After reaching home, Rati quietly went up to the terrace and lay down on her bed.
The next morning, when she woke up, she bathed and had her share of tea and biscuits. As she was getting ready to go to school, Rama came to her and said,
"Rati, didn't you give your dress to Mom to wash? Look how dirty it is. Now you'll get punished at school."
Hearing this, Rati looked carefully at her dress and then said to Rama,
"Oh, I forgot… but what should I do now?"
"Why do anything? Just go like this, or tell Mom that you have a stomach ache and won't be able to go to school today."
"But my stomach doesn't hurt!"
"So what? Just tell a lie."
"But if I lie, Mata Rani won't come to meet me and won't give me her lion."
"Oh please, she's not going to meet you anyway. You steal, you go out at night without telling anyone, and you always eat all the cream from the milk and then say the cat ate it. If you don't want to lie, then don't lie at all. Picking and choosing the truth doesn't count."
Saying this, Rama left from there.
After hearing all this, Rati stopped getting ready and went straight to her mother and said,
"Mom, I won't go to school today."
"Why?"
"Because my dress is dirty, and if I go like this, the teacher will punish me and make me stand outside in the sun."
"Then why didn't you give your clothes for washing yesterday when I asked both of you?"
"I forgot."
"So what should I do? You have to go to school, I don't want to hear anything. Understood?"
After saying this, her mother went back to her work. Seeing no other option, Rati went to her mother's room on the terrace and took some powder from her sindoor container, then started applying it on her white dress so that the dirt wouldn't be visible.
During prayer at school, when the teacher saw what Rati had done to her dress, she asked,
"Rati, what has happened to your dress?"
"Ma'am, I applied powder on it because I forgot to give it to my mother for washing yesterday."
Hearing this, the teacher first laughed, then wrote a complaint in her diary and sent her to class.
The first period started.
"Everyone, take out your math notebooks. Today, I will check everyone's homework."
But Rati had completely forgotten about it. When she took out her notebook, she realized that she hadn't completed her homework at all.
Shruti said to Rati,
"Oh no, you haven't done your homework. What will you do now?"
"I don't know."
Just then, the teacher said,
"Rati, show me your homework."
"Ma'am, I forgot to do my homework."
"Why?"
"Yesterday was Naag Panchami, so I went with my grandmother to offer milk."
For some reason, everyone gets distracted by Rati's innocent way of speaking.
"Alright, fine. Sit down."
After the first class ended, as soon as the teacher left the classroom, a boy snatched Rati's notebook and tore its first page.
"What did you do?!"
"Why did you tell the teacher that day that I didn't bring my ID card?"
"Well, you hadn't brought it, so what else should I have said?"
"So you should suffer now."
"Oh really? Wait, I'll show you now."
Rati grabbed the boy's hair, forced his head down, and stabbed his back with a pencil.
The boy screamed in pain. Hearing his cries, the peon rushed into the classroom and tried to free the boy from Rati's grip. But her hold was so strong that he couldn't separate them.
Just then, the next period's teacher entered the class, slapped Rati, and freed the boy from her grip. The boy was then taken to the school's medical room for treatment.
After that, Rati was called to the principal's office along with Rama.
The principal said to Rati,
"Rati, look at what you've done. Now apologize."
"Why should I?"
"He tore my notebook first."
"So what? You should have complained to the teacher."
"Now say sorry, otherwise you won't be allowed to enter the class until you do."
Then the principal said to Rama,
"Tell her to apologize."
Rama said,
"Rati, say sorry, or they won't let you sit in the class."
Rati replied,
"No. If it's not my fault, I won't apologize."
"Alright then, you will have to stand outside."
Saying this, the teacher made her stand outside the classroom and continued teaching. But Rati didn't give up her stubbornness and quietly kept standing outside the class.
Rati stood outside the classroom like this for the entire day and didn't even eat her lunch.
Seeing all this, the class teacher felt pity for her, but what could she do? Rati simply wasn't ready to say sorry.
When school got over, Rati quietly went and sat in her seat on the bus.
Rama sat next to her and said,
"Rati, were you standing outside the whole day?"
Rati didn't respond, which made Rama feel bad because she knew that Rati was upset with her.
"Rati, what could I do? They are elders, so I had to agree with them."
Hearing this, Rati replied,
"Oh, so you'll support what's wrong? You could have stayed quiet, right? Then why did you tell me to say sorry?"
"You might be afraid of everyone, but I'm not. Understand?"
"Now don't talk to me."
Rama couldn't say anything after that and quietly sat there, feeling guilty.