The next Physics class felt different the moment students entered.
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Alisha was back.
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Before she could even sit down, three people had already asked the same question.
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"Are you okay now?"
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"Feeling better?"
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"You scared everyone yesterday."
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Alisha laughed softly.
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"I'm fine."
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"That's what you said yesterday too."
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The comment earned a few laughs.
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Even Naina shook her head.
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"I'm serious."
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"I know."
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Alisha dropped her bag beside the desk and sat down.
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By the time the bell rang, the conversation had finally died down.
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Aarav entered.
Placed the register on the desk.
Picked up a piece of chalk.
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"Open your notebooks."
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Pages turned.
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The room gradually settled.
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Aarav wrote a heading on the board.
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Speed
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Pens immediately started moving.
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"What is speed?"
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A hand rose.
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"Distance travelled per unit time."
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"Good."
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The definition appeared across dozens of notebooks.
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Aarav turned back toward the board.
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Speed = Distance ÷ Time
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Students copied it down.
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A few minutes later—
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"What is the SI unit of speed?"
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"Metre per second."
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"Correct."
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The lesson continued.
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Questions.
Answers.
Notes.
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A student near the back got a formula wrong.
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Several classmates immediately pointed it out.
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A short argument followed.
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Aarav erased the answer and rewrote it.
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The class laughed.
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The student buried his face in his notebook.
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Even Alisha smiled.
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Anaya lowered her eyes and continued writing.
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The page slowly filled.
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Definitions.
Formulae.
Examples.
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The bell rang before anyone noticed.
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"Revise everything."
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The register closed.
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Students immediately started packing.
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This time, nobody rushed toward Alisha's desk.
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Nobody looked worried.
That evening—
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The Physics notebook lay open on the study table.
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Speed = Distance ÷ Time
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Anaya copied the formula into her rough notebook.
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Then solved the example beside it.
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Distance = 100 m
Time = 20 s
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Speed = 100 ÷ 20
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Speed = 5 m/s
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She moved to the next question.
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Halfway through it—
the bedroom door opened.
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"Still studying?"
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Anaya didn't look up.
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"Hm."
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The chair beside her scraped lightly.
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Her sister dropped into it without invitation.
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"What subject?"
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"Physics."
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A pause.
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Then—
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"That's tragic."
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Anaya finally looked up.
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"What?"
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"Imagine willingly spending your evening with Physics."
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"I have homework."
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"You have poor life choices."
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Anaya rolled her eyes and returned to the notebook.
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Her sister leaned forward.
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"Speed?"
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"Hm."
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"Distance divided by time?"
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"Hm."
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"You know, I remember that."
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"Congratulations."
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"Thank you."
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A dramatic bow followed.
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Anaya pushed her shoulder.
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Her sister laughed.
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The Physics notebook was suddenly lifted off the table.
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"Hey."
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"Relax."
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"I'm reading."
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"You've written three pages."
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"And?"
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"And that's terrifying."
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Anaya reached for the notebook.
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Her sister pulled it away.
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"Give it back."
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"No."
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"Give it back."
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"No."
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A pen cap flew across the table.
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Her sister dodged it immediately.
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"Violence."
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"Give me my notebook."
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"See? More violence."
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A second pen cap followed.
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This one hit its target.
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"Ow."
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"Good."
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Her sister laughed so hard she almost dropped the notebook.
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Then finally handed it back.
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"You're impossible."
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"So I've been told."
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She stood.
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Stretched.
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Then headed toward the door.
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"Try having fun sometime."
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"Close the door."
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"That wasn't a no."
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The door shut.
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Silence returned.
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Anaya looked at the notebook.
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Then at the unfinished question.
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The answer still waited.
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She picked up her pen.
Finished the last line.
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The chair slid back.
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She walked toward the window.
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Outside, the sun was sinking slowly behind the buildings.
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The sky glowed gold.
Then orange.
Then somewhere in between.
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Light spilled across the rooftops.
Across the road.
Across the trees swaying in the evening breeze.
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A faint golden light brushed across her face.
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The sun dipped lower.
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And lower.
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Until only a thin strip of gold remained on the horizon.
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Anaya rested one hand against the window frame.