It was the first day of the 5th standard. I went to school few days after the vacation had already ended. I went inside the school and sat in the class 5-B like I was supposed to. I saw some new faces in the classroom but for some reason, kids I knew were staring at me as if they hadn't expected to see me. I couldn't guess why they were shocked to see me. I was neither wearing makeup nor had I gone through puberty during the vacation. Maybe someone had spread the rumours that I had died or something. Still, just to be sure, I looked around and then, checked myself. There wasn't anything stranger about me or my surroundings. And there was no one else sitting near me.
So, all kids were indeed staring at me. I knew it and yet I did all of that just to be certain. I felt a little weirded out and tried to ignore everyone. I was a little scared and nervous but as a man, how could I show my emotions in front of others? I wanted to leave but where else could I go? My friends were absent so, I couldn't even talk to anyone. I could ask others, but I was too shy and nervous. I was just scared to find out the truth. That was if I had the courage to ask someone without dying from embarrassment.
Few minutes later, the bell rang and a teacher I didn't know came. I started thinking that I was in the wrong class. As she was about to take attendance, she looked at me and tilted her head. "What are you doing here," her eyes said. I still had no clue. As I was about to get a heart attack, she dropped a bombshell on me. She told me that I was no longer a student of section B. I thought that either I was kicked out of the school because my uncles hadn't paid the fees, or my section was changed to C which didn't seem believable because I had scored the highest marks in my previous class. At that point, I was very scared. I couldn't come up with a single good reasoning behind her statement.
I have always been an overthinker.
She said that I had been 'promoted' to A section. It was a great news, far better than whatever I had started to believe. But I wasn't at all happy. Okay, I was a little happy because I could finally leave that class with only mediocre students and show everyone that I was better than them. Finally, I was going to the place I belonged to. Damn, I sound so stupid. I was indeed curious and excited for something new. I had always wondered about what it would have been like to be in section A. But now that it was going to actually happen, I hated it more than I liked it because I hate change. I was so used to the atmosphere and students and everything else associated with section B that I didn't want to leave even though I knew that section A was a far better place for me.
Not only that, I knew no one in section A. Yes, there were other students as well whose section had been changed along with me. But I wasn't friends with them, and they were all girls. Yep, all my friends were still in section B. I didn't want to admit it, but I liked being with my friends and I didn't want to be alone. I had finally made good friends but once again, I was forced to be alone. Sasha was also going to stay in section B.
I had talked with only few students from section A before. In fact, I didn't even know the names of most of the students. It wasn't going to go well. In the best case scenario, it was going to take me some time to adjust and fit in.
Here comes the bad part about the whole 5th grade. Now our classroom was on the 2nd floor. That day, I walked a considerable distance from my home to the bus stop. Then, from the school entrance to the stairs inside the school and finally, from stairs to the 2nd floor. I, a small boy, whose bag was filled with stone like books, was going to have to climb up and down almost a hundred stairs every single day. I would feel like dying every day. In summer, it was going to be especially worse. Because I would have to wake up very early. Because of all this I didn't grow that tall. It was going to be more brutal for someone like me because I used to carry books and notebooks of every subject every day, even when we didn't have that subject's period. Not only necessary things, my bag had some completely useless things making it needlessly heavy. It wasn't easy being a nerd. Hmm… I did look like your average stereotypical nerd. Weak, skinny, glasses… family problems.
Coming back to section B, I felt like crying, but I still picked my bag and went to my new classroom where I belonged to now. I took a good look at my now old classroom and friends for one last time. Damn, I am talking like I was going to die, and the world was going to end. Well, in a way, it was the end and start of a new era. Finally, I left.
The classroom right before the section B was section A… It took me few seconds and few steps to reach the door. I stood outside my new classroom and looked at the door plate that had Section-A written over it. I went inside and I saw faces I had never seen before. But all of them screamed that they were rich. Their bags, uniforms and other things made me feel like I didn't belong there at all. I had been using the same bag for several years at that point. It had been torn and sewed by my mom many times.
I wish I could exaggerate it more, but there was nothing special about the actual classroom. I don't know what I was expecting but everything was basically the same, obviously except the students. They didn't look different from other 5th grade students physically. It was their vibe and the atmosphere of the whole classroom. Still, it wasn't some other world unlike what I was expecting. The walls and benches were clean, and their condition was far better than that of section B.
Kids from section A at least knew how to take care of their stuff. To be precise, they knew that they should take care of their stuff and not destroy everything. They were disciplined and smart, mostly. I found it out later that Section A was not treated differently from other sections. It was a myth. They didn't receive special treatment from the school. Although, the fact that students were divided into sections based on their marks was still weird.
Also, coincidentally, our uniform was changed that year and I was one of the only few kids who was still wearing the old uniform. I didn't want to be the odd one out, but it was neither in mine nor in my mom's hands. Only those who were going to pay for it could decide when me and my sister were going to get our new uniforms. It was my uncle and aunt. Funnily enough, even my cousin was wearing the old uniform.
After witnessing something new and different, I was too scared to go inside the class. But I didn't have a choice. It was my fate. That was going to be my new reality so, I needed to accept it. I was sure that I would slowly get used to the new environment in a few days. I didn't need to worry about anything and anyone. I mustered up all of my courage and confidence and prepared myself to face the cruel reality and truth in a war. Also... I was a man! So, I stepped in and silently sat on an empty seat in the front and waited to die.