The yellow t-shirt
The Space Between Goodbyes
A love story about first heartbreak, and the love that stayed
Chapter 1: The Yellow T-Shirt
Sriya was the kind of girl who believed the world was mostly kind. She loved cooking more than anything. Her kitchen smelled of cardamom and butter, and her mother's old recipes were her favorite bedtime stories. She was also a topper, the girl teachers pointed to when they said, "Be like Sriya."
Her best friend Kabir often teased her. "Only you can be excited about a perfect dosa and a perfect exam result on the same day."
One evening, Sriya stood on her balcony with a cup of chai, watching the sky turn orange. Below, a boy walked past in a bright yellow T-shirt. He laughed at something on his phone, and the last of the sunlight caught his face.
He looks so cute, she thought, and smiled at herself.
That night she could not stop thinking about him. It took her an hour of scrolling, but she found his Instagram. She stared at the Follow button for a long time before tapping it. His name was Aditya.
"Some people arrive like a whole season. You don't notice the weather changing until you're already in love with the rain."
