"Would it kill you to answer a question properly?" Koushik felt exasperated.
There was no reply. He covered his face with his hands and let out a muffled groan. Then he hurriedly made himself scarce.
Olivia thought 'Explaining to you would mean I'll have to spend another fifteen minutes talking. Would I do that?'
"Why not? Talking will do you good." A girl, much younger than Olivia but almost identical looking to the latter replied as a matter of fact.
She was seated opposite Olivia. Her hands were stretched out across the Board and her chin rested on the edge. She swayed feet gazing at the books.
"What are you doing here?" Olivia asked.
"Staring at books?" came the reply.
Olivia just rolled her eyes and continued reading.
"Wow! This story is pretty good!" The girl came over and said looking over Olivia's back.
"You've not even read half of it." Olivia retorted.
"Heh. I don't need to read the entire book to know if a story is good. One look and I can tell this is a bomb." She said showing her little teeth.
"And I'll make that bomb explode on you for judging a book without reading it," Olivia gave her a side-eye.
The girl clicked her tongue and said " Don't you know how to value and appreciate treasure?"
"I do but only real treasure and not a counterfeit with a treasure tag attached." Olivia's words made the girl speechless.
"Are you saying I'm not a talented person?" She asked.
"Did you hear me say that?" Olivia raised her eyebrows.
The girl narrowed her eyes not knowing where the conversation was going.
"No." she shook her head after thinking for a while.
"Do I need to say the Earth revolves around the Sun?" Olivia asked.
The girl shook her head. "Exactly. It's a universal truth that doesn't need to be told."
The girl waited for Olivia to continue but nothing came after this. Seeing Olivia silent she pondered over what the former said. Having some peace Olivia concentrated back on her book.
"You.." the girl suddenly flared up and said, "You're saying that me being talentless is a fact, aren't you?"
"Dumb too. It took you so long to figure everything out. And useless." Olivia commented without raising her head from the book.
The girl angrily raised her fist.
"Olivia, go back to your class." The librarian said.
Olivia nodded and left after keeping the book in its place.
"Can't even read in peace." muttering softly she headed towards her class.
When she arrived, the next class had already begun. Olivia sat down and began taking notes. While the teacher was explaining, she spun the pen in her hand, resting her chin on her palm. She looked very attentive but only she knew how close she was to falling asleep. Throughout the class, Koushik did not pester her anymore. He did not even speak to her.
"Hello Koushik, I'm a big fan of yours. Could you please give me an autograph?" A girl with two pigtails came up to Koushik's desk and requested.
"Sure. How can I refuse a sweet lady like yourself?" Koushik had a gentle smile on his face.
The girl shyly tucked a hair strand behind her ear and smiled. After signing the paper Koushik winked at her and left. Olivia stared at him and remembered experiencing something similar. She then looked at the girl who was staring at the autograph like she was holding a gold bar in her hand.
"Hey, you guys. I missed you so much." Koushik hugged his friends tightly, dramatically wiped invisible tears on Bikram's uniform and pretended to blow his nose.
Bikram looked at his uniform with disgust while Rishi laughed seeing Bikram's reaction.
"I missed you too," said Rishi hugging Koushik back.
"See, he's my real bro. You didn't even hug me after seeing me four hours later. Heartless." Koushik looked at Bikram with an aggrieved look.
Bikram rolled his eyes and said, "How did your new class go?"
Rishi also looked at him.
"Ah. Not a good start." Koushik plopped on Rishi's seat and said staring at the ceiling.
"Why? What happened?" Rishi asked puzzled by his friend's response.
He opened a lunch box and stuffed some food in Koushik's mouth. He waited for him to finish chewing and answer his question.
"Don't get me started. There was this guy in our team, Anupam. He stutters while speaking so some of the students jeered at him but he did not retaliate. They looked very mean, to be honest, so I can probably understand why Anupam stayed silent. Anyway, I could literally see him shaking from the humiliation. And guess what? Our School Captain stayed silent the entire time! When I wanted to defend him she stopped me and called him aside for a chat. I didn't hear anything but I saw Anupam breaking into tears after Olivia said something to him. Just imagine! Not only did she not help him out but also made him cry!"
"Are you an idiot? You're making assumptions just based on something you saw when there was actually a need to hear what they were saying? How stupid is that? You're acting like a stubborn kid." Bikram said slapping Koushik's head.
Koushik grinned stiffly.
"Yeah. I realised this after giving it a thought. But at the same time, you also can't say for sure that she wasn't being mean to him like the others." He poured trying to justify himself.
"Of course, I can't, but I also can't say that was was indeed being mean to him. That's why it's necessary to know the truth to come to a conclusion deciding instead of empty assumptions. We're not doing a maths problem that we need to assume something to prove the contradictions."
"Yes Koushik, I too think you were hasty in your judgement. What if she did not say anything hurtful and he just cried because he was overwhelmed with emotions and you just happened to see that?" Rishi said.
"Don't let your compassion cloud your judgement judge. You were unhappy seeing him get bullied so maybe you thought that she was bullying him too when he cried while speaking to her. Talk it out. It's not ideal to make enemies on your very first day in a new school. And this isn't just any school we're talking about. This is Ketu. And being its Captain is not a matter of joke. She must have had her reasons for not intervening. Ask her instead of making guesses. Even though you might not become friends it's not good to make an enemy out of her. I'm not asking you to make friends with the wrong people. No. Find out if she really was at fault first, then decide," said Bikram.
Koushik nodded and said "You're right. Let's go somewhere else. I don't wanna eat in the classroom."
Bikram and Rishi followed him. Finding a secluded place they sat down.