The institution is huge. I am surprised that this village has such a big academy. Not only that, it even has higher studies. It's awesome! The main building looks wonderful! It's like 18th century Europe.
My mother told me that this building was made in 1827 by a Portuguese missionary named Cristovao De Britto. It also has a large field for P.T sports and a beautiful courtyard in the middle. It's a sight to behold. I head towards the headmaster's office.
"Good morning lad! Nice to meet you again after 12 years." The headmaster greeted me.
"Look at you, you've grown like a man any girl will fall for, just like your grandfather." He speaks.
I am a shy person and very bad when talking to a stranger who acts friendly like he knows me.
I become nervous and say with a shaking voice, "T-thank you sir."
Headmaster gives a gentle smile.
"Ah! I see you don't recognize me. Well it has been a long time but let me introduce myself. I'm your grandpa's cousin."
"N-nice to meet you sir." I reply.
Headmaster smiles again.
"You can address me as grandpa, son. No need to be formal here. Everyone knows about you."
I remain quiet.
"Anyways, I heard you story from your grandpa, he and I managed everything so you don't need to go through much." He assures me.
"Just go to your class and sit on your desk. You have 15 minutes till it starts. Your class is 8. Take the left stair from the gathering hall. After reaching the 1st floor, head straight. The 8th one should be yours, got it?"
"Yes sir!" I reply.
"Good! Oh, and one fair warning. DO NOT LOOK AT THE CLASS SIGNS ABOVE THE DOORS. The classes have been reassigned so, they will misguide you."
"Yes sir!" I reply.
After getting out of headmaster's office, I look around a bit. I am surprised how huge teacher's hall is.
The institution is too big for a village like this. It can make any small town's high school, college, primary school look like it's nothing.
The walls are huge and the gate is fascinating! There is also a beautiful courtyard with a wonderful fountain, just like the ones you can see in a fantasy setting.
There is also a big shiny cathedral besides the main academy building. This institution is a pride of the village. Like a brave noble warrior holding his head high with pride amongst pea…. Ehm…. Common people. Such a sight to behold.
Crap! I forgot that class is starting soon. Better start running.
After reaching the 1st floor, I forgot which class is mine. It's the 8th one from the le…. Crap! I took the wrong stairs.
I don't have much time. This building is freaking huge! Is this one? No this one…. Urghhh even the signs are wrong. This is torture!
"You look new here, what's your name?" suddenly a beautiful girl approaches me and asks. I was shocked a bit.
"Ashraf" I reply. I can't think of anything right now.
"You... you're the grandson of the village elder, correct?" She says but I think she wanted to say something else.
"Y-yeah." I am nervous. She's cute and from her expressions, friendly and cheerful.
"I was admitted just now in class 8 bu-"
"But you can't find it, right?" She read the situation. I am now shy. I was never good with directions.
"It happens" she continues.
"I was in this situation too. Lost my first class on my first day. Hehehe..." She gives a somewhat sad smile.
"But lucky for you I am also in class 8 and as you can see a bit late. Hehehe…" Again, the weird smile.
"Anyways, let's hurry, or we'll get a scolding from HIM."
"Who's HIM?" I ask.
"The homeroom teacher" she replies.
"An old baldy with a serious bad temper…. and a big mouth. Let's hurry!"
"O-okay" we start rushing towards the classroom.
After arriving in my class, I sit on my chair. I am a bit…. Introvert type. So, I am unable to start a conversation with others.
When I finally got the courage, the teacher arrives. My bad luck. The teacher is what the girl told me. A bad tempered. But his dictionary of curses is astonishing!
The curses of 18th-no probably medieval! Amazing! After giving us divine knowledge of some wonderful and colorful ancient curses, he starts the English lesson.
During lunch, everyone is going out. I wonder where they are going. I tried to bring lunchbox but, my grandpa didn't let me. He said there is system in the school. I wonder if they have canteen or something. Suddenly, the girl from before surprises me from the back, "Heeey, it's you! Oh I haven't introduced myself before have I? I am Anisha. Nice to meet youuu!"
Such cute voice, such friendly expression, such a smile! I am grateful that I met such a girl. Her voice calmed me.
"Th-thanks, nice to meet you too." I reply.
"You're from outside the village, aren't you?"
"Yeah."
"I figured that much. You don't know anything about the dining hall, do you?"
"Dining hall?!" I am puzzled. "I heard it for the first time."
"Well, nothing new. I heard that they don't have it in other regions. We eat our lunch there together. Let's sit together and eat. Also, we must hurry because after us, our seniors will take lunch too."
I don't know anything about dining hall. I always bring lunch from home. Sometimes, I just buy foods from nearby stores.
"Well, shall we?"
"Of course Milady, lead the way."
"My…. You're a sweet talker, aren't you?"
I now realize what I just said. My instinct just acted on its own. I am now engulfed in shame and regret. Anisha smiles seeing my reaction.
After reaching the hall, I was surprised. Hell! You don't see this pretty often in Bangladesh.
It's like, living in the world of Harry potter without magic. The food quality is A grade.
This is really like living in a dream. But wait, how much budget does this Academy needs to run? How does this village even pull it off?
Ehh, forget the details. Just enjoy.
After lunch, I and Anisha decided to take a walk in the courtyard.
"So beautiful! I can't describe it in words!"
"Right? I was just like you when I first came here. It's like a jewel in our common village."
"By the way Anisha, I don't know much about this academy. Would you mind giving me a tour?" I ask her.
"Sure, I'd love to!" Anisha replies with the sweetest voice. I almost died.
"First, let's start with the base floor. There's the dining hall, gathering hall, courtyard, teacher's hall, headmaster's office. Oh, I forgot, there's a huge store room to the right. It's a haunted place. There are lots of scary incidents so, don't go there."
"Really? Then I must go there." I say with great enthusiasm.
I love horror stories and haunted places. So many mysteries hide within those horror environments.
"Noo!" she stops me.
I never thought I would see her like this. Completely frozen by fear.
"There are lots of students who went missing in that cursed room. Some say they saw them become v-vampires."
What nonsense. Seriously, I can't believe one would still believe such bullcrap.
"Yeah right, like those stupid stories will scare me. Nice try!" I reply.
But it seems like I opened my mouth too wide for my own good. I see her eyes become dead, face pale, emotionless, her face scared me. I realized I did something very wrong.
"You know, my little sister also got lost in the store room. Two days later, I saw her, white as snow, dry and lifeless, standing in front of my house, muttering something I didn't understand. All I felt was…. Regrets and…. Fear!" she replies with a dead tone.
That's bad. She looks like she's about to cry. I am feeling guilty. I've gone too far.
Suddenly, she speaks, "You know, it's a human nature to have curiosity. But know this, the God of death answers to the name curiosity.
I am shocked. I recall my mother said the same thing. I should have listened to her.
"Forgive me I….."
"Let's not make a gloomy atmosphere. Let's just continue the tour, shall we?" she says to me like nothing happened.
She's strong. I am relieved. I will just forget we ever had this conversation.
"Sure, let's continue." I reply with normal tone.
Here's what I learnt, 1st floor is for elementary and secondary, 2nd is for 6th form, 3rd floor is for higher education and 4th floor is for extras like library, music room, science labs, student council and many more.
I am puzzled since our country academic system is different.
The lunch break is over. I had lots of fun talking with Anisha. I got the knowledge I needed to study here. I show her my gratitude.
"Thanks Anisha, you really helped me a lot."
"No problem! I had fun too. Let's hang around sometime."
Everything about her charms me. I think I am blushing.
After the classes are over, we decide to walk home together. We shared lots of stories and memories of all kind.
"Wow! Living in such a huge town, travelling new areas must be nice. You must be bored staying here. It's just a village after all. Nothing much to see."
"Are you kidding? This village is great. It's like seeing a new country and learning new cultures. Especially, the institution was the best! (*apart from the superstition part that is*)" I reply.
Although they are true in some points, the main reason was I made friends with such a wonderful girl. So sweet, so pretty, so nice, any man could dream for.
"Ahahaha, I see!" she gives a smile that pierces my heart. We engage in small talks. And just like that, we reach where we part ways.
"I curse thee, ye ugly crossroad, I curse thee, ye sneaky time." Is what going on my mind.
"Well, see you tomorrow Ashraf, goodbye."
"Y-yeah, good bye." So pretty!!
Suddenly, she comes back and whispers, "About the store room a…."
"Say no more! I shall take it to my grave!"
"ehehehe, you're funny, well, see ya." She leaves.
I think I'm dead! Such a beaut….. sh*t! I am already late! My grandparents told me to return early and hear I am… stunned in the middle of the road for talking with a girl.
If I don't hurry back, I will be dead! I start running. Suddenly, I see a police officer looking at me. His gaze is damn sharp and serious. But I ignore it and rush to home. I am late already!