15. Confusion and Frustration

Hello my fellow readers

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After reaching home, Amrita lay on her bed, her gaze fixed on the phone in her hand.

Her fingers hovered over the screen, moving in indecision as she stared at the unsaved number.

She bit her lip, her mind racing. I should save his number, she thought. But the idea of just typing "Aaryansh" felt too plain, too formal. It didn’t sit right with her.

She let out an exasperated sigh. “Ugh. What do I do?” she muttered to herself, tossing her phone onto the bed before picking it up again a moment later.

Her lips quirked slightly as she began repeating his name under her breath.

"Aaryansh… Aaryan… Aarya…" She paused, the gears in her mind turning until, finally, the perfect nickname clicked.

“Aaryu,” she whispered, a rare, faint smile tugging at her lips. The name sounded right—simple yet personal.

Without hesitating further, Amrita saved the number as Aaryu She stared at the name on her screen, shaking her head and chuckling softly at herself.

“Not bad,” she murmured to herself, locking her phone and placing it on the bedside table.

But after a while, her curiosity got the better of her. She reached for her phone again, staring at the contact.

"It's still missing something..." she muttered, trying to figure out what it needed.

Her fingers hovered over the screen, and then, without thinking too much, she opened the emoji section and placed a red heart beside his name. Aaryu❤️

She smiled at the name, a warmth spreading through her chest. But as she caught herself smiling, Aaryansh's words echoed in her mind. "You have a beautiful smile."

Her heart skipped a beat, and she decided to see if she could really smile like that. She stood up from the bed and walked to the mirror, her reflection staring back at her.

She tried to smile, but it felt forced, the kind of smile she wore to make others feel comfortable. It was a mask she’d perfected over time.

Frustrated, she let out a breath, but then, something changed. Aaryansh’s words surfaced again, and without thinking, a genuine smile spread across her face.

Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw herself in the mirror. She’d never smiled like that before—so naturally, so freely.

For the first time, she didn’t mind the smile that had formed on her face. She liked it.

She stared at herself, her smile softening as she took in the reflection of the girl who had spent so many years hiding her true emotions behind a stoic mask.

The truth was, Amrita had always been a child at heart, but the world around her had shaped her into someone she was never meant to be—someone strong, unfeeling, a lioness.

But deep down, she longed for something more. Something other than the cold, detached life she had built around herself.

She was happy with Ishika, Divya, and Ananya, but she was always the one taking care of their childishness, their carefree moments.

In the process, she had forgotten about the girl inside her who also needed care, the girl who just wanted to laugh and live freely.

That night, Amrita went to bed unusually happy. There was something different about her, something light that she hadn't felt in years.

But even as she drifted off to sleep, her thoughts kept returning to Aaryansh.

She wondered what he was doing at that very moment, or if he had already saved her number too.

Little did she know, at the same time, Aaryansh was sitting at his desk, staring at his phone with a big smile. His contact for Amrita was saved as "Buttercup❤️."

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Meanwhile, Ananya was in her room, lying on her bed, clutching her plushie, Mr. Puppy tightly.

She buried her face into it, screaming in frustration and sadness. The emotions inside her were overwhelming, and she didn’t know how else to let them out.

While Ishika had been dropping Ananya off at her house earlier, she had done something unexpected.

Ishika had saved Aditya’s number in Ananya’s phone, and, to Ananya’s surprise, dialed him from her phone.

Ishika had casually informed Aditya that this was Ananya's number, without even asking her.

Now, here she was, in her room, screaming into Mr. Puppy, furious with both Ishika and Aditya.

"Why would Isha ma do that?!" she shouted, her voice muffled by the plushie.

She tossed and turned on the bed, the sudden movement causing her phone to slide off the bed and accidentally dial someone.

It took a few moments for the chaos to subside. Ananya finally stopped screaming, her body still trembling with emotion.

Then, just as her mind settled, Aditya’s words echoed in her head: “Am I really an attention seeker?”

The question lingered in her thoughts, making her pause.

Am I? she wondered aloud, her voice shaking.

Suddenly, she felt a lump in her throat, and before she could stop herself, her eyes filled with tears.

The frustration, the sadness, the helplessness, it all came rushing out.

She hugged Mr. Puppy even tighter, as the tears began to fall freely.

"How could he say that?" she whispered to herself, her voice barely audible. "He barely knows me!!"

And then another thought struck her—"Why am I crying?" Her voice wavered in confusion.

Ananya’s tears continued to fall as she whined into her plushie. She had always been emotional, just like Ishika and Divya, who were quick to express their feelings.

But Amrita... Amrita was different. She never cried. Ananya didn’t understand how someone could bottle it all up like that.

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand but only ended up crying harder.

"Why does it hurt so much?" she whispered, hugging Mr. Puppy as if the plushie could absorb all her pain.

As she lay there in the quiet, she couldn’t help but wonder what Aditya thought of her now. And why, despite everything, her heart still ached.

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Hey! I changed the title of the story.

Hope you liked it!

CARRY SUNSHINE IN YOUR SOUL💛