NOVEL WEB Chapter 4: Triangle of Rebellion
[Self-note: (///) 3 slashes means a scene change]
"...I came to this city just a few months ago… and I'm from…"
Rakvill".
Everyone gazed at Abhi with a stunned look, which was continued by a period of absolute silence, making the atmosphere feel almost deafening. There was no sound inside a room full of dozens of people. Even so, one could not even hear the ticks of a clock, because it seemed as if time itself had frozen over….
Ms. Oxlong expresses a subtle smirk while she is looking down at her table, and suddenly she looks ahead and speaks up and breaks the eerie silence.
"Okie Dokie, so we are finally finished with the introductions, so let's start with our history lecture, for today I and all other subject teachers will just give you the schematics of their respective subject's curriculum".
The class got to writing down the teacher's instructions, but all of them were still subtly observing Abhi like vultures eyeing their prey. The reveal of him being from the one place anyone was forbidden from entering or leaving was unforgettable. The class went through the day but the gossip about Abhi didn't stop. Near the end of the fifth hour-long
period, the gossip had calmed down but wasn't dormant.
Ding! Tring! Tring!
A 1-hour break starts as the 5th period comes to an end. Students were told to leave in an orderly cue rather than rush outside of the class. All students followed this rule, well except Veer, Kevin, and Dep. The same kids who made the 'triangle of disturbed faces' rushed outside as soon as the recess bell rang. Unlike them, Abhi decided to follow the protocol and leave the class In an orderly manner.
While walking towards the exit, Abhi suddenly gets pushed and crashes against the blackboard and falls down hard. It looked like a fat kid pushed Abhi.
"Oh hey, didn't see you there." Said the fat kid with a subtle grin on his face.
"It's alright." Said Abhi as he moved forward his hand, so he could be assisted in getting up.
"Hmph." Instead of helping Abhi stand up, the fat kid just snorted a condescending laugh and went out the exit ignoring Abhi and leaving his hand hanging in the air.
"Welp, it is what it is." Said Abhi to himself while getting up on his own.
Abhi reached the hallway, and for a minute he just stood there, sometimes even losing his balance and shaking heavily; suddenly his eyes sparked with a sense of purpose. He then turned left, walked past a few crossways, turned left again, and then finally turned right.
"I guess the washrooms are easy to find".
After Abhi was done with his business in the washroom. He found the school's kitchen and lunchroom as easily as he found the washroom…. Almost too easily. Kolar was a Giant establishment; sometimes even the people working there were lost in the maze of its corridors, but that didn't seem to be a problem for Abhi.
Kolar served a free "Mid-Day Meal" to all of its subjects.
The students didn't have to bring their own food, but as Kolar was a school filled with privileged rich kids, most of them brought their own food. The free food was great, Kolar kids were tripping. Abhi collected the community plates and the Mid-day meal from the kitchen and walked into the lunchroom. As he was walking, other students placed their bags on empty chairs or shifted their chairs away if Abhi came near their table in an attempt to disprove his sitting with them. The rumours had spread, and Abhi was now not only infamous in his class but also in the entire school for being from Rakvill. Abhi didn't seem to notice this and kept walking. He was walking even though his legs were wobbly and he was moving in a way that lacked any resemblance of direction or balance and yet still his eyes displayed a sense of purpose almost as if he knew where he was going.
///
"Can you believe what just happened!?"
"Holy crap I was so scared, I still can't believe it."
"I know right, I almost thought he was onto us for real." Said Veer, Dep, and Kevin respectively.
They were sitting under a large old tree which had an elevated stone plateau, like a dias covering its roots. The plateau acted as a bench for them to eat lunch at. This place was in an unpopular spot on the outskirts of the HS Kolar campus. The three of them had taken this spot as their secret meeting place.
"When out of nowhere the President said that. I almost shat my pants." Said Veer in a frantic yet relieved tone.
"Yeah, and to top it all the camera was zoomed to his eyes…. It felt like he was looking into my soul, I'm feeling chills just thinking about it." Said Dep.
"I wasn't scared or anything but I was surprised too yeah," said Kevin, in a pretty… unconvincing tone.
"Ha-ha, sure buddy," replied Dep while laughing at his unconvincing claim.
"Anyways, I don't think he was talking about us." Veer intervened.
"Ha-ha, if he really knew about us researching the 'Incident 99' of Rakvill we would've been in Jail by now." Replied Kevin.
"Yeah, but forget that and get serious. Dep, did you transcribe everything the president was saying?" Said Kevin.
"Sure did, as soon as the President was done greeting us, I immediately got to work." Replied Dep while she pulled out a sheet of paper from her school bag with some… scribbles. No writing, some writing on it...
"Great work. Let's analyze what that bozo had to say." Said Kevin.
"Ok but let's keep it down, someone might hear us," Dep told Kevin.
"Now, why in God's Green Earth would the goddamn president of the country tell such a critical piece of information to a bunch of students.
.....
Also, your handwriting sucks ass Dep." Said Veer while looking at the transcription paper.