After Anupam finished speaking Koushik breathed out slowly.
"Wh... why.. a..are.. you.. a.. as... king?" Anupam said.
Koushik shook his head remorsefully and said "I've wronged someone buddy. Gotta apologize."
He stood up supporting the table.
"B.. bud.. dy?" Anupam's eyes became as round as marbles.
"Yes. You're a nice person, we're in the same class and I like making friends. So I would love to be friends with you. Only if you don't mind of course." Koushik flashed a smile.
Anupam smiled brightly at first but it quickly vanished.
"Yo.. you don't ha.. ave... to.. pi.. pity me. I.. I'm okay... wi... with not... hav.. ing friends. I.. will pr.. protect my s.. self." He said with determination and confidence which Koushik had not seen before.
He chuckled and said shaking his head "Who said I'm trying to be your friend to make myself look magnanimous? Why would I pity you? For your stuttering? Nah. I just like you. You have a wonderful smile and a sweet voice. And you're kind too. See, we're similar." Koushik said with a shrug and smiled.
"Well, not as handsome as me though." He ran his hand through his hair as if flexing his beauty then winked at him and stuck out his tongue.
Anupam laughed.
"Woah! Your laughter is even pleasant to hear. Are you trying to seduce me? Well, I would have fallen for you if I were gay. Anyways I need to make a point to make you laugh more." Koushik rambled on his own but said everything earnestly.
Anupam laughed even more.
"Bye." Koushik saluted at him and left.
"Now to my next destination," he muttered while going to his classroom.
"Eh? Where's she?" He asked, not seeing Olivia in the room.
A boy heard him and asked, "Who?"
"My iceberg of a deskmate."
"Oh, Olivia?" That boy asked.
"See. Even you think she's an iceberg." Koushik clapped his hands righteously.
"Ahem. Yeah. She always has a cold look in her eyes and an I'll-kill-you-if-you-speak-to-me-or-disturb-my-sleep-for-no-reason face. Anyway, why are you looking for her? Weren't you guys at odds with each other? When did your tone become so friendly? I hardly see you interacting with her. Well, it's not like there are many chances to interact with her. She's always sleeping if not doing any classwork. "
Koushik smiled in embarrassment and said "We... had a misunderstanding. No. I misunderstood her. But it's all cleared up now so I was planning to apologise but she doesn't seem to be present in class."
The boy nodded in understanding.
"So, where is she?" Koushik asked.
"I just saw her going out. That way. As for where I don't know." The boy answered pointing somewhere.
Koushik hunted for Olivia for a long time but all was in vain. So he just went to his seat, resigned.
"Hey, where did you go during lunch break? I was looking for you everywhere." Koushik pounced at Olivia the moment she came back to her seat.
He was about to say more but the teacher entered and disrupted his speech. Throughout the second half of school, Koushik tried various methods to find an opportunity to speak to Olivia but luck was not on his side. The teachers came right on time and immediately commenced teaching thus they were busy taking notes. At least Koushik was. Olivia slept through the entire lesson, moving only when she was asked to write something.
Koushik admired her courage to sleep through class without even bothering to hide behind books. Once he thought of waking her up and he did, twice. But getting icy- old death stares each time, he decided to stop.
He wondered 'Isn't it bad for her reputation as the School Captain to sleep in class like this? Isn't she supposed to set an example by being a model student? Or is she not bothered about it? Like when she didn't even care to explain when I misunderstood her.'
He stared at her, deep in thought.
"Koushik, the screen's over here. Not on Olivia's face." The teacher commented.
Everyone laughed. Koushik's face turned red in embarrassment. He quickly muttered an apology and concentrated on the lesson. Olivia, hearing the laugh raised her head and looked through sleepy eyes. She blinked a couple of times to clear her vision.
"Had a good sleep, Olivia?" the teacher asked with a sarcastic smile.
"No sir." She replied in a hoarse voice and went back to sleep.
The teacher was speechless. The students were speechless too. They wondered how could someone sleep in class so blatantly and even in front of the teacher. They saluted her for her bravery in their mind.
Once class was over, Olivia, who looked like she wanted to sleep a little more reluctantly stood up and started packing her books.
Some people whispered, "Why does she even bring books to class if the only thing she's going to do is sleep?"
"Tch. Say, why does she even come to school? It's not like she's studying or anything."
"Damn, she's wasting space."
Despite all these kinds of whisperings, which were actually too loud and clear to be called whispers, Olivia seemed unbothered. She was busy packing her bag as if nothing was happening. Like it was not her they were discussing about. Without giving a damn about what was happening around her, she carefully put each book inside her bag making sure no page got wrinkled.
"Hey! Don't you guys have anything better to do? So what if you're better at studies than the rest? Does that give you a VIP pass to bully others? Keep your mouth shut and if you don't have anything valuable to say. You'll save your energy. The more energy you save the less you'd need to eat. The less you need to eat the more you'll help in saving food. The more food you save the more people, who don't have enough to eat, you can give out to. That way you'll do a good deed and maybe receive less torture in hell after you die." A girl said.
She was really small and thin like a bamboo stick. But compared to that, her voice was as deep as a tiger's roar. Standing near Olivia, who was tall and well-built, she seemed like a small kitten roaring like an adult tiger.