The classroom was already filling when Anaya walked in.
The first bench was occupied.
Navya was already there.
A few seats away, Alisha sat with two other students, a notebook open in front of her.
The second bench was nearly full as well.
Rishu was leaning over a page, discussing something with the student beside her.
Anaya's eyes moved toward the third row.
Ritu was there.
Naina beside her.
The seat on the other side remained empty.
Her seat.
Anaya walked over and dropped her bag beside the desk.
The chair scraped lightly against the floor as she sat down.
She pulled out her Mathematics notebook.
Then glanced sideways.
Toward Ritu.
At the same moment, Naina looked up.
For a second, their eyes met.
Naina lowered her gaze first and returned to her notebook.
A moment later, Anaya did the same.
The page opened.
The previous day's homework waited where she had left it.
The classroom remained busy.
Pages turned.
A chair shifted somewhere near the window.
Rishu was still discussing something from the previous homework.
Navya had already opened her notebook.
A few students from the boys side were comparing answers.
The classroom door opened.
Several notebooks immediately appeared on desks.
A conversation near the back stopped midway.
One chair scraped lightly against the floor.
Aarav walked in.
A notebook rested beneath one arm.
A piece of chalk in the other hand.
He placed the notebook on the table.
Then looked across the classroom.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Aarav picked up the chalk.
Turned toward the board.
"Any questions?"
Rishu stood up.
"Sir, in Question 7, why did we take only one value of theta?"
Aarav turned toward the board.
\sin\theta+\cos\theta=\square2
A few steps later:
\theta=45^\circ
Rishu sat down.
Anaya flipped through her notebook.
Question 7.
A small tick sat beside the answer.
A faint smile appeared.
The page turned.
A boy stood up.
"Sir, in fog(x), why are we putting g(x) inside f(x)?"
Aarav wrote:
fog(x)=f(x+1)
A few more lines followed.
The boy sat down.
Anaya looked at the board.
Then at her notebook.
The question wasn't there.
She copied the last line near the margin.
A slight crease appeared between her eyebrows.
Navya stood up.
"Sir, here... why did we take the positive value?"
A short explanation followed.
Navya nodded and sat down.
Anaya checked the same question.
The answer matched.
A small breath escaped.
The page turned.
Another student stood.
A Relations question.
Then a Functions question.
Then a shortcut method from the boys' side.
More formulas appeared.
More corrections followed.
Anaya stopped turning pages.
The questions on the board no longer matched the doubts in her notebook.
New methods.
New conditions.
New shortcuts.
She copied them quietly.
A small frown settled on her face.
Rishu asked something again.
A few lines later the answer appeared.
Navya added another note beneath her solution.
Several students were already correcting old work.
Anaya looked down.
The unfinished question remained near the bottom of the page.
Anaya looked at it.
Then at the board.
Then back at the notebook.
A few seconds passed.
Slowly, she stood up.
"Sir..."
Her voice was quieter than before.
A few students looked up.
Anaya glanced at her notebook once.
Then asked the question.
The last words faded into the silence.
For a moment, her eyes remained on Aarav.
The chalk continued moving.
Another line appeared beneath the previous solution.
Then another.
The answer to the earlier question continued across the board.
Anaya remained standing.
A second passed.
Then another.
The chalk moved again.
The previous solution continued.
A faint frown appeared.
Her fingers curled around the edge of the notebook.
The grip tightened.
Another line appeared on the board.
Then another.
Anaya's eyes remained fixed ahead for a moment longer.
Then she looked away first.
The frown deepened slightly.
Her jaw tightened.
A muscle flickered near her cheek.
She lowered her gaze.
Then sat down quietly.
The notebook remained open.
The unfinished question was still there.
Her hand closed into a fist beneath the desk.
For a few seconds, it stayed that way.
Then her fingers slowly loosened.
She didn't turn the page.
She didn't write anything.
Her eyes stayed on the same question.
A voice came quietly from the boys' side.
"Is she okay?"
Another voice answered,
"I don't know."
Anaya's pen paused.
Only for a moment.
Her eyes remained on the page.
Then she straightened slightly.
The faint frown faded.
Her grip around the pen loosened.
A moment later, she continued writing.
Aarav placed the chalk down.
"Open your Chemistry notebook."
Pages turned across the classroom.
Mathematics notebooks disappeared beneath desks.
Fresh notebooks appeared.
Anaya looked down at the unfinished question one last time.
The answer still wasn't there.
She closed the notebook.
A long breath escaped.
Then she pulled out her Chemistry notebook.
Aarav picked up the chalk.
Chapter 1 — Some Basic Concepts of Chemistry
appeared at the top of the board.
A faint voice came from somewhere behind her.
"Is she okay?"
Another voice answered quietly.
"I don't know."
Anaya's pen paused.
Only for a moment.
Her eyes remained on the page.
Then she straightened slightly.
The expression on her face settled.
Her grip around the pen loosened.
A second later, she lowered her head and started writing.
"Chemistry is the branch of science that deals with the composition, structure and properties of matter."
The first definition appeared beneath the heading.
Pens immediately began moving.
Navya copied the line.
Rishu underlined the heading.
Alisha added a note beside the definition.
Aarav wrote again.
Matter occupies space and has mass.
Then another point.
Then an example.
A student near the window raised his hand.
"Sir, is air matter?"
"Yes."
A short explanation followed.
More pens moved.
Anaya copied each line quietly.
The earlier frown was gone.
Though her face still looked slightly withdrawn.
She didn't look up much.
Just the board.
Then the notebook.
Then the board again.
Near the end of the period, Aarav placed the chalk down.
"Homework."
Several heads lifted immediately.
"Mathematics."
One exercise number appeared on the board.
Then another.
Then another.
A few students exchanged looks.
"Physics."
Numericals.
Theory questions.
More numericals.
A boy at the back stared at the board.
"Sir... all of that?"
A few laughs escaped.
"Yes."
The boy slowly dropped back into his seat.
Navya started counting the questions.
Rishu flipped to another page.
Someone near the window covered his face with both hands.
The laughter returned.
Anaya looked at the homework list.
Then at her notebook.
Then back at the board.
The list hadn't become any shorter.
The bell rang.
Chairs shifted.
Bags were lifted.
Students began leaving the classroom.
The evening was already quiet.
Mathematics notebook.
Physics notebook.
A solution book beside them.
Anaya pulled the notebook closer
Start solving her questions one by one.
Anaya wrote the last line.
f(f(x))
f(x)=2x+3
f(f(x))=2(2x+3)+3
=4x+9
She checked the answer.
It matched.
A small tick appeared beside the question.
The page turned.
g(x)=\frac{x-1}{x+1}
Find:
g(g(x))
Anaya wrote the first step.
Then the second.
A line was crossed out.
She wrote it again.
The answer didn't match.
A faint frown appeared.
The solution book opened.
Her eyes moved across the page.
Back to the notebook.
Then back to the solution.
She wrote:
g\left(\frac{x-1}{x+1}\right)
Stopped.
Looked at the next step.
Looked back at her notebook.
Another line appeared.
Then another.
This time the answer matched.
A small tick.
The page turned.
Physics.
v=u+at
u=0
a=2m/s^2
t=5s
Anaya substituted the values.
v=0+(2)(5)
v=10m/s
She checked the answer.
Wrong.
The frown returned.
The formula box was checked.
Then the values.
Then the units.
Still wrong.
The solution book opened.
A small condition.
One line.
Nothing more.
Anaya looked at it for several seconds.
Then back at the notebook.
The calculation started again.
From the beginning.
v=0+(4)(5)
v=20m/s
The answer matched.
A tick appeared.
The next question waited.
Her pen touched the paper.
"Sir..."
The pen stopped.
Her eyes remained on the notebook.
The chalk continued moving.
Another line on the board.
Then another.
No response.
Her fingers tightened around the pen.
The next Physics formula blurred for a moment.
Anaya looked down.
Wrote the first step.
Then the second.
The same scene returned.
She was still standing.
The chalk moved.
The previous answer continued.
As if she hadn't spoken.
The pen was set down.
A faint frown appeared.
"What exactly is the problem?"
Silence.
Her eyes remained on the notebook.
"Or am I imagining it?"
The room remained quiet.
She picked up the pen again.
Looked at the unfinished question.
Then the classroom returned.
The board.
The silence.
The unanswered question.
Her jaw tightened slightly.
"Then why does it keep happening?"
A few seconds passed.
"Why does it feel like you're doing it on purpose?"
The question remained unanswered.
Anaya pulled the notebook closer.
Wrote the next step.
Then another.
The homework wasn't finished yet.