Chapter 1

"look at this ragged piece of shit" Arthur pointed out when he entered into class, making the whole class break into laugher. 

He no more felt ashamed of their comments as it became a casual thing for them and now he was used to this everyday humiliation. 

He wearing a expressionless mask, stepped towards his chair and was about to place his bag on table when another filthy comment crossed his eye. 

"You rotten mouse" it read. 

Ignoring the sentence, he placed his bag on table and sat down on his chair. Leaning his head against the table, he turned his head towards the window.

There were still 15 minutes more before the teacher had to arrive. 

It was 07:45 am and the sun shone it's rays in the fresh morning of summer. His eyes although couldn't look straight at anything due to the sharp light which made his vision blur. But a sudden appearance of someone particular made his eyes sharp to focus on it. His head got up and now it rested against it's palm as he focused on the intruder of his peaceful sight. 

The girl had average sized long black hair, which scattered around her shoulders and little back. Her face was not visible as she faced him with her back. She gradually collected her hair into her hands, making sure every strand gets tied into that pony tail. And then her bare neck becomes visible as she turns around a little, exposing her half face. 

The skin of her neck looking warm as some droplets of sweat rested on it. She ties her hair with a scrunchie which was before on her wrist. Her long lashes highlighted as the sun rays crossed them making her hazel eyes look more seductive. 

Her perfect slim body reflected through her half sleeved uniform and knee length skirt. 

All the while she didn't realized that someone studied her like a subject of interest. 

Anthony's eyes were fixated on that magical girl until she picked up her badminton racket and disappeared inside the corridor along with her friends. 

A pencil came flying through the air and fell down not before colliding with his head and hurting the spot. 

"What the fuck?" He hissed loudly and looked in the direction to figure out who was it but to his bad luck, the teacher already stood in the doorway and witnessed his informal words. 

Arthur smirked for getting him into a huge trouble after his stunt. Anthony was now sure that his day is going to be a very productive day with all the punishments and extra penalties. 

And as he imagined the teacher made him stand outside the class with his hands up in air for the whole 50 minutes. The teacher made sure that he don't take his hands down as he kept an eye through the transparent window. 

Although it was hard for Anthony to suffer the punishment but it eased with the thoughts of that girl. The sight he encountered just a while ago made the butterflies to dance in his stomach. He couldn't help but praise and admire her beauty in his imagination. She was perfect in every way to him. 

"She looked so unreal" subconsciously the words escaped his mouth at the very wrong time. 

The class was over and teacher got out of the class to exchange some words with him. But the words which escaped his lips didn't fainted before colliding with the teacher's eardrums. 

"Who is unreal?" He asked back making Anthony get out of his imagination. He blinked his eyes several times out of fear as he forgot about everything which was in his mind a while ago. 

"I'm sorry sir, I was just thinking about something else and mentally absent" he apologized anxiously, to avoid any further punishments. 

"Make sure to be mentally present next time or I will have to take care of it" the teacher scolded him and went away. 

Anthony frowned at the unnecessary blame he had to suffer and then listen to his bragging. 

With a scowl he entered back into the class. And next thing he knew was paper balls came at his way. All the students threw those paper balls and shouted "mouse" to him to which he didn't pay any attention and silently sat on his chair, leaning his head down and taking a nap. 

He rubbed his eyes when the break bell rang. All the students rushed out of the classroom as the teacher ended the period. As he looked at the board, he realized that it was a physics class he just missed. 

Anthony Carter was now in last year of his high school. And studies had never been his centre of attention because he couldn't understand a word they taught him. And he always wondered where did people even need these studies in their life? These things don't help people to make money and don't give bread to eat. He got admission in the best school due to his luck. The school had a system in which they had to give admission to five poor students despite their grades to make sure equality and rights of poor people. But the environment inside was beyond that. The poor were treated like beggars and no one liked to be friends with them. 

Poor remains poor and rich remains rich. That's what was his philosophy and he believed it blindly. 

He got up from his chair and went into the cafeteria to have his lunch. At least they had a better meal than the food he had to eat at home. 

The female waiter filled his tray of food to which he was not satisfied because he didn't ate for the whole previous day. He wanted more food to quench his hunger. Due to his fight with his siblings, his mother didn't gave him food for the whole day. It was not like he couldn't protest but he choose to stay out of home for the whole day and only returned at night when everyone was slept. 

He sat in a corner beside the window where no one paid attention to him. 

He started munching on his sandwich as his eyes wandered to the sight outside the window. He was disturbed again when a melancholy voice reached his ears. 

"Why are you upset Veronica? It was just a match" the other girl beside her spoke. 

"But it was very important for me, you know I really wanted to win even in casual matches" she replied with a pout. 

Anthony's eyes travelled to the owner of voice and for a moment his heart skipped a beat as the food got stuck in his throat and he started to cough uncontrollably. 

The same girl he was admiring since the morning sat right next to his table along with her friends. He can now look at her closely, of which he took full advantage. He realized that the girl was actually very pretty just as his imagination. 

He listened to their conversation with great interest, without making them suspicious. He caught few glances of her time to time to ease the irritation in his heart. Listening to their conversation, he got to know the name of girl as "Veronica" to which he was very glad. 

The girls stood up to leave the cafe as the break ended. 

As the bell rang and students started to leave, he got out of his trance. He looked down at his tray and got disappointed to know that he didn't even finished his meal as he was too busy to gawk at her. And when his stomach growled, it actually triggered his anger. 

But having no choice, he stuffed the food quickly into his mouth and he was the last one to leave the cafe. 

The rest day went in a haze as he missed the remaining classes also by sleeping. The teacher already warned him for his grades, but it was not like he paid any attention to them. 

He returned back home only to find her parents quarreling again. He stepped back the moment he heard their loud voices coming from the closed door. 

"Fuck! Now I'll have to spend my day somewhere else" he hung his head low and started walking towards the nearest park where children used to play after their school. 

He threw his bag on the bench and lie down on it, using the bag as pillow. Thankfully the bench was placed under a tree, where no sunlight or scorching heat could disturb his sleep. 

He didn't know how much time passed but he was disturbed when a ball hit his head. 

"Who was it?" He shouted back as he tried to figure out responsible one among the children playing. 

A little girl stepped forward and meekly apologized to him. Seeing the little girl, his heart softened a little and he was unable to lash out at her. 

"It's not your fault it's just my unlucky everyday and misfortune" he replied and give the ball back to her. 

"What do you mean?" She asked back. 

"Nothing, go and play" he smiled to her and she smiled back.