A second-grade girl reads books and eavesdrops on her teachers during recess. When the teachers finally notice her listening in on them, they force her to go play. Outside, a boy named Anuj throws leaves on the girl’s head. She slaps him. Now in third grade, the girl and Anuj are both in Mrs. Tareen’s class. The girl notices another boy in their class, Karan, who does not have any friends. Anuj asks the girl to play together at recess. They begin a routine of collecting rubber eraser shavings and trying to stare into the sun. During class, they secretly drop the eraser shavings on Karan’s head. One day, Anuj’s mom meets with Mrs. Tareen because Anuj might need glasses. While the two women talk outside, the girl and Anuj drop more eraser shavings on Karan. Karan finally breaks, asks the girl why she's doing that to him, and flees the classroom, crying. When the girl follows him, suddenly guilty, Karan says he won’t tell Mrs. Tareen. At home, the girl asks her father to punish her, but he’s busy watching a sports match between India and Pakistan.   The girl starts giving Karan candies, but he doesn’t care. She and Anuj are no longer as close, so she goes back to reading during recess. Anuj continues to be unable to see the board and has increasingly arduous headaches. One day, Anuj stops coming to school. Mrs. Tareen explains he must go to a special school now, so he won’t be coming back. In the future, a woman writes a story and sends it to her writing group. The group is confused by the story’s lack of cultural specificity. She wants to give the story to someone else to rewrite, so it’s more clear her first friend went blind. Back in fourth grade, the young girl’s family buys a computer. The girl begins to type.