An Average love story....

As the bell rang signalling the break after the first class. A boy named Aryan barely reached inside the classroom after a quick breathless sprint. Without drawing any attention, he slipped onto the bench near the window—his everyday place, a silent corner to escape his average life. He scanned around the room and noticed the usual crowd of girls and boys circling someone, and she was Shanaya—a bold diva who likes to live her life to the fullest and has a taste for everything expensive.

Everyone's eyes were shining as they saw her designer purse—the one which probably costs more than their laptops.

As Aryan looked from his quiet corner, he caught a glimpse of her face; calm, bold, yet with elegant features which could make anyone fall for them. The way the light poured on her face made her look like a professional model. While admiring her face, they locked eyes and he quickly looked away. His heartbeat quickened, and his cheeks turned slightly pink. Looking at his state, she knew what her presence did and gave a small smile and turned again towards the crowd.

From the other corner of the classroom, someone was looking at him, and she was Isha—a petite girl with a shy personality who always keeps things to herself. She was very observant and was noticing all the chaos. From across the classroom, she reached into her bag and took out her camera and secretly clicked his photo.

Still embarrassed from the previous interaction, Aryan put his head down and was looking out of the window, unaware that he was now a subject of someone else's art.

Thus the second bell rang which signalled the next class and everyone got seated. His mind wandered again into the memory of their locked eyes and her smile, which made him blush a little. And with some daydreaming and some boring lecture, time blurred until the third bell rang, which meant it was lunch.

As the classroom emptied and everyone went towards the cafeteria, Aryan, however, headed towards his locker to drop off his heavy textbooks. Isha secretly followed him while maintaining distance, her heart hammering in her chest.

As he was arranging his locker, Isha wanted to get close to him to get a better look at the boy whom she had previously photographed. But her nervousness got the better of her; her foot caught the uneven floor and she tripped forward with a gasp. Before reaching the hard tiles, Aryan reacted. He spun around and caught her by the waist, steadying her. During this chaos, Isha's grip on her books failed and the books spilled on the floor with a loud thud.

Their eyes locked and Isha's pulse quickened with each passing second. Aryan was the first to break the silence. With a calm and concerned voice, Aryan asked, “Are you okay?"

Isha, who was too overwhelmed by embarrassment by this whole situation, didn't answer. She scrambled to pick up her books and bolted down the hallway without saying a word, leaving Aryan there standing alone against the locker, completely confused.

As the sound of her footsteps faded away, something on the floor caught his attention. In this frantic hurry, she had missed a book. He leaned down and picked up the book. Noticing her name which was neatly written on the front, he muttered to himself, “So Isha, huh?" He looked down the empty hallway where she had disappeared and said, “Well, I should return this to her.”

He turned and started to walk towards the cafeteria while thinking about what just happened. Internally he thought, “Why did she run off like that? Without even saying anything?”

He reached the cafeteria after a quick walk and scanned the noisy crowd for any sign of her. After a brief glance, he found her seated in the far corner, true to her nature, as she was there not to grab any attention. He approached her table from behind and thought of patting her shoulder, reaching out his hand. But before his fingers could touch her, he pulled his hand back. Hesitation was clearly seen in his eyes; he was debating internally whether he should really do this or not.

With a deep breath, he forced himself to find the courage. He reached out again and patted her on the shoulder. Isha, who was focused on her work, turned around with a startled “Who?”. As she turned fully and realised it was him, her eyes widened slightly with surprise.

As the tension and awkwardness rose, Isha let out a high-pitched “Hi!”. It only took her a second to realise what she had done and her cheeks turned pink with embarrassment as she quickly covered her mouth with both her hands, as if trying to pull the words back in.

Aryan stands there seeing her mini-meltdown and with a stammering tone asks, “May I... sit here?”

Isha quickly gathers herself and moves to give space to him. He sits beside her. Their minds are racing: one who has never been this close to a girl and the other who was this close to the boy she was spying on.

Aryan turned towards his bag and pulled her textbook out and gently slid it towards her. He said softly, “You dropped it in the hallway when you ran off.”

Hearing this made Isha more embarrassed and she quickly snatched the textbook and tucked it in her bag—a failed attempt to hide her internal panic. “Thank you,” she whispered, the words so soft they were meant only for him to hear.

Shanaya, who was watching all the drama unfold, found her next victim. Elegantly she walked towards their table and the crowd followed her like a tide. Their quiet and awkward world that they had just built was shattered the moment Shanaya arrived.

“You,” Shanaya says boldly while her gaze locked on Aryan. She didn't even acknowledge Isha's presence. “I’ve been seeing you for quite a bit now. Well, I don't have time to waste right now, so meet me after class.”

And thus, after she said that, Shanaya walked away and murmurs started spreading in the crowd. On the other hand, a slight anger formed inside Isha's mind. “How could she ruin our precious moments?” she thought, though she kept her face calm and mind cool.

Aryan, who was stunned by this moment, was internally happy that finally he got noticed by the queen bee.

“Isha, have you seen that? She noticed me,” Aryan says. To which Isha responds with a tone which dripped slight jealousy, “Yeah, yeah, I saw that.” But he was too busy daydreaming to notice. He finally snapped out of it, realizing how much he had been rambling. "Oh—sorry, Isha. I got a bit carried away."

The bells are heard again, signalling the next class. Aryan started to pack his stuff, stands up, and starts to walk out of the cafeteria. After his first steps, he quickly spun around, which surprised Isha.

“So Isha, friends?” Aryan said in a calm tone and with a genuine smile as he offered his hand forward for a handshake.

Isha, genuinely surprised by this gesture, offers her hand. But before their palms could meet, a drop of a warm liquid falls on Isha's hand. She thought it was just sweat from the cafeteria heat, but after she looked down, her heart skipped a beat. It was bright red: a drop of blood.

“Isha, why is your nose bleeding?” Aryan asks with a hint of confusion and concern in his voice, as his smile vanishes. He quickly grabs a tissue from a nearby table and hands it to her.

“Why is my nose bleeding?” Isha wonders to herself, her mind racing. The adrenaline from her anger at Shanaya and the shock of Aryan’s friendship had finally taken its toll. She looked at him—standing there with a tissue and a look of pure, innocent confusion—and felt a wave of exasperation. “Ugh, is this boy really too dense to understand why?” she thought. “Does he have no idea what he’s doing to me?”

"Well, I've gotta go!" Aryan said, checking the clock. He gave her a quick wave and hurried out of the cafeteria, his mind already drifting toward his meeting with Shanaya.

Isha stood there for a long moment, the tissue pressed to her nose, watching his back disappear into the hallway. She let out a heavy sigh that made the tissue flutter. "When will he ever understand?" she whispered to the empty space he had left behind.

Moving carefully to ensure her fingers were clean, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the photo she had taken earlier in class. She stared at his face in the picture—the quiet boy by the window—and felt the sting of a completely different kind of pain