001

It is the third week of June and the first week of school. Summer was not so bad. It was better than coming to school, except for the air-conditioned classrooms. I am pretty sure that is not the only reason keeping me here. The classes got re-shuffled with different students. Not that I remember any faces from my last year. Nor did anyone care about me.

That’s a lie.

I never really went out of my mind and talked with anyone. I don’t plan to. Such a drag.

I prefer to sit beside the window. In that way, you don't always have to see the boring classroom. There is a contest for that spot, every time. There are four-rows and columns, so, three seats by the window. The last one is always my spot. There is no such contest for me.

I get their reason.

If I win, I get my spot. If not, I have to sit somewhere in between, and no one wants that.

Students used to prefer the spot for several reasons. There's a playground where you can see girls from different classes playing at times. There isn't any contest this time because the view outside is no longer the same. There used to be a lot of trees beyond the ground that formed a border along with the school campus, where the municipal corporation planned to set up a new building clearing the place. The trees were cut down. But then a month ago, while the construction company was working on the foundation, they dug up a dead body. Since then, the land has become a supervised place. The construction was put to a halt, and the investigation is ongoing. Now one can imagine how much of potential this incident holds to create urban legends in a nearby middle school. The adults don't care. The students either turn away from it or cross the line and get suspended. For all that I care about, I got my spot. The first week of middle school is not so bad as of now.

The teacher entered the classroom, and the usual series of actions followed. The morning greetings, the roll call, and the daily class duty assigning. It took only four days for him to memorize all our names. That is a skill unimaginably polar to my own. Since the first period is always homeroom, the teacher gets a lot of extra time. He takes up a paper which seems like the usual notice from the administration at the beginning of the year. And the teacher started addressing it to us reading it aloud.

“Dear students, firstly, a warm and refreshing welcome to everyone stepping into your consecutive academic sessions. The administration hopes the summer vacation served as a much-needed break and also productive at the same time.”

This is the same thing they told us last year.

 "Along with the old students at our side, we also heartily welcome the new students who put their faith and joined us in this academic session. Your trust in us is precious, and the administration will treat you with utmost sincerity. The administration is always by your side, ensuring that you and your parents will take part in a most nourishing and knowledgeable year."

These people certainly know to act as if they care. Well, it's not like anyone bothers about these welcome notices, except the parents of course. And thus, ended the 'tremendous' welcome spee-

"Weekend special activity."

-ch. What? What activity? Did he say weekend?

"There seems to be a new type of activity added into the curriculum starting this academic session to increase the participation of both parent and student body, as well for the administration to observe the amount of involvement of parents with their kids when it comes to supporting them," said the teacher. This time he didn't read it aloud; instead, he read it in pieces at the same time briefing us about it.

I don't like this. Mom hardly has any free time keeping up with her work. She works even during weekends, at half the time on weekdays. Why is this interaction even necessary? I'm stuck with a bunch of kids who should be able to take care of themselves at this age.

The class started mumbling on how the weekends were getting spoiled, while the teacher went through the entire notice on his own.

"What exactly is this activity, and when does it start?" asked the kid on the first seat. Classic.

The teacher kept the notice aside after reading it thoroughly and resumed his talk.

“Ok students, listen up.”

My instincts say this will end up problematic.

“About this activity, it will be happening once in a while. So, it will involve only one weekend. Sometimes none, if there are no activities. But at least once in two months.”

Still suspicious.

"As I explained before, this will also involve your parent's participation. And there is no better day to start the weekend activity of this month than Father's Day!"

…

"To start this year's session with new events and programs that benefit the students, the weekend activity is being given high importance, as per this notice."

 

……

"So, you'll have to bring your fathers to school this weekend, and we will be having lots of fun events."

…………. Why?

The bell rang to notify the end of homeroom, and the teacher left the class informing that further details will be received by tomorrow and the respective parents will be delivered a mail prior, to free their schedules.

Why? Out of all the possibilities to conduct an event, this has to be the one?

 

002

I decided to have a little talk with the teacher before going home. I live nearby and walk back, so it shouldn't be a problem. He was sitting right there at his desk working on his computer. I went to him. It was just a short moment, but I got a glance at what he was working. Turns out that he is searching for fancy costumes for kids under the age of six. Maybe for his child? He looks rather young, though.

"Excuse me, sir", I spoke out before it starts looking like a student sneaking up on his teacher.

He turned his chair and replied, "Hey there, my dear student" in a most surprising tone.

“Do you not remember my name?” I asked with slight confusion. I know he remembers everyone very well.

“Oh, no. You seemed to be the silent one. So I was honestly surprised you came to me within the first week. Is anything wrong?”

Forget about remembering names, this guy is scary.

“Hello?”

“Sorry. I spaced out for a moment.”

"It's fine. Do you want some coffee?" he asked, as he reached out to grab the flask on the desk.

“I don’t drink coffee, but thanks. Let me get this straight. The reason I came here is regarding the weekend activity. I won’t be able to bring my father. He’s been ill for a long time now. So, I just want to inform you beforehand.”

“You sure you don’t want to try a little. Maybe you’re still young for coffee?”

Seriou-

"By the way, this is homemade."

-sly? There he goes interrupting my inner monologues again.

"Sir, I think you didn't hear me the first time," I replied with a stoic expression.

"Take a seat, boy". He pulled a chair from the next cabin. "It's sad you didn't want coffee. But that's totally fine. What's not fine is lying." He took a sip after saying this to look cool. Yup, definitely. He did that just to look cool.

Hold on! Is this guy a stalker?

"Who are you buying those fancy costumes for?" I had to ask him that. He's not the only one who can divert conversations.

“I’ll tell you that if you come this Sunday and help me set up the event.”

Ugh! This guy sure knows his priorities.

“You don’t have to bring your father. Asking for that would be rude. But why don’t you drop by, help me with a few things and see how the event goes? We both can be the judge.”

This doesn't sound fun at all. Why would he think me staying there when all the other kids bring their dads and have fun will be any good for me?

“Or you can leave after setting up the things. Staying for the event is totally up to you.” He said that as I remained paused for a moment.

"Will you tell me then, who are you buying those fancy costumes for?", I pointed my finger towards his desktop. He knew I was lying. He came up with a request instead of making it an issue. I can't refuse everything. He sure is persistent. Mom will not be home during the day, so it is just me alone. The air-conditioned classrooms are better. Besides, it is just a bunch of kids having a fun time. I'm not one of them.

“Sure” I can see him smirking for having his own way.

“I will leave then,” I said as I stood up from the chair.

“You’re a good kid. You’ve got the scholarship even though you skipped a year in between. Not many can do that.”

That came out of nowhere. I was right. A stalker, through and through. Anyway, I agreed to him already. He's just putting up a good teacher's face. I tried to give away a smiley face for his intentional words and turned back to leave the room.

“Do you have any other interests in general?”

“……Flowers. I like flowers.” I replied without turning back and left the room.

Such a stupid response. Liking flowers? Interests? From when did I have one of those? Why is he asking me all this? And telling his coffee is homemade. Who asked for it? Is he trying to be funny? Or a supposedly student-friendly character? I should've just refused to come for the event. Now I'm behaving like one of those kids back in class worrying over wrong decisions. It is not wrong, though. Yes, that is how you keep compromising over such things. No, but yes. Not in all cases. Maybe I should've just said yes to his coffee.

I was walking down the stairs during all this time. By the time I reached outside, the sky was looking extra orange today. My mind went blank after a tiring fight with itself. Somehow, the orange sky reminded me of that day.

It has not been over ten minutes since I left the staff office. But I think I'm actually looking forward to the weekend activity. I was needlessly confused. I always thought that I wouldn't let it get to me.

That's right. I should always be transforming.

Meanwhile, I almost reached home. I live by the third cross from my school. The first cross is the distant one, relatively. The second and third come very shortly. I'm a little late than usual. Still got enough time to cook before mom comes home.

Well then, I still stand by my point. The first week of middle school hasn’t been so bad as of now.

To be continued…