm." Rai clarified her confusion.
Esha's eyes widened as she realised her blunder. But Rai did not have time to care for her expression. She pelted towards the cubicles. Her guts told her something was off about this place. Esha's behaviour, that groan, everything screamed that something was wrong here, very wrong.
'Deepa would kill me! She especially gave me the responsibility to guard the washroom.' Esha could only pray in her heart that the girls inside somehow hide.
Rai barged in. What greeted her was the sight of Ankita coughing continuously and trying to vomit while several unfamiliar girls were surrounding her with concerned looks on their faces.
"Anu, what happened to you?" Rai said in alarm and ran towards Ankita.
"Excuse me, I'm her friend please let me through,"
She suddenly spotted Deepa and Shreya and asked them "Shreya, Deepa, what's wrong with Ankita?"
She hugged Ankita by the shoulder and supported her so that she could stand properly.
"I don't know either. When I came here, I just saw her looking really pale. I asked her what was wrong but before she could reply she started coughing furiously." Shreya said with a sigh.
"Okay okay. It's not the time to fuss over this now. I'll take Ankita to the Sick Room. Please, if any of you know what happened to her come with me to the Sick Room to tell Mrs Saha." Rai cast a pleading glance at the group.
She wrapped Ankita's arm around her neck while wrapping her own around Ankita's waist to support the latter. All the girls present shook their heads saying they did not know anything. Rai gave them an understanding nod and led Ankita out of the toilet.
'Cough. Cough. Wak.' Ankita kept coughing and gagging.
Rai tried to soothe her "Just hold on a little longer Anu, we're almost there."
She quickened their pace as fast as possible without making Ankita any more uncomfortable.
"What on earth happened in this short amount of time? You were perfectly fine when we came to school." Rai muttered to herself.
Ankita tried to say something but she was too nauseous to speak and started gagging again.
"Shhh. Don't talk. Just lean on me. Don't worry, everything will be fine..." Rai held her firmly and tried to carry as much of Ankita's weight as she could.