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The silent sound of my footsteps was echoing with the giggling, talking and shouting of others. Changing school has never fascinated me how much it fascinated my brother.

He loved changing schools, he says it helps him to make friends and let me tell you all one thing: he is still in contact with all his friends from his previous schools.

Whereas I have lost all the contact with my previous school's friends. It's fun meeting new people and making new friends, but when you move away and nobody contacts you, it hurts more. Well... Lucky him.

A group of boys ran past me while being followed by two girls after. One with a short bob cut hair laughing and the one with specs shouting at the boys in a frustrated tone. The specs girl bumped into me while running; before she could fall, she stabilised herself.

"Dekh ke bhaga kar pagal! Teri wagah se kisi aur ko chot aa sakhti hain." The shorted hair scolded the specs one, hitting her head.

[See while running, crazy person! Cause of you anyone else could get hurt.]

"I'm sorry." She apologised to me, but her eyes were somewhere else.

Rude.

"Ache se sorry bol!" Hearing this from her friend, her eyes shot up at me and said sorry. "It's alright," I reassured her with a smile.

[Say it properly.]

"By any chance, are you new here? I have never seen you before." I nodded. "Nice to meet you! Myself Kritika Shah and she is Anaya Sharma."

My eyes darted to the short-haired girl, so she was Anaya. She is pretty and looks kind.

They asked me about my class and guess what, we are in different classes. Anaya is a PCM student, whereas Kritika is a PCB student. Well... me? I am a commerce student.

A girl covered the eyes of Anaya "Guess who?" She smiled brightly, leaving Anaya to guess. "Well... let me think... ugh!! Leave it, I don't know." Anaya teased.

"Idiot, it's me." She rolled her eyes and hit Anaya on the head, causing Anaya to laugh. "Yeah, I know it's you, Rhea." She hugged her.

"Good for you, Rhea; you won't be alone in commerce anymore and won't complain to us that you don't have any friends over there." Anaya broke the hug. "She is Ishanvi, she is also in commerce."

Rhea's eyes lit up as she smiled at me. "Finally, someone to suffer with!" Rhea exclaimed, nudging Ishanvi playfully.

Kritika and Anaya exchanged amused glances. "So, Ishanvi, what do you think of our school so far?" Kritika asked, curiosity sparking in her eyes.

I took a deep breath, trying to gather my thoughts. "It's...different. I'm still getting used to the layout and the people."

Anaya nodded sympathetically. "Yeah, it can be overwhelming at first. But don't worry, you'll settle in soon."

Rhea chimed in, "And we'll make sure you do! We'll show you the whole school to you."

As we chatted, I couldn't help but notice how effortlessly Anaya, Kritika and Rhea interacted with each other, their friendship radiating like a warm glow. I felt a pang of longing, remembering my friends from my previous school.

The bell rang, signalling the start of classes. "Guess we should head to our respective classes," Kritika said, gathering her belongings.

"Yeah, don't want to be late on the first day," Anaya added, winking at me.

As we parted ways, Anaya turned to me and whispered, "Let's meet at the canteen during lunch."

Me and Rhea went towards the other direction while chatting. I smiled, feeling a sense of belonging for the first time since the morning.

We walked into the class, and scanning the room, I found every face unfamiliar. Rhea and I sat together, and our class teacher arrived, too. Great.

As she entered, the whole class rose and sang 'GoOoodDdd moOrnninGgg ma'ammmmmmmmm' to which she shook her head and asked us to sit down

Our teacher introduced herself "Good morning everyone! I am Sakshi Jain. I am your class teacher as well as your economics teacher." Her voice was strict, damn strict.

As the class started, I found myself interested in economics. Mrs. Jain's explanations were better than I thought.

"Yaar pehle din kon padhta hain?" Rhea hit her head on the desk and let out a long sigh. "Sakhshi ma'am." I replied, taking notes, while she gave me the 'are you serious eyes.

[Who teaches on the first day?]

The next period was accountancy, taught by Sameer Ahuja. He was more of a comedian rather than a teacher. I don't even remember if we even started to study or not because he was so busy telling his stories.

We are having his two lectures, cool. Let it be.

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As soon as the bell rang, although the class was empty, we also left the class to go to the canteen.

"Over here, guys!" Kriti waved her hand to signal us. "Had to come early, just to save the seat. However, how was the experience?"

"Not bad, it was better than I expected-"

I was interrupted by Rhea, "However, Sakhshi mam taught us, like bro aaj pehela din hain, aaj toh baksh dete." She whined. I nodded at her statement.

[However, Sakhshi mam taught us, like bro today is the first day, she could leave us today atleast.]

"Aur Sameer sir ne toh apni story hi cha-" Again, I was cut off, but this time by Kritika.

"Idiots!" My eyes widened at her words. "Wha-" I followed her eyes and turned around to see four boys walking towards us.

[And Sameer sir started his own st-]

One was my cousin, Karan, and I don't know the other three, but I don't know how I found a face familiar for no reason. He had glasses on and had curly hair.

"Hey guys!" Anaya greeted as she took her seat beside Rhea. Rhea waved at them, beaming happily, whereas Kriti rolled her eyes at them.

"Not a nice way to greet, Kriti." The boy with hazel eyes spoke with a teasing smile. "Yeh lo aapka dabba." He handed her a lunchbox.

[Here your tiffin box.]

As they both argued, a voice came, "We seem to have a new face over here."

The one who has specs and curly hair locked into after his eyes scanned the whole table.

"Yeah, she is Ishanvi Kapoor." A quick frown was seen on his forehead which was replaced by a charming smile. "Krishna Mehta, par aap Krish bol sakhte ho." He took a seat on the side of Rhea.

[Krishna Mehta, but you can call me Krish.]

Did he just say Krishna Mehta? Wait... no way... is he that Krishna Mehta? He can't be, can he? If he is that Krish, then let me tell you that duniya sach mein gol hain.

The one who was arguing with Kritika was Jay, and the other one was Yash. The boys took Kritika's lunchbox early morning, so... that's why they were running today.

"Karan and Isha, tum dono ek dusre ko jante ho?" Yash bhaiya asked when me and I were talking with each other like we had known each other for years, and yes, we do know.

[Karan and Isha, do you both know each other?]

"Ha, yeh meri cousin hain." Karan bhaiya replied which shocked everyone.

[Yes, She is my cousin.]

"Tum dono cousins ho?" We nodded. "Unexpected."

[You both are cousins?]

"Yes." Anaya agreed with Jay.

"Haha! I know!" Karan bhaiya laughed. "You know what will be the most fun thing now?"

"What?"

"Now I can share some embarrassing memories of her." Karan bhaiya teased me.

"Bhaiya, aap ne abhi tak joh bachpan se kiya hain voh mujhse jyada embarrassing hain." I teased back "I hope you don't want me to reveal it to everyone."

[Brother, the things you had done in your childhood is more embarrassing than mine.]

"Aesa kya kiya hain isne?" Yash bhaiya chip in.

[What had he done?]

"Bata du, bhaiya?" I smirked at Karan bhaiya who glared at me.

[Should I say it?]

Throughout the whole break, they asked us about our childhood and my previous school.

This school can't be that bad.

But throughout the lunch, my eyes always stopped at one person, Krish.

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Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of 'Pehla Pyaar'