chapter 19

Subhi

The school corridors were buzzing with chatter, but somehow, amidst all the noise, my mind felt eerily quiet. Ever since that brief conversation with Abhimanyu, something had shifted. The distance that once felt like an unspoken agreement now seemed like an unnecessary weight between us.

I stole a glance at him as we stood together in the project meeting, pretending to listen as the teacher explained our roles. The familiarity of his presence was unsettling. We had gone from constantly bickering to an awkward silence, to whatever this new phase was—something between reconciliation and unresolved tension.

“Shubhi, are you listening?” one of my teammates nudged me.

I snapped out of my thoughts. “Yeah, yeah. What were you saying?”

She rolled her eyes. “You and Abhimanyu have to coordinate the presentation outline by tomorrow. You’re the captains, remember?”

I bit the inside of my cheek. Of course. Fate had its own plans.

Later that evening, as I sat in the library, waiting for Abhimanyu to show up for our discussion, my mind kept replaying our last conversation. I had asked him about what he had been through, and he had left without a word. I wasn’t sure if I had overstepped or if he simply wasn’t ready to share.

I sighed, tapping my pen against my notebook absentmindedly. Just as I was about to give up waiting, I heard his footsteps approach.

“Sorry, got held up,” he muttered, pulling out a chair across from me. His voice lacked its usual sharpness.

“It’s fine,” I said, keeping my tone neutral.

For a few moments, we simply sat there in silence, our gazes flickering between our notes and each other. The awkwardness was unbearable.

I cleared my throat. “So… should we divide the sections?”

Abhimanyu nodded. “I’ll take the introduction and analysis. You can do the conclusion and final points.”

I scribbled it down, nodding. “Okay.”

Another silence.

I hesitated before speaking. “About what I asked you earlier…”

His shoulders stiffened. “Shubhi, let’s just focus on the project.”

I exhaled sharply. “You always do this.”

His eyes met mine, confusion flickering in them. “Do what?”

“Shut people out the moment they try to understand you,” I said, my voice softer than I expected.

His jaw tightened, and for a moment, I thought he was going to walk away again. But instead, he just ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “It’s not that simple.”

I wanted to push further, to ask why, but something in his expression told me he wasn’t ready.

For now, this was enough.

And yet, as we continued discussing the project, as the tension between us seemed to ease just a little, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something more—something I wasn’t seeing yet.

Something that was about to change everything.

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