The room felt heavy with silence after her mother’s voice broke through the air:
“Sara, Romi is offering to drop you to college today…”
Sara paused, still brushing her hair, her hands trembling ever so slightly.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9T030D6V9d
She turned slowly.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjnGHJNUN5h
Her eyes didn’t look at her mother.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXH44vNka2D
They looked at the pain she’d buried for years.
“Mama… you know I hate him,” she said, her voice low, tight, aching.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQQtQZE4FB2
“Not because of what he does… but because of what his father did to us. I can’t forget. I won’t.”
Her mother stepped closer, folding the dupatta tighter over her shoulder.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtT4kJR3eOn
“I know, meri jaan… but he’s not his father. He’s—”
Sara cut in, her voice now sharper, like a crack in glass:
“But the blood is the same. I don’t need another favor that feels like a chain. Let the world test me — I’ll take the crowded bus, the heat, the push, the pain. But I won’t sit beside him. Not today. Not ever.”
Just then, the door creaked.
Romi stood there.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZfByOU5wqe
Silent.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDEHxPbjsep
Still.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3RisnWgRTA
Listening.
He didn’t speak.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡozvl4WsVru
Not a single word.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNzywydNJAg
But his eyes — they said everything.
Tears welled up in his eyes.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡffz9Od3Mbf
Not Sara’s.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMlGiDE2S6w
His.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ54opYJDhS6
He didn’t let them fall.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYf40Ab6qnM
Just stood there with that quiet ache, as if the guilt in his blood was too loud to silence.
Sara walked past him, not even glancing.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDJms7p6hZJ
Her heart had built walls.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRHfW8Jee3U
And today… they weren’t ready to fall.
At college, the sun kissed the pavement as the gate opened with its usual rusted screech.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz2b8oDOBed
Sara walked in, keeping her eyes low until her friend Ayesha caught her by the wrist.
“Guess what? This is for you,” Ayesha whispered, slipping a cream-colored envelope into her hand.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcuMBQ41nh5
“No sender. But I was told, ‘She’ll know.’”
Sara blinked, surprised — then, slowly, a faint smile curved on her lips.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcHsd7Ftxs0
Not wide.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRhIEJt5QB1
Not loud.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf3JKacURBt
Just… soft. Familiar.
“I know who it’s from,” she whispered, almost to herself.
“Ohooo… mysterious lover?” Ayesha teased.
But Sara was already walking away — toward the quiet side of the building, near the old banyan tree.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFXCAl26Ikl
Her steps slowed.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSHGx9WutlF
Her heart didn’t.
She looked around.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW1koFQrI77
Left.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEV3ycq5Ugz
Right.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj4yfOCkj8b
Nobody.
“Where are you?” she muttered.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡML1EEQPMDa
“I don’t have all day. Uff, you… I’m going to be late.”
Suddenly, two hands gently covered her eyes.
She didn’t flinch.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpnxcdhOy2l
She didn’t need to.
A tiny, knowing laugh escaped her lips.
“Mikaal…”
The hands slowly moved away, and she turned.
He stood there — leaning slightly forward, half-shadowed by the branches above.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGpD68hu2N
A quiet smile playing on his lips.
“You always know, don’t you?” he asked, stepping closer.
Sara didn’t answer right away.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPvZmtaEXli
She looked at him — at the boy who always appeared when her world felt too loud, too cruel, too cold.
“Because your presence feels like peace,” she finally said.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKPlCSiYGBN
“And peace… doesn’t need to be announced.”
Mikaal’s smile softened, eyes fixed on her like she was the only thing that existed in that moment.
“I had to see you,” he said gently.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZFmVVzuMBR
“Even if just for a few seconds.”
Sara looked down, holding back the smile that wanted to rise.
“Why?” she asked softly.
“Because your silence says more than anyone else’s words,” Mikaal replied.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl8IWsp0jbE
“And… I missed the sound of it.”
She met his eyes, and for a second, the world around them blurred.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyf7p06QPPn
No cruel uncles.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkvxv9yGJNB
No painful memories.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx96MxZYtzQ
Just the rustle of leaves… and the quiet closeness of something unspoken.
Sara held out the envelope.
“Was this from you?”
He didn’t answer directly.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOu3JFAxXAh
He just smiled and said:
“If it made you smile… then yes.”
Sara looked away, cheeks warming. But her heart felt lighter.
“You’re impossible, Mikaal.”
“Only for the world,” he replied.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH7wibHxnfK
“Not for you.”
The bell rang in the distance.
“I’m getting late,” she said.
“Then let me walk you,” Mikaal offered.
Sara looked at him, hesitated… then nodded once.
“Just till the stairs.”
“Just till forever,” he whispered under his breath —10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvjVCuzloUy
but loud enough for the wind to carry it.
And together, they walked —10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSqbEpME8kh
not hand in hand,10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZAmVUGbH0
but heart beside heart —10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhtRE4AlJYY
with something blooming softly10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGXzcfpedwY
between the pain and the past.
