POV: Ren
I never thought I'd feel this way.
When we were kids, friendships were simple. I met Kitty when we were five—shared crayons and secrets. We promised to grow together, learn together, get into the same university. And somehow… we did.
But now, everything felt like it had a shadow.
That shadow?
Max.
She came in like a gust of breeze—unexpected, soft-spoken, always somewhere between here and her thoughts. Kitty liked her. Ram kept noticing her. And then Rithul…
He looked at her.
Not casually. Not like he did with the other girls.
There was something in the way his eyes lingered on her smile, the way he laughed a little more freely when she was near.
And that bothered me.
Rithul was supposed to be… someone else. He was the boy I used to secretly daydream about. His messages, his voice. That charm.
And suddenly, it wasn't mine.
It was Max's.
"She's not even that special," I whispered once, not loud enough for everyone but loud enough for someone.
"Do you guys even know what she was like back in school? Heard she wasn't exactly the innocent kind…"
I felt my words slither out, and a small rush of power lit inside. Jealousy—ugly, but honest.
But then, Ram looked up.
Not angry. Not loud. Just... different.
"Don't say things you don't know," he said quietly.
That voice of his—it wasn't defensive. It was protective.
For Max.
Even Kitty blinked at me like I had crossed a line.
"She's not like that, Ren," Kitty said, her voice unusually serious.
"You weren't there. I was."
I turned away, forcing a smile.
But inside, it stung.
Not just the embarrassment.
The realization.
I wasn't losing Rithul to Max.
I was losing the image of being the girl people turned to.
Because somehow… Max was becoming that.
And Ram?
He defended her like he had history with her.
Something unspoken.
Something I didn't understand—yet.
But I would.
I always found my way into secrets.
And if Max was one of them…
I was going to find out everything.
End scene with Ram's subtle thought (unspoken):
You don't need to lie about someone… just because you couldn't hold their place in someone's heart.
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