Making Friends At New School

The class was noisy. We just finished our fourth period. It was dreadful mathematics. I was lying on my desk, completely exhausted.

“First day of the semester and I already had enough of school,” I said, probably a little louder than normal.

“Having a bad day?” the girl next to me asked. I think her name was something related to the sun or maybe it was related to the moon. I guess it was related to something. Shit, I don’t remember her name.

“As if the last class wasn’t a live demo in itself,” I tried to steer the conversation towards a path where I didn’t have to say her name.

“Yeah, I have never seen someone being so bad at math,” She giggled, she looked cute when she giggled, “You gave a lot of self-confidence to the backbenchers.”

“Haha! They should bring me offerings and start worshipping me as their goddess,” I tried to sound like a megalomaniac, “With me being here, no one needs to fear being the last one in any test.”

“Lol! Anyway, it’s lunch now, Would you like to eat with me and my friends,” She asked me. I guess it’s time to make this friendship official. My first friend of this semester is such a cute girl. And her friends look like they would soon be at the top of the class hierarchy. Okay, Saya! It's time for you to become a member of the cool kid’s club. 2022 is going to be my year.

I was about to say yes to her when I saw a head slightly peaking inside our class through the doorway.

Sigh

“Thanks for the offer! But I have to go meet my friend who has now transferred to another class this year,” I declined. I shouldn’t have done that.

“Oh-Ohkay, Sorry for bothering then…” the girl immediately got awkward and left with her friends' group, while I just sat there wondering what a stupid girl I am. Now that I think about it, there were many other ways to handle this situation. I could’ve asked her if she had space for one more. Or I could’ve said I would join them after meeting my friend.

Seeing her go made my heart sink, I got up from my seat and walked towards the door with my lunch in hand. Vini was waiting for me there.

“You are going to buy me orange juice today!” I told her. I should have said hello first. But I was upset over not getting to go with the cool kids.

“Whaa- whyyyy me?” Vini was surprised.

“No reason, I want juice with my lunch and you are going to pay.”

“I should have stayed in my class,” she tried to go back to her class.

“Too late, You can’t run anymore,” I caught her from behind in a hug. We looked into each other eyes, and then we both started laughing. I guess I wasn't that upset. After all, she is my best friend. She has helped me countless times. For instance, I would have been late without her this morning. And another time she helped me with… I can’t remember right now, But I am sure she has helped me a lot over the past years. Eh.. to hell with it, even if she hasn’t helped me at all, I still like her company better than any cool kid. I would choose her over everyone else any day.

***

I has already eaten my lunch and was sipping on the orange juice, Vini has bought me. Vini was still eating. She always eats slowly and gracefully. Taking small bites, and then chewing them properly. Unlike me, who likes to inhale her food. It is because of this girl, I always get scolded by my mom to be more ‘lady-like’.

If I think rationally, almost 50 percent of all the scoldings I get are because of this girl. She gets amazing marks and is best at athletics, sewing, cooking, and cleaning. As if she is a perfect traditional wife already with athletics as an extra skill. Sometimes I wonder why is she friends with someone like me. She was adored by the entire class last year and from what she was telling me even today, which is the first day of the school, she is already being asked by several boys and girls alike. Maybe she just doesn’t like people or maybe…

“Vini!” I immediately grabbed her cheeks and turned her face towards me. Her face looked even cuter with her cheeks squished. “Do you like me?”

She was surprised by the sudden question but she answered without hesitating, “Yes! I like you a lot. I like you the most.”

“I guess it can’t be helped then. So it’s decided.”

“Wha-what’s decided?” She asked a little shocked by my sudden declaration.

“I will take you as my wife when we grow up.”

“Wha-whyyy, I don’t want to be your wife.”

“Too late, I have already decided.”

“No, It’s not decided, I would never marry you. You always copy my homework, eat my food, stay at my place and make a mess of my things, even when we are at your home, you make me do your chores. Do you even realize how much work is it to always take care of a 2-year-old girl in a 12-year-old body? You would be a good-for-nothing husband.”

“See, We are practically married,” I declared in a cinematic way, “You are already nagging the same way as my mom does with my dad.”

“NO! That’s not what I meant. I would never marry you.”

“Come on! You already know you can’t resist my sexy body”, I gestured towards my chest which was flatter than any man's. Seeing me in a weird pose, Vini couldn’t stop herself from laughing.

We laughed hard until we saw the time. The lunch was about to get over in five minutes, which caused me to sigh.

“What happened?” Vini looked concerned, “You got scolded in the math class.”

“You know me so well,” I wasn’t even surprised at her deduction. The world already knows of my unrivaled talent in mathematics, “For some reason, the teacher kept asking questions to me only and the entire time all I could say was ‘I don’t know.’ It was so pathetic. But that is not the worst part.”

“What is the worst part then?”

“Have you seen my seat in the class?”

“Oh yes! I was about to congratulate you on getting the anime protagonist’s seat you always wished for. But then you started extorting me for the orange juice so I forgot.”

“Heyy! I wasn’t extorting you. You are my lovely wife, can’t I ask my wife for some juice.”

“Yeah, sure! I would tell your mom about this. She would love to know how her daughter extorts her best friend.”

“Nooo! Not my mom!!!!!” Vini giggled at my reaction. Turns out I like to see her giggling.

“So what’s the worst part? The anime special seat didn’t turn out to be as much fun as you expected?”

“It’s not fun at all. There is nothing great about it. First of all, I am now assigned to the window duty. Every morning I have to open the windows and at the end of the school, I have to make sure it is close. If a burglar comes in, I will be held accountable.”

“Oh! Burglars are the least of your worries. You should be careful of pigeons instead. Remember, last year a girl left the window open in our class, and the next day all the desks were covered with pigeon poop.”

“Yeah! That was tough to clean.”

“So window duty is the worst part of your first school day.”

“Yes, but there’s more. Did you notice that my class’s windows are facing east, which means for the entire school time, I am bedazzled by the scorching sunlight. The only good part about the window seat is the view outside. You can space out while gazing at the scenery outside which creates a mysterious aura around you,” I paused for breath, “When I saw my seat, I thought I would do the same, and when the boys will be bored of class, where would they look?”

“To the window?”

“Yes, and who would they see sitting there gracefully lost in thoughts while glancing outside.”

“You?”

“Yes! I thought the same. But You can’t look outside if there’s a blinding sun in the sky. Also, I couldn’t stop sweating because of the heat from the sun. It's April and it’s already 40 degrees celsius. So naturally, no one had the guts to look out the window,” I had to pause to catch my breath again, “But when all hope was lost, one brave boy finally looked towards me, and guess what he saw?”

“You?”

“Yeah me, not the ‘elegant’ me, but a messy-haired girl drenched in sweat.”

“THAT IS THE WORST! What if they start calling you sweaty princess? Your school life is gone”

“What?” I panicked.

“Relax!”, she calmed me down, “a girl in my class was suffering from the same problem so I talked to the teacher and he said he will get curtains installed in all the classrooms by tomorrow.”

“But then I would not be able to glance outside.”

“You can always slide the curtains to the sides”

“But then, the sun will burn me.”

“Then remove the curtains on cloudy days only.”

“We live in New Delhi! There are no cloudy days here. Except when it’s the rainy season but then I will have to close the windows to protect myself from rain.”

“Then ask someone to change seats with you.”

“But then I will lose my precious anime seat.”

Vini sighed at my remark. “This is exactly why I would never marry you.”

“Okay okay, No need to say that, I will figure something out,” I made a joking gesture.

“Okay! I gotta go now, Doesn’t look good if a class representative is late to class.”

“Wait! You are a class representative?” I was surprised.

“Yeah! The class thought I would make a good leader as I spoke up for the window girl.”

“So there must be another class representative as well,” I asked.

“Yeah! Some guy named Vicky or something,” She said that so casually, but Vicky or “Vikram Chavan” was one of the most popular guys in school. He is amazing at sports as well as academics. A perfect match for our perfect girl.

“Hey!! Don’t go cheating on me with that guy. Remember that you are my wife.” I felt jealous.

“Then you have to behave well”, she made a casual remark and left.

Vicky & Vini, even their names are matching.

***

Lunch ended and I came back to class. I was a little late but luckily the teacher hasn’t arrived yet. I walked to my seat and sat on it. The sun greeted me again. He must have missed me a lot while I was gone for lunch, that’s why it was showering me with its love in the form of the afternoon heat. By the end of the day, I would be roasted like a coffee bean.

Soon the teacher entered the class, but he didn’t close the door after him. What an irresponsible fellow. Not like I have any right to speak.

“Hello, class! I am your Homeroom teacher. Sorry I got held up by the principal in the morning because of some paperwork. I hope you didn’t cause the substitute teacher any trouble.”

Only I was slightly surprised at this sudden revelation. Everyone else seemed fine. Turns out, the substitute teacher already informed them of this, while I was busy thinking about my anime special seat and its problems.

“Also! We have a new member joining our class today. Please welcome him enthusiastically,” the teacher turned towards the door and gestured for someone to come in.

A slim-looking cute boy with reddish-brown hair entered the class. His hair was quite long, so long that he was wearing his tie as a headband to keep his hair from blocking out his eyes. Weird fashion choice, just cut your hair if they are inconvenient.

Fortunately, our school wasn’t really strict on uniforms, perks of studying in a public school. But still, a guy wearing a tie on his head seems weird.

I was the only one who found it weird. The rest of the class was in awe of his cuteness. They were whispering among themselves.

“Wow! Isn’t he cute?” The girl next to me whispered, I still haven’t found out her name.

“Yes!” I didn’t want to disagree. Also, he was cute. He looked exactly like my favorite character from a show. Those red eyes were filled with fire. As if he was the protagonist of an anime. Oh, wait, What if he gets this anime seat. It would suit him more. But I don’t want to give it up.

While I was again lost in my thoughts, The teacher asked him to introduce himself.

“Hi! My name is Kana Yado. You all can call me Kana,” his voice had a lovely melody, Girls and boys all fell in love with that immediately. “I am looking forward to having lots of fun with you all this year. 2022 is gonna be ours,” and he threw his fist in the air at the end.

What a weird guy. Again, I was the only one who found him weird. The rest of the class threw their fists in the air and started screaming “2022 is ours.”

Not gonna lie, this is the first time I saw an introduction like that. The guy hyped up the entire class with two sentences only. I also was not sure whether I found him weird or weirdly charming at that moment.

***

“My lord! The introduction is over. It went just as planned”, the snake spoke.

“I can see that on screen,” I told him so that he would stop reporting the things that I was already seeing in real-time.

After meeting maha dev on the road, I took him to the same school where his summoner studied. It was a piece of cake, arranging all the paperwork and previous work. All I had to do was force a teacher there to do all the work. The guy was so terrified of me that he finished the entire work before lunch. I was okay with him doing it by the next day, but the earlier the better.

We had to give maha dev a name so that he can be approachable to these humans. He chose his name by himself. It was easily rememberable so I didn’t protest against it, but even I have no idea why he chose that specific name.

Now, all we had to do was get the students to have faith in him. And our first target would be the girl who summoned him back into this world.

“All the best, My lord. May lady Gaia watches over you.”

***