4 Anemone

Reyansh realized that he'll be sitting with Madhuri in all of his semester exams. He gave her a dumbfounded stare, not understanding how he should proceed to his given seat.

Madhuri hadn't grasped the situation yet that she must sit with a "loser" as she was too busy revising.

Reyansh proceeded to his seat.

'Should I tell hello and just smile? Or should I tell hello and wish her the best for her exams?' Reyansh tried deciding as he sat on his chair.

After Madhuri concluded her revision, she had a confident grin - as if she would excel the exam like she always does. With that smile, she glanced at her right and the smile promptly faded. Reyansh's timid smile welcomed her.

Oh no. That wasn't... Why? Why does it have to be Reyansh?

Madhuri gave a forced smile to Reyansh.

Reyansh gathered all of his courage and murmured, "hello..."

"Hello..." Madhuri whispered, then diverting her attention to her notebook. She didn't want to look at the clumsy person.

'Oh god... I wanted to sit with Rin like I always used to during exams. What went wrong this time?' Madhuri contemplated as she looked at Rin sitting behind her.

Both Rin and Madhuri wished best of luck for their respective exams to each other.

'I wonder what she is thinking about me right now... Especially after what she witnessed three weeks ago...' Reyansh reflected the harsh bullying on him carried by Aryan.

"Hey." Rin patted Reyansh, snapping him out of his musings. Reyansh was extremely uneasy. "Don't worry, you can count on me." said Rin, she must've noticed the fearful expression on Reyansh's face.

'Why is she trying to help a loser like him?' Madhuri mused as she gave a questioning stare to Rin, 'They never talked before in exams, Rin never tried to help him before, why now? Is it because... Maybe they are dating? But why would she date a loser like him? She is a bright student like me.'

Rin stared back. "What?" She asked dubiously. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Oh no, nothing," answered Madhuri. "I hope you do well."

"Yes, you too!" Rin said smilingly.

'How am I going to cheat in front of my crush? There's no way I am doing that. That would further ruin my impression. And here I thought I finally had some luck... Why does this always happen?' Reyansh contemplated, pressing his forehead hard. These thoughts were overwhelming. He was trying his best to decide whether he was going to cheat.

Mrs. Tanya, their Physics teacher, and Reyansh and Rin's class teacher entered the class.

'No way! Is she going to be the invigilator of today's exam? How am I going to cheat in front of her? She hates me the most out of the other teachers! Goddammit, I have the worst luck in the world!' Reyansh mused as he gave a fearful look to his teacher.

After a few minutes, Mrs. Tanya distributed the question and the answers papers.

Exams began.

After reading the question paper, Reyansh was sure that without Rin's help, he won't be able to pass the exam. But he was in dilemma. He had two choices - either ruin his reputation further and cheat or fail the exam. Obviously, he decided to go with the former as there was no way he can afford to fail again because that would mean the ultimate failure. This was his last chance.

While Reyansh was into such thoughts, he suddenly noticed Madhuri trying to cheat.

'What? Oh... Oh! So she cheats too?!?!' Reyansh was positively surprised. 'Nice! Very nice!' Reyansh had a bit of a smile as he started to cheat himself.

After the first five minutes of success, Mrs. Tanya noticed Reyansh.

"Reyansh!" she yelled. "Just because you're going to fail this year, doesn't mean I am going to allow you to cheat out of pity," she said.

That was a warning.

It was like Mrs. Tanya's eyes were fixated on Reyansh after she finished her coffee. He was cheating cautiously and Madhuri's methods of cheating were much more open and obvious. It's not like Reyansh wanted Madhuri to get caught instead of him, but this was still unfair!

Rin looked at the gloomy Reyansh. How was she supposed to help him pass the exam now?

'Oh no, he can't even cheat... I feel pity for him.' Madhuri thought as she went back to writing the paper.

Reyansh was not going to try to cheat again because if he gets caught, Mrs. Tanya might call his parents and there was absolutely no way he'd let that happen. He chose not to take any risk, accepted his fate as a failure like he was doing until now and looked down. It was his mistake to think that he can pass - even if it was with Rin's help.

Now that Reyansh was sitting idly, not writing anything, he started thinking about Madhuri's opinions regarding him again. He knew his impression was further ruined now.

Reyansh slept idly, looking at his right. He was depressed.

After fifteen minutes, Mrs. Tanya went to Reyansh and snatched his answer papers. "Get out." She mumbled.

"What..." Reyansh was perplexed.

"Get out, I said." Mrs. Tanya repeated.

Both Madhuri and Rin gave incredulous looks to Mrs. Tanya. Madhuri was sure Reyansh didn't cheat again. What the hell was going on?

Reyansh thought about it for a second. He was surprised. "But I didn't cheat ma'am."

"You did." Mrs. Tanya said, "Didn't I warn you?"

"Yes, but after you warned me, I didn't cheat again. I wasn't even writing the exam." said Reyansh in his defense.

"Enough. No arguments." Mrs. Tanya said. "Are you going to get out or do you want me to take further actions?" Mrs. Tanya threatened. Reyansh realized what she meant. He got up from his seat and shuffled out of the classroom.

'Why didn't he argue? This was wrong! She doesn't have any right to punish the weak students without any cause! He didn't cheat again, then why?' Rin mused as she stood up furiously. She couldn't take it anymore. "'But ma'am...!" Before she could finish her sentence though, Mrs. Tanya interrupted her. "Who gave you the permission to stand up? Sit down if you don't want me to do the same with you." She said as she went back to her chair. Rin followed.

Madhuri still didn't have a clue on what was going on and she was giving incredulous looks back-and-forth to Mrs. Tanya and Rin.

Not just Madhuri, but everyone was surprised at the event that had just transpired in front of them.

"Everyone, focus on your exams." She said and everyone followed.

Rin was really angry at Mrs. Tanya but more than that she was angry at Reyansh for not defending himself.

◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆

After the exam ended, the students went out of the school. Rin noticed Reyansh walking sluggishly. "Hey, wait!" she said, walking towards him.

Reyansh knew that she was going to ask about the exam - something he wasn't in a mood to talk about.

"Why did you not say anything in your defense?" Rin asked seriously, not wasting a second.

Reyansh realized that she was angry at him.

"Look. Dhairya might see us. You better go for now. We'll talk about this later."

"Fuck him!" Rin cursed. "I don't care! All I I wanna know right now is why you didn't say anything in your defense. Like you accepted your punishment as if you deserved it... What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Calm down," said Reyansh, gesturing her to calm down. "There was no point in taking it further, you know. It's not like I was going to pass the exam anyway." Reyansh tried to defend himself.

"That doesn't mean you would accept the punishment for something you did not do." Rin argued.

"Look," said Reyansh. "I am sorry but I had no choice."

"You did. You should've taken a stand. It's not like you were going to lose anything if you did, right? Because like you said, you were not going to pass the exam regardless of whether you accepted the punishment or took a stand for yourself. Then why did you choose the former?"

Reyansh was really getting annoyed. It was being too much for him to handle without losing his patience. "We'll talk about this later. I am really not in the mood to argue here. Please."

"Do whatever you want!" Rin left.

Reyansh took off the glasses and wiped off the tears. His actions hurt both him and Rin. He wondered why Rin had become so caring suddenly as he proceeded to his home.

◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆

"How was your exam?" Mrs. Adani asked smilingly.

Reyansh saw her smile and tried his best to suppress the tears.

"It was fine mom." He said, taking his shoes off.

"Glad. Your sister's exam went great too!" Mrs. Adani said. "Lunch is ready, go wash your hands."

'I am sorry for lying mom.' He mused as he went to his room.

"I hate my life." He said, lying down on his bed.

He was hopeless. He was going to fail the year now. Not only did he ruin his own reputation, but his family's as well.

"I really wish I was dead," he mumbled.

After a few minutes, Reyansh's sister knocked on the door. "Lunch is ready. Come on." She said.

"Coming." he said, getting up.

◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆

Later in the evening, he went to the park. He noticed really beautiful Anemone flowers. He started walking towards the said flowers. Before he could pluck one of them though, he was stopped by a bespectacled boy around the same height as him. His hair covering his forehead.

"Nah fam, you shouldn't do that." the boy said smilingly.

"I shouldn't do what?" asked Reyansh.

"That flower bro. You shouldn't touch it." He said. The smile on his face wouldn't disappear.

"Why shouldn't I? asked Reyansh. "It's a beautiful flower and I love nature."

"I love nature too!" the boy exclaimed. "That's why I am here. But that flower is prettyyyyyy dangerous."

"How exactly?" asked Reyansh dubiously.

"Anemone species are sometimes targeted by cutworms. There are so many bacterial, fungal and viroid diseases associated with the said flowers. You better stay away from them bro." the boy explained.

"It doesn't make much difference to me," Reyansh said with a sad smile. "And really, don't call me bro. It's annoying." he mumbled.

"Hahahaha~" the boy laughed. His laugh was really different and it sounded somewhat creepy. "What happened~? Were you abandoned by someone you loved~?" he asked funnily.

'Why did I stumble upon this annoying dickhead? What's with the way he talks? He is creepy. I should leave as soon as possible.' Reyansh thought. "No no, nothing like that. Don't worry about it." he said.

"Okay~. you can share about it later~." the boy said smilingly. "My name is Vansh, by the way." the boy introduced himself. "Nice to meet you."

"My name is Reyansh." Reyansh introduced himself emotionlessly. "And it's nice to meet you too." he lied.

"There is~... No need~... To~... Introduce yourself~." said Vansh.

"Why not?" Reyansh asked annoyingly. What a rude bastard.

"Because~... I know~... Who~... You are~." Said Vansh, giving Reyansh a big smile.

"What?! How?! How do you know me, I mean?" Reyansh asked shockingly.