The classroom was already filling when Anaya walked in.
Her eyes moved across the rows.
First bench.
Second bench.
Third bench.
Ritu was already there.
Sitting beside Naina.
The seat between them was empty.
Again.
Anaya walked over and dropped her bag beside the desk.
The chair scraped lightly as she sat down.
---
Ritu turned immediately.
"Tell me you finished everything."
Anaya pulled her bag open.
"Most of it."
"Most of it."
Ritu repeated it back.
"Math?"
"Done."
"Physics definitions?"
A pause.
"Mostly."
Ritu exhaled.
"I finished the writing part."
Her pen tapped against the desk once.
"The remembering part—"
Another tap.
"Three subjects."
Another tap.
"Is yours complete?"
Anaya opened her Physics notebook.
"Almost."
Ritu stared at her for a moment.
Then turned to her own notebook quickly.
Pages flipped.
Her eyes moved across the definitions fast.
Her lips moved slightly.
Then stopped.
Then started again.
---
Anaya looked at her Physics notebook.
The definitions waited near the top of the page.
Motion.
Velocity.
Acceleration.
Her eyes moved across them slowly.
Then back to the top.
Again.
---
On the other side Naina sat quietly.
Her notebook open in front of her.
Anaya's eyes moved toward it once.
A solution near the top.
Three lines.
Clean.
Short
---
"Your solution."
Naina looked up.
"Yesterday's. The short one."
Naina glanced at her notebook.
"It just came out that way."
A pause.
"Yours had more steps though."
"More mistakes too."
Naina smiled slightly.
Then returned to her notebook.
Anaya did the same.
---
Beside her Ritu was still moving her lips quietly.
Her pen tapping once.
Then again.
Her eyes fixed on the definitions.
---
The bell rang.
The classroom shifted.
Near the back someone was still moving his lips quietly.
One after another.
A boy near the window had his Mathematics notebook open.
His pen moving fast across the last question.
Another student sat completely still.
Arms crossed.
Eyes forward.
---
The door opened.
The noise dropped immediately.
Aarav walked in.
Register beneath one arm.
Chalk in the other hand.
Several notebooks appeared on desks instantly.
One boy near the back quietly slid his notebook under his bag.
---
Aarav placed the register on the desk.
Looked across the classroom once.
He picked up the chalk.
Several shoulders relaxed slightly.
A quiet exhale came from somewhere near the back.
---
He looked toward the boys' benches.
"Yesterday's numerical."
A boy near the back sat up immediately.
"Where did you go wrong?"
"Wrong formula sir."
"Which one should you have used?"
"v equals u plus at."
"And you used?"
A pause.
"v squared equals u squared plus 2as."
"When is that used?"
"When time is not given."
"So next time check which values are given first."
A few boys near him exhaled quietly.
One smiled slightly.
---
Aarav turned toward the first bench.
"Alisha."
Alisha looked up.
"The Chemistry question."
"Yes sir."
"Your answer was correct."
A brief pause.
"The method was also clean."
Alisha nodded slightly.
"Thank you sir."
---
Aarav turned back to the board.
Laws of Chemical Combination
The heading appeared across the top.
---
Notebooks opened across the classroom.
Pages turned.
Pens clicked.
Anaya opened her Chemistry notebook.
Her pen touched the page.
---
"Law of Conservation of Mass."
The chalk moved steadily.
"Mass can neither be created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction."
A pause.
"The total mass of reactants equals the total mass of products."
---
Pens moved across the classroom.
Anaya wrote the definition.
---
"Example."
Aarav turned toward the class.
"If hydrogen and oxygen combine to form water—"
He wrote on the board.
2H₂ + O₂ → 2H₂O
"Does the total mass change?"
A hand rose from the second bench.
"No sir."
"Why?"
"Because mass is conserved."
"Good."
---
Anaya wrote the example beneath the definition.
---
"Law of Definite Proportions."
Another heading appeared beneath the first.
"A chemical compound always contains the same elements combined in the same fixed ratio by mass."
A pause.
"Always."
The chalk tapped the word once.
---
"Example."
A boy from the back stood without being asked.
"Water sir."
"What is the ratio?"
"Hydrogen to oxygen."
"By mass."
A pause.
"1 is to 8."
"Always?"
"Always."
"Sit."
---
Anaya wrote the definition.
Then the example beneath it.
H : O = 1 : 8
Her handwriting remained steady.
---
A student near the window raised his hand.
"Sir if we take water from different places will the ratio change?"
"No."
"Because it is the same compound."
"Whether from a river or a laboratory."
"The ratio remains fixed."
Several pens moved immediately.
---
A whisper passed between two boys near the back.
Aarav turned around.
The boy straightened immediately.
Aarav looked at him for a moment.
"Finished?"
"Yes sir."
"Then answer."
A pause.
"What is the Law of Definite Proportions?"
The boy looked at his notebook.
"A compound always has the same elements in the same ratio."
"By?"
"By mass."
Aarav turned back to the board.
"Next time whisper after class."
A few quiet laughs escaped across the room.
The boy exhaled slowly.
---
Anaya's pen moved across the page.
The definitions filled the page steadily.
---
From somewhere behind her—
"Quiet today..."
Low.
Casual.
"Something wrong?"
A sound followed.
Not quite a laugh.
---
Anaya's pen paused.
One second.
Then continued moving.
---
Aarav placed the chalk down.
Turned toward the class.
The room became still immediately.
"One more thing."
Several heads lifted.
A pause.
"From now."
"There will be regular testing."
The classroom remained silent.
"Mock tests."
He looked across the room.
"Multiple choice."
"Every Tuesday and Thursday."
"Physics and Chemistry."
A few faces exchanged looks.
"Mathematics will be separate."
A pause.
"Board work."
"Any day."
"No prior notice."
Several students stared at the board.
"Written tests will be announced when needed."
Another pause.
"All three subjects."
"Results announced in class."
A boy near the back opened his mouth.
Aarav looked at him briefly.
The boy closed it.
"Attendance is mandatory."
His voice remained even.
Calm.
"No exceptions."
He picked up the register.
Looked across the classroom once.
Then walked out.
---
The door closed.
The classroom erupted immediately.
"Every Tuesday and Thursday?"
"Board work any day?"
"No notice?"
"This is impossible."
"Mathematics any day means every day."
A few groans followed.
Then more voices.
---
Beside Anaya, Ritu dropped her pen on the desk.
"Any day."
A pause.
"Any day."
---
Anaya looked at her Chemistry notebook.
The definitions sat cleanly on the page.
Law of Conservation of Mass.
Law of Definite Proportions.
Her pen was still in her hand.
The classroom noise continued around her.
---
The classroom slowly emptied.
Bags zipped.
Notebooks disappeared.
Voices faded toward the corridor.
---
Anaya placed her Chemistry notebook inside her bag.
Then her Physics notebook.
Then her Mathematics notebook.
One by one.
Her hand touched the keyring at the bottom of the bag.
She picked it up.
ting....
Then it disappeared back inside.
The bag zipped shut.
She lifted it onto her shoulder.
And walked out.