Morning classes had always felt ordinary to Anaya.
That morning was no different.
She reached school a little earlier than usual and sat quietly at her bench, revising yesterday's notes before class began.
The classroom slowly filled with students.
Some discussed assignments.
Some copied incomplete work.
A few were already complaining about the mathematics homework.
A few benches ahead, Naina was arranging her notes neatly.
Everything looked organized as usual.
Beside Anaya, Ritu stared hopelessly at a half-finished solution.
"I think I solved this wrong."
"You probably did."
"Thanks. Very encouraging."
Anaya almost smiled before returning to her notebook.
The classroom continued buzzing with noise.
Then the corridor outside grew quieter.
A familiar silence settled across the room.
Aarav had arrived.
Without wasting time, he placed a register on the desk and began the lecture.
The class quickly opened their notebooks.
Anaya did the same.
For most of the period, everything remained normal.
Formulas.
Examples.
Solutions.
Students copying as quickly as possible.
Then midway through one problem, Anaya stopped.
One step wasn't making sense.
She checked the previous line.
Then the next.
Still nothing.
After hesitating briefly, she raised her hand.
"Sir..."
Aarav continued explaining.
Maybe he hadn't noticed.
Anaya lowered her hand again.
The lecture moved forward.
A few minutes later, another student asked a doubt from the same topic.
This time Aarav stopped and explained the concept before continuing.
Anaya's pen paused for a moment.
Then continued writing.
Maybe it was coincidence.
Nothing more.
Still, the thought stayed with her for a few seconds longer than it should have.
The lecture continued.
Near the end of class, Aarav began checking homework notebooks row by row.
Students immediately became nervous.
Some hurriedly completed unfinished steps.
Others pretended to look confident.
When Aarav reached Anaya's bench, he looked down at her notebook briefly.
His eyes moved across the calculations.
Then he turned a page.
Another.
And another.
Finally he spoke.
"Incomplete."
Anaya looked up.
"The last question?"
"You were supposed to solve all of them."
"I couldn't finish one."
"Now you'll rewrite the entire exercise."
The reply came calmly.
Matter-of-fact.
Nothing angry about it.
Yet somehow, it felt harsher than necessary.
A few nearby students looked up briefly.
Then returned to their notebooks.
"Rewrite all of it?" Ritu whispered after Aarav moved away.
Anaya looked at the notebook.
"Hm."
"That's excessive."
Anaya didn't answer.
Because honestly—
she wasn't sure.
Maybe it was excessive.
Maybe it wasn't.
Maybe he treated everyone like this.
She didn't know.
That uncertainty irritated her more than the punishment itself.
After class ended, students immediately began discussing assignments.
Complaints filled the room.
Predictions about future tests followed.
Anaya packed her bag quietly and walked home as she always did.
Nothing unusual had happened.
At least, nothing important.
Yet somewhere along the way, a small classroom moment returned unexpectedly.
"Sir..."
No response.
The lecture moving forward.
A few minutes later, another student asking a question.
An explanation following immediately afterward.
The scene replayed once.
Then again.
Then again.
Anaya frowned slightly.
Maybe he hadn't heard.
The classroom had been noisy.
Maybe she was imagining patterns where none existed.
Maybe it was nothing.
She looked away from the thought almost immediately.
Whatever the reason was, it hardly mattered.
By the time she reached home, she had already decided to stop thinking about it.
At least for now.
That evening, she opened the rewritten exercise and began solving the questions again.
Page after page slowly filled with calculations.
The irritation had faded.
The doubt had mostly disappeared.
Only the work remained.
And for Anaya, that was usually enough.