Between The Love We Choose by Valentinaa at Inkitt

Chapter 1 The Introduction

Sarika Singhania’s alarm blared loudly at exactly 6 a.m., destroying the peaceful silence of her sleep.

Half asleep, she stretched her hand under the pillow, searching blindly for her phone. The moment she found it, she quickly turned the alarm off.

Silence.

Five seconds later, the alarm started screaming again.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Sarika groaned, pulling the blanket over her face dramatically.

As if the universe already hated her enough, her bedroom door suddenly burst open.

“Wake up! It’s already late!” her mother shouted. “I seriously don’t understand why you even set alarms if you still wake up late. Get up before I count to three, or I’ll bring a bucket of water!”

Sarika let out a long, painful groan.

Early morning schools should honestly be illegal.

Why couldn’t schools start at 10 p.m. instead? Humanity would probably be happier.

Dragging herself out of bed felt like a punishment designed personally for her. She walked toward her closet while muttering complaints under her breath.

“Mom! Where’s my tie? I can’t find it!”

“It must be in your closet. Check properly,” her mother shouted back from the kitchen.

“Ugh, this stupid school and this stupid uniform,” Sarika mumbled while throwing clothes around like a detective searching for evidence in a crime scene.

After somehow getting ready, she pulled the curtains open.

Bright sunlight immediately hit her face.

“Wow. Amazing,” she muttered sarcastically. “The sun is shining so bright that I could literally turn into fried chicken if I step outside.”

She sighed dramatically.

“Why do I have to wake up at six in the morning just to get roasted alive? I hate summers. Winters were so much better.”

“Sarika! Come eat breakfast!”

The moment she walked into the dining room, her mood improved slightly.

Food.

The only thing in life that had never betrayed her.

“Okay, maybe life isn’t completely horrible,” she thought while staring at the breakfast with emotional appreciation.

She ate quickly before grabbing her bag and running toward the bus stop.

Unfortunately, destiny clearly enjoyed watching her suffer.

The school bus arrived exactly when she did.

And inside the bus sat one of the top ten reasons why Sarika hated her life.

LavanyaLavanya.

The moment Sarika stepped inside, LavanyaLavanya waved excitedly.

“Sarika! Sit here!”

Sarika forced a smile while walking toward the seat.

Great.

Now she had to survive thirty minutes of nonstop storytelling.

LavanyaLavanya was the kind of girl who somehow made every single conversation about herself. According to her, every tiny inconvenience was “trauma,” every boy was secretly obsessed with her, and every life event sounded suspiciously dramatic.

And the second a guy appeared nearby, her voice would suddenly become softer than melted butter.

Even thinking about it embarrassed Sarika.

The bus started moving.

“Sarika, you know what happened yesterday?” Lavanya asked excitedly.

“No,” Sarika replied with a sigh. “What happened?”

“You remember Varun, right? The super handsome and popular guy from Allen? Literally ninety-nine percent of girls are obsessed with him.”

Sarika nodded slowly, already mentally preparing herself.

“Well,” Lavanya continued proudly, “yesterday he literally proposed to me during class. Everyone heard him.”

Of course he did, Sarika thought.

“But obviously I said no because I’m loyal to Sahil,” Lavnaya said dramatically while flipping her hair. “I told him, ‘Listen, we’re better as friends. I already have a boyfriend.’”

Sarika stared outside the window, wondering if jumping out of a moving bus counted as a valid escape plan.

“But then,” Lavanya continued, lowering her voice for dramatic effect, “he said, ‘Yes, there are many other girls… but none of them are you.’”

Lavanya burst into laughter.

Sarika gave a fake smile and nodded like a tired therapist being forced to work overtime.

Please let school come faster.

For the next thirty minutes, Sarika survived the bus ride by pretending to listen while mentally planning her own funeral.

Finally, the bus stopped in front of the school.

Freedom.

Sarika immediately stepped out, feeling relieved that she wouldn’t have to hear Lavanya speak again for the next twenty-four hours.

But that happiness lasted only three seconds.

She looked up at the endless staircase leading toward the school building.

“Oh right,” she muttered dryly. “I forgot I have to climb Mount Everest every morning too.”

She stared at the stairs with pure disappointment.

“Is my school below the poverty line or something? Why can’t they just install an elevator?”

Sarika had a principle.

Who made this principle? Nobody knew.

Not even Sarika herself.

But according to this very serious and completely unnecessary rule, whenever she climbed stairs, she had to look absolutely nonchalant. No heavy breathing. No bending down. No looking tired. Even if her soul was leaving her body, she had to walk like a runway model entering Paris Fashion Week.

So there she was, climbing three floors with a straight face and perfect posture while internally fighting for survival.

By the time she reached the corridor, her lungs were practically writing their final goodbye letter.

And then she saw Ariha waiting outside the classroom.

Immediately, Sarika’s face lit up brighter than the morning sun.

Finally. A normal human being.

“Ariha!” she said dramatically while walking toward her.

“You look like you just fought in a war,” Ariha replied.

“I basically did. Those stairs are a hate crime.”

The two walked inside the classroom together, still laughing.

And then—

Her smile disappeared.

Oh.

Him.

Avyukt.

The number one person Sarika had hated for the past four years straight.

Nobody had ever managed to replace him at the top of her personal hate list.

Just seeing him sitting peacefully near the window annoyed her for absolutely no reason.

Actually no.

There were many reasons.

His existence itself was one.

“Ugh,” Sarika thought while narrowing her eyes at him. “Now I have to deal with him too. Why does his existence annoy me so much?”

But then her eyes landed on the book in front of him.

Wait.

What math book was that?

She had never seen it before.

The cover looked unfamiliar, thick pages filled with difficult-looking problems, and Avyukt was solving them like an actual calculator disguised as a human being.

Sarika stared suspiciously.

“I need to know which book that is,” she thought immediately. “At any cost.”

A competitive spark lit up inside her eyes.

“This time, Avyukt, I will crush you.”

She finally walked toward her seat, and the moment she looked at her friends again, her mood improved instantly.

“Hey,” she whispered while sitting down. “What’s that book Avyukt is solving?”

Aarvika turned around curiously.

“Oh, THAT book? Even I was wondering about it,” she whispered back. “But don’t worry.”

A mischievous grin appeared on her face.

“I have my ways.”

Meanwhile, completely unaware—or maybe fully aware—Avyukt continued solving math problems silently, spinning his pen occasionally as if he belonged in some academic edit on social media.

“Here she goes again,” he thought without even looking up. “I’m pretty sure she’s trying to figure out which book I’m solving.”

A tiny smirk appeared on his face.

“But I’ll make sure she never finds out.”

The classroom slowly filled with noise as students entered one by one. Chairs scraped against the floor, friends shouted across benches, notebooks slammed onto desks, and ceiling fans spun lazily above everyone’s heads.

A few minutes later, the teacher entered.

And just like that, chaos turned into silence.

Well…

Almost silence.

Sarika was still secretly trying to zoom her vision hard enough to read the title of Avyukt’s book from three benches away.

After trying for almost five straight minutes, the teacher finally noticed her staring somewhere far from reality.

“Sarika?”

No response.

“SARIKA.”

“Um—yes, sir?” she said quickly.

“Stand up first,” the teacher said suspiciously.

“Yes, sir…” Sarika whispered dramatically while standing up.

“I’ve been noticing you for a long time,” the teacher continued. “Where exactly are you looking? Am I teaching near the window?”

A few students laughed quietly.

“Sorry, sir,” Sarika replied.

“Alright then,” the teacher said. “Tell me, what is a brine solution?”

Sarika froze.

“Umm… a brine solution is… umm… which is…”

Her brain officially stopped working.

The teacher sighed.

“Okay, sit down. It’s obvious you weren’t paying attention. Focus in class, or this year too you’ll remain stuck in second position and won’t be able to beat Avyukt.”

Sarika sat down with pure embarrassment burning across her face.

“Avyukt,” the teacher said, “you answer.”

Avyukt stood up calmly like he was about to give a speech in front of millions.

“Well, sir,” he began confidently, “a brine solution is a concentrated solution of common salt, that is sodium chloride or NaCl, dissolved in water.”

“Yes, exactly!” the teacher said proudly. “Very good, Avyukt. Keep it up.”

Avyukt sat down slowly.

And then—

He looked directly at Sarika and passed her the most annoying little smirk she had ever seen in her life.

“Oh, poor her,” he thought. “She’ll never be able to beat me.”

Sarika narrowed her eyes immediately.

“You wait,” she thought angrily. “I’ll make sure you will never be able to answer again.”

The moment class ended, Avyukt casually walked toward her desk.

“Looks like someone wasn’t focused in class,” he said innocently. “Sad. Maybe someone was too busy trying to look at the book I was solving?”

Sarika stared at him in disbelief.

“Huh? Me? Looking at your book?” she scoffed dramatically. “God, please. I don’t practice from every random book I see. Unlike some people who probably waste time in solving every equation that exists on Earth.”

“Oh really?” Avyukt replied casually. “Maybe that’s why I’ve been crushing you for the past four years.”

Sarika almost combusted on the spot.

“You wait,” she snapped. “This time you won’t even be able to look at me after the exams.”

Avyukt smirked again.

“We’ll see who wins.”

And just like that, Sarika was burning with rage.

“HOW DARE HE TALK TO ME LIKE THAT?” she groaned dramatically after he left. “I swear I’ll add rat poison to his water bottle one day.”

“Calm down, Sarika,” Aarvika laughed. “Lets kill him after school if you want”

Sarika took a deep breath.

Before she could say anything else, Ariha suddenly leaned forward with excitement.

“Wait,” she whispered dramatically, “I just got an idea.”

Sarika and Aarvika immediately looked at her.

“You know during lunch break he goes to another section to eat with his friends, right?” Ariha said proudly. “It takes him almost ten minutes to come back.”

Sarika slowly smiled.

A dangerous smile.

“So,” Ariha continued, “during that time… we look at the book.”

For a second, complete silence filled the group.

Then—

“Well,” Sarika said proudly, “for the first time in your life, you’ve actually given a good idea.”

The three girls burst into evil laughter quietly.

Meanwhile, somewhere across the classroom, completely unaware of the upcoming crime against privacy—

Avyukt continued solving math peacefully.

For now.

The moment the lunch bell rang, the classroom exploded into chaos.

Students rushed out of their seats, lunchboxes opened dramatically, chairs screeched across the floor, and loud conversations filled the air within seconds.

But Sarika wasn’t thinking about food.

No.

Today, she had only one mission.

The math book.

“Alright everyone,” Sarika whispered seriously while standing up from her seat. “Operation Topper Book officially begins now.”

Aarvika saluted dramatically.

Ariha nearly choked trying not to laugh.

“You guys are acting like we’re planning a robbery,” she whispered.

“Because this IS a robbery,” Sarika replied. “An academic robbery.”

All three girls secretly looked toward Avyukt.

Right on schedule, he closed his notebook, picked up his lunchbox, and stood up calmly.

Sarika narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

“Why does he walk like he owns the entire school?”

“Because unfortunately he kinda does,” Aarvika muttered.

The moment he disappeared from sight, Sarika stood up dramatically.

“MOVE MOVE MOVE.”

The three girls rushed toward his desk like undercover agents.

Ariha immediately stood near the classroom door to keep watch.

“Hurry up before he comes back!”

“He won’t come back this fast,” Aarvika whispered confidently.

Sarika carefully grabbed the mysterious math book and opened it.

And immediately—

Her confidence disappeared.

“Oh my god.”

“What happened?” Aarvika whispered urgently.

“This book looks illegal.”

The pages were filled with difficult problems, formulas, shortcuts, sticky notes, highlighted sections, and solutions so neat they looked printed.

Sarika stared in horror.

“What kind of psycho solves THIS willingly?”

Aarvika grabbed the book dramatically.

“Forget the questions WHY IS HIS HANDWRITING SO GOOD?”

“Exactly!” Sarika whisper-yelled. “Even his rough work looks richer than my future.”

The girls quickly flipped through pages.

Every chapter had notes.

Every formula had tricks.

Every difficult question had color-coded solutions.

“This man is not human,” Aarvika whispered seriously.

Suddenly—

Footsteps echoed outside the classroom.

All three girls froze.

“HE’S BACK?” Ariha whisper-screamed.

Sarika immediately shut the book and ducked under the desk dramatically.

Aarvika almost dropped the notebook.

A shadow passed near the classroom door.

The girls stopped breathing.

A second later, two random students walked past while talking loudly.

Silence.

Then—

The three girls exhaled together.

“Oh my god,” Aarvika whispered. “I just got an heart attack.”

“Stop wasting time!” Sarika hissed. “Open the book again!”

They quickly reopened it.

Sarika started flipping through pages rapidly.

And then—

A folded paper slipped out from between the pages.

The girls stared at it.

Slowly.

Suspiciously.

Ariha gasped dramatically.

“What if it’s a love letter?”

Sarika grabbed the paper immediately.

“No way. THIS is valuable information.”

She unfolded it quickly.

But instead of a love letter—

It was a list.

A terrifying schedule.

4:00 a.m. — Wake up

5:00 a.m. — Revision

6:00 a.m. — Practice questions

School

Coaching

Self-study

Mock tests

Sleep — 11:30 p.m.

The girls stared silently.

“…Does he even live?” Aarvika whispered.

“No wonder he acts dead inside,” Sarika muttered.

Before she could flip the page again—

Footsteps echoed outside the classroom once more.

This time closer.

Much closer.

“WAIT WAIT WAIT HE’S ACTUALLY COMING,” Ariha panic-whispered.

Sarika quickly tried putting everything back properly.

But the pages suddenly slipped from her hands.

“Oh no.”

“OH NO.”

Papers scattered across the desk and floor.

“PICK THEM UP FAST!” Aarvika whisper-shouted while trying not to laugh from panic.

The footsteps got closer.

Sarika hurriedly picked up random papers without checking them.

One page accidentally flipped open.

And there—

She saw an entire page filled with one solved math problem repeated again and again.

Different methods.

Different shortcuts.

Tiny notes written beside them.

At the top corner was written:

“Need to beat previous score.”

For a second, Sarika paused.

Something about that sentence felt strangely intense.

Before she could think further—

A voice spoke behind them.

“So…”

The girls froze instantly.

“…having fun?”

Slowly—

VERY slowly—

Sarika turned around.

Avyukt stood there with crossed arms, staring directly at them.

And unlike before—

This time he wasn’t even smirking.

Which somehow felt scarier.

“So this is what second rankers do during recess?”

Avyukt’s voice echoed behind them calmly.

Aarvika and Ariha immediately stepped away from the desk like they had absolutely nothing to do with the situation.

Meanwhile, Sarika still stood there holding the book in her hands like a criminal caught stealing national treasure.

Slowly, she turned around.

Avyukt stood near the desk with crossed arms, looking annoyingly calm as usual.

A tiny smirk rested on his face.

“Oh, poor Sarika,” he said mockingly. “Were you that curious about how I study?”

“Huh? Uhh—actually…” Sarika started speaking quickly, her brain desperately trying to invent a believable lie. “I was just passing by and some boys were running around and they accidentally dropped this, so I was only keeping it back in its place.”

She shoved the book toward him dramatically.

“There. Take it. I’ll leave now.”

She turned around quickly before the situation became even more embarrassing.

But suddenly—

A hand grabbed her wrist lightly.

Sarika froze instantly.

For one second, her brain completely stopped working.

Slowly, she looked back at him.

Avyukt stared at her calmly.

“Don’t you think,” he said quietly, “you’re forgetting something?”

Sarika frowned.

“What?”

“A.P.O.L.O.G.I.S.E.”

The word came out sharp and clear.

Sarika blinked in disbelief.

“Me?” she said while pointing at herself dramatically. “And apologise to YOU?”

“Yes.”

Sarika scoffed loudly.

“I was literally helping you,” she argued. “You should be thanking me instead.”

“For invading my privacy?”

“For protecting your precious book from dangerous people.”

Avyukt raised one eyebrow.

“You call THIS helping?”

“Yes.”

“This is exactly why you stay in second place.”

Direct hit.

Sarika immediately narrowed her eyes at him.

“Oh wow,” she replied sarcastically. “Looks like topper rank increased your ego too.”

“At least I earned mine,” Avyukt replied calmly.

Sarika looked seconds away from exploding.

Behind them, Aarvika leaned slightly toward Ariha and whispered quietly,

“He is definitely getting rat poisoned one day.”

“Well,” Avyukt said without even looking at them, “I heard that.”

Ariha immediately looked at the ceiling like she had disconnected from reality.

Sarika crossed her arms stubbornly.

“You seriously need help.”

“And you seriously need focus,” Avyukt replied instantly. “Maybe then you’d stop staring at my books during class.”

“Oh please,” Sarika snapped. “As if your life-changing magical math book is the center of the universe.”

“It clearly became the center of yours.”

Before Sarika could respond, a loud voice interrupted them.

“What exactly is going on here?”

All four students froze.

Slowly, they turned around.

The chemistry teacher stood near the classroom door with crossed arms and visible disappointment on his face.

Dead silence.

The teacher looked at the open book, then at Sarika standing near Avyukt’s desk, and finally at the other two girls pretending to become invisible.

“So THIS is how toppers spend their lunch break?” he said sharply.

“No sir, actually—” Sarika started.

“Enough,” the teacher interrupted immediately.

Nobody dared speak.

“You four have been creating noise in the corridor since the bell rang. If you have so much energy during recess, then maybe you should use it properly.”

The teacher pointed toward the front of the classroom.

“Kneel down. Hands up.”

The entire class, which had just entered moments ago, immediately went silent before bursting into whispers.

Sarika’s soul left her body.

“Sir…” she whispered painfully. “Hands up too?”

“Yes.”

Aarvika looked personally betrayed by life.

Meanwhile, Avyukt simply sighed quietly and walked forward.

Which somehow annoyed Sarika even more.

“How are you still calm?” she whispered angrily while kneeling beside him.

Avyukt glanced sideways at her.

“Because unlike someone,” he replied calmly, “I know how to stay out of trouble.”

Sarika stared at him in disbelief.

“YOU literally started the argument!”

“And you invaded my desk.”

“Oh my god,” Sarika groaned dramatically while raising her hands higher. “One day I’m actually going to lose my sanity because of you.”

A tiny smirk appeared on Avyukt’s face again.

And unfortunately—

That irritated Sarika more than the punishment itself.

Sarika clenched her jaw dramatically before glaring at him.

“You know what? Just wait,” she whispered sharply. “I’m going to crush you so badly that it’ll take you a lifetime to rebuild your ego again.”

A tiny smirk appeared on Avyukt’s face.

“We’ll see.”

Sarika rolled her eyes aggressively and tried adjusting her position while kneeling.

But the moment she moved her hand slightly—

She winced.

A small scratch near her wrist burned painfully.

While picking up the fallen papers earlier, one sharp paper edge had cut her skin slightly.

A thin red line stretched across her wrist.

Sarika immediately ignored it.

It was tiny anyway.

But beside her, Avyukt noticed instantly.

His eyes briefly paused on the scratch.

“You’re bleeding,” he said quietly.

Sarika frowned and looked down.

“Oh.”

“It’s nothing,” she muttered casually.

The teacher was still busy scolding another group of students near the door, while the entire class secretly watched the toppers being punished like it was live entertainment.

Avyukt kept staring at the scratch for another second.

Then, without saying anything, he quietly took out a small bandage from his pocket and placed it beside her on the floor.

Sarika blinked.

“What’s this?”

“A bandage,” he replied dryly. “I thought that was obvious.”

Sarika stared at him suspiciously.

“You carry bandages around?”

“For emergencies.”

“You sound eighty years old.”

“And you sound like someone who’ll probably trip over air one day.”

Sarika was about to argue again—

But then she looked at the bandage silently.