The next morning, the sky looked a little cloudy. After waking up and washing his hands and face, Arian went straight to school. He was the first one to arrive; no one else had come that early. After a while, he noticed that Labiba had also arrived very early that day. Suddenly, it started raining. In Arian's class, only three boys and twelve girls were present, and in Class Nine, there were seven girls and three boys.
Arian went to the Class Nine room and sat with the boys there. They started chatting a little, while at the same time, Labiba was talking with her friends. From time to time, Arian quietly looked toward Labiba. Since Arian had done well in organizing the previous competition, the boys of Class Nine were speaking to him with a lot of respect. One of them loudly said, "Arian da, you really handled your responsibility very well, I liked it a lot." Labiba heard this, and the other girls heard it too. Arian replied calmly, "Yeah bro, it was my duty to do at least this much for the school."
After some time, when a teacher entered the class, Arian quietly left through the back door and returned to his own class. He was feeling very good, thinking about love, and walking in a relaxed, slightly swaying way before sitting down. Because of the rainy day, very few teachers came, so there were hardly any classes. After the first class, there were no more classes for Arian. He sat there, humming a song in his mind, resting his head on the desk.
Just then, a boy came and told him, "Pralay sir is calling you." Arian was a bit surprised, but he understood and went to the library. There, Pralay sir gave him the responsibility of distributing the admit cards of Class Nine students.
Arian took the admit cards and went to the Class Nine room to distribute them among the ten students present. In his mind, he felt very lucky. He thought that somehow he was always getting chances to see Labiba again and again for different reasons. It felt to him as if the whole universe wanted him and Labiba to come closer. He even felt as if everything was being arranged just for him.
One by one, he distributed all the admit cards. At last, he went to the last bench to give the final one. It was Labiba. As he handed over the admit card, their eyes met, and as their hands touched during the exchange, Arian felt a sudden shiver in his body. He could not move his eyes away from hers. For a moment, he felt like he could not do anything. Then quickly, he stepped back, thanked everyone, and started leaving. He felt that this day had become something very special for him.
After some time, the rain stopped a little. It was tiffin time. From his classroom, Arian was looking outside. He saw Labiba playing racket with one of her friends. Arian thought, if only he could play with her, how good it would feel. He kept looking at her from a distance.
Tiffin time ended. Since very few students had come that day, the school closed early. Labiba started going home. Arian watched which direction she was going and followed her a little from behind, but not too far. After some distance, he stopped and turned back toward his own way and went home. After reaching home and freshening up, he took his phone and started listening to different romantic songs.
He did not even question himself whether this kind of feeling suited him or not.
But still, his days and nights were passing very well. He was always feeling happy, as if something inside him was giving him constant joy.
Slowly, exams came closer. It was now time for Arian's Class Ten board exams. Arian was not a very good student before. The school was open for ten days before the exam, and during that time, there was a farewell program for Class Ten students. The Class Nine students were giving emotional speeches and good wishes to their seniors. Arian felt that he wanted to quickly finish Class Ten and move on to Class Eleven.
Arian was sitting with his friends, talking, when Labiba came toward them with one of her friends. Seeing her, Arian suddenly became restless. His eyes almost filled with tears, and he did not even understand why he felt that way. Labiba came and stood in front of him and said, "Do your exam well, I know you will do very well." Labiba was the topper of Class Nine, while Arian was not a good student in Class Ten. But hearing her words, something changed inside him. With only ten days left, he decided to take his exams very seriously.
After the farewell, Arian went home and thought, "The person I like has told me to do well, so no matter what happens, I will get a good result." From that day, he started studying almost 15 hours a day. He made a routine that he would finish one subject completely every day, no matter what. Mentally, he became very tired, but still, Labiba's eyes kept appearing in his mind again and again.
At home, everyone was surprised. His mother and sister could not understand what had suddenly happened to Arian that made him so serious about his studies. Without asking too many questions, they started supporting him. His mother and sister encouraged him by saying, "Arian, you can do it."
Arian wrote "95%+" in front of him where he studied. He decided that he would achieve it no matter what. He also wrote a few motivational lines there, along with Labiba's name.
Days started passing quickly—nine days, eight days, seven, six, five, four, three. In such a short time, Arian had covered so much that no one could have imagined. His hard work was truly admirable. He slept only four or five hours a day, and apart from eating, he spent all his time studying. For those ten days, it felt like he knew nothing except studying. He watched lectures on YouTube and learned from both school teachers and tuition teachers. Even they were surprised to see how a boy who could not do much before was now solving so many questions just ten days before the exam.
Everyone supported him, and slowly the days passed—three days, two days, one day, and finally the exam day arrived. Arian felt a little nervous, but his sister gave him courage. She said, "Brother, you can do it. I know there is something inside you that will help you achieve your dreams." After talking with his sister, Arian went to sleep.
The next day, the exam was at 10:30 in the morning. He had been told to sleep for at least eight hours before the exam, so he slept at midnight and woke up at eight in the morning. The first exam was English. He prepared himself and went to give the exam.
After completing all the formalities and showing his admit card, he entered the exam hall and sat down. The exam duration was three and a half hours, but he finished it within three hours. After that, he felt a bit thoughtful. He realized that he could not answer three questions, each carrying three marks, so he lost a total of nine marks.
After coming home, he told his family about it. His family was very happy because for the first time, Arian had attempted almost everything and missed only nine marks.
The next day there was no exam because it was Sunday. The next exam was on Monday, which was Physical Science.