Time: The next day, 9:00 AM
Everyone looked half-dead in class. Bloodshot eyes, heads buried in arms, the occasional groan. How long did that party even last? I wondered.
A few people were conspicuous by their absence—Lena, Miara, Rahul. No surprise there.
I wasn’t feeling much better myself. Seventeen shots—that number alone made my stomach churn. Lesson learned, the hard way. But still, there was no way I could skip class. The Boards were coming up. Well, who was I kidding—Boards or no Boards, I couldn’t miss seeing Yash.
We smiled at each other across the room. That tiny grin was enough to wake me up more than coffee. Maybe next time we had a pop quiz, I’d find a way to distract him and finally outscore him. Old habits die hard, I guess.
When roll call began, the room stirred awake like zombies trying to remember they were human.
“Cheryl Mathew…” — Present.
“Dinesh Verma…” — Present.
“Miara… Miara… Miara Boss…”
No reply. Miara was absent. Word was, she and her parents had flown off to Mauritius for a vacation. A vacation? Before the Boards? Who even does that?
“Lena… Lena… Lena…”
Silence again.
“Any idea what happened to Lena?” I whispered to Priya.
Priya leaned in, eyes glinting with the thrill of gossip. “Oh, didn’t you hear? She had a freak accident and landed in the hospital. She’ll be discharged in a few days.”
“What happened?” I asked, curiosity hooked.
Priya bit her lip, trying not to burst out laughing. “So… apparently she got completely wasted and drove off to watch the cricket match. Security wouldn’t let her in because, well, no ticket. She started yelling at them, making a huge scene—and just then, a sixer sailed right out of the stadium and hit her square in the head.”
I stared. “No way.”
Priya was shaking with suppressed laughter now, her shoulders trembling. “I swear! Of all the people it could’ve hit—it had to be her. Drunk, screaming, and boom—knocked out by a cricket ball.”
The image of Lena sprawled outside the stadium, mid-curse, with a ball bouncing off her head was too much. Against my better judgment, I started laughing too.
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