The Accidental Love

A FORGOTTEN CHALLENGE

(This is chapter 1 of The Accidental Love. Stay tuned for more.)

As I walked towards my class today, a faint sense of anxiety settled in my chest. I wasn’t sure why or did I? As soon as I entered the class, my attention turned toward the blackboard, and I knew why I was feeling anxious. It’s the start of our new session – class 10th and every year the teachers used to write the names of the top scorers on the blackboard. Raghav, Advait, Rhea, Tanvi, and Jay. These were the names written on the blackboard. To be honest, I didn’t expect Jay’s name on the blackboard. Not that he was not good at studies, but he was also not one of the top scorers. He was one of those students who always used to crack jokes in the class, never taking anything seriously. And it was not only me, but nobody expected him to perform so well. He had got 9.8 CGPA. Everyone was only talking about him today. As I sat down, I heard Jay and his friends talking.

“How much did you score?” Said Jay. I thought he was talking to his friends, so I didn’t look back.

“So, now you are ignoring me”, he pressed. As I turned around, I realized he was asking me.

“I am sorry, I didn’t know you were asking me.”

“Okay, now you do. So, tell me, how much did you get?”

“9.2 CGPA.”

“See, I won.” Jay grinned.

“Won?” I asked, confused.

“The challenge. Don’t you remember?”. He insisted, his tone teasing.

“What Challenge?”

“How can you forget this? You had told me, let's see who gets more marks this time, and I brought it”. What? I had told him? My mind raced. Oh, wait, is he talking about the day we got our first semester marks? I remember he got more marks in Mathematics in the first semester, and now I remember saying this to him. Jay and I never used to talk much. I am very introverted. So, forget Jay, I hardly interacted with anyone in the class except for Ananya and Disha. But when it comes to exams, Jay loved teasing me, always flaunting his marks. And I remember when we got our marks in the first semester, I was so pissed that I told him, "Let's see who gets more marks." How did I forget this? No, no, no, no. This cannot be true. Now, I feel awful.

“Look, I didn’t remember this. You should have given a reminder about this. Since I didn't remember this, nobody wins”. I tried to reason.

“You are such a hypocrite.” Jay laughed, and his friend joined in.

“Everyone, settle down.” Mrs. Sharma’s voice cut through the room.

Thank God. Mrs. Sharma saved me today. Mrs. Sharma spent the whole lecture talking about the importance of class 10th and how we should focus only on studies. But I barely heard a word. I was only thinking about the conversation I had with Jay. How can I be so forgetful? And the worst part was that the conversation happened in front of his friends, and all of them couldn’t stop laughing. I have always been a good student. I have not topped till now, but I have always managed to get decent grades. I never went below an A grade. But I also never got an A+. In the early years of my school, I struggled with my studies. It was difficult for me to understand concepts, especially mathematics, and over the years, I have improved. Thanks to my tuition teacher, she taught me so well. But my performance in 9th grade was not impressive. I mean, I know 9.2 is not bad, but I had expected more. So this year, I am determined to perform well and make sure that I get above 9.5 CGPA.