“9,000 rent. One month advance, one month deposit. No nonsense. Students ho toh padho, bakchodi mat karna.”
They paid on the spot. That night they slept on the bare floor with just bedsheets and their backpacks as pillows. The flat was empty, echoing, but it was theirs.
The next three days were pure labour and small victories.
They bought everything second-hand from the local market to save money. Two single beds and mattresses (bargained down hard), one thick mattress for the floor, a small study table, plastic chairs, basic utensils, one gas stove and cylinder, buckets, mugs, and a cheap cooler. They cleaned every inch of the flat themselves — Divyansh scrubbing the bathroom like a maniac, Himanshu carrying heavy stuff up the stairs without complaint, Ajay arranging their few posters and stringing a small bulb in the hall. They got a local WiFi connection installed the same day (priority number one). By the evening of the third day the place finally looked like a home — their den. The hall had the study table and one bed, the bedroom had the other two beds pushed together with a curtain for some privacy when needed. It smelled of phenyl and new plastic, but it was freedom.
On the fourth morning they joined Pioneer Academy.
The school was big, strict, and impressive — proper ICSE curriculum continuing into 11th. Uniforms, morning assembly, decent labs. They got their sections (all three in 11th Science A). New classmates were curious about the “Mohanpur trio”. Within the first week they had made a few friends: Rohan (flashy Lucknow boy whose father owned a transport business — he already had a Royal Enfield and loved showing it off), and Karan (quiet, sincere guy from Hardoi who was also preparing for JEE). The three originals stayed glued together during breaks, sharing lunch and inside jokes the new boys couldn’t understand yet.
Evenings belonged to Apex IIT Academy.
The coaching institute was massive — hundreds of students, giant classrooms, top faculty, and an atmosphere so competitive it felt like war. They had taken the 4:30 pm to 9:00 pm batch for Physics, Chemistry and Maths foundation. The teachers were ruthless with tests and doubt-clearing. On the very first day they met two more guys who became regular faces in their group: Vikram (serious, topper-type from Patna who barely spoke unless it was about ranks) and Siddharth (Delhi boy, loud, funny, already planning weekend parties). The five of them sometimes studied together after coaching, but the original three always went back to their flat together. That was non-negotiable.
Life quickly fell into rhythm.
Mornings: wake at 5:45, quick breakfast (bread-omelette or poha they cooked), auto to Pioneer Academy by 7:20. School till 1:30. Back to flat by 2:15. Quick lunch, one hour power nap or light revision, then leave again by 4:00 for coaching. Coaching ended around 9:00-9:15. By the time they reached home it was nearly 9:45. They cooked simple food (rice-dal-sabzi or ordered cheap parathas from the nearby dhaba), bathed, and collapsed.
