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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv5TR7M43KL
She turned slowly.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKnXqzonALG
Her eyes didn’t look at her mother.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcEYQ43O1tP
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1sXqjuTW4q
“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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTiX68QIfA7
“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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO9lC6t66pA
Silent.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡakx5IwoLJt
Still.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jGBNbHTz0
Listening.
He didn’t speak.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNeirLHNQ5c
Not a single word.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ95Hmg92YR
But his eyes — they said everything.
Tears welled up in his eyes.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaaVvcfQaf1
Not Sara’s.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxrTz3wcxcj
His.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpvOvS358Qo
He didn’t let them fall.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Go3Itg3KE
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfxt6ik0fvP
Her heart had built walls.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmRXCcTzJMj
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuq29JFiRTK
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6bVOsBpzzI
“No sender. But I was told, ‘She’ll know.’”
Sara blinked, surprised — then, slowly, a faint smile curved on her lips.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxAgepB9OwG
Not wide.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSvGH6IFcur
Not loud.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfHd0bzHflj
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUID1RSOYsA
Her steps slowed.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0c55TPxfdz
Her heart didn’t.
She looked around.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡslCsKle44m
Left.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ZqBgsprDF
Right.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnRrtRvONA1
Nobody.
“Where are you?” she muttered.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCDaPHK7KQD
“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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzugdwG2W3P
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZhv4TlyfH
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftnjXy6LUs
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqhNkwImYJo
“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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWFVi7Id6i
“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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Hs2KLqLmR
“And… I missed the sound of it.”
She met his eyes, and for a second, the world around them blurred.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOwu7NrqXRf
No cruel uncles.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyTEs7KSNA3
No painful memories.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPYS7HxGhyk
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnmNHVEk6r2
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡky91K8DL8p
“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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqpdObHhFpZ
but loud enough for the wind to carry it.
And together, they walked —10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgtQvm2Qn4b
not hand in hand,10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmAlLZlS1T5
but heart beside heart —10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcfeSHSqeNQ
with something blooming softly10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR9FEsz02NT
between the pain and the past.
