Saka felt his stomach growling. He smelt something delicious. He wiped the drool from the side of his face and opened his eyes. The lights were off. He was covered. That was weird. He didn't remember getting himself a blanket. He checked the time on his phone. Close to eleven.
He had slept with his books open. The smell of food in his awakened state seemed stronger. He turned on the mini lamp and spotted the small bag next to it.
Where did this come from? He opened the bag and stared disbelievingly at the box inside. He took out the note and read it, a wide smile painting itself on his face.
"Sen was here! Why didn't he wake me up?"
He hurriedly ate the contents of the box. It was barely warm, but tasted like heaven. He had missed Vira's cooking.
"Thank god, Sen is not mad at me!" He was so happy, he wanted to call up Vira. But he didn't have Vira's number. Laika normally texted, but Laika wasn't around, so he decided to call Tobi.
A very sleepy voice answered the call. "Saka, is something wrong?"
"Tobi, Sen Vira brought me food."
*Click* he heard the phone disconnect. Saka sighed. Tobi was probably too sleepy to feel overjoyed.
He wanted to return the box first thing in the morning and thank Sen Vira, but he decided to wait till the weekend. He'd fill it up with something he could cook. It would be a little surprise, Vira would appreciate. Vira would probably be free during the weekend.
He smiled stupidly to himself as he cycled to school. He hummed to himself as he walked towards the classroom. People were queued around the notice board, right outside of their classroom.
Saka spotted Tiko and asked, "why the excitement?"
"The teachers are stirring things up around here!" He sounded super excited. Saka patiently waited for him to continue. " We are going for a college expo this month end! How cool is that?"
College expo? September? "We get to take model exams for our selected colleges this December and if our grades are good enough, we can apply for scholarship! Isn't that cool?"
Saka was surprised. No one had heard of college expos. "Sounds interesting." He muttered.
"And November, we have family day at school!"
Saka didn't like the sound of that. "How is that about good thing? Teachers will sneak on us to our parents, who'll in turn make our lives miserable!"
Tiko gave him a dirty look. "That would be parent teacher meet. Not that our exemplary student representative has anything to worry about. No! Family gets to see our school and class, and we are going to enact play and stuff! It's totally different! Teachers will have to participate too! So they don't get time to sneak on us! Go look!"
Roon pointed to the schedule sheet. "Looks like Maw Lava has gone all out this time! We have sports event in the morning, a musical play, art expo and comedy skit."
Heck, this year was going to be super busy.
This meant practice would soon start. Depending on the role, they would be working with different teachers, and staying back after class. Dang it. Will that mean Saka won't be able to spend much time with Vira?
All that initial enthusiasm died. He went back to looking gloomy.
***
Maw Lava stood in front of the staffroom.
"Maw Potri seems to have had a minor accident and won't be coming for the next two months. So I'm afraid I will need to reassign your work. I hope I can expect your co-operation."
There was pin drop silence. Laika and Vira looked at each other. They knew what was coming.
"Maw Mina, I hope you can handle biology for class eleven and twelve for the next two months?"
She didn't look pleased, who liked extra work? But Maw Roma was watching her, and she wanted him to see her cool side.
"Of course, Maw Lava, no problem."
He smiled, "Thank you!"
Laika signed Vira and Roma for a cup of coffee. They headed up straight to the roof.
"Saka is totally screwed. That maniac will make his life miserable." Laika spat out, frustrated.
"What do we do?" Vira asked, worried.
"Let's talk about this to the principal. He'll figure something out." Roma suggested.
"Maw Lava will kill us, you realise that right?" Laika bit his lips, in anxiety.
Roma replied, " With bare hands. We won't even have a decent burial. But he will atleast protect Saka. We don't have any other option. City schools have science division and commerce division separate, but our school has science mandate, since kids who study are limited. We can't even pull him into another class."
Gearing themselves, they went back to the staffroom.
Maw Lava was surprised to see all the three of them barge in. He was reminded of the times when Laika and Roma had regretted their naughty act, and had walked in to apologize. This seemed like a déja vú. He gulped. Oh god, what had they done this time?
He realised he needed some caffeine in his system, before he could deal with whatever be the bomb they were going to throw at him.
The three sat in the room twiddling their thumbs, waiting for Maw to come back.
Laika, the brave, nudged Vira to lead the conversation. "You are the new guy, so he'll atleast listen to you. You go first."
Roma nodded, shaking his head vigorously. "I agree. Before we complete the first paragraph, Maw will send us to the infirmary. Atleast with you, he'll listen to the whole story, before skinning us alive."
Vira gulped. These guys were not giving him much confidence. Was maw really that scary?
Vira cleared his throat, as Maw Lava, bracing himself, sat across the three.
"Maw Lava," he started, "We have a confession to make."
"Cut to the chase and spit it out already." Maw replied, in a tired voice.
"We pulled a prank that might ruin Saka's life." Laika blurted out.
"Explain." He said, still in the patient voice. But the tone spelt danger.