February 25, 2026. The morning in Shahdol was chilly.
Sanjay parked his cycle at the stand, adjusted his shirt collar, and walked inside.
The thin mustache on his upper lip still gave him a bit of confidence, but deep down he was still the same boy who used to top the class till 10th.
Even today, Mummy is completely convinced that her son is brilliant at studies.
Every morning she says,
"Beta, get good marks again today. Mummy knows you can do it."
Sanjay just smiles and says "Haan Mummy" before leaving.
The truth is, after 10th, when he transferred to a different school, his world turned upside down.
He failed in two subjects.
He hid the report card from everyone at home.
Now the house is full of happiness – Mummy thinks her son is still a topper, Papa thinks he's working hard.
Sanjay lives this lie every single day.
Every day he's scared that one day this lie will burst open.
As soon as he reached near the school gate, the scene changed.
A group from Excellence School was standing there – the same four guys: Dhruv, Arpit, Akash, and Devansh.
Their group and ours never got along.
Because of some big incident in 10th – some say it was a money fight, some say it was betrayal by a friend, but nobody knows the real truth.
All that mattered was that both groups couldn't even stand to look at each other.
Today was no different.
The moment Dhruv saw Sanjay, he smirked and said,
"Arre, here comes Mr. Average Marks… still sleeping on the last bench or what?"
Suraj instantly fired back,
"Shut up, man. You take care of your Excellence School. You've got no business here."
Arpit laughed and said,
"Suraj bhai, why are you growing such a big beard? Looks like you've become father of two kids already."
Amol's anger shot up instantly,
"Get lost, I'll—"
But Sanjay stopped everyone.
"Bas karo yaar. School time is starting. Let's go inside."
Both groups glared at each other and walked toward their respective schools.
But everyone knew inside – this wasn't going to end here.
When he reached the last bench, Suraj was still fuming.
Amol pulled out his phone and said,
"Yaar these guys irritate us every single day… one day we'll have to teach them a proper lesson."
Hritik, scrolling on his phone, said,
"Leave it yaar… we're happy in our own world."
The break bell rang.
The four of them sat at the corner table in the canteen.
Chai, samosa, and the usual old bakaiti started.
Suraj stuffed a samosa in his mouth and said,
"Yaar, have you guys watched Housefull 5?"
Sanjay took a sip of chai,
"Yeah yaar, it was okayish."
Hritik said,
"Akshay did his usual comedy, but it did make me laugh."
Amol clicked a photo on his phone and said,
"The twist in the ending was nice."
Suraj dramatically said,
"Ghanta! Even Goo is better than this, that one is way more entertaining!"
Everyone went silent for a second.
Then Sanjay laughed and said,
"For real yaar, where do these two idiots find it good?"
Amol said,
"It's fine, what's wrong with it?"
Sanjay widened his eyes,
"What's fine about it, bhai?!"
Amol thought for two seconds and slowly said,
"…now that I think about it, Suraj is right. The ending was weak."
Hritik raised his hand,
"Yeah bhai, I was just saying it for the fanservice."
Suraj gave a victory smile and everyone burst out laughing.
Just before the break ended, Sanjay said quietly,
"Guys, serious baat. Tomorrow is Sunday na… so meet at our adda at 3 o'clock. Same spot – under the banyan tree, near the handpump. Come on time, and don't tell anyone."
Suraj said,
"At the adda itself? Cool, I'll be there at 3."
Hritik said,
"Perfect. I'll come too."
Amol quickly clicked a pic,
"Here, I'll post it with caption 'Before the Sunday Secret'."
Everyone laughed, but there was something different in Sanjay's eyes.
What none of them knew was that this Sunday was going to completely change their lives.
TO BE CONTINUED...