The fifth bell rings. It is lunchtime.

  "Should we leave now?", Ave insists.

  "No, let's stay for some more time. We will leave when the rush is over. We cannot afford to disturb any other students' routines." Ahaan slowly replies.

  Ave settles into a chair at the large white table and I take the seat across from him while Ahaan keeps roaming around, occasionally glancing out the window, rarely stopping to sit.

  ******************************************************************************

  "Is it really safe now?", Ave asks again.

  It’s already the tenth time he has asked that, and I can’t hold back my irritation any longer. My patience is fraying with every word. Yet Ahaan stays unnervingly serene, answering him calmly every time he asks that, his composure only making my frustration boil higher.

  "You did great there. You can rest now. Everything is fine. Really.” The words keep echoing, his voice impassive.

  Another bell rings, might be eighth or ninth. I have lost count long back.

  “I was actually worried about you when you left the class. As soon as you saw the teacher coming, you started breathing heavily. I thought you were having a panic attack. How did you calm yourself?", Ahaan asks Ave, breaking the silence.

  "Calm, was I ever calm? My body was shaking to its core but then I tried remembering about somebody who had always made me smile. I tried to convince myself to act indifferent as I have to live for him. I had to pass that all to show him that I am strong. That even if no one cares for him, I do. I remember him. I have to live for him". Memories overwhelm him, and his voice cracks as he begins to speak.

  "I was thinking when you said you tried picking a fight with those boys. But you don’t seem the type of person to pick a fight with anyone. Is he the reason you picked a fight? Did they do something to him". The words tumble out of my mouth before I can think. "They..they were his friends. They used to play football together. He was the best player out there and the main reason we never had a day without lunch. Academically excellent, always nice to everyone, good in sports, always polite and vision oriented. He would never pick a fight with everyone. And everyone was his friend so no one can do anything to him. Even then how could I stay calm when they don't give a damn about what happened. How could they forget him so easily? How could they? They don't even seem to remember his name let alone his death".

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  Tears spill down his cheeks, and he can’t hold them back. His nose runs, and between sobs, he keeps sniffing and sucking it up, struggling to form words through the flood of emotion. Each sentence is jagged, broken by hiccups and stifled cries, his body trembling with the weight of the past.

  "I had a best friend from childhood. His name was Tristan. My whole world revolved around him. He was always there for me. We studied in this school for the last thirteen years and we always stayed together. We were inseparable. I was not that good academically and did not have any clear vision for my future. But he..he had everything sorted.", Ave sinks to the floor, overcome with sobs. Ahaan lifts him, steadying him.

  After a pause, he continues.

  "He wanted to work for the Master. He was sharper than the others. He always talked about the greenery when we walk on the ground. He had a very good memory and loved to cherish every moment that came. I always felt that he was not like others. My parents were a little strict and they were so focused on their work that they had little time for me. In this world, when everyone is so busy with themselves, hardly looking at the way when walking, he would stop to listen to the birds chirruping. He was an orphan so he had different ways to live life."

  He pauses and looks at the ceiling. he is trying to hold back his tears. "Then one day I got to know he died. He was at the school rooftop. His foot slipped and he fell from there. The school announced the news but I could not believe it. My whole world collapsed. I started having panic attacks from then. But do you know what was more painful than that? Everyone forgot about him in a few days including his foster parents. No one holds any memory of him. His room, empty and locked. All of his belongings gone. Every trace of him erased as if he never existed. He always used to sit to my left in the class. The person behind him now occupies his seat and the last sheet remains empty but no one seems to remember who is missing."

  Ave breaks down against Ahaan’s shoulder.

  No words are spoken after that. After a few minutes later, Ahaan slowly loosens his hold on Ave.