The shrill, demanding ring of the first bell shattered the morning air, signaling the start of the academic day. Within minutes, the chaotic chatter of the hallways died down as teachers marched into their respective classrooms.
Just a few doors down, Sharma Sir's booming voice could be heard bleeding through the thin walls as he kicked off his first-period physics class.
"So, kids," Sharma Sir lectured, tapping his chalk against the blackboard, "as we place an object closer to the source of light, the silhouette expands exponentially. The closer it is to the flame, the larger and more imposing the shadow becomes..."
The classroom was suffocatingly hot, but the tension inside was absolute. Right at the front of the room, where sharma Sir was teaching, near the blackboard, Arjun and Gopi were currently in the absolute depths of despair. Sharma Sir had ordered them into the dreaded, agonizing Murga (rooster) position. Their arms were looped under their knees, tightly gripping their own ears, their backs bent forward in a deeply humiliating arch.
But their physical agony was about to get a whole lot worse.
Sitting in the second row was Chochi, the class's chief instigator of chaos. Sensing the ultimate opportunity for mischief, Chochi stealthily pulled a thick, high-tension elastic rubber band from his pocket. He tore a piece of notebook paper, folded it into a sharp, lethal V-shaped missile, and loaded it into his makeshift slingshot.
Aiming dead-center at Arjun and Gopi's highly exposed rears, Chochi pulled back the elastic and shoot the paper projectile at them.
SNAP!
"Ow!" Gopi yelped, his entire backside violently twitching upward to dodge the sting.
Seeing the paper projectile miss, Chochi grinned maliciously and quickly loaded another one into his rubber band.
"Aim for their balls!" a student from the back row whispered, barely suppressing a laugh.
The comment caught everyone's attention, and an even more evil grin spread across Chochi's face as he eyed Gopi and Arjun.
The situation instantly became much more serious. For Arjun and Gopi, it wasn't just about saving their dignity anymore—it was about protecting their bloodline.
For Chochi and the rest of the class, the game had just gotten a whole lot more entertaining.
For the next two minutes, it became a fight for pure survival. Every time Chochi pulled back the rubber band, Arjun and Gopi would frantically bob up, duck down, and twist their rears from side to side like two glitching video game characters. All the while, they tried desperately not to break their official Murga punishment stance and invite the wrath of Sharma Sir.
Chochi's friend and few other classmates joined their humiliation by making fun of them and mocks them.
Clenching his jaw to suppress his rage, Arjun glared at Chochi, his eyes burning red with anger. "Enjoy your laugh while you can, Chochi," he muttered under his breath. "We'll see you very soon. Mark my words—if I don't turn you into the biggest laughing-stock in front of this entire class and make you dance like a complete lunatic, my name isn't Arjun."
Meanwhile, the rest of the classroom was in absolute stitches. Rows of students buried their faces in their textbooks, their shoulders shaking violently as they bit their lips to hold back their hysterical laughter.
Suddenly, the classroom door swung open, and a girl stepped into the doorway.
It was none other than Laila.
"May I come in, Sir?" her voice chimed, instantly cutting through the noise in the room.
Yes, come in," Sharma Sir replied, barely looking up from the blackboard as he continued writing.
The mere sound of her voice sent a violent jolt straight through Arjun. A burning flush of crimson rushed to his cheeks. Desperate to save whatever shred of dignity he had left, he instinctively snapped his head to the left, trying to hide his face. In his sheer panic to avoid her gaze, he completely abandoned his defense against Chochi, leaving himself entirely exposed to the relentless barrage of paper pellets and teasing.
Laila had only stepped in to hand a register to the teacher, but her eyes quickly scanned the room and locked onto Arjun. She caught him right in the middle of his miserable, chaotic attempt to hide. Seeing him trapped in such a vulnerable state—enduring Chochi's target practice while the rest of the class enjoyed the show—a sharp pang of protective sympathy surged through her. She wasn't about to just stand by and let him be humiliated.
Turning smoothly toward the podium, she addressed the teacher with a calm, pointed tone.
"Sir, don't you think the students in your class are making a bit too much noise?"
Her polite intervention instantly snapped Sharma Sir out of his zone. He had been so deeply engrossed in scribbling complex formulas across the blackboard that he hadn't even noticed the students' muffled snickers escalating into open, mocking laughter.
Sharma Sir spun around abruptly, his eyes narrowing as he caught the remaining muffled snickers.
"What is happening here? What is so funny that you are all laughing like toothless old fools?!" Sharma Sir barked, slamming his piece of chalk onto the table. "Who is responsible for all this giggling in my class?!"
"Sir!" Gopi burst out, unable to hold it in any longer. "This idiot Chochi keeps shooting paper chits at our bums with a rubber band! That's why everyone is laughing!"
Sharma Sir stared at them for a second, completely dumbfounded.
"Ah, is that so?" Sharma Sir smiled benignly, folding his hands over his chest. "Look at you two, bonding so beautifully over shared trauma. It truly warms my heart."
The entire classroom erupted into fresh, stifled laughter.
Standing near the podium, Laila shot Sharma Sir an awful, disapproving look.
Sharma Sir's smile vanished instantly, replaced by a cold glare as he turned back to the two boys. "Well, before I deal with anyone else, tell me—did you two eat a heavy, nutritious breakfast this morning?"
Arjun blinked, thoroughly confused. "Uh... why, Sir?"
"Because you two absolute donkeys are going to stay in that exact Murga stance until the very last second of my period!" Sharma Sir roared.
Another wave of stifled laughter swept through the room.
Gopi let out a pathetic, quiet wail. "Have mercy, Sir... my back is killing me. I swear my spine won't recover for a week after this!"
"Good!" Sharma Sir shot back, pacing around them like a drill sergeant. "Why should I suffer alone? My own back has been aching since this morning thanks to your little stunt! You two deserve to feel the burn for a change."
Sharma Sir marched straight down the aisle and stopped right in front of Chochi's desk. He thrust out an open palm. "Hand over that rubber band, Chochi. Right now. Enough of your circus."
Chochi quickly slid his hands under his desk, putting on his most unconvincing innocent face. "What? No, Sir! I don't have a rubber band! They're lying, Sir, I swear!"
"Don't believe him, Sir!" Arjun yelled from the front, still bent over in his Murga stance. "Look at the floor—it's covered in his paper chits! The rubber band is right in his pocket!"
"Sir, they're framing me!" Chochi protested, feigning absolute outrage.
"Chochi," Sharma Sir said, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper. "Are you going to quietly hand over that elastic band, or do you want me to clear a spot right between these two? Because if you join them, the trio will finally be complete—Gandhi-ji's three famous monkeys, turned into roosters."
The classroom completely lost it, table-thumping laughter echoing off the walls.
Defeated, Chochi slunk down in his chair and reluctantly pulled the thick rubber band from his pocket, dropping it into Sharma Sir's waiting hand.
Sharma Sir turned back toward the class and slammed his wooden ruler onto his desk.
SMACK!
"And what are the rest of you monkeys braying at?!" Sharma Sir shouted, wiping the smiles off their faces in an instant. "Quiet down! Pin-drop silence! Open your notebooks and copy the derivation on the board."
As the rhythmic scratching of pens filled the room once more, Sharma Sir returned to writing on the blackboard, leaving Arjun and Gopi to groan softly in their agonizing Murga stance, their thigh muscles trembling under the relentless strain.
Suddenly, Sharma Sir paused, noticing a lingering presence near the front of the room. "And you, Laila? Why are you still standing there?"
"Ah, Sir, actually..." Laila spoke smoothly, "I came to inform you that Principal Khanna is calling all the late-arriving students to his office right now. The temple staff members have already arrived to gather the student volunteers."
Hearing those words, Arjun and Gopi felt a sudden jolt of electricity shoot through their aching limbs. A surge of pure hope ignited inside them—this was their ultimate escape route from Sharma Sir's torture chamber.
Sharma Sir frowned, clearly annoyed by the disruption to his lesson. "What? Principal Khanna is calling them already? I thought the temple staff was supposed to arrive in the afternoon. Why are they here so early?" He sighed, shaking his head in frustration. "Alright, fine. Everyone who was late this morning, pack your things and head straight down to Khanna Sir's office."
Instantly, Arjun and Gopi bolted upright, abandoning their miserable crouching postures, and eagerly blended into the small crowd of students moving toward the door.
"Just a minute!" Sharma Sir's booming voice cut through the rustle of bags. He pointed a sharp finger at the duo. "Who said the two of you were allowed to go?"
"But sir," Gopi pleaded, trying to sound as innocent as possible, "she just said Principal Sir is calling all the late students. So we must be included too, right?"
"No, definitely not you two," Sharma Sir scoffed, crossing his arms. "I can guarantee Principal Khanna didn't mean you. You two are a special case of delinquency today. You are not going anywhere.
"Go! Go back and bend your knees again" sharma sir wasn't in the mood to hear their plea and ordered them back to take their rooster position again.
Before the teacher could completely dismiss them, Laila stepped forward, politely extending a sheet of paper. "Actually, sir, he did. Khanna Sir prepared this list of latecomers himself during the morning assembly to select the volunteers. And as you can see, Arjun and Gopi's names are right at the very top."
She offered a calm, reassuring smile. "Which means they are explicitly required to attend the meeting with the rest."
Sharma Sir stared at the list, his face falling into a mask of deep disappointment and irritation. He had wanted nothing more than to make the two troublemakers suffer through his entire period, but with the Principal's official list staring him in the face, he had no choice.
"Fine!" Sharma Sir snapped, waving his hand dismissively. "Go. Both of you, get out of my sight before I change my mind."
Arjun and Gopi practically floated out of the classroom, broad, victorious grins plastered across their faces. But just before crossing the threshold, Arjun paused. He turned back and caught Laila's eye one last time. Without a single word spoken, his eyes poured out a silent, profound thank you. In that quiet, brief moment, the sheer gratitude he felt for her protection made his secret admiration bloom into something much deeper, anchoring itself firmly in his heart.
A few minutes later, Arjun and Gopi finally arrived at the Principal's office, trailing slightly behind the others.
Catching sight of the notorious duo arriving last yet again, Principal Khanna adjusted his glasses and immediately lobbed a sarcastic comment their way. "Well, well. Look who it is again. Tell me, you two masterpieces, have you taken a sacred vow to be late to literally everything?
He pointed a finger at them with extremely judgemental look on his face. "You've managed to be late to a meeting that was specifically scheduled for latecomers!"
"Sir, actually, we were..." Arjun began, trying to explain the delay caused by Sharma Sir's punishment.
"Save it, Arjun. Keep your new excuses to yourself," Khanna Sir barked, cutting him off with a stern wave of his hand.
As Principal Khanna was about to start the meeting, something caught his attention. His eyes drifted over Arjun and his classmates, and a look of confused suspicion crossed his face.
"I don't recall calling Class 7th here," Khanna Sir said, frowning. "This meeting was scheduled specifically for the 8th and 9th standards. Your briefing isn't until the second period during sports class—just fifteen minutes from now. Why are you all here?"
"Sir, actually Laila came to our class and told Sharma Sir that our meeting was being held right now too," one of Arjun's classmates clarified quickly.
Principal Khanna looked genuinely puzzled. "Hmm... why would she do that? She has never made mistake like this before." He shrugged it off a second later. "Well, whatever. There were barely any 8th graders to begin with, so this saves me the time anyway."
Standing in the room, Arjun was the only one who understood the real reason behind Laila's mistake. it was intentional.
Turning his attention back to the gathered students, Principal Khanna dismissed the topic and officially started the briefing. The temple staff members went over the upcoming festival details, assigning specific duties and roles to each volunteer. Once all the tasks were delegated, Khanna Sir checked his watch.
Alright everyone. Hope you all understood your assigned tasks, now listen carefully," the Principal announced. "School dismisses at 1:30 PM. I want every single one of you back here in my office within fifteen minutes of the bell—no exceptions. We will depart from the school gates at exactly 1:50 PM, which gives us ten minutes to reach the temple grounds. Is that clear?"
The students nodded in unison.
"Good. You are dismissed. Head back to your classes."