School lunch breaks had been the beacon of light amidst non-stop lectures, surprise tests, and lengthy class works. The period right before lunch break used to be greeted with an inexplicable restlessness, a mid-way clash between enthusiasm of getting close to (temporary) freedom and intolerable exhaustion from having to somehow doze through the previous lectures. Once the bell rang though, all hell would break loose, and boundless energy would disperse across the school field and hallways.

THE DRAMA

The lunch breaks would serve the main dish to the students' entertainment. There would be indoor games, outdoor games, pen fights, friendly banter leading to heated debate sessions leading to a weeklong separation between best friends leading to confessions, breaks ups, make ups, rumours, games of Chinese whisper, a whole lot of laughing and crying and experiencing teenage angst first hand.

THE SLACKERS

They would be the ones coming in late, after missing the first two periods; getting to realise about all the dues and tests awaiting them after lunch break, then commencing to rant and annoy everyone to help them prepare for the upcoming doom they're about to face. They'll either be begging for help with studying for a looming exam, or sitting at the end of the classroom trying to finish a two-hour worth homework within 20 minutes or less. When they're not busy struggling to survive the ruthless education system of the country, they're usually bunking class. 

THE FIGHTS

Be it over petty issues, misunderstandings or merely taking frustration out using violence as a mean to vent, the fights that happened back in school were a highlight for most. They may have broken up friend circles and relationships, or even traumatised adoring parents, but they would be the popular topic of discussion for the next couple of weeks that followed. Most important fights would, of course, happen during lunch breaks. That was the time when rules could be blurred out and lines crossed. One tiny hint of a possible fight would attract attention like wildfire.

THE TEACHER'S PET

We all knew this one – they could have been the committed first bencher, the rule abider, the note taker or the tattletale slaving to impress the teachers. They'd be missing the entire time during school lunch breaks, either attempting to network with teachers or asking for extra consultation hours to discuss the class lessons in detail. Or worse, they'd be the Randall snitching at every wrong turn.

THE HUNGRY

There would always be someone, who would look forward to the school lunch breaks simply for the food. They'd daydream about their lunch throughout the first few periods, and then settle down to consume anything they can obtain in the short span of the lunch break. And when the bell would ring to signal the resuming of classes, they would go back to daydreaming about food again.

Mashiyat Iqbal is a procrastinator, a coffee-addict and an insomniac whose friends say she is hopelessly optimistic but she begs to differ. Send her some much needed luck at tenfinance10@gmail.com