" Never judge someone before you know them. It''s not a good habit to jump to conclusions. Did you get the story? " The teacher asked as I kept my gaze on the time above the blackboard. ''5 more minutes and I''ll go home'' I thought to myself. I wasn''t much of a bright student and I didn''t even get the good seat. I sat in the middle row on second bench I couldn''t look out of the window even if I wanted to. The bell rang and I jolted up my seat almost forgetting the person in power. She looked at me annoyed and I tried to avoid her sharp eyes as I played with my plaits, but she gave up quickly which meant I had a bad day tomorrow as I was going to be embarrassed first thing in the morning. As soon as I saw her silhouette leave I ran down the stairs.


    I slammed open the door reaching home as I made an entrance making my mom flinch a little in the process.


    "Niku how many times have I told you not to do that? " I just giggled as my mom scolded me and sat on the sofa while she bent down to get my shoes and the heavy school bag, opening it checking if I had my lunch. Once she was satisfied looking at the empty tiffin box she asked me what I learnt in school.


    "A story. It had a good moral." I replied as I tried to remember what really happened today.


    "What was the moral? " She asked almost immediately.


    "Never judge a book by its cover." I said giving it a minute. English was the last period we had and a 1st grade students didn''t really have good memory or did they? She smiled approvingly. I was watching tv when felt a little tired and dozed off on my mother''s lap and the comforting darkness took over.


    It''s getting darker I better head home. I saw as the night almost took over the sky. It was 6:45pm. I was waiting for the bus when there was a ring I immediately checked my phone and saw my mom calling.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation."Niku are you home yet?"


    "Not yet. I am still outside the company waiting for the bus."


    "Call me as soon as you reach."


    "Yep. I''ll call you later. Bye." And I ended the call as I saw my bus approaching. It wasn''t that late but the area I lived in was.... let''s just say quite and even though I have been an intern for almost 6 months now I still wasn''t used to the uncomfortable stillness that sent chills down my spine.


    The bus halted with a jolt and I got down. Now was the toughest part the 10 mins walk to the apartment. I started walking down the straight dark road with flickering street lights which did not help much except sometimes the flickering did add a little too much to the horror. So much for a cheap rent apartment. That''s when I heard footsteps, heavy footsteps. They were growing louder and faster which made me hurry a little as well. I took long strides to reach as fast as possible holding my keys between knuckles, a basic trick everyone knows or at least that''s what I am assuming. I reached at the gate my heart pumping and breathing unstable. I turned to close the gate when a voice shouted," Ma''am you dropped this." I halted and saw a lady approach me handing me my company ID card. I thanked her and I continued walking to the stairs. It was a woman who also seemed to be in a hurry, holding her handbag and almost running as she checked her wrist watch.


    I plopped myself on the bed in the living room which was also my bedroom. It was a one room kitchen which are not very easy to find in Mumbai. I stared at my hand as I rolled them back into fist remembering what happened. " Never judge a book by it''s cover." I said almost out loud taking a sharp breath in as I looked at my sealing. I wonder what changed?