Shot-13

The three very alarming rings of the final bell indicated that the assembly had already started. Sanvi bolted her way through the school campus towards her locker and threw her belongings inside it.

Huffing and sweating profusely, she reached the assembly hall and hopped into her line only to be pulled back by her class teacher.

"Sanvi Dixit? What kind of behaviour is this?" Her teacher roared, dragging her to a corner.

"I am extremely sorry Miss! I was late for the first time and I couldn't figure where I should go so I hopped into the line like this. I sincerely apologize. It won't happen again..." She pleaded to her teacher stammering all the while her head hung low.

Her teacher had known her to be a sincere and obedient pupil since the first day of school. She was punctual and well-mannered in every aspect. Her teacher was particularly bewildered to experience such an absurd act by the very well-behaved Sanvi Dixit.

"This must be the first and the last blunder Miss Dixit... Look at your classmates and juniors staring at you! Oh what a terrible joke must all these seem to them! No manners, no discipline! You being a school prodigy must set a good example for the other kids." Her teacher warned her and allowed her to enter the assembly.

Sanvi hung her head low and bit on her lower lip hard.

Sanvi's POV~

The kids? Well Miss would surely need an ambulance if she learns about her kids' conduct at Rathore's party last night.

"Great start of the day." I begrudgingly murmured under my breath, silently sliding into the girl's line and not once pulling my head up.

I could still interpret from the corner of my eyes that everyone was oogling at me as if I had grown two horns. I closed my eyes and sighed.

They would be gossiping about this incident for the rest of the day. I could almost feel that my plan to stay away from the crowd's eye was going to be an utter failure. It was shame that a school of such stature as St. Louis would have such gossipmongers as its students.

"What else would be more interesting than seeing the class captain, herself getting scolded right in the beginning of the day and then gossiping away about it for the whole day.."  I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the horde of my own classmates.

What? I didn't owe them shit. I couldn't care less about how they spoke about me behind my back.

However, among those hundreds of pairs of eyes, I could specifically feel one one pair staring at me intensely.

Oh no.

He had been watching me since the moment I had entered and got called out for being tardy. Could this be anymore embarrassing?

As I involuntarily looked up, I swiftly caught his eyes and my stomach tightened.

Why on the earth did I feel the need to immediately look away and not hold onto his gaze for a few seconds more?

That would have helped me maintain my sternness to a certain degree.

Was I already that intimidated by Rathore?

The thought made my blood boil and quite unknowingly, my eyes caught his line of sight yet again and I was stupefied.

We had a large distance between us but that didn't stop me from figuring out how his chocolate brown eyes held a strange glint in them while they bore into mine through his expressionless countenance. I had never noticed. I had never bothered to notice his eyes before that. They were hypnotising.

Why, oh why after passing so many years with him as a batchmate, was I so keen on noticing his features today? I groaned internally.

I forcefully shifted my gaze towards the podium but the next instant looked back at him yet again.

What the hell was wrong with me?

He was still looking at me and it was just then when he decided go pucker his lips out at me, as if attempting to blow me a kiss before snarkily smirking at me. I immediately turned away, feeling extremely flustered by his act.

What was I thinking? What was I imagining all this while? I absolutely need to stop fantasizing about my enemy this instant! A snobby jerk is always snobby jerk!

I turned back with an air of dignity and simply stuck my tongue out at him.

That was perhaps not what I had previously intended to do but I couldn't help it. It got funny all of a sudden.

I was seriously losing it.

**********

To Be Continued.