Breaking a Game

The paths were so narrow, it felt like it would break the game of his life. Anirudh sat still with the once blank green board on its verge of becoming fully white, in front. 

Chemistry classes were just over and it was the solid recess with its magnificent variety of different specimens of the human race running, crying, hoping, crawling, fainting. But that was outside the room, as well as his mind. The class room was big, calm and Anirudh's sole place in the school. Thus when they all left to break a bone or two from the recess, he sat there motionless, alone with the chairs.

And well, not even a single word did the chair spoke. It was peace in a package with the settings constrained to him making him understand the conspiracies of the universe. He looked left, then swung right. Nope no one. He slowly stood up moved a step towards the door making sure it was closed properly. Then with a little effort he put a chair in front of the door. Just in case things go wrong, that shall be a backup, Anirudh told himself. He slowly moved towards the center of the class and looked over all the empty chairs. Adjusting himself in the situation, after that, he took a sheet of folded paper out from his pocket.

"Maybe this will help you" he whispered and kept staring at the paper.

The bell rang and with it the recess ended as well. All those humans now were running towards their specific classes. And although not all, as to some they liked bunking, but for most, classes were important. The doors of class 9 were opened. Anirudh was found sitting intact in his place. After that like some flowing liquid, students can gushing in from all sides jamming the door. In between that, two even started quarreling to enter the room first, which later changed to some exchanges of blows and a bleeding nose with bruised face. All these although, didn't mattered to Anirudh, as if they all were not there at all. For him the class was still empty.

He didn't moved. Still like stone, he could only wish for the right time to come. And well, he didn't had to wait an eternity, it came quick. Much sooner than expected, it entered with the waving straight pony tail and the smiling pink radiant lips. She indeed was beautiful. Anirudh suddenly became a little more aware and a little more focused than he was. He looked at her with bids of perspiration covering his forehead. He was breathing heavily, with the sudden change in his heartbeats.

He saw her sit in her seat and talk to her friends. Anirudh's heart was pounding then, a beat so fast, Anirudh couldn't catch up. Waiting and waiting his heartbeat grew. He kept looking and finally the moment arrived. She had found the piece of paper he had kept inside her desk and was opening it. Anirudh almost fainted with the growing heartbeat. He could feel his nerves and veins contracting, bringing the sense of fear, lots of fear, which till then was unknown to Anirudh. Thus unable to bear it anymore Anirudh decided to close his eyes. Placing his head on the desk, thus he tried to forget everything.

A shout suddenly filled the class. "Anirudh". As everyone turned to see who it was to shout, boys became a bit more compos mentis than natural to see Ashi standing with quite a different smile on her face, one which she prefers during executions of some gruesome pranks. Anirudh now was slowly coming out of his imaginary world as he opened his eyes to face the reality.

"Anirudh, what is this?" Ashi softly said in a playful voice, as it made Anirudh red with fear at the left side of his head and happiness on the right. This surely was confusion for the viewers, as the words being spoken were beauty in themselves, never spoken for any of the boys. Naturally few immediately grew up anger like any barbarian suddenly finding a sword hidden in his cupboard. And then there was that one smart brat who went to Ashi and snatched the paper, took a glance and returned it immediately before getting the angry glances at him.

Then Ashi moved. In the most superb motions were her legs, the way none has seen her move, and to the boys, the knew, none will ever see again. Thus most of the mouth stayed open in awe. And as she stop Anirudh was sitting dead on his seat with his eyes so much focused on the board that they seemed popping out of there place. Then they closed, and with them went away every sense of Anirudh only one on his shoulder remained. Remained with her hands in touch.

Some with stretched eyes, some with stretched mouth, some with stretched nose as they tickled for something, all looked straight into the matter, and all were boys of course. Most of them already started making plans as to how much Anirudh needs to be beaten so that he dies, and rest of them left all hopes and started praying to stop this disgraceful wrath to be compelled on them.

She went and sat and then her voice dragged Anirudh out of his euphoria.

"Explain"

Anirudh who was staring into Ashi's eyes, suddenly turned and took out his maths book.

"log x here has a base of 10 if you remember so...."

"Not that mathematician, tell me what you did in your" she looked at the paper "in your, step three"

Anirudh took the paper, looked at it, then looked at Ashi, again looked at it, took a deep breathe and started explaining.

On the background the boys were then pushing out sighs of relaxation as the situation was found to be under control.

"Better stick with your maths psycho!" One heavy weighted stone of the class, shouted. And as soon as he did, got beaten up by 20 other heavy weighted stones, just to impress an irritated Ashi.

"Can we... can we..." Anirudh stammered.

"No we can't, here, now explain!" Ashi immediately replied with a playful laugh.

Anirudh who was thinking of moving outside the class for a better environment now was totally red with embarrassment as he knew what Ashi mean't with her no.

"Anirudh I don't have the entire day! Speed it up!"

"Yes... yes... Where was I?... Oh... log 9 base x multiplied by log x base 9... Wait let me solve it..."

"Better, mathematician!"

There were hooting of different sorts at the background, and like all usual days, it soon turned into a hot debate between girls and boys as the girls cried out "Don't you know how to behave?"

Anyways, Anirudh among that chaos had somehow found his peace, in Ashi. The mouth spoke to make her understand in a formal way while the mind danced with her voice "mathematician". Indeed the word found its meaning the moment she spoke it.

"Oh my, wasn't that easy!" Ashi gazed at the answer astonished upon her own foolishness and then at Anirudh, who was about to turn his eyes away, but now realizing he got caught, froze in nervousness. "And that too" said Ashi, in a whisper, deeply lost in his eyes. Anirudh almost collapsed, his thoughts running here as there, almost everywhere, while his vision turned blurry. He could only see Ashi smile and then leaving, for her seat back in the room.

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To be continued...