He sank into his seat, opening his notebook mechanically, while Puneet began recounting the funny moments from the practical. Honey nodded occasionally, but his mind was miles away, trapped in that same loop.
The bell rang, and the lab chatter slowly faded as we shuffled back into the classroom for the sixth period. I slung my bag over my shoulder, still replaying the small moment with Priyanshi in the lab. My fingers tapped lightly on the edge of the desk, restless.
Physics sir entered, his usual brisk pace, clipboard in hand. "Good afternoon, class. How was your practical session? Hm… must have taken a long time, eh?"
A few students groaned and laughed, nudging each other. Puneet whispered, "Long? Bro, that felt like ages. My arms are killing me after lifting those beakers."
Tanmay snickered from the back. "And Honey here was the model student, right? Didn't spill a thing… mostly."
I rolled my eyes lightly, offering a small shrug. "Mostly," I muttered, keeping my tone casual while trying not to think too much about the lab incident.
Sir paced slowly between the rows, scanning our notebooks. "Today, we'll continue with motion and laws. Keep your calculators ready. We'll have a quick discussion before moving to examples."
I glanced around—Priyanshi was seated at her usual spot near the window, her notebook neatly arranged, pen hovering, focused yet quiet. My mind involuntarily wandered to the lab again. That little nod she gave when I tried to get salt—it shouldn't feel like a big deal, and yet here I was, stuck on it.
Ayush leaned toward me and whispered, "Thinking about the lab again?"
"Maybe," I muttered softly. "It's nothing…"
"Yeah, sure," he teased with a grin, nudging my shoulder lightly. "Nothing that keeps your brain spinning in circles for half the class."
I ignored the jab, opening my notebook, pencil ready. Physics sir started explaining the first example, and for the next few minutes, I tried to push the thoughts aside. But no matter how much I focused on the formulas, my mind kept drifting back to Priyanshi, the lab, the tiny gesture—and the overthinking spiral I couldn't quite shake.
The class moved forward with calculations and scribbled diagrams, yet in my head, I was still halfway in the lab, stuck in that same loop.
The remainder of the physics period passed in a blur of equations, graphs, and Sir's explanations. I scribbled in my notebook, trying to keep pace, but my mind kept slipping back to the lab—the way Priyanshi had calmly helped without fuss, the tiny nod she gave, the quiet competence she carried.
Puneet and Tanmay whispered jokes in the back, teasing each other about miscalculations and imaginary experiments gone wrong. Ayush occasionally leaned over, sharing a clever pun or a sly comment, trying to get a laugh from me. I chuckled softly, but my thoughts were only half with them.
Finally, the bell rang for lunch, and we filed out of the classroom. The corridors were noisy as ever—students rushing, laughing, calling out to friends. I followed Ayush and the others, moving with the crowd, my sketchbook tucked under my arm. But even amid the chatter, I felt that familiar pull of thought: Priyanshi, quiet and precise, unknowingly occupying the center of my overthinking spiral.
We reached the courtyard for lunch. Tanmay and Puneet immediately started arguing over whose sandwich looked better, while Ayush and I found our usual corner. I unpacked my lunch, mechanically chewing while my mind replayed the small lab moment again and again.
"You're quiet today," Ayush murmured, watching me poke at my food.
I shrugged. "Just… thinking."
"About the lab?" he asked knowingly.
I gave a faint nod, trying to make it seem casual. "Yeah… just the experiments."
But even as I said it, I knew it wasn't just the experiments. It was Priyanshi. The way she moved, the way she focused. Something about her reminded me of my own past—the anxious, introverted part of me I'd worked years to overcome. And now, seeing her like that… I couldn't stop thinking, couldn't stop overanalyzing every tiny gesture, every silent glance.
Lunch passed slowly, filled with half-conversations, teasing, and occasional laughter from the others. I joined in when needed, but my thoughts stayed tangled, circling around Priyanshi, around that lab table, around a million "what-ifs" that hadn't happened and probably never would.
As the bell rang again, signaling the end of the break and the march toward the next class, I packed my bag slowly, lingering a second longer than necessary. My heart and mind were still stuck on that same small moment—the quiet kindness, the unnoticed help, the feeling that something new, something significant, had just begun.
(The disclaimer of chapter 4
And so, Chapter 4 ended—not with action or revelation, but with the quiet storm inside me. The world moved forward around me, friends joked and nudged each other, sir called out instructions—but my thoughts, as always, were elsewhere.)