An Unexpected Lesson
Note: Credits to shittylifelessons for the edits.
It had been a few months since my 12th standard started. I was preparing for my JEE entrance exams, so I had been skipping college classes to attend my JEE classes. My class teacher Sarika knew about it, so she was very lenient with me. I used to get good enough marks in my exams, so she was cool with what I did otherwise. So I was surprised one day when Sarika told me to meet her after class. I told her I needed to do my chemistry practicals, so I might be late. She said it was okay; she had some work to do in her office anyway.
After finishing up with my practical class, I went to Sarika's cabin to meet her. She was working at her table, wearing a golden yellow sari with a black sleeveless blouse. She looked up at me, and suddenly her expression turned serious.
"Come in, Shreyansh, have a seat," she said in a curt tone.
Her sudden change in expression and voice made me a bit nervous. College had been a hostile place for me. The other teachers didn't approve much of me because of my low attendance. Only Sarika was cool about it. She rummaged through a pile of answer papers and brought out my mathematics unit test paper.
"I'm not happy with the marks you've scored, Shreyansh," she said.
I looked at my paper. I had scored 21 out of 40. For maths, that was a lower than average score.
"Well, mam, you see," I began to explain, "My classes haven't really begun teaching us integrals, and most of the paper was based on it, so it was a one-time thing. It won't happen again."
"That's not a good enough excuse, Shreyansh. You knew the syllabus, so you were expected to be prepared. When you had told me about your wish to focus on your entrance exams, I believe you had promised me that it won't affect your test scores here, hadn't you?"
"Yes, mam," I said sheepishly.
"You know that the other teachers do not like you skipping college to attend your classes. I had to convince them to allow you since you are a bright student. Do you know I had to endure jibes from the other teachers because of you? Sanjay Sir said that I don't know how to handle my class. That I'm spoiling you by being too lenient with you. Tell me, have I made a mistake by trusting you, Shreyansh?"
"No, mam, not at all," I felt ashamed.
Sarika had always taken my side when the other teachers had berated me. Moreover, she was the youngest among all the teachers there, so her standing up against senior teachers for my sake meant a lot to me. So I'd always had a soft corner in my heart for Sarika. I could not bear to see the look of stress and anger on her face, directed towards me. I could not meet her eyes, so I hung my head and said,
"I'm really sorry. I know it was my mistake for not being prepared and not taking the unit test seriously. I should have taken care to see that you do not get into trouble because of me. I know how much you have done for me, and I didn't do enough for you. I am truly very sorry. I promise that I would not let this happen again."
"Are you sure I can trust this promise, at least?" her soft voice made me look up at her again.
Surely enough, she looked a bit tired, but she was smiling at me again like she always did. Her smile made my heart flutter.
"Yes, I'll work hard for you, mam!" I blurted out.
I got a mini heart-attack after realizing what I'd said, and I hoped against hope that Sarika had not heard it correctly. But she let out a laugh and said, "You're sweet!"
I felt heartened. She hadn't taken my idiotic comment in a bad way. She resumed working on her papers. She wasn't saying anything, and there was a brief moment of silence. So I got up from my chair, and I asked her, like a good polite student, "So, can I leave?"
Sarika didn't say anything. I could not see her face, but it looked like she was biting the tip of her pen. She slowly looked up at me and said,
"You know Shreyansh, you have caused me a fair amount of trouble and stress."
"I know mam, and I promise I'll make it up to you."
She gave me a one-sided smile and said,
"I know, you said you'd work hard for me."
I felt a little flush through my cheeks. Suddenly Sarika seemed like a mature woman to me, and I couldn't help but feel a bit shy in her presence. I had never felt this way before with her, she had always been very frank and friendly with me. But now it felt like all of her feminine energy was being directed at me. Her very gaze brought up unrequited feelings in me. I felt frozen yet fascinated by her.
She got up from her chair, moved towards the door of her cabin, and locked it from the inside. I felt alarmed, as well as excited. What was going on in her mind?
She closed the windows and came to stand in front of me. She was about a foot shorter than me. Perhaps her short height was what contributed to her looking so young. She was married, so she must have been around 27, yet she looked like a college student. She lightly grabbed my arms and made me sit in my chair while she leaned against her table.
She was standing right in front of me, peering at me through her beautiful brown eyes. "Did you mean it when you said you would work hard for me?" she asked.
"Of course I did."
"Can you do me a little favor?"
"Anything you would ask of me."
She smiled. "You know Shreyansh, the past few days have been a bit stressful for me, having to grade all of your papers. Not to mention the snide remarks by the teachers who think I don't understand my job."