Page 6 of A King's Oath

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The third time Samarth noticed her was on the first day of the first term of standard ninth. He walked in late, and their new class teacher — Ms. Shanaya, was already there, directing everybody to their designated seats. Samarth’s heart sank. Avantika was already assigned a place next to Tulika.

“Samarth, roll no. 36,” Ms. Shanaya called out. “Right there, in the corner seat.” His eyes fell on the window seat he had always coveted. It was again his. This classroom even had a sliver of the stables-view. But Avantika was on the other side of the class.

He glanced at her. She glanced at him.

He felt glum. She waved.

He waved back, unable to look away from her. Her hair was again up in a ponytail, pieces of them falling down the sides of her face. Her eyes were shiny and big, her mouth the colour of the insides of cherries… he glanced away.What was he looking at?!

Samarth shook his head, hitched his bag higher on his shoulder, and walked into Class 9-A.

2. Apples & Peanut Butter

“Miss me?”

Samarth’s head whirled over his shoulder, his heart thudding at the sound of those words. The owner of that voice came into his sight and his heart thudded faster. Because there stood Avantika, nothing out of the ordinary. White shirt, grey plaid skirt, hair up in a ponytail with wisps floating down the sides of her face like they had this morning. Only, her shirt was halfway untucked now and face a little long after the long day of periods.

The teachers had thrown them into the deep end with the beginning of 9th standard, pouncing the dreaded ‘10th board exams’ ghost at them from the get-go. And he had been too far away from her to chat her up and see where her head was at.

Samarth abandoned his ministrations with his knee guard and stood to his full height. He was in a state of half-readiness — polo shirt tucked into his breeches but his feet still in his school shoes, waiting for his riding boots. One knee guard was on, another swinging from his hands, his helmet resting on the side of his chair in the tack room behind the stables. He had preferred to get ready here in the open today, taking in the mild afternoon of a Doon June.

And now here she was, making him wonder why he was suddenly squirming and giving himself a mental once-over to check if he looked ok.

“Hello? I am talking to you!” She pushed one hand on the back of his chair and waved another in front of his face. Samarth snapped back.

“Miss who? My surroundings are peaceful once again now,” he tried to laugh it off. “It’s me and my horses again after two years.”

He turned and began to lower himself back on his chair to put on the other knee guard when she pulled the chair from behind him. He knew she did that, so he just nudged behind and fell into the seat, rocking back into her, his head thudding into her stomach.

“You are so mean!” Ava shook the back of his head and rounded to his front, her beautiful face hiding the sun from him. Samarth blinked back the horror. Had he just called her facebeautiful?

“You know what I did this summer though?” She began, as usual, easily moving over minor insults. That was Ava, quick to rile up and quicker to let go. And if she had a story to tell, she’d forget even the worst of his indiscretions, of which there were many. They had spent practically every school day of the last two years together, side by side, studying together and chatting together. Jai, her backbencher community and some of her other girlfriends had been there from time to time, chilling with them. But he couldn’t remember any of those conversations now.

All he remembered was the time spent with Ava.

“I hate this new seating arrangement,” he muttered, bringing her summer story to an abrupt halt.

Her excited, storytelling face softened. She did that often. Or she didn’t know she did that, but her excitement could just as easily transform into the softest expression. It wasn’t a smile. He couldn’t name it yet. But she looked like that only with him. Or so he liked to believe. He hadn’t seen much of her outside of the classroom to claim that as the ultimate truth.

“Me too,” she slapped her hands on his shoulders and shook them. Hard. Samarth chuckled, feeling some weight lift off — weight he didn’t know he had been carrying since he had walked into class this morning and found her waving at him from beside Tulika.

“Can you come to our place for all other periods except Ms. Shanaya’s? Like we used to do in 7th?”

Her lips twisted — “Ms. Shanaya has gone and made a seating chart.”

“What?! We are not in junior kg!”

She shrugged. “Apparently, the backbenchers are getting ‘cosier.’”

“This Advay is the root of all problems.”

“Forget it,” she slapped his shoulders again and took her hands off just as quickly. He missed them. “There are breaks, we can talk then. Or we will meet here like this…”

“You? And come near horses?” He snorted, finishing his other knee pad, glancing around at his teammates getting ready for a practise session. Their coach hadn’t entered the pen yet or this lazy laid-back vibe wouldn’t have been vibing. And Ava wouldn’t have been allowed to prance around his shoulders.

“I am leaving before the horses come. I just came to tell you what I did this summer. What did you do…”

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