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A little teasing there and a little mocking here had followed Inaya for the rest of the day. Her 'poverty' felt like a permanent smear over her face that wouldn't go no matter how much she rubbed at it. 

Thankfully, her parents had returned late at night, too tired to ask her about her day and she had woken up before them and headed to school. She could escape the questions. 

The next day was a little better. Most of the classmates seemed to be ignoring her. Kavya, Arjun and their friend, who she had understood to be a close-knit group of friends, had arrived late at class and hadn't interacted with her except for a polite 'hello' from Kavya. 

In their defense, the class had been having back-to-back classes without even a 2-minute break. The short break had been forsaken by the teachers, who were more eager in trying to cover the syllabus than giving the kids a well-deserved 10-minute rest.

When the long-coveted lunch break finally arrived, her classmates leaped out of the desk, including Kavya and the other members of their gang, rushing to the cafeteria. Inaya pulled out her boxed lunch, which she had made early that morning and picked up her spoon. 

"It's a pity she's so pretty." A girl passing by her desk commented loudly, as if pointedly wanting her to hear it. Inaya tried to pay no heed to their words. It was, however, easier said than done. She let her hair form a small curtain around her eyes, ensuring no one could determine her expression.

The friend of the girl laughed, "Is it a pity? You can get to so many places with just pretty privilege. I didn't know our school was one such place."

"She's going to go places in the future, huh?"

The insinuation was blatant. Inaya gripped her spoon but kept her words to herself. Despite her fury, it felt like spending energy on the words they carelessly threw at her would be a waste. 

Suddenly, the chair beside drew back, resulting in a loud screech. Inaya glanced at the boy in glasses, who was now staring at the girls standing behind her. "That's a lot of makeup you have on."

Inaya felt a confused pause lingering in the air.

"But no amount of concealer is going to hide your ugliness. Only a tape on your mouth would accomplish that."

Everyone in the class stared at the girl, who grew pale. Her friend stepped in front of her with a sense of foolish bravery that Inaya didn't know whether to admire or feel pity at, "That's quite a harsh thing to say to a girl-"

"And what you said in reference to Inaya wasn't?"

The girls couldn't come up with a reply and could only gawk at him. Arjun turned away and adjusted his seating back to his original position. He glanced at Inaya before digging into his food. Inaya blinked at his lunch box before looking at her own. She waited until the girls scurried away before whispering a low 'thank you'.

He whispered back, "You don't have to thank me."

—

As Inaya neared the entrance of the library, she caught sight of Arjun and his two friends lingering outside. After an awkward lunch break, the class had returned to normal. She had thought she was back to being ignored but over the last few classes of the day, Kavya had kept nudging at her leg. Before Inaya could investigate the reason, the teacher had caught Kavya with packets of buns. Inaya assumed that Kavya was only trying to hide her snacks. It probably wasn't related to Inaya herself.

Having given up on any attempt at socializing, she decided to look down at the floor as she walked in. 

"Inaya? Inaya!" Kavya suddenly jumped in front of her, making her start in part surprise, part fright. "Sorry, I keep startling you."

"It's fine." Inaya mumbled, wondering why she had approached her.

"Are you going to study?" 

Inaya nodded, slowly, trying not to pay any attention to the handsome boy, who had taken his place beside her. 

"Let's study together!" Kavya beamed at her. "All of us study together until late evening before heading home. You should join us!"

Inaya stared at her. The other boy in the group smacked his forehead, "Kavya, what did I tell you just now?"

Kavya blinked before gasping, "I mean, you're free to do whatever you want. I'm not forcing you to join us in any way. If it seemed like that, I apologize."

It definitely seemed like that. 

"I just thought it would be great if you could join our study sessions, you know. It's always nice to have more friends to study with. Studying is quite boring as it is and having study buddies-"

"Will you join us?" Arjun interrupted her rambling. Inaya took one look at his earnest eyes and decided she was always going to be a loser in a battle against him, "Alright."

He smiled at her; it was a small kind of smile, but it didn't fail to make her chest feel warm. "Great. Let's go inside, then."

Kavya folded her arms and smiled at Inaya. In the face of so many smiles at her, Inaya couldn't help but feel like her disastrous first day had actually taken place centuries before and not just yesterday. 

"Thank you for inviting me." 

Kavya grinned and shook her head, as they followed Arjun. "Also, here." 

Inaya's hands were suddenly filled with two packets of buns. 

"I forgot to give these to you. I had bought them during lunch break but every time I tried to sneak it to you in class, the teacher caught me."

Inaya's eyes grew wide with realization, "So that's why you were touching my leg."

"You were touching her leg?" The other guy in the gang, who hadn't yet introduced himself, finally spoke up. 

"Shut up. I wasn't touching her leg. I was just trying to pass the bun packets."

"Weirdo." The guy retorted before turning to Inaya, "Hey there. We haven't had a chance to talk. My name's Prakash. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Inaya."

Prakash sent a small nod in her direction before catching up with Arjun who strode ahead of them. 

Once she was acquainted with their usual corner for studying and the four of them had their noses deep into their books, Kavya quietly crept closer to Inaya's ear and whispered, "Welcome to our gang."

Inaya's lips grew into a slow but assured smile. With a nod at her, Kavya returned to her books. Inaya glanced at the side profile of Arjun's face that looked a little more handsome than the day before. She wasn't foolish enough to hope that she would become a close friend of his but...she would remember his help for a lifetime.

—

[ behind the scenes ]

the day before

"I feel a little sorry for that new student in our class." Prakash said, as he munched on his sandwich. Arjun perked up, subtly but didn't say anything, waiting for the story to fully emerge out of Prakash's mouth. 

Kavya quickly replied, "You know, I talked to her this morning. Arjun was there too. I'm a little worried about talking to her again, though. I might have been a bit rude, you know, because I assumed she was...rich."

"This is the problem with you." Prakash sighed. "You never think twice about what you say, and you keep rambling on."

"Well, I'm sorry, dad. " Kavya rolled her eyes. 

"Why do you feel sorry for her?" Arjun asked, having lost patience. Both of his friends stared at him. "Just spit it out already."

Prakash cleared his throat, after giving a meaningful glance in Kavya's direction, "I overheard a couple of classmates taunting her. It must be quite hard for her to deal with that right on her first day."

Kavya shook her head and sighed, "Ravi sir should've been a bit more tactful. Who asks what their parents do during an introduction, anyway?"

"Yeah." Prakash shook his head as he leaned back into his chair, folding his arms. "I want to help her but I'm afraid of doing something foolish and worsening the situation. At times like this, we need Devika."

Kavya groaned, "I miss Devika. She always knows what to do in every situation."

Arjun, who had been quiet thus far, put his spoon down and stood up from the chair. Prakash blinked at him, "Aren't you going to finish your lunch?"

"I don't feel like eating." He replied, "I'm heading back to class."

He stepped away from the table before turning back to face Kavya, "Get a couple of those bun packets you like and treat Inaya to it tomorrow."

Then, Arjun stalked away, his shoulders steeled in a resolute manner.

Kavya, "...?"

Prakash, "...?"