"Me? I'm the principal of your school, homie."

"Huh?" Abhi replied, raising his left eyebrow to his hairline.

"Yeah, you heard me right. I'm the principal of your school, cuh," said the mysterious man in a professional-looking suit, maintaining a blank expression.

"Yeah, sure, and I'm the prime minister. Ha-ha," Abhi retorted, nervously laughing.

"Whatever, cuh. You don't have to believe me, but tell me what you're doing here. If it's safe, I'll let you go," the mysterious man replied.

"I don't have to tell you, and I need to go. My bus is leaving soon, so bye-bye, 'cuh.' Ha-ha," Abhi said with a smug laugh, furrowing his brows.

The man pointed at something behind Abhi. "You mean that bus?"

Abhi turned around, looking in the direction the man indicated, and his jaw dropped. "WHAT! NO!" He started running toward the bus station, realizing that his bus had already left for the Low City.

After a few seconds of running, the bus had already vanished from Abhi's view, disappearing below the edge of High City.

"NO! NO! NO! What am I going to do now? Another bus doesn't come for another 30 minutes!" Abhi exclaimed, his lips quivering as he held his head in his arms.

"Oi, why did you want to go to Low City anyway? Do your parents know you're going there?"

"Shut up! You're the reason I'm going to be late now, fuck!" Abhi snapped, and angrily punched a pillar nearby while leaning on it for support.

"Chill out, cuh. You shouldn't use naughty words. Also, maybe I could have helped you... wait, never mind, I can't," the man said, sounding disappointed.

"Wait, can you help me get to Low City?" Abhi asked, a glimmer of hope in his eye.

"Nah, I can't now."

"Wait, I'm sorry for being rude, sir. It's just really important for me to get to work on time," Abhi pleaded, anxiety trembling in his voice.

"It's not that. I just remembered I took a bus because my car is at the mechanic, so I really can't help," the man replied.

"BRUH!... There’s nothing I can do now," Abhi said, staring down at the ground in despair.

"Well, if you tell me what you’re doing here, we can go eat at the café until your second bus arrives." The man pointed to the "Garlock Gobbler Gamers" café.

Abhi shifted to the left and glanced at the café. It looked quite luxurious, something completely outside the boundaries of his life. Intrigued, he tried to hide his expression and looked down at his newly bought shoes.

"No, sorry, I can't pay for that," Abhi replied.

"Don' worry 'bout it, cuh. The treat's on me. Well, technically, it's a complimentary buffet, so the food is free," the man reassured him.

"Still, I can't eat with a stranger. Also, why must I tell you my reason for being here when you haven't told me yours?" Abhi said, still looking down at the ground.

"Fair enough. Here, look at this. I was actually here specifically to… do some… uh… work in the café but ended up with your situation here ha-ha." The man pulled out his wallet from his back pocket, flipped it open, and showed Abhi its contents.

The wallet displayed two things in a transparent plastic compartment: a membership card for the GGG (Garlock Gobbler Gaming) café, partially covered by the man's fingers, and a wedding photo of the man with his wife.

To Abhi, everything other than the card blurred. He couldn’t even make out the face of the man holding the wallet; he was completely focused on its contents.

Abhi observed the display carefully, verifying that the man indeed had a membership at the café. Although some information was hidden under the man's fingers as he held the wallet, the information didn’t seem necessary either way. Then his eyes moved to the wedding photo, and after looking at it for a few seconds, Abhi's jaw dropped as he exclaimed loudly:

"Is that our teacher, Ms. Oxlong?!"

"Yuhuh. Nice to meet you; I'm Mike Oxlong, Ms. Oxlong's husband and the principal of HS Kolar," said the mysterious professional-looking man, Mr. Mike Oxlong.

Abhi slowly took a step back, his lips quivering. He suddenly snapped to attention, clamped his hands together, and said:

"Oh, good morni— I mean good evening, Mr. Principal! I'm Abhi Archana. Also, I deeply apologize for not believing you and acting so rudely, ha-ha..." he added with an awkward smile, his lips twitching and his hands shaky.

"Don' worry 'bout it; let's go to the café," Mike replied as he began walking towards the entrance.

"Uh... are you sure, sir?" Abhi asked anxiously.

"Yeah, come inside," Mike said as only his back was visible to Abhi.

The two of them walked to the entrance, which had a tinted glass door. Above the door handle was an unusual orange box. Mike took out his membership card and slid it through the slot at the center of the box; within seconds, the door opened automatically, and the card returned from the mechanical slot.

They entered the establishment. Abhi looked around the environment with curiosity and stayed close to his principal as they passed a hallway and arrived at a nearby room. His eyes sparkled with wonder as he took in the new surroundings. It looked like a spacious maze of cubicles, each containing large black mettalic boxes under the counters, attached to big screens mounted above. Abhi stood up straight in excitement and exclaimed:

"Computers!"

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"Yup, this is a gamer stop. We can play games on computers here for a specific amount of time. The duration depends on your membership," Mike explained, leading him into a cubicle.

"Oh, so like cricket or something on the computer?" Abhi asked, subtly touching the black CPU box beneath the desk out of curiosity.

"Pretty much the gist of it. Also, click on that big red button there," Mike instructed as he settled into a chair.

Abhi clicked the button, and the monitor screen booted up. He was slightly startled but managed to hide his reaction, as this was the second time he’d seen something like this today.

"Go grab a spare chair from over there. I'll load some games in the meantime," Mike pointed to a hallway on the right without taking his eyes off the screen.

"Alright." Abhi complied, expressionless.

As he walked towards the hallway to get a chair, Abhi locked eyes with a chubby kid—the same one who had shoved him earlier! The kid was sitting in one of the cubicles, his mouth stuffed with snacks and wrappers strewn around. Slowly, he turned his chair to follow Abhi with squinted eyes. Abhi, however, didn’t pay him any mind or perhaps didn’t even recognize him and simply continued on his way.

"Wot tHe hAel is thAt Rakvill kiD doin' here?" the fat kid mumbled to himself, mouth full of sticky, sugary snacks.

Abhi grabbed a chair, and as he walked back to Mike’s cubicle, he noticed Mike struggling to slide his membership card into a slot attached to the computer, similar to the machine at the entrance.

Seeing Abhi approach, Mike held the card in his hand, likely to avoid the embarrassment of fumbling with the slot. He hid what he was doing with his fingers but, as Abhi got closer, finally gave up and used both hands. After some difficulty, Mike managed to insert the card. Abhi watched the scene curiously, then sat beside Principal Mike.

"Do you have to put that card inside the computer too?" Abhi asked with a curious smile.

"Yeah, the computer reads the card and grants the appropriate amount of time for gaming. I have the lowest-level card, so my playtime is capped at 10 hours per week. But since I only come here once or twice a week, I rarely use up my time. The time restrictions are mainly there to stop kids from spending too much time on gaming. The cost difference between the lowest and highest level cards isn’t significant, either," Mike replied, eyes still on the screen.

"Very interesting…" Abhi paused thoughtfully, creasing his eyebrows. "But I have a question. Can I ask?"

"Go ahead, cuh," Mike responded blankly.

Startled again by the principal’s casual lingo, Abhi said, "I thought most people had computers at home. I figured the principal of the biggest school would surely have one too. Is that not the case?"

Principal Mike was silent for a few seconds before answering, "You're pretty perceptive, aren’t you?"

"Haha, Perhaps." Abhi chuckled, awaiting an explanation.

"Well, I do have a computer at home, but it’s strictly for work now. I used to have games on it but ended up too addicted, spending work time on games. So, I decided to get a membership at a gaming café on the edge of the city instead of playing games at home. This way, I don’t waste too much time on games." Mike smiled at Abhi as he explained.

"Oh, that makes a lot more sense. I also noticed a room filled with food near the hallway and saw someone eating a ton—is that the buffet?" Abhi asked, looking down and stuttering slightly, appearing both introverted and excited.

"Oh yeah, that’s the complimentary buffet. Go grab some snacks for yourself. And hey, bring me two packets of Happy’s Chips while you’re at it," Mike said, turning back to the monitor.

"Wait, I can just take it for free? And how much can I take?" Abhi’s eyes sparkled with excitement, his smile brighter than the sun.

"Yup, take all you can eat; it’s a buffet, after all," Mike replied nonchalantly.

"WHAT! That’s so much! Are you sure?" Abhi asked, looking both nervous and thrilled.

"Yuhuh, go enjoy, cuh."

"Thank you so much, sir," Abhi replied, getting more used to Principal Mike’s slang.

Abhi headed to the buffet, marvelling at the variety of snacks. He picked up two packets of Happy’s Chips, then grabbed a plate and cup, loading up with random chips, a few gulab jamuns, jalebis, ras malai, and more. With his plate full, he returned to Mike’s cubicle.

As Abhi walked back, he noticed another man standing beside Mike in the cubicle. The two of them appeared to be in the middle of a conversation but stopped when Abhi entered.

///

"Sir, I’ve received a complaint from one of the other members that you brought a non-member into the café. That’s against policy, though you could have purchased a one-day pass for an additional guest for 100 rupees," the man with a manager badge informed Mike.

///

Abhi entered, unaware of the previous conversation.

"Hey, sir, I brought your chips—and a bunch of snacks for me too. Thanks again!" Abhi said, handing the two packets to Mike.

"Thanks for bringing my chips—cheers!" said Mike, and the two clinked their packets together like wine glasses.

"By the way, could I pack some snacks for my mom too? I feel bad enjoying everything alone without sharing," Abhi asked, putting his plate down.

The manager and Mike exchanged glances before Principal Mike responded.

"Yuhuh, go ahead. Just stick to dry, packaged items so you don’t mess up your backpack," Mike said, smiling.

"Thanks!" Abhi returned to the buffet to gather more dry and packed snacks.

///

"Alright, I apologize—I didn’t know about the one-day pass. I’ll buy it now," Mike said, looking flustered.

"Mr. Mike, usually bringing in a non-member would result in membership cancellation, but I’ll let it slide since it’s your first time—and since the principal of Kolar wouldn’t usually need to sneak someone in," the manager said with a smile.

"Well... thanks, I guess."

///

Abhi returned without realizing what was going on, stuffing the dry snacks into his bag. As he rummaged through it, he suddenly found something unexpected—a tiffin box.

"Wait... did I accidentally take Veer's tiffin with me?" Abhi muttered. his brows furrowed as he looked down at his bag.

A thought struck him, and his eyes brightened. "Sir, I accidentally brought a friend's—uh, I mean a classmate’s—tiffin. Do you think I could use it to carry some of the unpackaged snacks?"

The manager shot Mike a disapproving look, but Mike merely sighed. "Alright, go ahead."

Abhi noticed the manager’s expression and asked, "Is there a problem, sir? I’m sorry; I won’t take anything if it’s an issue."

"Nah, you’re good, homie. Go get it," Mike replied with a smile.

"Thanks again!" Abhi said, turning his frown into a grin as he happily trotted back to the buffet.

///

"Sir, you know only dry, packaged snacks are allowed to be taken home, right? I just explained the rules; I can’t let this slide," the manager said firmly.

"Yeah, but I couldn’t tell him no."

"Sorry, sir, but we must enforce the rules strictly. That’s why the parents of your students trust us—to maintain discipline and limit their gaming time."

"You’re completely right. But please, let it go just this once. This kid’s from Low City, just like you were when you started out. Let him enjoy this evening," Mike reasoned, reaching into his pocket.

The manager paused to look at Mike for a second, but soon his expressions soften and he sighed away the tense atmosphere.

The manager looked at Mike with softened eyes. "If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was your son."

"Ha-ha, too young for that, I fear," Mike chuckled.

///

Abhi filled the tiffin box with various sweets, piling in several gulab jamuns—his mom’s favourite sweets. With the tiffin packed to the brim, he returned to the cubicle and noticed Mike handing something to the manager.

Mike discreetly gave the manager a 500-rupee note, which the man subtly pocketed. As the manager left, he smiled at Abhi before walking away without another glance.

………..