WARNING: UPSETTING CONTENT.
Mentions of deceased parent.

The staff room was not much bigger than Aahan's classroom.
There was a faint smell of coffee, but it wasn't warm and comforting, instead, it left a stinging feeling in your nose.
The sofas were grey, and there was a small table near the window, with four chairs around it.
The TV wasn't very big at all, but it made sense when you looked at the rest of the school.
It very much screamed 'low-budget'.

Aahan took a seat at the table, and placed the pile of books in front of him. He had twenty four students in each class, and he taught three classes.

'Kill me now', he thought.

With a loud groan, he leaned forward and let his head hit the pile of books.
He questioned where he went wrong in his life to be given such a tedious task.

"You're in my spot."

Aahan quickly sat up, his eyes widening a little when he saw the women who had spoken to him.
It was the woman from the bake sale!

Her curly hair was tied up into a messy bun, with her curly front fringe framing her face perfectly.
She had crimson lipstick on, and a black top with lace sleeves.
She opted for black flares and black heels.

Aahan momentarily forgot how to speak.
A human being should not be allowed to be this beautiful.

"Hello?
Are you deaf?
You're in my seat."

"Oh!
Oh my–I'm so sorry, I didn't-"

The woman burst out laughing, her bright smile stunning Aahan into silence.

"Your face!
I'm only messing, don't worry.
I like to make the fresh meat squirm a little."

"Fresh meat?"

The woman nodded.
"New teachers."

"Oh, I'm only a supply teacher."

"For Mr. More's class, I know.
I'm Paige, by the way.
Paige Green."

Aahan smiled.
"Nice to meet you.
I'm Aahan Patel."

"How are you finding life in this cesspit?"

Aahan chuckled.
"A-ha, it's, well... it's charming."

"Charming?
The office door came off its hinges twice the other week."

"Well, the people are nice."

"Yeah, I'd agree with that.
Especially the teachers.
There's not much eye candy around here though, unfortunately.
I mean, most of the teachers are good-looking in their own way, but eighty percent of them are either married or in relationships."

"Is it common for colleagues to get into relationships here?"

"Not really, no.
I've only known a handful of couples that met here and fell in love, but that doesn't mean some of the teachers haven't gone on the odd date or two."

Aahan was grateful to have atleast some insight into how this place worked.

"So what about you then?
You single, dating, married?"

"Oh, I'm single.
Have been for years."

"Good.
It's about time we had more eye candy."

◆◆◆

Eloise pulled a few boxes of cookies out of her bag.
She handed one to Elliott and Irene, before using her free hand to knock on Aahan's door.

"This is the worst idea ever", muttered Irene.

"Yeah, not gonna lie, I'm a bit worried too", said Eloise.
"My heart fell out my aŕse when I knocked on the door, but we've got this."

"Quick, someone get that image out of my head", frowned Elliott.

"Would a concussion help?", suggested Zee.

Spencer heard the door unlock, so he quickly slapped random arms near him to get everyone to be quiet.

An elderly woman opened the door. She had her hair in a messy braid, and a white shalwa kameez on.
She didn't look like the terrifying and domineering mother some of them had pictured.

"Hello there, Ma'am.
So sorry to bother you, but we're actually selling cookies to raise money for our–"

"Maaji?
What's going on?"

A tall man, who looked like he was a little older than Aahan, appeared at the door.
Eloise couldn't stop picturing Aahan when she saw him, but this man looked quite different.
If they were stood side by side, you could almost see a resemblance, but this man looked like a model.

He had a chiseled jawline and dark skin that complimented his hazel eyes so well.
He had stumble, but it looked clean and symmetrical on both sides of his face.

The man stared right at Eloise, making her question whether she had missed a question he asked.

"We're not interested in buying cookies."

He went to close the door, but Spencer swiftly placed his foot in the doorway before he could close it.

"Please, Sir... we've been working on this project for weeks.
No other family opened their door", he said.

"We really can't afford to fail", added Elliott.

The woman's face softened, and she turned to the skeptical man.
His facial expression remained the same, but his eyes seemed to show resignation.
He trusted his mother, that was for sure.

"Fine", he said.
"You can come in.
But I have four siblings inside, so do not try any funny business."

"Ganesh, please", the mother pleaded.

He stepped to the side and gestured for the group to come in.
Eloise stepped in first, with Spencer following her.
The rest of the group looked more apprehensive, but they realised they were too far in now.

Well, Irene did debate running as fast as she could, like a deranged lunatic who needed to run away from the scene of a crime.
She doubted she would be fast enough for that though.

In the hallway, there was a small table with a mirror hung above it.
On the table, there were statues of Hindu dieties, as well as pictures of the family.
Out of the seven photos that Eloise counted, only one of them had Aahan in it, and he was stood behind his mother.

The walls were white, with small bumps in them, which felt nice to touch.
Olive green lines were painted on the bottom of the wall, down to the skirting boards.

The mother led the group into the living room, where huge bowls of food decorated the table.
Two men and two women were seated at the table.

"Maaji, who are they?", asked one of the men.

"They are here for their school project, Aadi.
Do not worry, they are harmless."

Aadi was shorter than Ganesh, but only by about five inches.
His hair was curly and sat on top of his head neatly, with not a single strand getting in his eyes.
He had a lighter complexion than Ganesh, matching his younger sister Davkha's skin tone.
Like the rest of his family, with the exception of Ganesh, he had dark brown eyes.

"Sat sri akal", greeted Eloise.

She wasn't a practising Hindu, mainly because she hadn't really been exposed to her religion after her mother's passing.
She could only remember a few Hindi phrases—enough to keep up a basic conversation, but she remembered the phrase for greeting your elders, because it was the one she said the most growing up.

Her mother was a very sociable woman, and regularly had friends over, who Eloise had to treat with respect at all times.
Not that she wasn't normally respectful. In fact, aside from the odd prank, most of which her mother helped her to carry out, she was a very well-behaved child.

The elderly woman's face lit up, and she smiled sweetly at Eloise.

"Ah, you speak Hindi?"

"A little", she replied.
"I'm a Hindu.
I only really spoke Hindi with my mother though, but she... uh, I'm not fluent."

The mother nodded, before gesturing to the other man.
He looked very similar to Aadi, but he had darker skin, and a bigger nose.
His face was wider, and he had a very deep chicken pox scar on the bridge of his nose.
He was also a couple of inches taller than Aadi.

"This is my second oldest son, Aadit. The man you met before, Ganesh, is my eldest son", she said, before looking at Aadi.
"This is my third oldest son, Aadi."

"It looks like Mum is going to go through the whole clan, so I'll save her the trouble", said Davkha.
"I'm Davkha, the youngest child."

I really don't understand why we're introducing ourselves to school kids", said the other woman.

She spoke with confidence.
Even Spencer felt inclined to stand up straighter and listen to any order she gave.
She had much shorter hair than her younger sister.
Her hair rested on top of her shoulders, in a very sophisticated bob cut.
Her face was a little longer than her siblings', and her thick black eyebrows were naturally bushy, but they were perfectly combed.
Not a hair on the woman's head seemed misplaced, and even the beauty spot on the left side of her face, about half an inch away from her nose, seemed perfectly placed.

"Oh come on, Yuvati!", exclaimed Davkha.
"They're kids.
The second they rugby tackle us to the ground, you can say I told you so, but I highly doubt they'll do that."

"We won't!", assured Rowan.
"A bag of sugar could knock me over if you throw it hard enough."

"Let us see your cookies then", said an old man, who looked roughly the same age as the mother.

His wife slapped his arm, a disapproving frown on her face.
He quickly shook his head and turned to the group.

"Sorry, sorry... I'm their father.
I haven't eaten sugar all day."

"I made you that cake, Dad", said Yuvati.

"Beti, cabbage does not belong in cake."

The other siblings chuckled, and Yuvati rolled her eyes at them, before grabbing a fork and waving it in Aadi's face.

"Hey, hey, woah!", he exclaimed. "Everyone else laughed!"

"Yes, but your laugh irritates me the most", she revealed.
"You sound like a deflating balloon and a donkey at the same time."

"He really does!", laughed Davkha.

Despite looking perfect, the family seemed so... normal.
But Atlas and Elliott couldn't shake the bad feeling they got in the pit of their stomachs.

For Elliott and Atlas, family was everything.
It meant a lot to the others too, but the two boys felt the most connected to their families.

Elliott would never pass up the opportunity to talk about his brothers, and Atlas loved spending his free time with his siblings.

So, what they couldn't understand, was why none of his family had brought up Aahan?
And why his pictures weren't proudly displayed on the table?

"You have a big family", said Elliott.
"So do I.
I mean, I've secretly hoped for more siblings.
Family truly is a blessing."

Zee raised her eyebrows at Elliott's admission.
She was surprised that he cared so much about his family.
She didn't even notice herself smiling a little when his smile brightened.

"Yes, we are very lucky", said the mother.
"Our grandkids are coming over soon too."

Atlas was waiting for them to mention Aahan.
Elliott gave them the perfect opportunity to bring him up!

"My daughter, Davkha, is actually getting married soon", beamed the mother.

"Congratulations!", they said, in unison.

"This is the first time in years that my babies are under one roof", revealed the mother.

"And Aahan", reminded Davkha.
"Well, he's not here right now."

"Yes, that's right", said the mother.

Yes, that's right?

'That's the kind of thing a teacher tells a student', thought Spencer.

"He is a teacher", said the mother.
"Not a proper one though."

The father turned to his children, a proud smile on his face.

"Yuvati owns her own accounting firm", he said.
"And my boys are lawyers.
My darling Davkha is a nurse and author."

Rowan's eyes widened.
"You're an author?
What books have you written?"

"Oh, I'm not sure you'd be interested in my latest one.
It's sort of autobiographical, in a way. It's about a young Hindu woman's life. Her story follows the trials and tribulations of her life."

"That sounds interesting!", exclaimed Rowan.
"I read a lot of different books.
There's not really a genre I haven't read yet."

Davkha smiled.
"Oh.
That's good.
Well, it's called 'Advika' if you want to read it."

"We've talked a lot about ourselves", said the mother.
"What is your project about?"

"Oh, uh, it's just a marketing project", said Elliott.
"We all study business, and we need to sell store-bought cookies to show that we can really persuade people to buy our product."

"Why did you leave it so late?"

"We had a lot of work to do", replied Spencer.
"From our other lessons."

"Well, that's good.
It is very important that you work hard in this life.
Our sons and daughters are successful because of how hard they worked as children."

"Those jobs sound great", said Rowan. An idea popped into his head, and he waited a few seconds before speaking again.
"I actually want to be a teacher."

The parents frowned, but the mother quickly shook her head and smiled again.

"That sounds... lovely."

"Teaching is not a profession we'd recommend getting into", said the father.
"Not when there are better jobs out there.
But it is not my place to tell you how to live your life."

"The food will get cold so we should hurry", said Yuvati.
"We'll purchase one box of cookies."

Pieces of the puzzle slowly started to fit into place.
Aahan's desperation made sense now. How was anyone supposed to live in a family that didn't see them?

________________

Hi!

I did debate whether to go the comedic route or the informative/emotional route for the group meeting the family. I decided to go with the latter, because it was more important to show the students learning more about why Aahan is so stressed. There will be plenty of opportunities for humour in the future though!

Eloise's sense of identity is self-made, in my opinion. We all have things that make up part of who we are, such as our religion, our home life, our sexualities. These things are mainly inherent for humans, but for Eloise, she prides herself more on her friendships and the ways she can help others, rather than her ethnic/religious background. I liked exploring this. Eloise was never taught about her culture. Of course, her mother raised her on it, but after that, she was never really able to expand on her knowledge, and I think this is what led her to create an identity for herself outside of her religion, because she was never able to explore it in the way she wanted. This is just my own personal interpretation of the character though!

What are your thoughts on this chapter?

TRANSLATIONS:
These are for part 1 and 2.

Sat sri akal: A greeting for your elders.

Chacha: Uncle.

Chana Masala: Chickpea Stew.

Shalwar Kameez: Type of clothing.

starryeyedturtle

DoodleYeet

LeMystical-Puffle

1-800-SHAWNHUNTER-

Tornado-Jockey