“Get out, both of you. I don’t want you in my class!” Mr. Monor yelled. After hearing his whispery soft voice for so long the shouting sounded odd and rather scary. The class relied back.

“You,” he pointed to Karir. I want you to stand outside with Roney. On the other side of the door. You are not to return to your class until I have had a word with your teacher, and then your parents,” he announced. The two boys hung their heads and slowly trudged out, then did as they were told.

“All of you,” Mr. Monor returned his attention to us as our ears perked up. I could feel his glare on me, piercing and inspecting, and maybe a bit accusing. But then he looked away. “I want you to forget about whatever happened here.”

Even though Mr. Monor had only intervened when Karir’s nose had already been bleeding and he had been shouting a string of curses at Roney, I got the feeling that he had heard what Karir had announced to the entire class. And it could not be undone.

“We will continue class. Please refrain from looking outside at those two buffoons.” I did exactly that by instinct, and saw both of them staring daggers at one another. I could already imagine them planning how to strangle each other. Over me. I couldn’t believe it, but yet it had just happened. Two completely random boys seemed to have fallen far me and were already fighting over me. It was absolutely disgusting. I had read about it in a few novels, but it didn’t happen at least until dwarves were twenty. And I had no idea what had sparked them to admit their love for me, to admire me in the first place, I wasn’t even that beautiful. On top of that, I was extra tall. My brain tried to make sense of the muddle, but I couldn’t understand what was happening around me. I just wished it would all be over.

The rest of the day was just as fast as the first half, where I couldn’t pay any attention to what Mr. Monor was saying. People said that he even threw his chalk at me and i didn’t respond, so he left me alone saying that I was probably in shock. And I guess I was.

When the bell finally rang, signifying the end of the day, I got up and picked up my bag. As everyone left the room one by one, they gave me apprehensive and hostile stares, and I wished I could just turn invisible.

Urna appeared by my side, giving my shoulder a squeeze, and I sot her a thankful look. Finally when everyone in the bewildered classroom was out, the two boys entered. The two boys who had utterly ruined the last two days for me, and along with it the rest of my year.

“What the hell were you two thinking?” I yelled at bot of them.

“To be honest, I wasn’t thinking much.” Karir was staring down at his feet and blushing deep red. I could see the veins bulging in his muscular arms and legs. His lean body was a perfect build for an athlete, and his face radiated an aura of maturity and sensibility, however funny he may be. I couldn’t believe he had done something so outrageous. He looked up with his apologetic black eyes beneath deeply set dark brows that covered his skin of fairly light complexion.

“He was saying he liked you. I can’t tolerate that,” Roney pointed to Karir, pouting like a five year old.

“You’re not supposed to care,” I explained. “It is meant for me, not you.”

“But it affects me too. It makes me sad to think that there is another person after the girl I love.”

“Guys,” I sighed. “You have got to stop this ‘love’ business.”

“But…” Karir looked up. “I can’t help it. When I didn’t see you the entire summer, there was this inexplicable, painful longing in me. Just to see your face one more time.”

“I can’t explain mine either. It was like my subconscious was telling me to go after you, to tell you. And whenever i have looked at you, well I gotta say I get some tingles.”

I held back a shudder. Who the hell were these guys and what had they done to my friends. “So for some reason, you just suddenly started loving me?”

“I guess,” Karir said, giving me a lopsided grin. I scowled back at him. I wasn’t in the mood for that.

“I just had this feeling inside me at seeing you yesterday that i have never had before. None of the other girls stand out to me as you do, Melga. And I just wanted to protect you from this idiot,” Roney shot Karir a disgruntled look.

“Hey! I wasn’t going to harm her! She’s my friend! I was only doing what you did!” Karir protested.

“Stop, both of you,” I held out my hands. “First of all, I don’t need any protection Roney. I can take care of myself. Secondly, I have no idea what has come over you two, but I want my friends back. Thirdly, I am not so different from other girls. You do not need to be competing over me,” I said. I could so imagine myself doing this in a movie or a book to a couple of characters, but in real life it was plain frightening.

“But you have to choose first,” Roney stepped forward.

“One of us will triumph over the other,” echoed Karir.

“Choose?” I was bewildered. “Why do I have to choose? I’m not the one admitting my love to anyone?”

“But there are two of us here, and you have to choose one over the other,” spoke Roney.

“This isn’t a competition!” I was flabbergasted. And rather clueless. What did they want with me? A romantic relationship? Well then they had better go fish, because there was no way I was getting involved in something like that. The whole idea just sent chills down my spine. I was too young for it, and so were Karir and Roney. I wondered whether both of them had a psychological problem.

“But you’ve got to accept one of us. You can’t leave us hanging,” begged Karir.

“Can’t I? I have no obligations to return your feelings. And all of us know that this is all wrong. Let’s just forget about all of this and move on as friends.

Both the boys looked down with downcast expressions, sharing a glance. I somehow detected the communication between them. They would continue with this contest of theirs. They would continue fighting to find out who would finally win my affection. As a sadistic thought, I imagined disappointing both of them and choosing someone else when the time came, but then my sense returned to me. However stupid they may be acting, they were both my friends and I didn’t want to break their hearts.

Both of them grabbed their backpacks and trudged out of the room, giving each other evil eyes and disappearing from the school. There was a sudden heavy silence that fell over the empty school, begging not to be filled. I was glad about it. I gratefully collapsed into Urna’s outstretched arms and she patted my back. “Oh, what have I gotten myself into, Urna?”

“It’s not your fault, Melga. You just need to forget about it and move on.”

“But will the world let me forget about it?” I mumbled into her fluffy white hair. Then something occurred to me. Nobody in my world would forget about it. In fact, the news would spread like wildfire around the city of Rothem. Life would never be normal again.

But there was a world up there, a world of creatures like us completely oblivious to what was happening down here. Completely oblivious to my problems. I felt that going to the surface might help me calm my mood. If I met Raghav, I could talk to him like he was a normal friend, just chat and let all the worries of my own life melt away. It was a perfect plan.

There was just one thing. I had to sneak into the house to get the surface pass and stealthily make my way to the desert, hoping that nobody had been warned about my presence.