After Sir left, as soon as Sneha entered the classroom, whispers started. Some burned with jealousy, others added fuel to the fire.
Anwesha:
- "Look, look! The fairy-tale Anurag Sir brought her bag! This Sneha's the champion, huh?"
Diya:
- "Tell me, what magic did you use? Must be the magic of your 'boobs'!"
Megha:
- "Hmph, just by looking at her body, even Sir seems to have forgotten she's a student!"
Tanvi:
- "That huge chest of yours must be your weapon, right?"
Diya:
- "Ahh, if we had one like her, maybe Anurag Sir would carry our bags too!"
Baishali:
- "Sir calls you 'Sneha,' but forgets our names. Now I get it who's worth what."
Anwesha:
- "Actually, she's worth nothing. The worth is in those two."
A harsh laugh spread through the classroom. Sneha lowered her head and sat on her bench, but the girls' voices stabbed at her like sharp knives.
Keya:
- "Don't say more, there's something in her eyes-like a heroine hiding her pain! That's what they call teachers' weakness!"
Prathama:
- "Who knows, maybe one day there'll be a rumor in school-something's going on between Anurag Sir and Sneha!"
The weight of these words made even the air in the classroom feel heavy. Their cruel remarks hurt Sneha's heart.
It wasn't that Sneha didn't want to protest, but she was alone. No other girl in the entire class would support her. How many faces could she answer alone?
Sneha knew what she felt for Sir wasn't wrong. But these harsh words, the mockery... suppressing the silent crying inside was becoming harder day by day.
---
---
Pratapanagar Girls' High School - 11th Grade Classroom
As the bell rang for the second period, a soft whisper spread throughout the entire class.
"He's coming..."
"More charged than electrons, his eyes..."
Tonni: - "Now Anurag Sir is coming!"
Diya: - "He looked so handsome yesterday..."
Anwesha: - "If Sir just stands in front of me even once, I'd totally die!"
Handsome and silent, Anurag Sir entered the classroom carrying an air of seriousness in his eyes. Wearing a crisp white shirt and black pants; though his eyes showed tiredness, there was a calm expression on his lips. The girls sat up a little straighter, suddenly quiet-but the excitement inside hadn't stopped at all!
"Weren't we doing electron configurations?"
His gentle voice seemed to create a distinct vibration in the air.
"Today, I'm going to take you a little deeper..."
"That's exactly what we want, Sir, to go a bit deeper," Diya said softly. Sir didn't hear her.
After taking attendance, Sir began explaining. He drew some orbital diagrams on the board and spoke about hydrogen and helium.
The class was quiet. Everyone was focused intently on Sir's way of explaining. Most were paying attention, but some-especially Riya, Megha, Vaishali, and Diya-were watching every move of Sir with sharp eyes from the corner of theirs.
Then suddenly, Sir stopped. The writing on the board froze; the marker pen in his hand was still. Slowly, he put the pen down on the table. The girls grew a little curious, some holding their breath as if. Sir's eyes seemed to fix for a moment on the front row.
Sneha.
Sneha was sitting quietly, but her heart was running wild like a wild horse. Head bowed, eyes downcast. Sir's presence seemed to stir a storm in her breath.
Suddenly, something ignited sharply inside Sneha's mind.
"Sir is looking at me?"
Her heartbeat began to leap rapidly; she lowered her eyes. But she knew-Sir was moving closer.
Then... Anurag Sir slowly started walking toward the front bench.
At first, Sneha didn't understand what was happening. A wave was flowing inside her chest. She was sitting still, but there was a light sweat in her palm.
Sir was slowly approaching Sneha.
One step... two steps...
With every step, the air in the classroom seemed to grow tenser. Sneha's heart was racing; she gripped her pencil so tightly it seemed it might break.
Sir stood right in front of her. Sneha immediately stood up. A moment of silence. Sneha's gaze rose but stopped at Sir's chest; she didn't dare look up at his face. But Sir's eyes were steady, serious, and full of deep thought. The entire class was silent. No one made a sound.
But very quietly some whispers-
Megha nudged Riya's shoulder and said,
"Did you see? Heavy chemistry is going on."
"It's not chemistry period, it's romance period," said Vaishali.
Tonni: "I came here to study chemistry, and now it feels like the class is some romantic scene."
Vaishali: "Why is Sneha so special? Why is Sir giving her so much importance?"
Anwesha: "I thought Sir might even hold her hand."
Riya was burning with jealousy; she struggled hard to keep her anger in check.
"Sneha," Sir said, his voice softening in a different way,
"You must take care of yourself. Yesterday you fell because of hypoglycemia... that's not right. You need to eat properly, have sweets, and definitely get regular checkups."
Sneha's cheeks flushed red, she couldn't lift her eyes; her heart was pounding fast, blood rushing through her veins. She only lowered her head and listened quietly.
Sir said, "If you ever feel even a little unwell or have trouble in class, you must tell me immediately."
Sneha couldn't say anything, just glanced up once, then looked down again. Her lips trembled slightly. The rims of her ears had turned red, clearly visible.
Madhurima -
"Uff... the class stopped again because of that Sneha!"
Diya whispered from the next bench, "See! Didn't I say there's something between them?"
Keya said seriously, "That's why she fainted yesterday. Now look, a love story in chemistry class."
Prathama laughed sarcastically, "Why does Sir look only at her? What's the advantage of having such big boobs anyway?"
Diya added, "Didn't we get it? Chemistry isn't being taught in this class, chemistry is happening!"
---
---
In their eyes was clear jealousy. And in Sneha's eyes was a mixed feeling- a bit of sweet shyness, affection, and a storm of some unknown emotion.
Sir slowly turned back and walked toward the board.
The class resumed, but something remained in the air- invisible, yet perceptible.
A softness, a pull, the beginning of a connection-
Sneha was no longer the same. She knew that glance from Sir, that care- it was something more, something personal, something that even in the whole class was limited only between the two of them.
---
To be continued...