Read Anyone Else But You... for Free Online

she announced.
    Kalsi took in a deep breath of air, “Ask them in.” She slightly adjusted her sari and then placing her hands on the table, propped up her heavy head with an evident look of reluctance.
    Madhuri looked on apprehensively as the seats went on filling in one by one.
     
    *
    Heavy footsteps in the form of His Highness Jai Chauhan made its way across the 1 st floor corridors of Delhi High School . A constant growling noise under his breath and a chimp’s spine accompanied him as he walked past the innumerable students filling the corridors during the change of a period. The occasional - ‘Sup bitch?’ was followed by a hand shake or a back slap when he met a familiar face. In case it was a girl, the general mode of interaction would be to call out the name of a girl in different tones and voices. Otherwise, the royalty didn’t really bother to look around for attention; he had got enough of it from the moment he was born.  It was a matter of concern that so many, in fact most students looked upon Jai as a role model. And Jai in his jainess never cared a fuck about them. Chutiya hai sab , he would say and walk ahead in his arrogant strut.
     
    Jai bumped into his good friend Hardik , on his way to class, “Fuck man! Where’re you going?”
    “Nowhere man, going to Madhuri’s office. I got late today,” Hardik made a puppy dog face.
    Jai started laughing on hearing this, he even backslapped Hardik, “You will never change will you dog? Tell me once in four years, when you’ve come on time?”
    Unkempt hair, spectacles hanging on his nose and unshaved, Hardik searched for an answer but couldn’t really come up with one convincing enough.
    The year before, the school began at 7.30, Hardik woke up at 7.45. Soon, due to excessive heat during summers, the timings changed to 6.45 and Hardik woke up at 7.15. Then came winters, the school got delayed by an hour and a half to around 9. Even then, Hardik reached school a good twenty minutes late. In the last four years or so, it’s been seldom that someone’s not seen Hardik running into school late on time with disheveled hair and a constipated look on his face. Meena Singhal had got so tired of seeing Hardik’s face every day that she soon shifted the responsibility of late comers to Veenu and Veenu after a month of dealing Hardik asked Madhuri to take over. By far this would be Hardik’s sixth visit to Madhuri this month, if he managed to reach her office on time in the first place.
    “Dude, you think Madhuri will scold me?” Hardik asked.
    “Do you think that’s even worth an ask? Of course she will, not unless she gets replaced,” Jai replied.
    “Replaced? Why man? Now why will she be replaced?”
    Jai shook his head, “Look at this, this way. Every time you’ve been coming late continuously for a fortnight, at the end of it the person looking after the late-comers has either been shifted from duty or has voluntarily asked to be replaced. And I bet Madhuri has had enough of you.” He chuckled.
    “Not sure dude. Tu chalega? ” Hardik asked unsure. “Man, you’ll be the Head Boy; I’m sure she’ll take your side and not take my case. Chal na? ”
    Jai contemplated the outcome of his actions. After deliberating, he realized that it would only help him earn his reputation of being a real students’ representative in front of Madhuri and decided to tag along with Hardik.
    As they made their way across towards Madhuri’s office on the ground floor, they could see teachers coming out of the Conference room in flocks. “Some kind of meeting must be on,” Jai said in a serious tone.
    “Yes dude?”
    “Yeah,” Jai replied in affirmative. “Let’s see if someone’s there with Madhuri or not.”
    As they went closer to Madhuri’s office they could hear her talking loudly on the phone. They went closer and peeped in through the small glass panel on her door. She was talking on the phone and nervously pacing her room.
    She kept on repeating