" Maya ! Maya ! Wake up ! Mayaa ! " , whisper-yelled Raina who , in a failed attempt tried to wake Maya up .

" Let me sleep . Hmmm . " , replied Maya lazily .

Just then Mrs. Morris bangs the table , making Maya jolt awake . Maya now had a messy look , making her look cute . Her glassed were tilted at an angle , her sleeves were crumpled her eyelids were a little heavy with sleep due to the nap she had taken and was slightly confused as to what was happening around her . She was similar to a deer in headlights , lost n confused .

Raina whispers , " Damn you girl , you have guts to sleep in Mrs. Morris's class sitting in the first bench ! "

Maya then understands what was happening around her and returned to a relaxed , stand at ease position with her hands folded .

Mrs. Morris shouts , " Get up !! How dare you sleep right under my nose ! "

Her thunderous voice made all the activity in the class come to a sudden halt . The room's atmosphere changed from a gushing waterfall into a still pond . At the same time ,

Maya murmurs , " Actually , I was sleeping on the table , under the fan , ma'am . "

Raina hears this and unable to control her laughter , giggles .

Mrs. Morris , " What's so funny ? Did you say something ?! "

Maya lightly shakes her head in a no .

Mrs. Morris yells , " How dare you sleep in class ? Let me see how you answer this question and class whoever helps her shall receive the same punishment as her . "

Raina whispers , " Sorry bro , you are on your own . "

Maya replies , " It's okay , no big deal . "

Mrs. Morris asks , " If you have "[ 0 0 ] matrix

what type of matrix is it ? What [ x 0 ] is value of x ? "

Maya answers , " It's a square , null matrix and x \= 0 . It's 0 because all the other components of the matrix are zeros . When we multiply x with any component of the matrix it results in zero . Hence proved . "

Everyone in the class were shocked .

Raina asks , " Didn't ma'am start. null matrix today ? How the hell did you answer it when you were sleeping ? "

Maya replies , " She taught us about this in the beginning too . It's just that I remember about it which became my advantage . It's your fault you all forgot it already . That's the reason why I slept in class . " She yawns in a controlled manner that no one notices much movement in her .

Mrs. Morris asks , " Who helped you answer it ? Weren't you sleeping while I was explaining ? Tell me ! "

Maya replies calmly , " Ma'am , I answered your question without any delay . If someone was to help me , wouldn't I wait before I answered ? Also , am I not standing right in front of you ? How could I possibly cheat ? "

Mrs. Morris recovers from her shock and speaks reluctantly , " Okay , but go out and stand for the rest of the period. There's no excuse for sleeping in class , even if you answer correctly . Raina , even you go out with her because you didn't inform me that she was sleeping or stopped her from doing so."

Raina says yes remoursefully but walks out of the class with a huge grin on her face . She waits outside and signals Maya to come quickly . Maya walks out lazily and stands beside Raina .

Raina , " You were hilarious ! I'm glad you signed up for the extra classes . It would be a nightmare to be in there without you and survive a class full of Mrs. Morris's lectures and plastic Malibu barbies . "

Maya streching herself replies , " Don't get excited or used to it . You do know I signed up just for extra credibility points right ? And it ends today . No more of Math and I get to go back to my science group . "

Raina , " Yes , yes . Don't spoil my mood now ! The bell will ring any moment and the day shall come to an end . Let's go and get our bags ."

No sooner do they enter the classroom than the bell rings . They walk out of the campus and as soon as they reach the gates , someone shouts " WAIT " behind them and Maya freezes in her track .

A boy comes to them and asks Maya playfully with a hint of aggression and pain ,

" Long time no see Maya , how are you ? Ready to answer all those people and questions you left behind 5 years ago ? "

…………………………x…x…xx…x…x……………………………

Maya - 16 years old , heroine .

Is an intermediate Jr. BiPC student

Raina - 16 years old , best friend .

Intermediate Jr. MEC student

they go to the same college and live in the same house .

The boy - Peter James - 18 years old , an old friend . ( The blast from the past ) .

Maya stands there as if she was rooted to the ground . Her eyes dialated , lips slightly parted expressing her shock and hands to her sides as though they were stuck using fevy quick . Her throat went dry . It was quite the change . The girl who was very relaxed and uncaring suddenly became attentive , aware of all the things happening around her but had no movement .

After feeling like ages passed by , she mustered her courage and asked , " Wha .... What are you doing h h here ?

James said in sarcastic humour , " Wow , you can also stammer ?! I thought you only knew how to make people stammer and shut up . What a wonder ! "

Maya regains her composure , her narrowed eyes now have a cold , steely gaze which could cut you into a thousand peices with just a look and asked clamly but in a domineering way , " Why ? And , who ? "

Chills ran down James's spine but he ignoring the feeling spoke agressively , " Why ? I will tell you that later but I think deep down , in that unfeeling heart and ruthless mind of yours , you do know the answer , don't you ? " He shouts , " As for Who ?!! If someone was really helping us , I don't think it would have taken 5 years to find you !! "

The people there were staring at them as though they were some specimens that ran off from the Museum .

While the two of them were staring each other to death , Raina spoke interrupting them , " Maya , whatever the problem between you guys is , I don't think you should

fight in public . Let's go somewhere else . "

After listening to this , Maya just turned away and started to walk as if it was not her who was being yelled at ! By looking at this , James was so furious that he wanted to yell at Maya again but controlled himself . On seeing his ugly expression , Raina started to laugh . He was angered even more but followed the girls none the less .

Raina speaks after laughing for a good while , " Oh my God , his expression was priceless ! You should have seen him . So the real questions :- Who is he ? How does he know you ? And , DAMN ! Bro , it's the first time that someone shoots their mouth off in front of you and is still standing perfectly fine on his two legs , but not buried 6 feet underground alive ! Now that is what I call a miracle . "

Maya just glares once at her but does not say anything . Raina continues , " Seriously though , who is he ? What is this that happened 5 years ago ? You never told me about your past and I didn't ask either , but now I'm worried about you . I will stand by you no matter what , but this time all I want is to know the truth . It's time you share your burden with me and reveal your past . "

James says , " Oh , you haven't even told your best friend ? As expected of you , super cautious and always trying to keep your friends and family out of trouble . Not this time . We found you after such a long time , I won't allow you to leave us all clueless again and suffer alone . We are friends and shall stick together , no matter what ! You have no choice but to speak because the problem this time is big . We need your help because without you we are incomplete . "

Maya simply says , " Follow me . "

After some time they reach Maya and Raina's house . After a moment of silence ,

Maya says , " You are right . I shall reveal my past and answer all your questions . "

After 3 hours .

Raina speaks . Her voice is chocked due to tears . " Maya ! You went through so much but never said anything once ?! How could you keep this much pain just to yourself ? Am I not your friend ? I wish I could have done something ! I... I.... "

Maya cuts her off in mid sentence and says reassuringly , " It's not your fault . You could have done nothing even if you wished . That was my decision . "

James intervenes , " But Maya ..."

Maya stops him and continues , " As I said , it was my decision . Past is past . Let it be . Tell me Why are you here ? Why do you want me back ? But promise me that you will not say a single word about what I told you today . It should be like we never had this conversation . "

James hesitates before saying , " I promise . No matter what the reason was , you should not have left . We missed you and want you back as our family , our friend ! Not just because of a purpose ! But the problem at hand is real big . "

Maya asks , " What is it ? "

James answers in a grim but vengeful voice , " He is back "

Maya's eyebrows shoot up . She just exclaims an " Oh ! "

Her eyes then starts to form crescents . A smile starts to appear on her face . It looks like a blooming , blood red rose in moonlight

. Very beautiful but delicate . If one were to be close to her , they would feel that this beautiful rose could turn into a deadly , vicious , thorny monster any second and eat them alive . Such was the aura around her . Beautiful but dreadfully dangerous . Her eyes had an evil glint to them that could remind anyone on the earth of the Great Hell . She says , " It's indeed time that I come back and take revenge . It's time I return to my family and friends . "

James asks , " What about Ansh ? How are you going to face him ? "

Maya grimly replies , " I'll deal with him . It's him at fault , not me . Why should I think about him ? He's none of my business or concern ."

James says , " But he's still waiting for you . He's completely changed after you left ! He has none but you in his heart ! He needs you , and didn't you say ......."

Maya sternly says , " It doesn't matter . I don't care anymore . I have no feelings left and moved on . It's all because of him anyway , why should I care ? Even if he has changed , it's useless because I've changed . The damage is done , it cannot be reversed now . "