THE WISH OF HER

Author's POV: The story begins when Manisha was in 9th grade, and it was the month of February. This was the month when she realized her strong feelings for Mr. Ajay Kumar. Let's enjoy the story now! Manisha's POV: I was sitting in my classroom, waiting for my two best friends, Hina and Sahana, to arrive soon because I wanted to share the serials I had watched yesterday. There was so much noise in the class when suddenly, I heard someone calling my name"Manisha"in a lovable tone. I turned back and looked at him. It was none other than Mr. Ajay! His eyes were captivating, and his hairstyle was neatly combed, just the way his mother always did it. He was lean and stood two feet taller than me. He came in front of me and said, "I wanted to tell you something important!" He was smiling at me and blushing hard. I didn’t know what to do,my heart was racing, and my inner voice kept telling me, Control yourself, Manisha! FOCUS! I replied nervously, "Yeah… yeah… t-tell me, Mr. Ajay." He was about to speak when suddenly, someone beside me called my name. I turned and saw my mother standing there. I was confused,how did she get here? Then she shouted again, "Mannuu!" That’s when I realized—I was dreaming. I woke up and looked at my mom with a disappointed face. She asked, "What happened?" But what could I tell her about my dream? I sighed and replied, "Nothing." Since I had woken up super late, there was no time for talking. I quickly brushed my teeth, took a bath, and let my mom comb my hair. After that, I packed my school bag and ate my breakfast. The auto arrived sharp at 8:15 AM to pick me up. I ran to it, and after picking up a few other students, we reached school. As always, I arrived early because my auto uncle was very punctual. My friends, on the other hand, always arrived late—around 8:30 or 8:45. When I entered my classroom, I saw some lovebirds chatting at the last bench. I hated seeing them first thing in the morning, but what could I do? This was my class.I had to witness this scene every day. A little while later, a group of boys entered and started making so much noise, which I hated the most. But I controlled my anger. I was still thinking about the dream I had in the morning and found myself smiling and blushing like an i***t. Suddenly, someone bumped into me, and I instinctively closed my eyes. I was about to shout when I saw that it was Mr. Ajay sitting beside me. He was the one who had bumped into me! I froze on the spot. I looked into his eyes, and he looked into mine. Suddenly, all the classroom noises faded into silence. Then I heard his voice "I’m really sorry, Manisha…" His tone sounded as if he had made a terrible mistake. I didn’t know what was happening.I was just sitting there like a statue. He snapped his fingers in front of me, bringing me back to my senses. I stammered, "It’s… it’s okay, Mr. Kumar." He chuckled and walked out of the classroom with his friends. After that, I went to the school ground for the assembly. Everyone was shouting like crazy until our PT sir made them quiet. The prayer began. As I closed my eyes, someone placed a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and saw my two idiots Hina and Sahana smiling at me. I didn’t say anything because the prayer was still going on. Since my school is a Christian school, we had a Bible reading, followed by news reading, a thought for the day, a prayer song, and, finally, a speech from our principal. By the time the assembly was over, everyone was already drained of energy. We walked back to our classes in a straight line, and my two friends got an earful from the PT teacher for coming late. I went back to my bench, and soon, my friends joined me. The first period started,it was Moral Science. As usual, everyone struggled to stay awake during this class. After two periods, the bell rang at 10:30 AM,it was break time. I finally got the chance to tell my friends about the series I had watched the night before, and they shared their fun stories too. After the break, I went to the restroom. When I returned, I saw Hina shouting at Subhman. I walked up to her and asked, "What happened?" She fumed, "Look at this boy, Mannuu! He’s always playing cricket inside the classroom, and today, he hit my tiffin box with his plastic ball just as I was about to eat. Now my food is all over the floor!" She was glaring at him angrily. She hated him so much,I didn’t even know what crime he had committed in the past to deserve this hatred. This wasn’t the first time they were fighting. In fact, they always found reasons to argue. But Subhman never apologized. Instead, he usually took revenge by doing something creepy. However, this time, he actually looked guilty. Subhman approached her and, with a regretful expression, said, "Hina, look, take my tiffin box and eat my lunch. I’m sorry for wasting your food." Hearing his words, Hina finally forgave him. Three more periods passed. After the lunch break, our Social Studies teacher entered the class. That’s when I suddenly remembered.she had told us to study a five-mark question! Panic set in. I turned to my two friends, and they looked just as horrified. I laughed internally at their expressions. She didn’t give us any time to prepare. She always selected one boy and one girl randomly to answer in front of the class. I wondered which boy would be paired with me today… and then she called my name. And then "Ajay Kumar." I was shocked. There was no way to escape now. We both stood near the classroom window. Ajay turned to me and asked, "Who will answer first?" I nervously said, "You answer first, Ajay." He fluently recited the five-mark answer, and I completely lost myself staring at him. After he finished, he turned to me and said, "Now, tell me the answer, Manisha." I had no clue what the answer was. Not even a single word. I just stood there like a statue. He snapped his fingers in front of me, raised his eyebrows, and said, "Tell me the answer, Manisha." I was afraid. My mind raced for a solution. My inner voice screamed, This is your chance to impress him! Say something ,anything you know! But my heart was pounding, and I felt butterflies in my stomach. He was standing right in front of me, looking into my eyes, expecting an answer.