Chapter 1 - patterns and petals
Chapter 1 – Patterns and Petals
Zoya lived in a town where silence lingered like perfume and the skies held more stars than city lights. To most, it was just a sleepy place. To Zoya, it was a map of numbers waiting to be decoded — from the rhythm of raindrops on her window to the angles of shadows on the ground.
A lover of math and mystery, Zoya was quiet — not shy, just careful. She found comfort in order and logic. Her notebooks were filled with equations that danced across the pages, her heart reserved like an unsolved problem.
Then came Ari.
He was noise. He was motion. He strummed guitars under mango trees, laughed too loud, and talked too much in class. But somehow, he always ended up beside her, sketching doodles on the corners of her math homework.
“Do numbers ever fall in love?” he once asked with a wink.
Zoya didn’t answer. But her cheeks — usually as calm as chalk — flushed a soft pink.
