Time passed, and the bell for the mathematics class rang. After the English teacher slowly left, all students burst into excited chattering as they were eager to see the new mathematics teacher, whose beauty was rumoured to be off the charts. The girls talked in groups and joked about the boys drooling about this teacher. Only Kranthi, Rahul and Kumari were busy revising their notes.

These students were at the peak of their adolescence, and their blood was no different from a highly reactive fuel. A small spark was enough to get their blood boiling. Many students were floored when they had seen the new mathematics teacher, the previous day.

Aditya could already foresee Maahi receiving tons of love letters from the students. Especially, nowadays, the popularity of teacher and student romance is at an all-time high in the category of romance fictions. The appearance of Maahi, thus, triggering a few fantasies was entirely in the 'normal' range.

Only a few people knew that Maahi and Aditya were related. But many had done their investigations and found that Maahi was a young billionaire, who was a self-made businesswoman. She was the CEO of a giant financial corporation and had reached that position in just five years. Let alone students; even their parents would be excited if they knew that such a prominent person would be taking lessons to their children.

Maahi's status deterred most of the boys but excited some boys even more. The blooming of 'true' love between a 'princess' and a 'pauper' was another popular romance genre, after all. These boys fantasised about a love which crossed all barriers of age, the wealth and social status. The teenage mind was a beautiful thing. (Author: me being sarcastic).

Those students who missed the opportunity to see the new teacher were even more excited. Others had highly exaggerated the rumours about her appearance. At least, that was what Aditya felt. Maybe it was Aditya, who could not genuinely gauge Maahi's beauty, as he knew her since he was a child. Aditya was too familiar with her to have a new perspective on her appearance.

As the students waited with bated breath, the click-clack sounds of solid heels on the tiled floor were heard. A woman in her early twenties gracefully entered the class with poise and confidence. The room became stark silent when they saw Maahi's delicate figure and charming, oval face. Her eyes were deep, earthy brown - the colour of the earth after torrential rains.

Maahi looked at the class, and her eyes glinted as she spotted Aditya. But she did not act as if she knew him, which was what Aditya would also prefer.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Maahi Kapoor, and I will be teaching Mathematics for the eleventh and the twelfth grade. As there is a little over a month for the Pre University Exams to begin, I will be covering the last few chapters. I will also make sure that every one of you are well prepared for the coming exams, and achieve satisfactory results in my subject. I hope that you all would utilise this opportunity to improve your test results."

"As we will only know each other for two months, let us skip the student introductions and get on with the class."

Maahi reached for a chalk piece and started to write on the blackboard. Today's topic was 'Linear Programming'. Kranthi and Kumari heaved sighs of relief when they saw that Maahi did not reveal any intention of asking questions.

Aditya grinned when he saw their expressions, he was reminded of the past. Each time Maahi came, all his friends would be busy studying, while Aditya would chill and take pleasure at their misfortunes. Of course, afterwards, he would be targetted by the whole group with Kumari leading the troop, when Maahi was not present.

When Maahi was writing on the blackboard, someone whistled from the back of the class. Aditya, Kranthi and Kumari shook their heads when they heard this whistle. That fellow, Vishal, had a deathwish.

Maahi slowly turned around and asked, "who whistled?" The class remained silent as the one who did it was the class bully, Vishal. If they ratted him out, it was no different than painting a target on themselves. Even though getting into the good graces of the new teacher was something highly attractive, the risk was just not worth it. Also, ratting out classmates was usually looked down upon by everyone.

Aditya, Kranthi or Kumari knew who did it but did not bother to tell Maahi. They knew that Maahi had multiple methods at her disposable to catch the culprit. Instead, they wanted to see what way she would use.

Maahi cooly gazed at the class and started teaching, "Previously, you have learnt systems of linear equations and their applications in day to day problems. Now, we shall apply the systems of linear inequalities to solve some real-life problems like..." Maahi did not raise the question about the whistle again.

Maahi had a way of enchanting the audience. She could take even the most boring subjects, and make them attractive. Maahi always understood people and knew how to get them to do things. Capturing the attention of these immature teens was just too easy for her when she dealt with investors and billionaire clients on day to day basis.

Maahi had a serene look on her face as she explained complex terms with fascinating anecdotes and metaphors, for the students' understanding. From time to time, when some student performed well, a small smile would appear on her face, which lightened up the whole class. Many boys felt their hearts skip a beat when they saw that smile. Many students paid more attention and tried to outperform each other just to get a glimpse of that smile.

Watching Maahi draw diagrams on the board or just plain writing as she held the chalk piece with her slender fingers, was a delight in and of itself. The way her fingers and her arm moved or the graceful handwriting or the accurate diagrams, along with her charismatic voice, formed an abyss which pulled everyone into it.

Time passed too quickly for everyone, and they were baffled when Maahi stopped the class as they were only a few remaining minutes, before the lunch bell rang. Maahi gave a small smile as she dusted the chalk powder off her hands. She said, "Since there are a few minutes left, why don't I tell you all a small horror story?"

Aditya rolled his eyes when he heard Maahi's words. He wondered when she would lose her interest in horror stories. All the students excitedly nodded when they heard that the new teacher would narrate a horror story. If the students had been charmed by Maahi's appearance in the beginning, now they were bewitched by Maahi's teaching skills.

There was no comparison between Maahi and the previous teacher, Javed. The only time that Javed did anything close to amusing was when he turned out to be a terrorist and got killed by an arrow. Maahi started her narration in a calm, steady voice.

- So a man was standing on the side of the road, hitchhiking in the middle of a rainstorm on a dark and moonless night. Time passed slowly, and no cars went by. It was raining so hard that he could hardly see his hand in front of his face. The man was growing impatient as it was getting very late. He was afraid of being stranded on the road for the whole night, in this horrible weather.

Suddenly, the man saw the headlights of a car approaching over a nearby hill. The car was moving very slowly, approaching and appearing ghostlike in the rain. It slowly and silently crept toward him and stopped.

Wanting a ride real bad, the guy jumped in the car and closed the door; only then did he realise that there was nobody behind the wheel, and no sound of the engine to be heard over the rain. The man's heart shuddered when he saw this, but he was too scared to move.

Again the car moved slowly forward, and the guy was terrified, too scared to think of jumping out and running. He had already confirmed that this was a ghost car. The guy saw that the car was approaching a sharp curve. He was too scared to jump out and started to pray for his life. The man was sure that the ghost car would go off the road and into the river, and he would surely drown!

But just before the curve a shadowy figure appeared at the driver's window and a ghostly hand reached in and turned the steering wheel, guiding the car safely around the bend. Then, just as silently, the hand disappeared through the window, and the hitchhiker was alone again.

Paralysed with fear, the guy watched the hand reappear every time they reached a curve. Finally, the guy, scared to near death, gritted his teeth and jumped out of the car and ran into the town.

Wet and in shock, he went into the nearest bar and told everybody about his supernatural experience. The man's heart was beating violently, unable to calm down. A silence enveloped the room. Everybody got goosebumps when they realised the guy was telling the truth, about the strange car and the ghostly hand that guided it on its way.

Maahi paused the narration as she looked at the students who were completed engrossed in the story. She moved the few strands of hair on her face behind the ear and continued. Even Aditya wanted to hear the ending.

Maahi said, " At that moment, two men walked into the bar. They were dripping wet, and as they took off their rain gear, they looked around the room. Their eyes came to rest on the hitchhiker."

"Look!" said one of the men, "There's the idiot who jumped into our car when we were pushing it in the rain."

The whole class burst into laughter when they heard the last words. Maahi also smiled as she looked at them, "I had laughed as much when my friend had narrated this story to me. He is a nice guy who had a small mole on his left ear, similar to the student who whistled at the beginning of the class."

Almost every student swung their heads to look at the backside of the room. In the last bench, a tall boy was busy looking at his image in a geometry box with a glassy finish. Vishal was checking if he had a mole on his left ear. Unfortunately, Vishal couldn't find it and raised his head with doubt only to realise that Maahi was looking at him with a smile that was not a smile. At that instant, the boy realised that he was caught. Vishal had a bad omen when he saw the new teacher's gaze, as he gulped.

Aditya laughed when he saw Vishal's expression as he packed his books. The students also realised how they had become instruments in pointing at the culprit, in the end. Some boys looked at Maahi with dread while some looked at Maahi in the way a fan looks at his favourite celeb. The bell rang, breaking the tension in the class atmosphere.

Maahi picked up her books and walked away. Before she exited, Maahi looked at Aditya who realised that she was cautioning him to not eat at the canteen. Aditya nodded as he took the lunch box that she had given him and accompanied Kranthi and others to the cafeteria. Bhadra had asked him to come as he had some big news to share.

Anyway, Aditya had to give his wishes to Anupama on her birthday. If Aditya did not have to experience the dream world, he would have settled with a simple verbal greeting. All those years in the dreamworld of spending so much time together and sharing beautiful memories. Aditya could not ignore Anupama or things related to her anymore. He had also prepared a special gift for her.

"Adi, let's go shopping in the evening. I have to look good in Anupama's birthday party. I want to try a sheath dress. What do you say?" Kumari asked as she caught up.

"Sure," Aditya nodded as he also had to buy some party clothes.