Third Best by K. V. Arjun Rao

Author:K. V. Arjun Rao [RAO, K. V. ARJUN]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Fiction/General & Literary
ISBN: 9789350093719
Publisher: Hachette India
Published: 2011-10-07T00:00:00+00:00

10.

Gautam couldn’t stop staring at the girl leaning against the motorcycle.

‘Wow! Check that out!’

‘Aaaand Randy’s back,’ said Faraz. The boys, crossing each other between classes, were passing the administrative block, where parents had been arriving with their children to get them admitted to Shore Mount. The senior boys had been lingering around to watch out for new girls, girls who hadn’t seen them go through the braces, pimples and general stupidity as juniors at the school.

Nirvan laughed. ‘Come on guys, we’ll be late.’

Gautam couldn’t care less. This girl was beautiful, and hot; long, straight hair, wearing dark glasses. And that skirt …! ‘Whoa! That is hot!’ said Jebo, or Ranjit Nair, a brainy Malayali whom Gautam had adopted as his personal tutor in the commerce section as Adi was no longer around. Ranjit had for many years been obsessed with Jabba the Hutt after watching Star Wars, but insisted on calling him Jebo, much to everyone’s annoyance.

They watched as a guy with bulging muscles and long hair walked out of the administrative block and straight to her and said something she clearly didn’t like. He hugged her while she stood stiffly and a minute later they got on to the bike and rode away. As Gautam ran towards class, he thought, How come the girls in The Shore don’t look like that?

Gautam walked into the accounts class and found his way to the back. Not that it had been very different earlier, but Gautam had been feeling particularly disinclined towards studies since he had returned after the break. One look around him convinced him that the others also felt the same. Adi would have, of course, been totally different, organizing his books and wistfully looking through the humungous science textbooks that those who’d opted for the science subjects seemed to be dragging around much against their will. Gautam grinned at the thought.

Nirvan had chosen humanities to stay as close to Ruma as possible, though he had chosen maths as an additional subject, and Faraz was now studying science. Gautam had seriously considered choosing the same subjects as Nirvan, but the main factor that had deterred him was the thought of studying history, again. The subject scared Gautam, but not as much as Mala Swarup, who taught the subject in the senior classes, did. She had no patience for people who wanted to waste time and Gautam had no patience for people who wouldn’t let him.

At the front of the class Anthony Alexander, Alex, was rattling on while he drew fairly complex balance sheets on the blackboard and Gautam was relieved to hear a loud ‘Psst!’ from behind him. He turned to see Kaddu and Jack looking at him. Behind them, proudly on display on the wall, were large charts analysing the state of the Indian economy.

‘What did you think of rehearsal yesterday?’

They had called Gautam to the music department to listen to their band play and give them his expert opinion. Naturally, Gautam was chuffed. And why not? He knew more about music than anyone else in school.

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