JUST A CHOICE 🙂

Jay adjusted the strap of her bag as she crossed the college gate, the iron bars towering above her like a threshold between two lives. Around her, laughter bloomed easily—freshers greeting each other as if they had known one another for years. Conversations overlapped, names exchanged, friendships forming in minutes.

Jay walked alone.

Not because she wanted to, but because sometimes solitude arrived before courage did.

She wore simplicity like armor—hair open flying in the air,eyes that observed more than they revealed. She noticed things: the cracked tiles on the pathway, the notice board crowded with faded posters, the way seniors leaned against pillars, watching.

Someone, somewhere, was watching her too.

She didn’t know it yet.

From the first-floor corridor, he stood still while others joked around him. Tall, composed, unmistakably confident. His gaze followed her movement—not with hunger, but with calculation.

“She” someone muttered.

He said nothing.

Jay paused near the administration block, pretending to read a notice while her heartbeat slowed. She felt it then—that strange sensation of being observed. She turned slightly.

Nothing.

Still, the air felt different.

“Hey.”

The voice came from behind her.

Jay turned.

He stood too close for comfort, a half-smile on his face, an ID card swinging loosely from his neck. Senior. That much was clear.

“I’m just helping the new students,” he said gently. “First day can be confusing.”

Relief flickered in her eyes. “Yes… I was looking for—”

Then his tone shifted.

“So, here’s how this works.”

Her fingers tightened around her bag strap.

“This is ragging,” he said casually, as if explaining a rule. “Nothing extreme. Just a choice.”