20 Shuffling

After dinner, I phoned Rachel and told her about my speech and then about the incident in the bus.

"Whaatttt !!" Rachel exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah," I said and bit my lips to control the excitement and my nervousness.

"I mean how did you even ....Okay.... wait, when are you going to tell him that you love him, tell me that first," she said to  me.

I started to blush at her words.

"I don't know, soon, hopefully," I replied but deep down I knew I didn't have the courage to tell him not today not any other day.

"Please stop blushing and answer me correctly. When .... are ...you going to tell him," she asked me again, this time she stressed her words.

"I'll tell Austin that I love him when you tell Justin that you like him," I said and giggled.

"I will. When the time comes," she replied.

"Even he told the same thing," I muttered to myself.

"I can't hear you Jess, louder... louder," she said.

"When is the match tomorrow?" I diverted the topic.

"It is in the evening."

"Oh!! okay, do you want to go and see the match?"

"What kind of stupid is question is that, obviously," she replied.

"Alright! We'll meet him before the match, I want to talk to him."

"Okay, I need to go byee," she said and ended the call.

Sports competitions was not like other  competitions. It started a month ago. It had quarter final, semi final and then final. Tomorrow is the final match  and Justin's team got selected in it.

I went to  school with Rachel like other day. We had classes in the morning  and in the evening we had  basket ball match.

Justin being in  tenth standard was made as  captain instead of eleventh and twelfth standard students  by our sports  sir.

In the evening, we went to the basket ball court and looked for Justin. He wasn't there, later we came to know that the players went to change their dress.

We looked at each other and thought of  sitting  on the  bench where we usually sit.

"Captain," I shouted and waved my hand.

He was in a hurry but came to talk to us.

"What?" he asked me.

"What do you mean by what! I called you to wish you luck," I playfully frowned at him.

"Thank You." Was his reply when a tiny smile made it's way on his face.

"When is the match going to start?" I asked him.

"It will start in a while," he  replied and looked at his watch.

"All the best," came Rachel's sweet voice from my behind.

He didn't say anything but only gave a  smile and the smile he gave her was different from the smile he gave me.

The person who was tensed and in a hurry  now looked calm and peaceful.

"You better make us proud or else I  might kill you," Rachel warned him.

He chuckled to her words.

"I'd be the happiest to be killed in your hands," his reply made her to roll her eyes.

"We'll leave together, wait for me," he said to  Rachel.

"yeah, okay," she replied.

Rachel's mother have meetings next week due to which she was would leave tonight, my aunt Helen told Rachel's mother that Rachel  would stay at her home. My aunt was always like this, she always tried to bring  Justin and Rachel closer which Justin never liked. But to my  surprise  this time he told her to wait for him so that they would go to his  house together.

Crowed gathered at basket ball court and people started to cheer.  The match was really exciting, we didn't know who would win but at the end  Justin's team won the match.

Rachel and I were waited for Justin after the match, he was  with a group of guys and they were shouting  his name out loud in a rhythm.

He then came towards us and asked me if I was coming too. The way he asked me looked like he  didn't want me to come.

"Don't worry I'm not coming," was my reply to his question.

"Thanks sisterrrr!" he stressed his words.

Austin won the first place in elocution competition and Justin in sports competition, the prize distribution was done the very next day to which I didn't attend.

It has been more than a month since the competitions took place, exams were  near but the syllabus wasn't completed because of those competitions. Our teachers tried their level best to complete the syllabus.

I had my exams in the month of April, I worked hard. I went through those sleepless nights again and on the last day of exam we ripped out hall ticket and threw it in the air. It was a kind of satisfaction to tear the hall ticket into pieces and throw them on the last day of our exams.

During my summer holidays  I went to my grandparents to visit and got back  home after  few days as my results were out. I went to my school with my mother  as she had to sign on my report card.

My mother was to tears when she looked at my name which was written on a board. My name was in the top list. she looked at me with her teary eyes and kissed me on my forehead.

Rachel's mother Clara met my mother they both started to talk and I was talking to Rachel.

"I'm so proud of you," Rachel said and hugged me.

"Thank You," I replied while hugging her.

This time I scored 93% and she scored 88%.

As we walked in the corridor, I saw  my aunt come towards us. She came and greeted my mother and hugged her friend, Clara who is Rachel's mother.

After a while Rachel left with her mother.

My mother and aunt continued to have their conversation, my mother said that we would leave in five minutes, but even after thirty minutes she didn't even move an inch. I lost my patience and their conversation looked like it might take more than an hour.

I didn't know what to do, I went to Justin's class to call him and at the same time I wanted to see Austin, it has been so long since I met him. I went to their class and saw Austin help his teacher, he looked at me and gave a bright smile.

I waved at him, he looked at me and then towards the benches. I thought he was telling me to look at the benches but later I understood what he meant. He told me to sit in the bench. I nodded and sat in the first bench. I strayed at him while he was busy with his teacher, I couldn't wipe the smile away from my face.

After he was done with the work, we both came out of the class.

"Congratulations," he said as soon as we came out of the class.

"Congratulations for being in the top place since three years," I said.

He gave a chuckle to my reply.

"Jessica," my cousin called me.

I gave him a  death stare  for interrupting us and asked him why he called me while maintaining my coolness.

"They are waiting for us, come fast," he said and I had to leave as I was left with no other choice.

I looked at Austin and told him that I had to leave and left without having another glance at him.

After my summer vacation I started to go to school. Can't believe that I'm already in  eleven standard. On the first day after reopening of my school I came to know that we were  going to get shuffle, I looked at Rachel in shock, I can't even imagine we both being in different classes we both held our hands.

After a while a person came and handed over a paper to the class teacher, she read my name out loud. I was to tears I didn't want to leave her, I was holding back my tears and so was Rachel and finally before folding the paper she read Rachel's name. The tears which were filled with sadness rolled down on my cheeks with happiness. We hugged eachother  and couldn't control our happiness we laughed and talked   which made our classmates to look at us, our teacher  made us to stand and scolded us for we had disturbed the class, even though she was being scolded I was happy that I would be with her in the same class.

After a while she told everyone  to take our bags and go to our new classroom.

As soon as we entered our new class we were welcomed by Justin who was sitting in the second bench.

"Finally we are class mates," Justin said with a smirk.

"Yeah," I replied.

"I have a bad feeling," said Rachel  to Justin and pursed her lips.

I looked around to see if Austin was in my class but he wasn't there. I went  and sat in a bench beside Rachel. Even  though I was happy because Rachel and I were in same class at the same time I was slightly disappointed when I didn't see him in my class.

I laid down on the bench and closed my eyes.

"You both are in the same class again, lucky people," I heard someone say to Rachel.

"We are," said Rachel and giggled.

"Jess, wake up!!" she said, but I didn't.

"Jessss ..... Austinnn," she whispered into my ears.

I got up immediately and looked for him.

"He is our in class ?" I asked her  in a loud voice as I was excited which made people  to look at us with strange expression but then we got used to such expressions  since we were  kids.

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Even though Jessica had another reason for working hard to score good marks, she felt very happy when she looked at my proud mother's face. All the things  she did for  him made her  a better person  today.

Nothing is impossible if we work hard, we  should never doubt our capability, we need to work hard and make it happen. It might take time  to be make it happen  but  it will happen, Jessica thought as she  turned the page over.