Tenth Grade was Fun!

25. CUCKOO

Days fly by, some passable and some painful with too much reminder about my dad but nonetheless we manage to stay strong through it.

I had even snuck some of Pa's jerseys he had gotten during his sports-club-secretary days of his college years. Otherwise, almost every single aspect of his was left untouched.

Despite my lost hope, Nikhil and I seem to be growing closer and I can't seem to stop myself from falling harder for him every day. He still hasn't said the word back but we were in no hurry. We had all the time in the world and I'm also determined to give LDR a try when I change school.

I don't know why, but some people around me have become oddly bipolar.

Ved goes from teasing that I am a nerd to nervous throat clearings within seconds when Harsh comes in front of us or in our topics.

Harsh goes from harmless flirting to angry fist clenching in 30 seconds flat in the mention of Ved or whenever Ved is present in person.

Sh— DQ goes from remotely nice to super bad bitch whenever we walk in front of a more-than-five-people crowd.

And not to mention two dickheads that I call my brothers who were crazy enough for me until now.

My sanity is safe only because of my mom and Nikhil being one of the few rational ones in my life.

Not to mention your Paps...that man-child...

Oh don't add to the list!!

I turn and look at Mia as impassively as I can while she keeps poking a push pin against my arms increasing the force with every poke while furrowing her brows in utter concentration as if she could calculate my pain endurance using a formula.

"Mia, move your ass and give me that cellophane tape instead of poking at Vicky!" Harsh shouts from where he's standing, his hands stretched up, holding the chart against the wall.

His shouting doesn't attract any attention because the entire class is chaotic with students sticking their charts on the walls while some arrange extra props on the desk in front of them.

The class had been rearranged; benches were pushed against the walls in a single row along with their desks—appearing like counters—and two desks alone were placed together in the middle of the entire classroom like a big rectangular table while the rest of desks and benches...well they either went to places that needed more of them or if not, I don't know where they went.

It's the Saturday slot of the school's exhibition and just like we had planned, Mia, the twins and I had arrived on time and now we are setting everything up.

Harsh was assigned with sticking the chart since he was the tallest of the twins and Mia should be helping him with the tape while Darsh and I set up the props on our table.

Our biology teacher moves around the room assessing our works and remarks about changes if any required.

Mia hands Harsh the newly torn piece of tape and Harsh secures the last corner of the chart against the wall with it.

"That's it right?" Darsh asks as he places the last prop on the table.

"Yeah just this one." I reply as I place the last one and finish our work.

I check the time and it's almost 8:25 a.m. so we all go over everything and call out for our biology teacher and ask her if our arrangements are alright.

Once she gives the affirmative, she leaves for other students while the four of us sit on the bench behind the table given for our props display.

"Anyone got any food?" Mia mumbles as she rests her head on my shoulder.