Chapter : 3

"Then three treble crochets in one stitch," the lady in Abhira's phone says while doing it herself on camera.

Abhira is making a small crochet star trinket by following the tutorial. She does it to ease her mind. Abhira's really good with crochet. Last Christmas, she gifted her mom a cardigan and her dad a pair of gloves — both handmade.

"Hmm, we're almost done," the lady in the phone says.

"Actually, this is pretty cute. It'll look nice on my study table," Abhira mutters to herself.

_The barber has good taste._

"Ughhhhh, no no no—" Abhira throws everything she was holding and buries her face in her hands, burning with shame.

"I hate her. I hate her. Why is she so annoying?? I swear I'll slap her pretty face," Abhira groans in embarrassment.

To comfort herself, she lies back properly and hugs her dinosaur plushie — her own creation.

"She's so annoying, problematic, smug, intentionally quiet, irritating, pretty, beautiful, irresistible, soft—"

"....."

"WHAT THE HELL AM I EVEN SAYING????? Get out of my little brain, you brat!"

Abhira can't decide whether to curse her or praise her. Her mind is stuck on the last conversation they had.

♡♡🌹♡♡

"Bioethanol comes from......sugar, co.......rn and.....and cookies....wait cookies?"

It’s 4:30 AM. Abhira’s brain is fried. And how can it not be? She stayed awake in her bed, and the moment she finally fell asleep, her alarm rang.

Abhira has this bad habit of waking up early to finish homework, even when she hasn’t slept at all. Yesterday her brain was fried and she thought sleep would fix it. That she didn’t sleep... well, she had her own reasons.

She has Physics class at Pretam Sir’s house today. Not doing his homework will only lead to him calling her parents.

His house is just 2 houses behind hers. A lot of their neighbors study under him. Abhira’s batch has only five people: Juniya, Samranya (Ritikwa Ma’am’s daughter), Aisha, Taniya, and Manisha — Abhira’s old crush. As much as she doesn’t like going there anymore, she can’t skip either. Because the teacher is brilliant at physics. The kind who could argue about quantum theory for weeks. But he chose to teach kids.

The house is still asleep. Abhira is the only one awake, studying like her life depends on it. But her eyes are drowsy. Her face looks like something out of the Russian Sleep Experiment. And it’s not going smoothly.

"55-60% methane, 35-44% CO₂ and 0.5% California......what the—"

Abhira needs sleep.

♡♡🌹♡♡

Still, Abhira studies. Because why wouldn’t she? Who wants to get scolded in front of their old crush? Even if Abhira doesn’t like her anymore, somewhere deep down, she still cares what Manisha thinks.

Abhira keeps reading physics even though her body and mind have both given up on her.

After some time, Abhira glances at the clock.

*6:30 AM.*

She needs to get ready. Class starts at 7 AM. And until now, she’s only had water. So she stumbles to brush her teeth — and falls asleep. Again. This time on her sofa. When she wakes up, it’s already *7:05 AM*.

“I fell asleep again,” Abhira groans, annoyed at herself. She splashes water on her face, throws on something heavy, and leaves her house.

It’s a small walk, so it doesn’t take too long to reach Pritam Sir’s house. His house is one of the oldest in the neighborhood. They say it was built even before he was born. He’s 54 now, so technically, the house is ancient.

Abhira takes the stairs up to the third floor. There’s just one room up there — the rest is open roof.

The moment she enters, Pritam Sir questions her, already taking out his glasses. “You live beside me. Then why so late?”

“Ahh, Sir, I accidentally fell asleep—”

“Hmm. Go sit there.” He points at the empty space beside Manisha.

Abhira tries to protest. “But Sir, I want to sit beside Juniya—”

“No, no. You two always create chaos.”

“But Sir—”

“No.”

Abhira has no other choice, so she sits beside Manisha. Her stomach drops a little.

“Revise. I’ll give you the questions to write after 15 minutes,” Pritam Sir says after checking his phone.

The room has a wooden bedstead where the students sit. Pritam Sir sits on a chair in front of it. The walls haven’t been painted — they’re rough, bare brick. Beside the bedstead, old shelves sag under the weight of books. All physics and math. All from when Pritam Sir was a student himself.

Abhira tries to focus, but her eyes keep drifting to the person beside her. A wave of guilt washes over her.

What if I had waited a little longer? Would she have said yes?

But then she remembers what Manisha told her that day—

"I don't want to feel this way again."

Instantly, the guilt curdles into anger. So she forces herself to focus again. But then Manisha speaks.

“Your hair... it looks nice.”

Abhira looks at her. She wants to ask, Why didn't you notice it before? But she doesn’t say anything.

“So, um. Happy New Year,” Manisha mumbles.

“Hmm. You too,” Abhira answers blandly, eyes back on her book.

“Hey, close your books and open your notebook. I’m giving you the questions.”

Pritam Sir hands out some questions about fossil fuels and biofuels.

Abhira stares at the paper. She knows the answers, but her mind is too foggy to dig them up. The words swim. She just stares.

“Do you have a blue pen?” Manisha asks, her voice careful. Quiet.

“Hmm. Here.” Abhira fishes a blue pen out of her pencil bag and slides it across without looking at her.

After a while, she finally starts writing. Slowly. Painfully slow. She takes a few sips of water after every couple of sentences, like her brain only works in exchange for hydration.

When she finally finishes, she looks down at her paper. She realizes she’s only written dry, unimportant facts. Nothing impressive. But today, she’s satisfied. For her, just filling the page is enough.

Pritam Sir checks the papers as usual. He scolds them if they’ve written something wrong. But then Abhira’s paper comes up.

“What is this?” He frowns. “Is _this_ what you’ll write about sustainable development? Tell me — what is sustainable development?”

Abhira hesitates, throat dry. Then she finally mumbles, “Saving fuel for future generations and... save fossil fuel.”

“That’s not it. Read the book properly,” he says, scribbling on her paper with red ink. “You didn’t write the uses of bioethanol.”

“...” Abhira stays silent, eyes fixed on the floor.

“Do better next time, or I’ll be forced to call your mother.”

“Yes, Sir,” Abhira murmurs, still looking down. Her cheeks burn. She can feel Manisha beside her, probably watching.

After checking the other students’ papers, Pritam Sir finally starts the lesson.

“Today we will finish the chapter by covering Coal Bed Methane gas and Methane Hydrate,” he says, opening his book with a thud.

“In coal mines, methane gas stays absorbed inside the solid matrix. It’s called Coal Bed Methane. It is a type of natural gas. Since it contains only small quantities of CO₂, it’s less harmful to our health. So it’s also called Sweet Gas.”

♡♡🌹♡♡

It’s Math class now. Saranya hasn’t come to school.

Abhira is here, but in her not-so-perfect outfit. Her school uniform looks... off. The collar is wrinkled, like she didn’t even bother checking herself in the mirror this morning. Her tie hangs loose. Too loose. Her socks are slipping down her ankles. And her whole face screams exhaustion — dark circles under her eyes, lips chapped and dehydrated even though she’d chugged water not too long ago.

Right now, she’s sleeping soundly at her desk, while Anika and Ananya sit on either side, trying to hide her.

Lylina, the Math teacher, is teaching irrational numbers. Though it looks like she’s only teaching the first bench. She’s the kind of teacher who values grades over character, who plants the idea of “class” and “hierarchy” into students’ minds. The Headmistress doesn’t like her for this. But Lylina is the daughter of a popular politician, so the Headmistress can’t say anything.

“Hey! Why are you sleeping in MY class?” Lylina spots Abhira.

“She didn’t sleep last night,” Anika stands up, trying to reason with her.

“So? Why would I care?” Lylina says carelessly, striding toward their bench.

“But Ma’am—”

Lylina yanks Anika out of the way and glares down at Abhira. Ananya sits frozen beside her.

“Ma’am, please,” Ananya pleads, voice small.

Lylina doesn’t listen.

“Hey!” She shakes Abhira hard. When Abhira doesn’t wake up, the class bursts into laughter.

“HEY, you uncultured brat!”

Abhira finally jolts awake. The first thing she sees is Lylina’s frown, framed by sharp cat-eye glasses and blood-red lipstick. She’s wearing a red, handwoven designer kurti — expensive, deliberate.

“Texting your boyfriend all night and sleeping in my class?” Lylina screams. She has no evidence, but she doesn’t need any. This is how she likes to humiliate kids with average grades.

“Call your parents after class,” clap “I need to discipline your uncultured parents.”

Abhira’s eyes snap wide open.

Uncultured parents.

Her mother is the manager of this city’s ICSC Bank branch, and her father is a respected artist. Both in elite positions. And here was Lylina, dragging their status through the mud.

Abhira can’t let that happen.

“Ma’am, you can arrange a hundred parent meetings, but you _can’t_ say something like that about my parents,” Abhira says firmly, holding eye contact even though her hands are shaking.

“You little—” Lylina raises her hand to slap Abhira, but Ananya blocks her.

The trio ends up sitting on the floor outside the classroom.

“I think she has some personal grudge against you,” Anika states, arms crossed.

“Yeah, she never gets this angry,” Ananya says blankly, staring at the balcony in front of them.

“The view is good though. Right, Abhira?”

“...” Abhira just stares at the blue sky, jaw clenched.

“Is there really something going on between you two?” Anika shakes Abhira’s shoulder.

“Hmm. There is.”

It was a month ago. Lylina had come to Abhira’s house while she was tutoring kids. The door was open, so Lylina walked right in.

“Can I have a word?”

“Ah, Ma’am, of course.” Abhira led her from the drawing room to the living room.

“I have two boys. Twins. I want you to teach them. Alone.”

“Alone? Um, but I’m not allowed.”

“What do you mean, not allowed? I’ll pay you extra.”

“It’s not about the money, Ma’am. I’m not allowed to go out and come back home alone at night.”

“Then what about when you drop the kids home at night? What about that?”

“Our neighborhood has CCTV cameras. Can’t you just bring them to my house?”

“To your house? With those lowly kids? Do you want my kids to get dirty too? Can’t you teach them alone in your house? That could also work,” Lylina said, her face twisting in disgust.

“Ma’am, those are my students. Don’t look down on them. If you don’t have anything else to say, you may leave. I will not teach your kids,” Abhira stated firmly.

“How dare you?” Lylina screamed.

“How dare you disrespect my kids in my house?” Abhira raised her voice too — but still within her limits. Controlled.

“Then she stormed out of my house,” Abhira finishes, frowning at the memory.

“Wow, you’re bolder than I thought,” Anika exclaims.

“Bravo, kid,” Ananya pats her back, a small smile breaking through.

They spend the rest of the period outside until the bell rings. After class, Lylina walks out and sees them.

“Hey, you two, go inside,” Lylina signals Anika and Ananya.

“You stay here until the next teacher comes.” With that, she leaves, her heels clicking down the corridor.

Ugh, anyone, any teacher, please save me.

I've never sat on the ground like this. My back aches. The tiles are cold even through my skirt. And I can't sleep here- too exposed.

Some Class 9 students walk past and see Abhira. They point, laugh, then disappear down the corridor beside 10B.

“Laugh all you want,” she mutters, annoyed. “My day will come soon.”

She forces herself to focus on the balcony in front of her. The railing has big, decorative holes cut into the concrete. She stares through one. Past it, she can see the school’s main pillar, and behind that, the lake. Little ducks are gliding across the water, calm and unbothered.

Then the view gets blocked by their Life Science teacher, Priyanka Ma’am.

“Hey, why are you sitting on the floor? Who punished you?” she asks, already reaching down to pull Abhira up.

“Lylina Ma’am,” Abhira mumbles.

“Ahh, it’s fine. Go, take your seat,” Priyanka Ma’am says, letting go of her hand with a gentle squeeze.

“Thanks, Ma’am,” she says, her voice going soft without meaning to.

Priyanka Ma’am is one of those teachers who actually liked kids. She cares more about behavior than grades. She especially likes Abhira — she’s always been the sweet student Priyanka Ma’am brags about. Because of her, even the Headmistress sees Abhira as a “good girl.” Priyanka Ma’am has watched Abhira since the day she entered Graham Girls’ High School. Always polite. Always good at her subject. She tells other kids, “Be more like Abhira.”

But Abhira still wonders what Priyanka Ma’am even sees in her.

As she slides back into her bench, Priyanka Ma’am starts the lesson.

“Students! Today is our first day, though a lot of you have had my classes before. Today we’ll start Chapter One: Control and Coordination in Living Organisms”

Abhira listens. Or tries to. She keeps drifting, her eyelids heavy. But she doesn’t want to ruin her image in front of Priyanka Ma’am. So she forces her eyes open. She’s not actually hearing anything, though. The words go in one ear and dissolve.

♡♡🌹♡♡

It’s now exactly 12:30 PM. Anvita Ma’am’s class. Abhira is sleeping peacefully. After Priyanka Ma’am finished, no other teacher came. A whole period was free.

“Should we wake her up?” Anika whispers, careful not to actually wake her.

“No,” Ananya says, gently touching Abhira’s hair. She’d untied it earlier. Her wolfcut falls across her face like a curtain. Ananya carefully lifts the strands to check on her.

“She needs the sleep. And if Anvita Ma’am gets angry, we might just end up sitting on the floor again. We already did that once today. Can’t we suffer a little more? For her?” Ananya pleads, looking at Anika.

“Yeah... I guess we can. We are friends for a reason,” Anika smiles at Ananya.

And Ananya smiles back.

Anvita enters the class. She’s wearing an off-white sari with delicate handloom designs. Over it, a heavy coat and a muffler — it’s cold today. As she scans the standing students, she immediately notices someone missing.

Where's that girl?

Her eyes sweep the faces, searching for Abhira.

Did she not come today?

She walks down the aisle toward Abhira’s bench, only to see her — slumped over, asleep, her face completely hidden by her hair.

“Ma-Ma’am, she-she didn’t sleep last night,” Anika mumbles, horrified.

Anvita looks at Anika. Then back at Abhira.

Then, out of nowhere, she reaches out and gently lifts Abhira’s hair, revealing her tired face. Dark circles. Parted lips. Dead to the world.

Anvita stares blankly for a second. But there’s a hint of something in her eyes — not anger. Pity.

She clears her throat and looks at Anika. “Do you know why she didn’t sleep last night?”

“She said she was frustrated because of someone.”

“Hmm.”

And with that, Anvita walks back to her table and opens her book.

“Okay, everyone, take your seats,” she says calmly.

Anika and Ananya stare at each other with wide eyes. They want to scream, but they can’t.

“Abhira’s gonna lose her mind when she hears this,” Anika whispers, grinning.

“For real,” Ananya laughs silently, covering her mouth.

As Anvita teaches, everyone gets pulled in by her voice. But some students still whisper, gossiping about what just happened. The whole class is waiting for two things: for Abhira to wake up, and for Anvita to finish the class.

♡♡🌹♡♡

"She did WHAT??" Abhira shrieks. Her whole body’s trembling and her cheeks are burning pink.

"Yes, girl. She just—" Anika pats her back, trying not to laugh, "—lifted your hair, looked at you, and then went back to teaching like nothing happened. No punishment. Nothing."

Around them, practically the whole class is still there. Nobody left for lunch. They all stayed just to watch Abhira combust.

"Oh god." Abhira slaps a hand over her cheek. It’s scorching. Ananya cackles, leaning on the desk. "I’m telling you, Anvita Ma’am totally has a soft spot for you."

Abhira fumbles with her glasses, shoving them on while patting her hair down. "No, no, you’re wrong. It’s just—it's—"

The barber has good taste.

She chokes on the memory. "Nothing. Obviously nothing. She’s just... being nice before she hands me a Transfer Certificate." She pauses, then doubles down. "Definitely playing nice."

"Oh, come on," Anika groans, rolling her eyes.

That’s when Tamanya and Samina—the quietest girls on their bench—finally speak up.

"I noticed Anvita Ma’am glancing at Abhira throughout the whole class," Tamanya says, way too casually for the bomb she just dropped.

"She even asked why you were sleeping," Samina adds, her face blank as always, but her eyes locked on Abhira.

The rest of the class erupts. "OHHHH!" they chant in unison, grinning like idiots.

Abhira doesn’t melt. She doesn’t even blush more—impossible. She just whips around to Anika. "Wait. What did you tell her? When she asked?"

"I said you were frustrated with someone," Anika shrugs, clueless.

Abhira’s eyes go wide. She nearly screams. "Oh my god, WHY would you say that?!"

Now Anika and the others panic. "Why?! What’s wrong with that?" Anika asks frantically.

"Because—" Abhira lowers her voice, glancing around, "—we ran into each other last night. And she yelled at me about my hair."

She leaves out the part where Anvita, the terrifyingly strict Assistant Headmistress, actually complimented her. That much chaos? Abhira can’t handle it. Not today.

"WHAT??" The crowd gasps.

Anika bursts out laughing, clutching her stomach. "No way. You two have better chemistry than a K-drama!"

"Ugh," Abhira rolls her eyes so hard it hurts. "Chemistry or disaster-y."

♡♡🌹♡♡

After the chaos, Abhira went to wash her face. When she came back, she froze.

Saktha—her ex—was at her bench, chatting with Anika and Ananya like they’d been friends for years.

No one knew about their relationship. Only Saranya did.

"Saktha, what are you doing at my bench?" Abhira asked, keeping her voice calm.

"Why? I was talking to my new friends. I just joined your group," Saktha answered with a mischievous laugh.

She had pink-rimmed cat-eye glasses perched on her head. Her hair was short, but she always wore it in a ponytail.

Ever since the breakup, Saktha had been circling every friend group Abhira had. And Abhira—still not fully healed—would just quietly leave for her own peace of mind. Now, Anika and Ananya were her new targets.

Before Abhira, Saktha was nobody. Just another student. She wasn’t popular, so no one really talked to her. But after they broke up, after Saktha made Abhira cry in front of everyone, suddenly people were interested.

"Do you really have to take them away too? They’re my benchmates. You’ve already made a lot of friends. Why not talk to them?" Abhira said, walking over.

Anika and Ananya looked confused.

"She just wanted to talk, Abhira," Anika insisted.

"Anika, I’m not talking to you. I’m talking to the person beside you," Abhira said firmly, stopping right in front of Saktha.

"Abhira, isn’t this too much? Do you want them to know?" Saktha smiled mockingly.

Abhira sighed. She had no idea what to do. If Anika or Ananya found out, they’d be disgusted—she was sure of it.

"What do you want?" Abhira asked, still trying to stay calm.

"What do _I_ want? I just want you to get the hell off me," Saktha laughed, inspecting her nails like she was bored.

"You’re talking to my friends and poisoning them against me," Abhira glared.

"You know what? I’m way too civilised for this. Why am I even talking to this fucking homo? I’m better off with my boyfriend," Saktha raised her voice, glaring back.

Abhira’s blood boiled. But she controlled herself. "Oh, then it would’ve been better if you’d gotten civilised before we kissed," she said, her voice dangerously calm.

Anika and Ananya looked shocked. Too shocked to speak. And Abhira, who used to care so much, just... stopped caring.

Raging, Saktha grabbed Abhira’s collar. "You fucking slut" she screamed.

Abhira shoved her back and slapped her so hard Saktha hit the ground.

"Bitch, I’ll go to the Assistant Headmistress and you’ll be done for."

Abhira looked down, expressionless. "Do whatever you like."

Saktha scrambled up, glared at her, flipped her the middle finger, and stormed off.

Abhira turned to Ananya and Anika. "Be disgusted with me all you want, but I’m not letting you go." Tears slid down her cheeks.

Anika rushed in and hugged her. "I don’t like people like that, but I’m fine as long as it’s you."

Ananya joined the hug. "Remember? We’re friends. Whatever happens, we’re not giving up on you."

Abhira broke down completely. When Tamanya and Samina walked into the class, they found all three of them laughing through Abhira’s tears. Without a word, they joined the hug.

♡♡🌹♡♡

It was around 12 AM. Abhira had come to the convenience store near her house for ice cream. Her late-night snack before bed—though this had nothing to do with sleeping.

She’d studied, she’d tutored kids, even though her body was seconds from giving out. So she was treating herself with her own money.

As she browsed her favorite watermelon popsicles, she heard a chip packet hit the floor. Curious, she lifted her head—and saw Anvita Ma’am.

Tired, in a heavy black hoodie and winter pants. She wasn’t facing Abhira directly. It was like watching someone exhausted from behind. Abhira herself was in warm white pajamas with little hearts on them.

Anvita stared at the chip packet, debating whether to pick it up or just leave it.

Abhira smiled to herself.

Who would've thought the Assistant Headmistress of Graham Girls' High could look this groggy? But I can't say anything. I owe her for not screwing up my life.

She walked over and picked up the chip packet—only to get struck by how beautiful Anvita was up close.

She is more beautiful in person

Anvita stared at her, took the packet from Abhira’s hand, and put it back on the shelf.

"What are you doing out this late?" Anvita asked. Firm, but calm.

"I came for a late-night snack. A reward for my hard work," Abhira smiled.

"If you can work while sleep-deprived, then why were you sleeping in my class?"

"S-sorry. I was really tired. But after that nap I felt much better," Abhira said nervously.

"Hmm. Next time, try not to sleep in my class. And get some sleep at night. Don’t lose sleep over guys. They’re useless," Anvita stated, still perfectly calm.

It was you I was frustrated over, but saying that would kill me. So no way.

"Yes, Ma’am," Abhira said, heading for the ice cream.

"And hey," Anvita called out.

"Yes, Ma’am?"

"Did you slap Saktha?"

"Yes. She called me a slut," Abhira said gloomily, walking back toward Anvita.

"Did you attack first?"

"No. She grabbed my collar first and said bad things," Abhira looked down.

"Bad things?" Anvita questioned.

"Um... like swearing. Bad words I don’t want to repeat," Abhira said flatly.

"Hmm." Anvita went to the cashier and bought two bags of spicy chips. Abhira bought her popsicle.

Outside, they both stood under the night sky for a moment.