9) Shock

Author's POV:

"Niyati, have you thought anything?", Mitali asked seriously.

"What about? "She asked instinctively.

The two were talking before their first lecture began.

"About Sir ... Smaran Sir", She replied with concern."

"No, yarr, I'm still confused how do he feel? I mean what would I tell her and how would he react? ", She expressed her concern in front of Mitali.

"Whatever happens will be good, you just tell him your feelings before it is too late", Mitali tries to understand her.

"What do you mean?", she asked confused.

"I mean it doesn't take time for something to go wrong so you should talk to him", Mitali said with a smile and she nodded.

"Good morning ", Suddenly Kajal came in front of them and wished them.

"Good morning ", They both turned to her and said in unison with a smile.

"Can I sit here with you?", She asked with respect.

"Yeah, sure, no need to ask for that", Niyati replied lovingly.

"Where is your partner?", Mitali asked with a strange face.

"She is on the way, will come anytime" She replied and sat down beside Niyati.

"By the way, where do you live?", Mitali asked casually.

"I stay home next to this school", As she replied, Niyati and Mitali exchanged a surprised look.

"All right", Niyati replied with a bewildered smile.

"This is the same house where Smaran sir lives on rent, so ask him something about him", Mitali whispered near her ear.

"Yes, I try", She replied in a slow voice and turned towards her.

"Okay, now tell me that anyone else from our school lives there?", Niyati asked carelessly.

"Don't know, today is my first day at this school so I don't know many people there. Charan sir asked me to talk to you yesterday so I and Gauri came to you", Kajal responded by making an innocent face.

"Oh ...",She just blurted one word.

"Was there any other sir present with Charan sir?", Mitali asked quickly.

"No, Principal Mam had called him to her office and told him about us. I had not seen any other teacher with him", She replied sweetly.

Mitali was about to ask her another question that Niyati squeezed her hand from under the bench and beckoned her not to speak or ask anything else. After that, they started their casual talk that Gauri suddenly came there.

"Hello everyone", She greeted in her egoistic voice.

"Hi", Niyati smiled back, but Mitali didn't say anything.

She was about to sit near Gauri that suddenly Mithali shouted "Noo" which frightened her.

"You can't sit here If you sit here, we will have to sit tight, we won't be able to sit comfortably", She said with her cheesy smile.

"Where should I sit then? ", She asked angrily.

"How do we know? We didn't adopt you that we had to take responsibility for you", Mitali chuckled, but Niyati listened to her.

"Did you say anything?", Gauri asked looking at Mitali in an angry tone.

Niyati spoke before Mitali could say anything, "Yes, she was saying that you can sit with the other two girls in our group, who are Ridhi and Divya. Both of them are sitting on the bench facing one bench from here", Niyati replied with a smile.

"Okay", She replied, moved towards them, and sat with them. The first lecture begins. This is the English lecture. It started and ended well. Gauri and Kajal left from thereafter the lecture over. Now, comes the science lecture. Smaran enters the classroom and starts teaching directly. He didn't greet me today.

"What happened to him? Every time he comes to class and talks to everyone for the first 5 minutes and asks about our well-being. Why didn't he do it today?",Mitali asks Niyati the same thing about which she was thinking while looking at him because of which she didn't listen to Mitali's talk. When Mitali saw him missing somewhere, she shook her by the shoulder.

"Yes", She blurted in surprise.

"Where are you lost? I'm asking you something", Mitali said being confused.

"What?", She asked being oblivious of what she said.

"I asked you that today, Smaran Sir is behaving differently. Did you feel like this?", She asked again.

"Yes, I was also thinking about this, and today he is sad too", She expressed concern to Mitali and said.

"How do you know?" Mitali asked.

"Look carefully at his face. You will also see", As soon as she said this, Mitali looked at him for few seconds and then asked her, "I don't feel that he is sad. look at his face, he is Smiling well", Mitali replied.

"No, The reality is exactly the opposite of what he wants to show us. There is something about which he is sad and for that reason today he didn't talk to any of us and started teaching directly", She explained seriously.

At the end of her talk, suddenly he asked a question related to the subject, to which she gave the correct answer. He complimented her and told her to sit in her place, only 5 minutes were left for the lecture to finish.

"Students, today your this chapter is over, whoever has any problem in this chapter then that student can ask me tomorrow because the day after tomorrow, there will be your test of this chapter", The whole class got shocked on hearing this.

"But sir. You only take the test Monday, so why this time on Saturday?", Divya quickly asked the question going on in the mind of the whole class.

"Yes sir, Divya is absolutely right", Mitali said, perhaps agreeing on Divya's talk for the first time.

"I will give an answer to this question to all of you tomorrow and if any student and has any problem in any chapter, then they can feel free to come and ask me at any time tomorrow", As soon as he said this, the bell rang and lunchtime started and he went from there while looking at Niyati with a slightly sad face. Seeing her face landed like this, she started getting nervous.

"Mitali, Something is wrong", He said in a frightened voice.

"What do you want to say?", Mitali asked being confused.

"There is something wrong. Something must have happened otherwise you think that earlier today he didn't have any interaction with us and is currently taking a test on Saturday instead of Monday and when Divya asked him the reason, he didn't even tell. There is something that he is hiding from all of us. Something has happened that he was so depressed today", Niyati was speaking in a panic that Mitali said while cutting her point in the middle, "You calm down. There must have been a problem in his house, so he should be upset. Maybe he has some work to do on Monday or he might not be able to take our lecture so he is taking the test on Saturday", Mitali said while explaining to her.

"No yarr, as far as I have come to know him, he has never mixed his personal and professional life till date. To date, I have never seen him so depressed and as far as the test is concerned, if he has some work on Monday or he is about to take leave on Monday, he could have taken the test Tuesday, but he didn't do so. Why did he keep the test on Saturday and also said that if we have any problem in another chapter, then we should ask him any time tomorrow? There is something and the matter is very big and serious. You found out somehow. Please Mitali please", She pleaded.

"Okay okay, First let's eat food. After that I try my best to find out",Mithali said.

"Sure (Pakka)?", Niyati asked with hope.

"Yes, sure, you just don't worry", Mitali promises her and they both start eating. She didn't feel like eating at all but when Mitali repeatedly asked, she ate only one of the two chapatis. As soon as the meal was over, Mitali went to fulfill her promise and drink water. She was sitting alone upset that Samar came to her.

"What happened, babe? Why do you look upset?", He asked looking at the concern visible on her face.

"No, there is nothing like that", She replied while covering up her real emotions.

"If you don't want to tell me, I won't force you", He replied smiling and she smiled back as well.

"By the way, Where is Mitali? I had some urgent work with her", He asked when he didn't see her with Niyati.

She was a little surprised to hear this for few seconds as Samar never asked her about Mitali till date but he always asked Mitali about her when she didn't see him.

"What do you need from her? You tell me, I will tell her for sure", She said with a mischievous smile.

"You too will find out soon but right now I have to talk to Mitali", He replied blushing.

"Mitali has gone to drink water. Will be coming", She replied.

"Who takes so much time to drink water?", He asked while thinking.

She couldn't tell him that she would come with her work also, so it is taking so much time. So she said, "Maybe there will be crowded today, so it must have been taking so much time".

"Okay, but When she comes, tell her to come and meet me", Saying this he went from there to Bhavin who was calling him again and again.

"Niyati...", Suddenly she heard the voice of Mitali who stopped near her while breathing heavily.

"What happened?", She asked with concern.

"Niyati...Woh", She stopped speaking while painting.

"First, take deep breathes and then speak", On hearing this, Mitali fell silent for a few seconds and after that, she started speaking again, "Niyati, You were right. Smaran Sir is very sad today and the reason for his sadness is very big", She said in anxiety.

"What is the reason?",Niyati also asked worrying. Mitali gave her no answer. She couldn't understand how to tell her this reason. Seeing Mitali remaining silent, she started getting nervous and asked again in panic," I'm asking you something. What is the reason for his sadness? Answer me Mitali", She asked while shaking both shoulders.

"Woh. Smaran Sir, he is leaving school forever. He won't come to school nor teach us from Monday", Mitali replied which was a great shock to her.