Watching them, Rishi commented, "Do you think Rishav did that to distract Ankita?"
Bikram raided his brows and nodded, "Now that you say it out loud, I think that might be the case. Anyways, it makes me feel warm seeing them have such a close friendship. Generally, you won't see many people having real friends. It's a lifetime opportunity that one needs to cherish. And these three are always there for each other silently and know exactly what to do at the right time."
His smiled at their retreating backs.
One and a half weeks passed away just like that, and exams also came to an end. The students rejoiced in their little independence. They could finally keep their books aside for a day or two and move back to their original places, beside their friends. Exams ended on Friday, so they were happy to be able to spend their weekends having fun. But no one knew that Monday would bring another major news.
It was almost time for the classes to begin, but no teacher came. The class monitor even went to the staff room to get the teacher but every room was empty. The students started speculating what the reason could be.
At that time Aheli suddenly shouted, "Look."
She was standing near a big window. They could see a part of their school gate through it. All other students gathered around her, almost squishing her on the window sill. Down there, reporters swarmed at the gate, flashing their expensive, sophisticated cameras. Ankita, also curious like the others, tried to see what attracted Aheli's attention.
"Excuse me," She said as she tried to stand on tiptoes and see something.
"Ouch."
Just then, someone pushed her and she lost her balance. She was about to fall on her back when someone caught her.
"Huh?" Surprised, she turned her head and saw Koushik.
She was leaning backwards at a dangerous angle. Only his hold on her shoulders prevented her fall. It was an extremely uncomfortable position and there was no space to help her up. Having no choice, he dragged Ankita some distance away from the crowd and helped her stand up.
Ankita gave him an embarrassed smile and said, "Thank you."
Koushik poked her cheek and said in a reprimanding tone, "You should be glad I was there, else you'd be going home with a broken tailbone. How can you be so careless?"
He knocked on her head lightly.
"...Sorry," Ankita lowered her head and answered in a meek voice.
Koushik heaved a helpless sigh and brought her to their desk, or rather, former desk.
"I will only forgive you if you move back here," he crossed his arms and looked at her with narrowed eyes.
"How can I? Deepa is sitting here now," She asked puzzled.
"How will I know? You proposed to move away, now I propose you to move back. Do it or leave it. Don't talk to me anymore if you're so attached to your new seat, now."
Saying that, he turned his face away.
Ankita looked troubled. That was right, since she dug her own grave, she needed to put the dug-out soil back in place or lay herself down. She tried to negotiate using food as bait, but Koushik was not her, who would sway in the name of food. He did not budge at all. Seeing how stubborn he was about his threat, she decided to talk to the teacher about it. If she at least managed to sit near him, he would probably melt down a little. But that was the problem! There was no teacher.
After some time, everyone went back to their respective seats, feeling bored. They could not hear anything. The scene of a crowd of reporters soon became uninteresting. But there was still one student standing by the window like a statue — Deepa. Her back was facing them, so they did not see the horrified look on her face. One of them called her but she did not respond. Aheli was sitting closer, so she walked up to her and shook her a little. Deepa jumped in shock. Then, muttering something unintelligible, she went back to her seat and sat down, lowering her head. Everyone was busy gossiping, so nobody noticed her violently shaking hands, but how could Koushik, who was sitting right beside her, not?
But he chose to ignore her. She had hurt his friend and did not deserve his attention. If it was some other time, Deepa would have felt angry seeing Koushik so uninterested in her, but that day, a bigger trouble was waiting for her. No, it was not waiting anymore and had already come right at the door of her classroom.
A staff came in and said that the Principal was asking for Deepa. Her heart stopped beating for a moment, there. She tried to make an excuse saying she was feeling unwell, but the staff paid no attention to it.
She went to the principal's office with shaky steps. On her way, she tried her best to get away but no matter what excuse she gave, the staff did not care at all.
He even muttered, scowling, "Students these days. How desperate are they?"
Deepa felt her heart clench when she heard him. She tried to fish for some information about why she was being called, but he ignored her all the way to the office.
When they reached the Principal's office, he said, "Get in."
It was not disrespectful, but she could detect a hint of irritation in his voice. As per habit, she flashed him a polite smile and thanked before going in.
The moment she stepped through the door, a mic came right up at her face, accompanied by a camera flash.
"Deepa Singha Roy you are suspected of consuming illegal drugs."
"Are you an accomplice of your father?"
"Are you that desperate for scoring well in school? Is this true?..."
Several such questions were shot at her back to back.
'I'm busted.' She thought.