Chapter 14: ‘Not-Exactly-New’ New Guy

“What happened, Dad?” Aarav asked, curious.

“Nothing happened. Your Uncle Cabir is spouting nonsense.” Aakash waved his son off. “Anyway, I heard you asking Cabir about how he and Harshil were friends before Class 3?”

Aarav nodded.

“Well, Harshil studied in DA Intl. School with Cabir till Class 1. But while Cabir stayed on in the same school, Harshil’s father had a transfer so he moved to another school. Thus, he wasn’t in DA Intl. School when I transferred there.”

“But Uncle Samrat, that is, Harshil’s father, got transferred back by the year-end. So, Harshil rejoined our school for Class 3.”

“Oh, I see.” Aarav nodded. “Then, how did you get acquainted with him, Dad? Just plain old hello-hi and friendship beginning from there?”

“Nah,” Aakash shook his head with a wry smile, “It went like this...”

*****

The spiky-haired boy approached the desk where the spectacled lad was reading. Plopping himself onto the chair in front of him, the boy asked, “Whatcha reading there?”

Aakash raised his head, peering at the boy from above the pages of the book. Then apparently deciding that he wasn’t a troublemaker, he held it up, cover in clear view of the spiky-haired boy.

“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” The boy read out haltingly.

Then he cast a curious gaze at Aakash. “Can you understand all this? It seems thick and has difficult words too.”

“Would I read it if I didn’t understand?” Aakash asked casually.

“Point.” The boy conceded. “Umm...then, what does ‘chronicles’ mean? That’s the difficult word I was referring to just now.”

Aakash cocked his head, considering whether the boy was genuinely curious or wasting his time. After a few short moments, he seemed somehow satisfied.

“It’s like a record of a series of events that occur one after another. Like umm...history!”

“Ughh! I hate history! So many dates!”

Aakash laughed softly. “This book is a story. That’s just a title. Dates aren’t that important to remember here. Plus, we haven’t studied history. How do you-”

“My brother is going for a degree in history. I’ve seen his books. So much to read and so so soooooo many dates!” The boy spread his arms to give an idea of how many.

“Well, the events in those times would be fun to read about though, I think. I mean, kings and fights and all!” Aakash mused. “What do you think, New Guy?”

“Well, if there isn’t too much to read, then it’d be...fine, I guess. Anyway, the name’s Harshil, not “New Guy.” I know your name though- Aakash: Mr. Popular.”

“Huh? Me? Popular?” Aakash asked, genuinely surprised.

“Didn’t you beat up Cabir on your first day of school last year? Someone told me today! That’s epic, dude! I’ve never seen anyone best Cabir!”

“Uh...how do you know-”

“I used to study here only. My dad got transferred by his company last year. So, we moved. He got transferred back this year, and here I am! So, you see, I’m more of a ‘Not-exactly-new’ New Guy.”

Even as Aakash raised his eyebrows, Harshil seemed mortified with his lame attempt at humour.

To override the awkward silence, Aakash proffered him his hand which Harshil shook animatedly.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Back at ya.” Harshil grinned.

“Ah,” He seemed to remember something, “I also heard that you don’t like fighting much. I love brawls, though! A lot of people know me. If someone irritates you, just tell me if you aren’t interested in fighting! I’ll help you out. I mean, I enjoy fighting and we’re friends, right?”

“Uh...okay.” Aakash scratched his head. This pleasant-looking kid was definitely weird, he decided.

“Well, gotta go. The teacher will be here soon. See you later. Bye.”

“Yeah, see you later. Bye.” Aakash resumed reading his novel.

*****

“I’ll send someone to call you. We’ll fight in that garden at the back during lunchtime. Sutapa Ma’am almost caught us in the morning but that idiot has messed with me for the last time! We settled for a group fight during lunchtime. I win, he stops interfering in my business and if I lose...well, that wouldn’t happen if it was an individual fight.”

“Man, chill! You can just beat him up!” Harshil laughed.

“But it’s a group fight and he has more people! You know how many people are pissed at me. Nobody in our class will help me. Except you and your two buddies. So, for a group fight, he’ll probably have a lot of people.”

“And most of your friends from the other classes aren’t here today. Sad, Cabir.” Harshil grinned. “Well, Jeet and Jatin are absent too. But don’t worry; I can take care of 2-3 people myself. You know me.”

“Thanks, man!” Cabir clapped him on the back as they left the water-cooler.

*****

It was the lunch break. Cabir had rushed out to call the rest of his friends. Harshil didn’t see him leave so, now all he could do was wait until he was called.

“Hey,” A voice called him.

“Huh?” He saw Aakash standing beside his desk.

“You said that you’d fight-”

“Oh, so you’re the messenger? I thought he said nobody would help him in this class...and you don’t get along well, right?”

“Huh? What?”

“Well, doesn’t matter. Let’s go, fight!” He draped an arm around Aakash’s shoulders.

“The back garden, right?”

“How do you know that?! And what are you talk-”

“He told me. And no need to be embarrassed!”

“Embarrassed about what?!” Aakash was stupefied as an excited Harshil dragged him towards the garden.