POV: Max
There was a strange silence in the noise around me lately.
The kind of silence that doesn't come from quiet — but from watching eyes and half-hearted smiles.
People still talked to me.
Still laughed, still acted normal.
But something in their tone…
Something in their eyes…
Felt different.
Kitty wasn't looking me in the eyes like before.
Ren was… more passive, more curious — not in a friendly way.
And Ram — or Mike, as I still call him silently — he seemed guarded. Like he was keeping a storm inside.
But it wasn't just them.
It was the entire campus.
Whispers in the corridor.
Hushed glances in the canteen.
Some boys nudging each other as I walked past.
And then I heard it.
"She's Rithul's girl, right?"
"Bro told in class she's his junior girlfriend."
"Damn, he scored a cute one!"
My stomach turned.
I froze mid-step outside the lab.
He told people?
Rithul?
The guy Kitty was giggling about during the whole double date plan?
The one who'd been texting me constantly, even though I barely replied with a "haha" or "kk"?
I felt my throat dry.
And worse… I heard that a staff member hinted at it too.
The way they called me out in class, saying,
"If you're distracted, go hang out with your senior boyfriend and come back."
My heart dropped.
Senior boyfriend?
No.
This wasn't happening.
This wasn't real.
How could something so untrue be spreading so fast?
And why… why did it feel like everyone already believed it?
I sat alone near the basketball court after class, pulling my bag close like it could protect me. My phone buzzed.
Rithul: "Don't listen to what people say. They're just teasing."
But he never denied it.
He didn't correct them.
He let them believe it.
He started it.
I didn't even realize I was tearing up until the wind hit my cheeks.
All I wanted… was to disappear for a while.
And somewhere far behind me, I saw a silhouette walking toward me, slowly.
I already knew who it was.
Ram.
But this time, I wasn't sure if I could face him.
Not like this.
Not when I didn't even know what was happening with me.
Not when my name… my worth… was becoming someone else's story.
Max's Thought:
Why does everything around me somehow lead back to him…
even when I try so hard to walk away?
...
I kept my eyes on the dust swirling near my shoes, pretending I didn't see him walking closer. But my heart had already recognized his steps before I heard them.
He didn't say anything.
Just stood beside me for a few seconds, looking at the empty court, maybe waiting for me to say something first.
But I didn't.
So he spoke.
"You skipped lunch."
Simple. But with a weight.
I didn't reply. My throat still felt tight.
"Is it because of… what people are saying?"
His voice was quieter this time.
Still, I didn't respond. I didn't want to give those rumors more life by talking about them.
But then he turned to face me. His tone shifted — calm but sharp.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier that he was calling you his… girlfriend?"
The word made me flinch. Not because he said it — but because it wasn't true and yet it had been haunting me all day.
"I didn't know," I mumbled, finally looking at him. "I only heard it today… and I'm not his anything, Ram."
His jaw clenched.
"I know," he said. "But not everyone does."
Silence again. And then:
"He shouldn't have said that."
Now his voice had a crack in it. Not loud. But tight.
"Rithul crossed a line."
I bit my lip, feeling my anger turn to frustration.
"I didn't even say yes to the date, remember? It was Kitty's idea. I didn't want to upset her. I never… I never wanted this."
He looked at me — properly now.
His eyes weren't just looking at me.
They were searching through me.
"You don't need to explain, Max. Not to me."
But I wanted to.
"I feel like…" I paused. "Everything I do, everything I don't do… ends up twisted."
Ram didn't say anything this time.
Instead, he sat beside me. Not too close. Just… enough.
A moment passed. Then another.
And then he said the most unexpected thing:
"Do you want me to talk to him?"
My eyes widened. "What?"
He turned his head slightly. "Rithul. If it's bothering you, I'll talk to him. Tell him to stop whatever he's doing."
I blinked. "Why would you do that?"
He hesitated.
"Because no one should take your name and turn it into their story."
That one line…
It broke something in me. And fixed something else.
A lump formed in my throat again — but this time, not from pain.
Just from how gently someone could still protect you, even when you felt too tired to protect yourself.
Max's Thought ,
Even when everything turns against me… somehow, he always finds his way back.
Not as the hero.
But as the silence that shields me.
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