Karthik wasn't sure when it began to feel like this—like Ananya was everywhere in his thoughts. A glance at the blackboard reminded him of her scribbles. A breeze through the window brought back the scent of her jasmine hair oil. And the silence in his room? It sounded just like the pause after one of her teasing jokes.
But today, that silence stretched between them.
It started with something small. Ananya had asked Karthik to walk with her to the library during lunch, but he'd hesitated. Not because he didn't want to go—but because his classmates were nearby. And someone had already whispered, "There goes the couple again."
Karthik froze.
Not out of shame, but fear. The way people looked at them had changed. It wasn't playful teasing anymore. It was watching. Judging. And Karthik, despite all his emotional growth, wasn't ready for that spotlight.
So he told her he'd come later. And when he didn't, Ananya walked back alone.
---
The next day, she avoided his gaze in class. When their teacher asked them to pair up for a biology activity, Ananya simply turned to her benchmate instead.
Karthik felt the shift.
It wasn't anger. It was distance.
When the bell rang, he followed her to the corridor. "Ananya, wait."
She didn't stop. "You're late again."
"I just wanted to talk."
"About what? How you vanished yesterday?"
"I didn't vanish—"
"You promised me something, Karthik," she said, turning to him. "You said you'd step into my world sometimes. You said you'd try. But the moment someone looks at us sideways, you disappear."
Her words struck harder than he expected.
"I'm trying," he said, quietly.
"Then show me. Because I can't keep being the only one holding this thread."
She walked away, her footsteps echoing in the corridor, leaving Karthik staring at the whitewashed walls.
---
That night, he couldn't concentrate. His notes blurred, and his pencil tapped against the desk, beating out a rhythm of frustration.
Was he really the same boy who once wrote about invisible monsters in the corners of his mind?
Because this felt like one of them. But this one wore Ananya's disappointment like a mask.
He hated this. Hurting her. Hurting himself.
---
The next morning, he reached school early.
He waited by the classroom door, holding a folded piece of paper.
When Ananya arrived, looking surprised, he handed it to her and stepped back without a word.
She opened it during homeroom.
> "I want to be better. I want to deserve being seen beside you.
But sometimes, I'm scared. Of how much I feel.
Of how little I know what to do with it.
But I'll try. I promise.
Because losing you?
That terrifies me more than all of it."
—Karthik
She didn't react right away.
But when their eyes met across the room, her expression softened.
And for the first time that day, Karthik felt like he could breathe again.
---
End of Chapter 51