HE IS MY SPRING

Untitled Episode

Riddhima's pov:

"Where the hell were you?" Rush asked as I descended the stairs and met him in the corridor.

"Hmm? I--I was with RK Sir." I smiled nervously.

"---and the principal, right?" Rush questioned.

"No, he wasn't there." I tried to display a nonchalant expression before walking towards the canteen.

"Just 10 minutes till the lunch break gets over," Rush looked at his smartwatch and then back at me.

"Oops, that teacher took all of my lunch break." Why was I blushing?

"I remember once when Suresh Sir wasted your lunch break on the pretext of talking about your grades, you were almost searching for ways to kill a teacher without getting caught, and now you are blushing. Seriously, Riddhi? Blushing?" Okay, he was definitely annoyed.

"Just shut up, I am not blushing. Now let's go before the break actually finishes." I dragged him along with me to the canteen. Gosh, I need to work on my emotions.

As we hurried down the hallway, Rush kept throwing incredulous glances my way. "You? Blushing over a teacher? What did he do, offer you extra marks?"

I rolled my eyes. "You're hilarious, Rush. He just wanted to talk about my----potential."

Rush snorted. "Potential? That's what they're calling it these days?"

"Yes, and if you must know, he was actually really nice. And concerned. Unlike some people," I shot back, giving him a playful shove.

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

"Your anger issues. That's what we need to work on," Rush announced as he stretched from his chair and looked at me.

We were in my room. He was sitting in my chair, pretending to study, while I was using my phone for "research purposes." Yep, my Chachu got me the newly released iPhone 8.

"Nope, I don't need to change myself," I spoke without looking at him, too engrossed in my phone.

"Changing things about ourselves which leads to our personal development isn't bad," he said. I lifted my head to look at him before flopping face down on the bed, my phone still in my hands.

"Are you even listening to me? RK Sir will definitely like a less angry kid." I couldn't stop the blush that crept from my cheeks to my neck, and he smirked, clearly catching on. s**t! I guess he knows.

"Wh—why will him liking me make a difference to me?" I threw a pillow at him. He ducked just in time, and the pillow hit my Chachu. I quickly got off the bed.

"So—sorry, Chachu. I didn't mean to—"

"You both are always fighting like little kids. I just came to inform you that dinner will be served in half an hour, so make sure you both are down by then. We will have dinner with Aarush bete's family today." Chachu smiled.

"Sure thing." He ruffled my hair before turning to leave. "Wait, did I hear something about someone liking you, Riddhi?" He narrowed his eyes at me. I gave Rush a 'now-you-are-dead' glare.

"Nothing, Chachu. We were just talking about Riddhi's newfound crush," Rush replied, getting up from the chair. How illegal is it to kill your best friend?

"Hrithik Roshan. She watched ZNMD last night," Rush spoke with full confidence.

"Oh, but Riddhi, last time it was Sidharth Malhotra, right?" Chachu questioned.

"Yeah, because she watched SOTY then." Rush, this guy! But at least he's not talking about RK Sir, so I will forgive him.

"You kids!" Chachu chuckled and shook his head while walking away. I threw a pen at Rush, then a diary, and everything I could get

my hands on.

"Wh—what's wrong with you?" He covered his face and ducked most of the time until he fell on my bed. "Wo—ah. You've been on your phone for the past hour. You were never such an intense phone addict." He picked up my phone.

"That's personal. I was researching about-----something," I said, whatever came to my mind at that moment.

"He looks good in his profile pic." He whistled. s**t! I forgot Rush knows my phone's password. He must have seen it. I jumped on the bed and snatched my phone from him.

"Are you really stalking RK Sir? I can't believe you," he laughed. This bastard was enjoying this. To hell with him.

"His profile was in my recommendations," I said, biting my lip nervously. I looked at his profile pic again. He was wearing a white shirt, folding his sleeves, touching his cufflink, eyes not on the camera when the picture was clicked. Why is he so----attractive?

"Yeah, right!" I could see Rush sitting back in the chair, but his eyes were still on me.

"Okay, what do you want to know?" I sighed, finally giving him my attention.

"Do you like him? RK Sir?" he asked expectantly.

"It's just a mere attraction, Rush. It'll go away in a few weeks," I said something I wasn't sure of myself.

"On a serious note, it's gonna be good if it's just an attraction and if it fades away sooner. You know the rule of your family, don't you? 'No dating before 25'?"

This rule was made by my grandfather for the company's and the family's benefit. He believed that even though the marriageable age for a girl is 18 and for a boy is 21, maturity hits around 25, so he made this rule. Till now, everyone in the family has been abiding by it. Also, dating at 25 in India mostly leads to marriage, so no one in my family has ever faced a breakup. Moreover, everyone had a love marriage in my family, including my parents. This rule sometimes made me disappointed, but now it's making me frustrated.

"One more thing," he said, his eyes twinkling. "Does this newfound crush of yours come with a 'No touching until graduation' clause too?"

"Rush!" I threw another pillow at him, but this time, he didn't duck. He just laughed, catching it easily.

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

"So, this is how one equation can help you get the values for amplitude, velocity, and time." He was explaining the equation for waves, and it was fascinating. Everything that came out of that sexy mouth was downright thrilling.

"It's my third time reminding you to concentrate on the lecture and not on him, and stop smiling like a fool." Only Rush has the audacity to talk to me like that. I stopped smiling, but my eyes couldn't move away from him. Nope! Not even an inch.

He looked at me as I gave an answer. I was again sitting on the first bench as I lo---like seeing him up close, and after that session in the principal's office, it was hard staying away from him.

Is it just me, or did it really get hot in here when he put his marker on the table and bit his lip trying out the solution to a problem? Damn, why is he so hot even when he is not trying?

"Option C!" I couldn't take the tempting look of him anymore, so I yelled out the answer. Everyone stared at me as my eyes moved from him. "Miss Sabharwal, of course, the answer is option C, but how is what we're trying to figure out." He went back to the question.

"I just divided both the equations and got the answer. It was pretty easy," I said in a no-nonsense tone, even though I was trembling internally. Wow! I am really a great actress.

"Ohh----right! Students, you can actually do that. Good work, Miss Sabharwal." He smiled and looked at me appreciatively. Why does him praising me make me feel weird emotions? I am so strange.

The class finished after 10 minutes, and everybody started packing their bags as it was the last period.

"Alright, give me your attention for the last time today. I have interesting news for you all." He clapped his hands to get everyone's attention, and he had it in 10 seconds after uttering the words 'interesting' and 'news.'

"So, since you all have been showing a great deal of improvement collectively, I want to take you all out on a trip to a museum. This museum will show you physics concepts being used in our daily life and how much you should appreciate this subject compared to biology." A few giggles and chuckles passed at his last part, but oh my god!! A trip with him? Hell yes.

"Sir, when are we leaving?" For the first time, Natasha asked a relevant question. "Day after tomorrow, Miss Oberoi. And you all can wear anything you want, no dress code. Come to school as per the usual timings, and we will board the bus. I will bring you back after lunch to the school, and then you can leave for your homes. We will have our lunch there, it's my treat." He has to be a literal

God! Considering how crazy I am about food, I will let him enter my good books for this.

Yeah, as if he wasn't already in them!

"Sir, can we bring our phones?" Rakesh asked, and everyone looked at him expectantly. "Uhmmm, yeah, you can, but please be responsible while using it. This trip includes no other teachers apart from me and another teacher from the Physics faculty, not even the principal. So, if anything happens, there will be no trip, no fun activities for you all, and only studies. Am I clear?" He raised his voice at the question part.

"Crystal clear, Sir." We all screamed in unison, getting a thumbs up from him and a----wait, he has dimples? I could clearly spot dimples on his stubbled cheek after almost one month of seeing him. Yeah, call me blind now.

I turned to Rush and whispered, "Did you see that? Dimples!"

Rush rolled his eyes, "Great, now you're going to flunk physics because of facial features."

Ignoring him, I thought, A museum trip and a lunch treat? This is going to be legendary.

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

"Please, if you can't help me, you are free to move your lazy ass out of this room." I gritted my teeth and shot a mock glare at

Aarush.

"What do you want me to do? You've been pondering over your wardrobe for an hour. It's just a trip to a Physics museum, not a runway show where you need to dazzle your crush." I threw a pillow at him, and it hit its mark. Victory!

"Blue. His favorite color is blue. Let me check if I have any decent blue dresses." I could see him giving me a bored look from the corner of my eye while munching on a packet of wafers.

"What are you staring at?" I scrutinized myself in the mirror, holding a dress close to see if it would work. I smiled, then pouted as the dress didn't quite live up to my expectations.

"You've got it bad for him. Even worse than your massive ego," Rush declared, tossing a dress my way. I caught it just in time.

"This one might actually look better than those 'barely there' dresses. It'll accentuate your neck and pair nicely with those sneakers you're fixated on." Rush gestured toward my shoe collection.

Living with someone for 17 years means they know all your quirks and probably have the answers to your problems. Even though Rush and I haven't shared a home all our lives, he still understands me better than I do myself.

I gave him a genuine smile and a side hug. "You're the best, Rush." He playfully tapped my forehead as I hugged the dress close and daydreamed about the upcoming trip.

"And here I thought I'd have a peaceful evening," he muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Don't be so dramatic. You're secretly thrilled to be my fashion consultant," I teased.

"Yeah, my life's ambition is to be the fairy godmother to a delusional Cinderella," he shot back with a smirk.

"Well, Fairy Godmother, I'm ready to transform," I said, twirling in the dress.

He shook his head, snickering. "God help the guy who ends up with you."

"I know, right? He's gonna need a physics degree just to understand me," I said with a wink.

"Or a psychology degree," Aarush added, dodging another pillow I threw at him.

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

Rishabh's pov:

"What's wrong with today's generation? Why can't they be on time for once?" I muttered to myself, eyeing the group of students chattering and goofing around in the school playground, waiting for the bus. I glanced at my watch and then impatiently scanned the school gate for stragglers. Yes, I was impatient. I had given them clear instructions yesterday: be in the school premises by 8:30. I despised unpunctuality. It's good if they make it before the bus arrives, but one minute late and they'd be left behind.

"Students, lower your voices and maintain discipline!" I called out loudly, not because I was angry but because I genuinely wanted them to behave. I've never been angry at students in my teaching career; that's something I absolutely despise.

To my surprise, the chatter gradually died down. See, students aren't that bad.

Five minutes passed, and almost the whole class had finally arrived. The murmur started up again. Okay, maybe I take the compliment about students back.

"Is everyone present? Mr. Singhania, have you checked?" I asked Aarush, a genuinely obedient student. Contrary to the belief that boys are troublemakers, he was actually sincere and intelligent, something I appreciated.

"Only one student hasn't arrived yet, Sir," he replied after counting heads. "Who?" I frowned. "Riddhi--uhh, Riddhima."

Miss Sabharwal! Of course. How that girl loved to test my patience. She was unique. I didn't hate her, but she was a very challenging student, more so than I had imagined.

Thud!

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud noise. I turned to see the PE teacher holding a boy's collar and staring at him with evident anger. Oh! The boy must have been close to getting a real beating. I widened my eyes in horror and quickly approached them.

"Sir, what's wrong?" I demanded, my voice a little louder than usual.

"This boy, Sir. He has a phone!" the teacher exclaimed, as if it was the most heinous crime of the decade.

"Sir, it's alright. I allowed them to bring their phones," I interjected, trying to defuse the situation. Violence was never my way of handling things.

The PE teacher looked annoyed. "But Sir, it's against the rules!"

I sighed. "I understand, but for today's trip, we're making an exception. Please let him go."

Reluctantly, the PE teacher released his grip, muttering under his breath about the decline of discipline. I glanced at the boy, who looked both relieved and slightly terrified.

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

The students filed onto the bus one by one. Viresh Sir, another Physics teacher, was accompanying me to help manage the crowd of 50 teenagers.

"You all can sit wherever you want," I announced to the bustling group. "Sir, do we have a bottle of water on the bus, just in case?"

I went to fill a bottle from the school's water canister, lost in thoughts about the upcoming trip. Handling so many teenagers was always a challenge, but not all of them were troublesome.

"Sir, careful!" Riddhima's voice snapped me out of my reverie. Water overflowed from the bottle, and I quickly stepped back, realizing my mistake.

"Are you okay, Sir?" Riddhima rushed over, concern evident in her voice and eyes.

I muttered a quick thank you as she handed me a handkerchief. Her kindness was unexpected; it had been a while since someone had shown genuine concern for me.

"You're late," I remarked, glancing at my watch, taking a step towards her. She instinctively stepped back, dropping the handkerchief. Had I invaded her personal space? I took a few steps back, giving her some room.

I studied Riddhima for a moment. She wore a simple blue top with delicate beadwork, black jeans, and white sneakers. Unlike the other students in their flashy designer clothes for the trip, she looked understated. It was not easy to forget she was from the affluent Sabharwal family, especially with how the teachers and principal treated her like royalty. Yet, something told me she craved normalcy.

"You're late, Miss Sabharwal," I repeated, my tone serious, devoid of humor.

Her eyes widened as she lifted her head to meet my gaze, a confident smile plastered on her face. "I a--am, Sir. My car broke down on the way. I'm usually very punctual."

"That's good to hear," I replied, a hint of approval in my voice. "Punctuality is a virtue. You've officially entered my good books." I smiled, ruffling her hair.

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

Riddhima's pov:

The students were finally settled on the bus.

You've officially entered my good books.

He had said this earlier, and those words kept replaying in my mind like a broken record. I smiled nervously to myself, wondering why I was suddenly acting like a teenager with a crush.

Because you are one. My inner voice mocked.

"Yeah, I know that," I muttered under my breath, fidgeting with the straps of my bag. "But I've never acted like this before. Never ever." RK Sir had stirred feelings in me that I'd only ever read about in those sappy romantic novels.

"Sit down, Riddhima," Viresh Sir ordered, buried in his phone. I nodded obediently but glanced around to find every seat taken. "Sir, there are no seats left."

"Then go to RK Sir's bus. There might be seats there," Viresh Sir suggested, unexpectedly becoming my hero of the day.

I made my way to RK Sir's bus where he greeted me with a concerned look. "What's wrong, Miss Sabharwal?"

"Sir, there were no seats left in the other bus, so I came here," I explained, feeling a bit flustered.

"Alright, find a seat," he said casually, turning back to his phone. "Physics teachers and their phones," I mumbled to myself, trying not to smile.

"Riddhi, all the seats at the back are taken" Rush announced loudly.

"But there's a seat next to you," Natasha chimed in sweetly.

"Nope, I've got my bag there," Rush replied. I sighed inwardly, realizing that even on a bus, teenage drama was inescapable.

"Come here, there's an empty seat beside me. You can take it if you're comfortable," RK Sir offered, pointing to the window seat beside him. I thanked him with a shy smile, glancing back at Rush who rolled his eyes in response.

"I don't quite feel comfortable sitting here, Sir. Can I sit beside Aarush or something?" Natasha asked in a falsely sweet tone, making me realize I wasn't the only one crushing on someone on this bus.

"I already said you can sit wherever you want. Let's get going if we're done with the royal seating arrangements," RK Sir announced, sounding slightly annoyed. "Why does he get annoyed so easily?" I wondered to myself, stealing a glance at Natasha who had managed to settle beside Rush.

As we drove for the next 20 minutes, I found myself unable to sit in silence any longer. I turned to RK Sir, intending to strike up a conversation. "When do you think we'll get there?" I asked, my voice unintentionally sweet and cringeworthy.

"In about 15 minutes," he replied casually, still absorbed in his phone. Curiosity got the better of me, and I leaned in slightly to peek at what he was doing. Was he chatting with someone? A girl, perhaps? "I've never cared about consequences before, so why start now?" I thought mischievously.

Without thinking, I leaned a bit closer, catching a glimpse of his phone screen filled with restaurant booking confirmations. Was he planning a date? The name 'The Biggest Foodie' flashed prominently. His scrolling paused, and our eyes met briefly.

"Here, Miss Sabharwal, why don't you handle these bookings?" he said, handing me his phone with a hint of sarcasm. I chuckled awkwardly, cheeks flushing as I took the phone, suddenly overwhelmed by his no-nonsense demeanor.

A few minutes passed in tense silence. I stared out the window, stealing glances at him from the corner of my eye. His profile was ridiculously good-looking, and without thinking, I discreetly took out my phone and snapped a picture. I couldn't help but smile when I saw it.

You've officially entered my good books.

I closed my eyes feeling the cool breeze on my face and grinned like a lovesick fool.

The bus journey continued with a playful mix of butterflies and uncertainty, but one thing was clear: this trip was about to get a lot more interesting.