It was a scorching summer afternoon.

All of us 7th-grade kids were enjoying the cold AC air in the computer lab. The teacher was not teaching us at that time. At that time, he was still new to the school but he looked strict to us. I don’t remember clearly but he was busy in troubleshooting some equipment in the lab.

2-3 of us were chatting amongst ourselves.

One of our classmates cracked a small joke about the mannerisms of that teacher. It was not loud to be heard by anyone but a few of us in the vicinity completely broke down into fits of laughter.

It was then that the teacher shouted and called me and my friend closer to him.

Both of us went towards him apprehensively. We still had that joke lingering in our minds so we still did not expect any strong reaction. We both were the toppers of our class so we were not really used to getting reprimanded by a teacher.

However, what happened next went by in a flash.

The teacher was outrageous. As soon as we reached him, he began shouting at us.

And out of nowhere….Smack. Smack. Smack. Smack. Smack.

He started slapping us in turns without waiting for our response.

Both of us were shocked. We froze. We couldn’t utter a single word. We didn’t even lift our hands to protect ourselves. I don’t even remember how many times he slapped us. I went numb mentally and most likely even physically.

However, I did not cry.

And I think neither did my friend. I wasn’t used to crying, let alone in front of my classmates, one of whom was a crush. 😀

I remember at the end of the class, the teacher called both of us again. He had cooled down by that time. He tried explaining to us the rationale behind his behavior. Something about how we should think about what mood the teacher is in before creating a nuisance in the class. He even gave compliments about how we were good students and that he expected better from us.

We both went back to the class.

One good thing that happened was we became kinda heroes.

Everybody admired how ‘bravely’ we stood up to the teacher taking those hits quietly. No resistance. No emotions.

I remember one friend telling me, “Wow dude! You did not even cry!”.

And I just shrugged it off like only a 15-year-old can do to come across as cool.

I thought I had forgotten about this incident until I pondered upon today’s prompt of “who hurt you”? It is something I had put away from the active conscious memory. I don’t even think it impacted me a lot.

However, now I think that was the last time I remember having fun in the class.

It was the day I got ‘serious’.

I never dared to laugh or crack jokes in a classroom after that. I had always thought it was because I gave immense importance to studies from the 8th-9th grade onward.

I shifted to a new school for the last 4 years of my schooling (not because of the incident, only because my parents thought it was a better school.)

The new school was known for its discipline.

And I became the poster boy of sincerity, seriousness, and discipline in those last 4 years at the school. I took up prefect duties as well as became Head Boy in the last year of schooling.

Everyone in the new school thought I was a serious, studious, and sincere student.

But I barely had any friends in those last 4 years of schooling except 1 or 2. Perhaps because I never expressed my fun side ever again.

In retrospect, the day I got serious might have cost me a few friendships and connections in the following years.

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