While brushing his teeth, everything came rushing to him. Aric’s memories overlapped, and he soon realized what year it was: 2007. He was in Class 8. (Indian school systems are a bit different. Class 8, for most, is around the age of 13-14. Class 10 is the last year where a student has to study all general subjects. After Class 10 comes Class 11 and 12, also known as +2, where a student has to choose a stream: Science, Arts, or Economics. After Class 12 comes university, which is almost the same as other universities globally.)
He had been reincarnated to his younger self. It would be at least 6 to 7 years again before everything would go awry, but until then, he would have time.
"Calm down. Not only do you have time, but you also need to understand the reason why you were reincarnated. There must be an explanation. There has to be something," Aric thought. Without those chaotic thoughts, he went to shower and prepare for the day.
As he came out of the shower, breakfast was ready for him to eat before heading out. Aric had tears in his eyes as he saw the homemade food and witnessed his mother being so bubbly and energetic again.
He couldn’t help but go and hug her.
"What’s wrong with you?" Avni asked, surprised by her son’s embrace. She sensed a mix of sadness and happiness from him. For some reason, Avni felt her son was very different that day. Normally, if she scolded him like other days, he would be annoyed and throw a tantrum, but today he was exceptionally silent and hadn’t spoken until now.
"Nothing... I’m just happy to see the food again that you cooked so early in the morning. Thank you," Aric said with a wide grin.
"Is there something wrong with you today?" Avni asked, touching his forehead to check for a fever or some other ailment.
"No, Mom, I’m fine. Everything is fine. Just thank you," Aric replied as he sat at the table to eat. The reason for his reincarnation could wait; for now, he needed to enjoy his time. It was these moments that he had missed over the years, so he wanted to cherish them.
His mom had prepared a wonderful breakfast, so he was quite happy. As he ate, he saw his father enter the home. His father had gone early in the morning to check and water the farm produce. This season, his father was growing mushrooms, so he was keeping a close eye on everything.
Seeing his father young again almost brought tears to his eyes. He wanted to leave his food and hug his father, but he stopped himself. He had been acting weird since morning, he needed to get a hold of himself.
His father just nodded seeing his son eating while he went for the shower himself. Early morning showers were really a trend at his home. After eating and cleaning himself, he got ready for the school and wore his uniform. Within a minute he was ready and went to the bus stop to wait for the school bus.
The town was small so the roads weren’t broad enough and there wasn’t a public transport like the big cities. It would be years before there would be a small autos (also known as tuktuks for those who know them) that would be used as some kind of local shared public transport.
The roads didn’t seem to be in very good condition. Slowly, Aric realized that it would be some time before he could get himself a smartphone.
"Damn, I’m already missing my phone. God. This reincarnation is going to be torture," Aric thought as he continued to wait and look around. His thoughts were in disarray as he began to make a concrete plan of what he needed to do. Although he complained and grumbled a bit about the smartphone, he knew he would soon get a hold of one.
Honk!
A bus arrived, throwing dust behind it. Aric recognized the face of the same old driver he had seen in his past years. After boarding the bus, he remembered his usual seat, which was beside his then-friend, Ishan.
He referred to Ishan as a "then-friend" because they had chosen different streams after Class 10. They tried to keep in contact, but after two years of studying in different classes in the same school and then attending different universities, their lives took different paths.
What saddened Aric was that Ishan went on to date and marry the girl whom Aric had once liked and even dated briefly when he was in Class 11. They were in the same school, and the girl belonged to his class. He had confided in Ishan about her, and Ishan had encouraged him to pursue her.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work out, as she was emotionally involved with someone else. Aric was pretty upset about it and had spoken to Ishan regarding it. Ironically, Ishan later betrayed him.
It was then that Aric realized Ishan wasn’t a true friend and forced himself to move on. This all happened in the last few months of Class 12, and although Ishan tried to keep in contact when Aric moved to Mumbai, Aric wasn’t as responsive. Thankfully, Ishan didn’t persist and let Aric be. Now he was back in his life.
"Hey, did you bring a good lunch today? I brought potato chips. Mom gave me enough money to buy some," Ishan said innocently, genuinely happy about his chips.
"Oh. My mom just sent some beans to chew on," Aric replied curtly. Ishan was disappointed, as Aric was known in the class for bringing the best lunches, and Ishan had been looking forward to sharing his chips and eating a good portion of Aric’s lunch.
Ishan didn’t dwell on it much and started talking about the Pokémon episode he had watched the previous day. Aric nodded, listening to Ishan’s chatter. Although he listened, he also tried hard to discern if something was wrong with the world.