Word Count: 2550

2015

NITI strolled through the bustling university corridor, her heart heavy with a lingering sense of loneliness. Unbeknownst to her, the entire class had orchestrated a mass bunk that day, leaving her alone once again. As she gazed into the distance, memories of her past haunted her, especially the loss of her dear friend, Kavya, a wound that hadn't quite healed even after nearly eight years.

Each day, Niti tried to mend the fractures within her soul, striving to become more than the quiet, withdrawn girl she once was in school. College offered her a glimmer of hope, a chance to break free from her self-imposed cocoon of isolation. She yearned to connect with others, to share laughter and experiences, but that shadow of insecurity held her back.

Her efforts to reach out were genuine, but the fear of rejection clung to her like an invisible shackle. Though she managed to engage in conversations with her classmates, there remained a barrier, an intangible divide that kept her from truly belonging. She longed to be included in their plans, to be part of their camaraderie, but she couldn't muster the courage to ask them to add her to their class WhatsApp group, where they planned their gatherings and adventures.

Despite the lingering sadness in her heart, Niti refused to dwell on self-pity. She acknowledged the progress she had made, how she had grown from her loner self in school to someone who tried her best to be present in college. There was a glimmer of hope within her, a resilient spirit that held onto the belief that one day, she would find her tribe, friends who would accept her completely.

She slowly made her way towards the classroom. It was supposed to be a mixed class, so students from the other section were present, making her the sole person they did not know. Quietly, she seated herself in the corner of the first row, having observed that the teachers mainly kept their attention on students in the back row.

As she waited for the teacher to start, she decided to read a book. It helped her escape reality and wander into different worlds. When she read, the world around her automatically became silent, and she would be transported to a fictional land.

She brought out a book called "Hold Still" by Nina LaCour. She had read the book twice already, but it held a special place in her heart. Soon, she got lost inside it, and only remembered that she was in class when the door in front of her opened, and two guys walked in.

One of them looked familiar, but she couldn't place it. He had short curly hair that faded towards the base of his neck. He was tall, lean, and looked like the mischievous kind. Yet, he had an aura of intimidation. When she looked at him, trying to remember where she knew him from, his brown eyes stared directly into her soul. He didn't blink, and he didn't take his eyes off her until he crossed her.

Niti was left confused. Was there something on her face? Did he recognize her? But why did he look irritated? He was smiling when he entered, but his face dropped when he saw her. Why? She couldn't shake off the strange feeling that lingered in the air.

The classroom felt like an eternity, its walls closing in as Niti struggled to focus on the lecture. But her mind was captivated, held captive by the enigmatic presence of a curly-haired stranger. Each time she dared to steal a glance in his direction, it was as though he possessed an uncanny sixth sense, catching her eye only to avert his own, dismissing her like an unwelcome intrusion. It left her feeling like an invisible observer, except for those moments when his gaze pierced her very soul, stealing her cloak of invisibility.

I wish I had magical powers. She sighed.

Each passing day, she found herself encountering him repeatedly within the same premises. However, after that particular day, her awareness of his presence heightened. He would unexpectedly appear in unexpected places, like the library, defying any expectations she might have had.

Three times a week, they found themselves in shared classes. Initially, Niti observed how he deliberately evaded eye contact, but as time passed, he transformed his behavior, as though she were a mere ghost, and he purposefully maintained a considerable distance from her.

When Niti regained her invisibility cloak, it brought a sharp pang of hurt but her supposed friends had taken note of her frequent glances in his direction, and they took great delight in teasing her about it, making it their favorite topic of amusement.

"I really didn't think you were the type to check out guys," one girl said.

"I am not. I was not checking him out!" Niti exclaimed.

"Yeah, sure," the girl rolled her eyes. "At least go and talk to him."

"I don't want to," Niti replied. "I don't even know his name."

This elicited astonished expressions from the girls around her.

"Are you serious?"

"You don't know Samarth Varma?"

"Samarth?" Niti murmured, more to herself than to others.

"Yeah, he comes from a pretty basic family, but by god, he is dreamy!" Another one of her classmates giggled.

"True, but none of the girls interest him. I wonder if he is gay?"

"No, I heard he lost a very dear friend of his when he was in school."

The girls were now talking among themselves, and Niti was forgotten again.

"One of his ex-girlfriends was in my tuition. She told me that they broke up because he said that he didn't feel anything towards her."

"Such a jerk! Why did he date her then?"

"Because after his friend's death, he didn't have any female friends. Every girl just wanted to be his girlfriend, so he gave them a chance."

"So the one who died was a girl? Still, that's so stupid!"

"Yes, Kavi... kaya– something."

"Kavya..?" Niti forced herself to say. Her breath caught in her throat.

The girls turned around to face her. "Yes! That's it, Kavya!"

Her breath caught, her heart pounded, and the pieces fell into place. Samarth wasn't a stranger; they had known each other through Kavya. They had met each other only once or twice but it was enough. Kavya held both of them dear to her heart. If she had talked about Samarth with Niti, surely Samarth knew a lot about Niti too. He must have recognized her from those times, but what haunted her most was the realization that he might be aware of her connection to Kavya's death.

Niti couldn't bear to stay another second in that suffocating room. She gathered her belongings with trembling hands, her eyes blurred with tears. She ran out of her classroom and into the corridor. Her classmates called out to her but she didn't stop.

In her haste, she collided with another person, and her belongings scattered like the fragments of her composure.

As she attempted to pick up her scattered items, her vision obscured by tears, the person she bumped into offered a helping hand. When she looked up, she saw those same penetrating brown eyes – the very eyes that had once gazed upon her with an intensity that now felt like accusation.

For a moment, she was paralyzed by the weight of their shared history, the memories that haunted them both. She couldn't bear to confront the truth any longer, to face the pain she had caused. Leaving her belongings behind, she walked away, escaping the confrontation that threatened to shatter the fragile semblance of her life.

He saw her cry, but worse, he had to help her get her stuff because she wasn't looking where she was going.

In that moment, self-hatred consumed her – hating herself for being the cause of her friend's demise, for the pain she had inflicted upon Samarth, and for her own inability to confront her past. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she ran, fleeing from the classroom, from her classmates, from the haunting gaze of Samarth, and from the ghosts that lurked within her own heart.

The next few days, she didn't see him. She was glad she didn't have to face him but she also wanted to ask him what he did with her precious book.

✿

SAMARTH felt a strange pang of sadness as he looked at her tear-streaked face, like delicate raindrops tracing a melancholic path down the petals of a wilting flower. Her eyes were two deep pools of sorrow, reflecting the weight of a thousand untold stories, while her trembling lips bore the silent pain of a hidden universe.

He had no idea what her name was or why she was crying, but something inside him twisted, like a knot of old memories stirring in the depths of his soul. He had met many girls and dated two of them, but this person in front of him had captured his heart from the moment he laid eyes on her, as if fate had woven an intricate tapestry, connecting their souls in an inexplicable dance of emotions.

She appeared to be a simple girl, nothing extraordinary about her, but the way she immersed herself in her books every time he saw her made him want to push the book aside and take its place, to become the cherished protagonist in the novel of her life. Her eyes would sparkle like distant stars, reflecting the untamed imagination that danced within the pages of her worn-out book.

Finally, she noticed him during their first class together. He had not expected to see her in class that day, so when he caught sight of her, he couldn't stop staring. A rush of shyness overcame him, and he did his best to maintain a poker face, but his heart drummed like a thousand galloping horses in his chest.

She kept glancing towards him and it made him a bit conscious. Why was she doing that? Was there something on his face? Was she interested in him too? But it didn't matter. After his last relationship, he had vowed not to get involved in love and heartbreaks anytime soon. The best course of action was to suppress his feelings, even if it meant ignoring her, like a caged bird yearning for the open sky but unable to spread its wings.

However, as he stood there holding her book while she ran away with tears in her eyes, his heart sank even deeper. He wanted to know who had hurt her, he wanted to defend her, but he questioned whether he had any right to do so.

The question gnawed at him over the next few days, like a persistent river carving its course through the rugged terrain of his mind. He had taken a leave of absence from college and was on vacation with his family. He carried the book around with him, unsure of what to do. It was a well-worn novel, with handwritten notes and annotations throughout, each scribble a glimpse into the secret world of its owner.

Hold Still... he wondered what about the book had made her read it again and again, carrying it with her all the time. He had seen her with it every day, like a precious talisman guarding her heart from the harsh winds of life.

Normally, he stayed away from books with too many words, but he wanted to understand what this story meant to the girl he had probably fallen in love with at first sight, like an explorer venturing into uncharted territories, eager to decode the mysteries that lay hidden within those pages.

So, he read it. He read the notes and the encouragement she had written to herself. He read each tiny word and understood; he understood that he held a tiny part of her in his hands.

"Niti," he whispered as he traced her name on the book with his thumb.

After his vacation ended, he made sure to wrap her book in a cellophane sheet and added a bookmark to it. Along with it, he also collected all of her stuff that he had picked up that day and kept it in a paper bag. Aside from the book, there was nothing that she couldn't have replaced—pens, some notes, and a few other stationeries—but he made sure that he gathered all of it and returned it to her. He did not have any fancy bags, so he just took an old shopping bag from his family's 'shopping bag stash' and used it. Even the bookmark he had added was something he had taken from his eleven-year-old sister's study.

The next day, he saw her during the lunch break. As usual, she was sitting alone, far from everyone else, and had a new book in her hand. Samarth chuckled.

Of course, she is reading.

He debated how to approach her and then decided to be upfront about it. Sam made his way towards her table, shushing his classmates from shouting his name. He acknowledged them but made sure to let them know he wasn't going to sit with them. He slid the bag gently towards her. She glanced up, and her face changed from confusion to shock.

"Niti," Sam addressed her, "these are the things you dropped that day."

Was it his imagination, or did she hesitate to talk to him? He wondered.

"Th-thanks," she said, reaching out for the bag. She shuffled through the contents, and her brows furrowed.

Samarth smiled. "Are you looking for this?" he asked, pulling out her book from his bag. He took a seat opposite her, and she shifted in her seat. Is she worried that I have seen her notes?

He handed her the book, which she took hesitantly. Her demeanour made him want to console her. He couldn't hold her and say it would be alright, but he could talk to her.

"Listen," he started. "The best way to move on is to accept it. That's what I did."

"Huh?"

"You don't need to hide it, I know. We both have suffered, and my advice to you is to not look back and keep moving forward," he said. "There will be times that will make it harder, but you don't have to face it alone."

"Wh-what do you mean?" she whispered, not meeting his eyes.

"Don't isolate yourself. Don't blame yourself. You never have to talk about it if you don't want to," he replied, trying to make sense of his own words.

She looked at him with bewildered eyes. He wondered if he had crossed his lines. What if that book was just a book? And nothing related to what he thought she went through...

His mind was spinning, trying to find a way to tell her he was not a psycho spouting nonsense when she said, "Okay..."

As she hugged the book and got up to leave, Samarth's heart sank like a stone in the depths of uncertainty. He feared she would perceive him as a strange person and shut him out forever. His hands clenched into tight fists, reflecting the turmoil of emotions swirling within him. He couldn't help but feel like he had fumbled his first conversation with the girl he liked, and writing his number on the bookmark now seemed like an act of foolish impulsiveness, causing him intense embarrassment.

In that moment, a wave of self-doubt washed over him, and he berated himself for not being more composed and thoughtful in his approach. He yearned to rewind time and rewrite his actions, but reality offered no such magical escape.

He was about to drown in his embarrassment when his phone buzzed. He had a notification from an unknown number. He opened the message and read,

'Thank you. — Niti'

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A/N

We saw how Jimmie and Niti's meet cute, but what about Sam and Niti?

What do you think about their first meet?

Let me know in the comments!

Do not forget to Vote and Share if you are enjoying the story!

Cheers!
~Aeon