Chapter 2: Welcome to 12-C

Next morning light filtered through the classroom windows as I entered in 12-C, I was just trying my best to act normal. But my brain wasn't braining. How could it be? She was in my class.

Divya.

I was still thinking about the whole misunderstanding from earlier, and now I had to sit in the same room as her? Just great.

Shazeb, had no such worries, as always. He sat down on the bench , feet stretched under the desk, arms crossed like he owned the place. Saksham was in 12-A, probably busy in arranging his books neatly. I sat down next to Shazeb, still trying to process the fact that She was just a few seats away.

"Alright, sit down, you donkeys!"

The whole class stood up as Mr. Mishra, our class teacher, entered in the class, he was in full roasting mode. He scanned the room, his eyes locked onto Shazeb first. A slow, knowing grin spread across his face.

"Ahnn, Shazeb. I did not expect to see you here this early. What happened? Has the principal finally installed Wi-Fi in the classroom?"

The class erupted in laughter. Shazeb, unfazed as ever, grinned. "Sir, I just wanted to bless the classroom with my presence."

Mishra Sir laughed. "Blessing the class? My dear Son, you are the reason because of whom students pray before exams."

Even I laughed at that one. Shazeb, still smiling, lifted his shoulders like he took it as a compliment.

Then, Mishra Sir's gaze landed on me. Oh no.

"And look who we have here—Devendra! Or should I say, Devi?"

I declined myself down as the class burst into laughter again. I knew this was coming.

 He turned to the class with an extravagant expression of realization. "You see, Devendra is such a good name! It means 'King of the Divinities.' But unfortunately, he carries it like a sword too heavy for its wielder—grand in name ,useless in battle."

I groaned, covering my face as Shazeb patted my shoulder. "Rest in peace, bro."

As if the universe hadn't already humiliated me enough today, Mishra Sir turned to Abhimanyu, topper of 12-C.

"And then we have Abhimanyu, our bright student! A student who makes his parents proud. Unlike... well..." His looked back to Shazeb and me, and the whole class laughed again.

Abhimanyu smirked, clearly enjoying our suffering. "Sir, I'll try my best."

Shazeb leaned over and whispered to him, "Definitely, bro, we all can see how hard you try by the way you snitch at every chance."

Abhimanyu gave him a stare. "At least I don't have a permanent VIP seat in Principal's office."

Shazeb grinned. "True, but at least I have a social life."

The class oohed in response.

Normally, I used to stare Saksham whenever Mishra Sir started roasting us. But today, it was just me and Shazeb. And for some reason, it didn't bother me as much as I thought it would.

Within all the chaos, a soft chuckle caught my attention. I turned a little-bit, and there she was, sitting two columns ahead in the girls' row, covering her smile with her hand.

She glanced at me briefly, a glimpse of joy in her eyes before she covered her smile. Was she laughing at the joke… or at me?

That was when I realized.

She had just learned my real name.

Great. It was just what I needed.

For the rest of the period, I hardly heard a word of the lecture. Between Mishra Sir's constant roasting and the fact that she now knew my name, my brain had completely shut down.

"But... strangely, as I looked at her once more, I felt lighter. Like her presence, her laughter—it had somehow dulled the pain of being separated from Saksham in class.

Maybe this year, it would not be so bad after all.

Maybe, just maybe... it was the start of something new.