Sandeep was staring intently in his biology book, digesting cell structures.
"Hey, let's go get some food, man!" Neeraj cackled in laughter, his hand hit Sandeep's shoulder.
"Don't do that again," Sandeep said, clutching at his heart. He jumped back, gasping for air. "My heart is hammering."
Neeraj spun Sandeep's chair around. "Let's go, let's go, we're having free food. Don't you want any free food?"
"Huh?" Sandeep looked like he was collecting himself. His eyes gazed around wildly.
"We're already late, follow me."
Sandeep stumbled along. He was still trying to make sense of the tail end of cell structures as the rest of him was piecing togethor Neeraj's outburst. Sandeep followed Neeraj as if he was in a daze. "Where are we going again?"
"Free food." Neeraj said with confidence. Sandeep noticed that Neeraj seemed in a hurry. He didn't see what the big deal was about free food. He wasn't even sure why he had walked away from his books. He had promised himself that he would finish chapter 13 of the biology book by the weekend. The test was on Tuesday. There was no way he was going to do that if he was going to get distracted by every friend that came to yell in his ear and slam his back. .
Sandeep followed Neeraj into a restuarant. Neeraj seemed to know the owner. A wink and a nod and food was exchanged. Sandeep chose to eat what Neeraj wanted. Not to show that he wasn't grateful, on the way back to school, Neeraj offered to buy some sweets. Sandeep agreed. Neeraj bought a laddu each for them.

Once in school, they bump into some of Neeraj's friends who insist that they sit with them. Sandeep shrugged innocently and sat down. He sees a glint in their eye as they all look into each other's faces. They start talking about physics. About the universe and how things go out of control. It's a jumble of words as each of the boys are talking over the other one. Rapid words coming. Sandeep looks at one face and then the other.
Something about force crushes and atoms get smashed. What? None of this made any sense. One of the boys looked at Sandeep as he  gnashed his teeth together.
Sandeep smiled nervously. His heart was beating. He didn't know what all of this is about. It all seems directed towards him. Had he done something wrong?
"I'm sure bookish guys like you swallow this physics shit like this right?" saying so the guy, with his eyes enlarged bent his back forward to the table and sucked at the table like he would suck the earth beneath him to his lungs. 
Neeraj said nodding, "Oh yeah, Sandeep is a very deep thinker."
"Ah, we know your kind. We know what you like. Let me tell you about the core of the earth. Did you know know that liquid metal travels up and down the earth. You have to spin that metal at a really fast speed and you get all kinds of gravitational forces from it." The others laughed harshly.
Dark pupils with grim faces stared at Sandeep's face. He tried to think how he might have offended these guys. He swallowed and smiled. "Oh that's all interesting and all, I prefer philosophy: like Zen, and the sound of one hand clapping. Heh heh." He laughed nervously.

The boys didn't even blink.
Sandeep quickly excused himself leaving his food uneaten at the table. He started walking away, glancing back at the boys who stared after him as he walked away.
Sandeep walked back to the library and sat at his desk and tried to focus. But his mind was reeling. There were boys talking around him. And now it sounded like what they were saying was angry and directed to him. It was like everybody in the library was conspiring against him. Sandeep started melting within himself. He wanted to run, but he couldn't. The shelves of books seemed to be moving towards him. The ceiling seemed too close to his head. The librarian was looking at him angrliy. Sandeep's heart got cold. He clutched at himself. He tried to steady himself. But it was like something was eating at him from the inside. A knot rose at the top of his head. A whirlpool started there. The white whirlpool spun faster. His throat started contracting. It was like there was a lump there that he could not dislodge. He started to hyperventilate and all he saw was people looking at him with disgust. He raised his hand asking for help. Everyone in the library looked horrified at him. A black cloud moved into the library. It seemed to erase the ceiling, the books, the faces. Sandeep felt himself falling. Then a sharp pain on his head. 

He woke up in the hospital four days later. He would leave for home only two days later with his parents. As they reached home they told him that, by the way, one of his friends had stopped by the house with sweets. Apparantly Neeraj had gotten the top grades in the biology test that Sandeep had missed since he was at the hospital. He blinked hard, his lips trembling as he digested his parents words. Sandeep had always come first in that class.