Next morning - Classroom

The sunlight spilled lazily into the classroom, dancing across half-open books and sleepy faces. Aarohi sat in her usual place, crisp and alert, pen tapping rhythmically.

Rajvansh walked in just on time this time-but paused a moment before sitting.

"Good morning," he said, trying not to make it sound like he cared if she responded.

"Morning," Aarohi replied without looking up, focused on her notes.

He sat beside her, frustrated but not surprised.

---

[Later - During Group Assignment]

"Okay, four members per group," the teacher announced.

"Roll numbers 12 to 15... Rajvansh, Aarohi, Ritik and Naira."

Ritik raised his hand instantly. "Destiny. It's real."

Naira rolled her eyes. "Mere wala to doosre group mein gaya", she whispered.

Ritik ever the sharp listener leaned in, " Iska matlab destiny ne tera popat kar diya "

Naira gave him a sharp glare and smacked his head tightly.

Meanwhile,

Aarohi just began writing things down in her serious 'head girl' mode.

Rajvansh tried again. "I could handle the presentation part?"

Aarohi nodded curtly. "Sure. I'll compile notes."

Their fingers brushed as she handed over a page. She froze for a second-then pulled away like nothing happened.

Naira noticed.

Ritik definitely noticed.

---

[Lunch - School Garden Corner]

Karan was now an official member of their chaos club.

"Best spot in school," Ritik said, lying on the grass.

Karan looked around. "Green. Quiet. Peaceful. You all clearly don't belong here."

"Excuse you," Naira shot back, plucking a blade of grass and tossing it at him.

"You just proved my point," he grinned.

Aarohi arrived with her lunchbox, sitting a little apart, opening her notes again.

"Tu office bana le garden me," Ritik teased.

Aarohi gave a mock glare. "At least someone has priorities."

Rajvansh leaned closer. "Do you ever take a break?"

She paused. "I... don't like being idle."

Before anyone could say more, a few juniors walked by, giggling and pointing at Rajvansh.

"Look, it's him-senior crush list No. 2!"

Rajvansh groaned.

Aarohi looked up. "They're bothering you?"

"I'm used to it," he said with a shrug.

She stood up, turned to the girls. "Do you want me to report this to the counselor?"

The girls fled, red-faced.

Rajvansh blinked. "You didn't have to-"

"But I wanted to," she said quietly, sitting back down.

Ritik whispered, "Progress. Someone's clipboard has emotions."

---

[Post-Lunch - Chemistry Class]

The classroom lights flickered slightly as the post-lunch drowsiness settled like a warm blanket.

Rajvansh stifled a yawn as he scribbled notes. Ritik had already half-slid off his chair like a melting ice cube. Naira was poking her cheek with a pen, fighting off a nap. Karan, however, looked wide awake and dangerously mischievous.

On the board, the teacher was passionately explaining,

"Now class, let's talk about Chemical Bonding. There are ionic bonds where electrons are transferred, and covalent bonds where they are shared..."

Karan leaned toward Naira, whispering,

"So basically... Ritik is ionic. He transfers all his sense to others and keeps none for himself."

Naira let out a muffled laugh.

"And you? Covalent?"

He grinned,

"I believe in sharing... especially when it comes to secrets, chips, and maybe... feelings?"

She rolled her eyes, but her smirk betrayed amusement.

Meanwhile, the teacher continued,

"In coordinate bonding, one atom donates both electrons to form the bond..."

Ritik sat up groggily, blinking.

"Sounds like my relationship with homework. I give, it takes. No love in return."

The teacher shot him a look.

"Mr. Ritik, is your bond with this chapter strong enough to pass your test?"

"Ma'am... weak Van der Waals force at best," he muttered.

Laughter erupted softly.

Rajvansh chuckled from his seat behind Aarohi, watching as even she smiled faintly - the kind of smile that creeps in when you're trying hard to stay serious.

Suddenly, Karan whispered toward Rajvansh,

"So what kind of bond do you and Aarohi have? Ionic, covalent... or still in testing phase?"

Rajvansh didn't look up from his notebook, but the corner of his mouth curved.

"Undiscovered element. Highly unstable. Dangerous if provoked."

Even Aarohi looked up at that, eyeing the two boys suspiciously, as if she knew she was the subject.

"I can hear you," she muttered, trying not to smile.

"Sound travels faster through solids," Karan said innocently, pointing at the wooden bench.

[After Garden Scene - Outside the School Gate]

The bell rang, final classes done, and the school premises slowly emptied. But near the school gate, a small group lingered.

Rajvansh walked beside Aarohi silently, their earlier moment still lingering in the air like soft music.

Just then, Naira called out, "Laado! Hurry up,"

Aarohi looked back and smiled. "Coming!"

Rajvansh gave her a look. "Laado?"

"Gayatri Aunty's special name for her," Naira answered, joining them. "You'll get used to hearing it."

Ritik added dramatically, "Aur main hoon unka 'Shaitaan.' Proudly."

Just then, Gayatri's car pulled up just outside the gate. She stepped out, waving.

"There she is," Naira beamed.

Gayatri Aunty smiled warmly at the kids. "Chalo chalo, seedha ghar chalo sab. Snacks ready hain. Homework bhi karna hai."

She hugged Aarohi gently. "Laado, tu thak gayi hogi na?" Aarohi nodded faintly.

"Tu mere saath chal, baaki sab cycle pe aayein," she said, patting her cheek.

---

[Evening - At Naira's House (continued)]

The dining table was now a chaotic battlefield of notebooks, pens, and math problems no one wanted to solve.

"Okay," Gayatri Aunty declared, setting a bowl of kheer down. "Jab tak ek bhi question solve nahi hoga, extra kheer cancel."

Groans echoed.

Ritik dramatically threw his pen down. "This is oppression."

Karan leaned toward Naira, his tone mock-serious. "You are really chaotic, you know that?"

She blinked. "Really?"

"You enter a room and nothing stays calm. Either laughter or chaos follows."

Naira raised a brow. "That sounds like an insult."

He grinned. "That's a compliment, Toofan Mail."

Ritik whispered to Rajvansh, "Bas ab dhol bajwa lo."

[Evening - Aarohi's House]

Aarohi quietly slipped inside, bag still on her shoulder. She had spent the evening at Naira's house, group study ke bahane thoda sa relief mil gaya tha.

But as soon as she entered-

"AAROHI! KAHAN THI TUM??"

Her father, Manav Sharma, stood near the dining table, his arms crossed, face tight with anger.

"Papa, main bas-"

"Bas kya? Tumhe itni si baat samajh nahi aati? Ghar se bina bataye nikal jaati ho?"

She frowned, surprised at the intensity. "Main Naira ke ghar thi... group study tha-"

"Phone uthana padta hai, bataana padta hai! Tumhari maa bhi aise hi thi-jo mann mein aaya kar liya, aur ek din... chali gayi!"

Silence fell like a slap.

Aarohi froze.

His words hung in the air, cruel and unintentional.

He realized it the second they left his mouth.

"Aarohi-" he started, instantly regretful.

But she had already turned, eyes wide with pain.

"Bohot ho gaya." Her voice cracked. "Agar maa ki tarah hi samajhte ho mujhe... toh shayad mujhe bhi chale jaana chahiye."

She ran out.

Manav's shoulders slumped.

He sank into the chair, hands trembling, face filled with guilt.

"Main kya kar diya..." he whispered, broken.

---

[Evening - Outside Aarohi's House]

Rajvansh sat on his bike across the street, helmet resting on the handlebar. He hadn't planned to stay.

He had just come by to make sure she reached home safely after the group session.

That's it.

But then-

The gate burst open.

Aarohi came running out, eyes brimming with tears, her steps hurried and uneven like she was escaping something that had shattered her from the inside.

Rajvansh froze for a second, heart thudding.

"Aarohi!" he called instinctively, but she didn't hear him.

She kept running - past the streetlight, down the lane, into the small garden nearby. The one with the old marble bench... the same one they used to play near as kids.

He didn't hesitate.

He parked the bike, took off his helmet, and quietly followed.

---

[Garden - A Few Minutes Later]

She was sitting on the bench, bent over, hiding her face in her hands. Her shoulders trembled silently. The cool night breeze wrapped around her, but she looked lost in a different kind of cold.

Rajvansh didn't say a word.

He just walked over and sat down beside her - not too close, but close enough for her to know she wasn't alone.

For a while, there was only silence.

A soft sniffle. The rustle of leaves. The stillness of night.

Then, from the corner of her eye, Aarohi looked at him.

He wasn't staring. He wasn't asking questions.

He was just... there. Steady. Quiet. Unmoving.

His shoulder brushed lightly against hers.

That small touch - unintentional yet comforting - said what words couldn't.

Minutes passed. Maybe five. Maybe ten.

Then, in a low, broken voice, Aarohi asked,

"Why are you here?"

Rajvansh replied, equally soft,

"Just wanted to make sure you got home safe."

She didn't say anything after that.

But somehow... in the middle of all the things that felt like they were falling apart, his silence felt like something holding her together.

Special scene 🌼

[Rajvansh's room ]

His room was quiet-almost too quiet. The kind of silence that hummed with thoughts you couldn't escape.

The curtains swayed slightly with the breeze, and moonlight spilled in through the half-open window, casting a silver glow across the room. It lit up the wooden floor, the edge of his bed, the scattered sketches near his table-and eventually, him.

Rajvansh sat near the window, guitar resting on his lap, the strings catching the moonlight like threads of memory.

In his hands, the strings of his guitar gleamed under the light.

He plucked a soft chord-gentle, aching.

His fingers moved on their own, guided not by rhythm but by memory. The tune was slow, reflective... "Haal-e-Dil tujhko sunata..." - not sung, just played - as if the strings could speak what he couldn't.

His mind wandered to the way Aarohi had run from her house earlier. The way her eyes had been swollen, but silent. Like she was carrying a weight too heavy for words.

He closed his eyes.

That quiet moment in the garden flashed before him again-when she hadn't said a word, but hadn't stopped him from sitting beside her either. When her silence wasn't pushing him away... but asking him to stay.

A soft sigh escaped him.

He strummed again, slower this time. Almost like his fingers were tracing the cracks in her heart.

"There's something," he murmured to himself. "Something that's breaking her from inside."

He stared at the ceiling, brows furrowed.

"She hides it well... too well. But whatever it is, it's big. Deep."

He set the guitar down, the final notes still hanging in the air.

"I need to know," he whispered. "Not because I'm curious... but because maybe-maybe I could carry a little of that burden with her."

And for the first time, Rajvansh didn't reach for his sketchbook to capture her face.

He reached for a notebook instead.

And he wrote down just one question:

"Why does someone with so much light in her... look like she's always searching for it?"