Chapter 1: How I Met To Her?
The summer of the COVID years was unlike anything I had ever known. Life had slowed to a crawl, as if time itself had lost its pace. There was nothing much to do. Days blurred into nights, nights into days, and in between we searched desperately for distractions playing endless rounds of Ludo with family, watching Ramayan reruns on television, or experimenting with recipes we would otherwise never try.
And then there was me lost in the glowing world of Instagram. While everyone else seemed busy finding comfort in board games or food, I was addicted to scrolling through that endless feed. Sitting cross-legged on my bed, phone in hand, I would peek into the lives of strangers and friends alike. Who had eaten what today? Who was out on their balcony, sipping tea? Who was smiling into the camera, pretending the world outside wasn’t crumbling? I watched it all. It became my window to a world that no longer felt accessible.
Back then, I was an extrovert in every sense of the word. I loved making new friends...loved the spark that came with a new conversation, the thrill of discovering someone’s quirks, their laughter, their stories. To me, meeting someone new was like unwrapping a gift...you never knew what it would hold, but it always came with a kind of magic.
And it was on one of those idle afternoons, lost in the monotony of scrolling, that I stumbled upon a face. She appeared in my suggestions tab, as if fate itself had decided to play a little trick on me. A girl...simple, unpretentious, yet striking in her own way. What caught my attention wasn’t perfection but something far more captivating: her smile. It wasn’t the flawless, polished smile of filters and edits. No. It was real....her teeth a little crooked, her grin unguarded, imperfect, human. And somehow, that made it beautiful. The kind of smile that makes you pause. The kind of smile that lingers in your mind long after you’ve scrolled past.
Haayeee, I whispered to myself, almost laughing at my own reaction. (And no, I wasn’t in love. I wasn’t even interested in her that way...I'm not a lesbian. But sometimes, a smile alone is enough to make you feel something.)
Normally, I never sent follow requests to strangers. It just wasn’t something I did. But that day was different. Maybe it was because she was already among my mutuals, maybe it was the loneliness creeping in again, or maybe....just maybe....it was instinct. Whatever it was, I tapped the little blue button. Follow.
And then I waited.
Hours passed in silence, and I forgot about it the way we forget about little things. Until, suddenly, my phone lit up with a notification:
“vxnshicaaa has accepted your friend request and wants to follow you back.”
That single sentence. That tiny vibration in my hand. It was ridiculous, but in that moment, it felt monumental. My lips curved into a smile so wide, so genuine, it startled even me. I can’t put into words the rush of warmth it sent through me. It was as if a window had opened in a stuffy room, letting in fresh air.
I didn’t know why I felt this urge, but something in me wanted her to be close...closer than just another name on a feed. At that point in my life, I didn’t have anyone I could truly call a “close friend.” Loneliness had become my quiet companion. Old friends had drifted away, our connections loosened by time, distance, and unspoken circumstances. I had people around me, yes...but not the kind of people I could open my heart to.
And that’s why her simple smile, her follow back, felt so significant. I wanted her to be the one. I wanted to believe that maybe, just maybe, she could fill that empty space in my life.
I remember staring at the notification for longer than necessary, my mind already weaving stories, my heart daring to hope. Sometimes, all it takes is a single click, a single acceptance, to make the world feel a little less lonely.
And that day, as my phone slipped from my hand and I sank back into my pillow, I realized something: in the middle of a pandemic, in the middle of chaos and silence and endless empty hours, fate had quietly planted a seed.
A seed that would grow into a story I hadn’t yet imagined.
