Chapter 55: Fuck Off

“To hell with your goal! That was my lunch!” An incensed comment followed by a rush of air arrived simultaneously near Cabir’s face.

“Shit! Are you trying to kill me?!”

The teen barely survived the blow from the metallic bottle as his reflexes kicked in.

“Oh, sorry. I forgot I had that. Oops.” Harshil smiled apologetically as he passed the bottle to Aakash who simply took it.

Even as Cabir opened his mouth to probably spew out some witty rejoinder, Harshil’s swept his now-free hand to deliver a backhanded blow to the boy’s face.

Cabir, who had been sitting on the desk reeled and almost fell off from the desk. A desperate grab managed to save him but elicited a sharp jab to the side almost leading to the situation from seconds before.

Glancing over with a grimace as he clutched his side in pain and tightening his cheek muscles, he saw the soaked shirt and water rivulets still running down Aakash’s throat. And then the guy noticed that his hand was still tightly clenching his soaked friend’s collar.

“Oh, did I grab you too hard?”

Expressionlessly, the boy peeled Cabir’s arm off of him as he screwed his bottle’s cap back on.

“Well, genius, you did grab him and he hit his mouth with the bottle.” The black-haired girl standing near the four boys rolled her eyes at him.

“Ouch! It’s happened to me too! Somebody rammed into me back when I was drinking an energy drink after a sports practice and my bottle’s edge hit my teeth. Oof! It hurt so bad!”

“I bet not as much as getting socked in the jaw, Jeet!” Cabir stared pointedly at him before turning to glare at Harshil.

“Nope, it definitely did. I’ve been socked in the jaw before. By Harshil so I can compare-”

“Dude, take a hint! I don’t want to hear your story!” Cabir snapped before turning back to the spiky-haired boy.

“Your loss.” The tall boy grunted.

“I very much doubt it.”

“I’m leaving.” Jeet huffed before going away.

As Cabir ignored him, the other three tried to stop the boy from leaving.

“Hey, Jeet. Forget Cabir, he’s an idiot. Don’t just leave like that.” Aanya pulled his sleeve while Harshil chimed in, “Yeah, ignore this robber. He robs my food and from you, your freedom to speech and expression.”

Even as Cabir made a disgusted face at those words, Aakash quietly nodded his head, while biting his lips lightly and puffing his cheeks slightly as he was still in pain.

“Huh, what? Oh, no, nothing like that. I’m going to go wash my hands. I’m going to the water cooler.”

Aakash, Harshil and Aanya were dumbstruck as Jeet scratched his head and walked away.

“See, you bunch of drama queens? Nothing to worry about. You guys just make a mountain out of a molehill!”

“Oh, like eating half of someone’s pasta, their only chocopie and then also all that’s left of the pasta?”

“Yeah. Exactly like that.”

“What the hell?!” Harshil exploded.

“I’m not making a big deal of being socked in the jaw, you know? You’re a senior now, be a little mature.” Cabir kept spewing whatever he wanted to with a self-righteous air.

“Oh, please. You’re clenching and unclenching your fists. You only do that when you can’t decide whether you want to hit somebody or not.” Harshil retorted.

“I still haven’t hit anybody. See? Maturity.”

“How…about…ow!”

“How about ow?” Cabir looked at Aakash with feigned confusion while the teen glared at him.

“I mean…what about…tssss…agh…spilling water and almost knocking…tsss…my teeth out? Mature enough?”

“C’mon man, that was an accident!”

“One that wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t taken Harshil’s lunch!” Aakash’s logical reply would have held more weight if he had immediately not covered his face as tightly grasping his cheeks as if to hold the pain in.

“What happened?” Aanya leaned over in concern. “Hit the tooth too hard?”

Shaking his head, Aakash mumbled, “Light cut…maybe. Hit the gum too. Taste…blood.”

“Well, a mighty good job, Cabir.” Aanya snorted at the boy who had got down from the desk by now.

“Oh, c’mon. It happens from time to time. It ain’t a big deal!” the lad waved it off.

Harshil on the other hand scoffed, “Hurts like hell every time though.”

“You got…that right, bro.” Aakash still kept puffing and reverting his face to the normal size as he gave Cabir the stink-eye.

“Don’t worry about it. If it hurts that much-”

“I’ll do the same to you. As compensation. Tit-for-tat.” Aakash interrupted and finished for him.

“Yes, you can. Wait…what? No. No way! Why would I voluntarily do that?!” Cabir had a blank expression on his face. “Na-da! Not happening! Fuck off, man!”

Now Aakash had a blank expression on his face.

“What’s that?”