Hridya's POV
The exams finally ended after a week. The classes are going to start from tomorrow but I don't feel like attending them. Till previous semester I, Noor and Avika used to be in the same section with Avyukt. But from this semester the sections have been rearranged due to our changes in major subjects.
Now my friends are no longer with me in the same class. Avyukt and I are in the same class only but now there is a third person too: Niharika Kapoor, his girlfriend. She has always been there I know but earlier I never used to see them together this closely often. Back then, I'd only catch glimpses of them — walking around the campus or sometimes passing through the corridors. It never felt this close
But now? Now, I have to sit in the same class, breathe the same air and I can't even escape that. Every day I see him sitting with her; laughing, joking, touching her arm sometimes even hugging her like it's natural. It is natural though. And yet, every time I see it, it chips away a little more at whatever strength I thought I had left.
Earlier, my friends used to be there so I never felt the need to look out and I could share my feelings with them and they even acted as distraction too. But now I don't have anyone to even sit with me. Well thanks to my ambivert nature: 55% introvert, 45% extrovert.
It's not like I hate talking to people, it's just that I don't open up to everyone easily. I can hold a conversation if someone approaches first. I'm not rude — just reserved. If there's no topic, I struggle to keep the conversation alive and I am not going to share something personal about my love interest to anyone randomly. So here I am, alone in class — with nothing but my aching heart for company
I don't hate Niharika for being his girlfriend. I'm not bitter. Just... bruised. She has what I never dared to want out loud. I just don't like her. My notion about her is made from the very first interaction I had with her in our first year. At that time, she wasn't even his girlfriend and I didn't knew about Avyukt either because our first semester was online.
In the initial days of the college, we used to have online meets to know each other. It's when I saw Niharika first and the very moment I didn't like her. She belongs to a tier 1 city and for some reasons she has this Elite superiority complex I don't know why. I thought maybe I was overthinking but when we came to our college in the next semester physically, almost the whole batch said the same thing.
And now in our fourth year, whole batch shares one thing in common: that's dislike for Niharika Kapoor due to her so called egoistic and 'looking down at others' nature.
Apparently, Avyukt and Niharika belongs to the same city and during our initial year, they used to be best friends.
Flashback: Aug, 2022
Avika and I were the only one who came to class that day. We were made to sit in a combined class with the students from other major subject since our major subject teacher was absent. It was the starting of our second year only. Avika and I sat in last third row because we had to gossip and talk. It was supposed to be our free lecture but ughhh....!
Well, the frustration from losing a free lecture aside, it was good since I would get to look at Avyukt a little more today. Due to our different major subject, I had to sit in different class for one lecture. But now I had that lecture with him too. Yeah!!
He was sitting in the same line as ours but in the different row with his friends. Niharika and he shared the same major subject and she was not in the class.
As usual, my eyes found him. But this time, something on his neck caught my attention. Wait, is it a love bite? No, no.. it can't be. It must be a mosquito bite... or maybe it's just my heart cooking up stories to feel a little less shattered. I cleared my glasses with my cotton dupatta and again looked at him. It was definitely not looking like a mosquito bite. My heart sank as the realisation washed over me. It was a love bite. But I had to be sure.
I nudged Avika and whispered to her.
"Oye, Avika, ye toh gardan pe nishaan leke aa gaya."
[Avika, look he is having a mark on his neck?]
"Kya? Kon? Kya bol rahi hai gadhi?" Avika said with a confused and surprised expression.
[What? Whom? What are you saying, idiot?]
"Gadhi main nahi. Tu zra Avyukt ki gardan dekh. Or ek dam se matt dekhna warna usko pata chal jayega ki hum usko dekh rahe hain. Aaram se dekh." I said in a low voice silently pointing her to look at his neck.
[You are an idiot. Look at Avyukt’s neck for once. And don’t look all of a sudden or else he will get to know that we were staring him. Look slowly.]
"Ye toh sach mein kisi se gardan katwa aaya Hridya." Avika said with a shocking expression.
[Hridya, he has really gotten his neck bit by someone?]
"Par kis se?" I said with a troubled look.
[But from whom?]
"Waise mosquito bite bhi toh ho sakta hai na. like dekh wo kitna gora hai toh itching karne se red ho gaya hoga na." I said even though I knew it was just a nonsense excuse which my hopeless heart was coming up with but the look on Avika's face told me to shut up.
[It can be a mosquito bite too you know. like look at it, he is so fair, it must have got red by itching right?]
"O pyaar mein andhi aurat! Mosquito bite ek side ho sakta hai but zra aankhein khol kar uski dusri gardan ke dusri taraf bhi dekh lo."
[Oh Ms. Blind woman in love! Mosquito can bite on one side but both look at the other side of his neck with wide and open eyes.]
I followed Avika's words and looked at the other side of his neck and she was right. It was definitely a love bite. But who did it? Is she someone from outside our college? Or she is someone from the college only? Or worst if she is a new comer and a junior girl who managed to have him as hers. No no no....not a junior please.
"Par ye ladki hai kon?" I heard Avika already decoding the possibilities.
[But who is this girl?]
"Pata nahi. Par jo bhi hai, pata to lagana padega." I look at her with a determined look.
[I don’t know. But whoever it is, we have to find.]
The class ended but I my mind was stuck on just one thing: finding out his girlfriend.
We all were leaving the class. Avika and I exited the class and what we saw shocked us both.
So, it's her: Niharika Kapoor. Avyukt stood in the corridor; arms casually wrapped around her waist like it was the most natural thing in the world — like she belonged there. That sight didn't just sting. It ached in places I didn't know could hurt. And no words could describe how it felt.
Avika pats my back in comfort and I look at her forcing a small smile grateful for her support but also acting as if I hadn't just saw something heartbreaking and it wasn't feeling like walking on a hot path.
----
We four were sitting on the mess table for lunch where Avika broke the news to rest of the two.
"Or bol uss Niharika ko Sautan sautan." Dhairya chides me as if she herself was hurt by this revelation.
[Now call that Niharika Sautan.]
"Toh isme meri kya galti hai. Wo harkatein hi aisi karti thi. Or maine toh kaha hi tha ki uska dil tootega or wo rone ke liye kandha dhundegi or wo kandha hoga Avyukt ka. Phir ye dono relationship mein aa jayenge. Or dekho aaj wahi hua." I said hiding back the pain and trying to keep the mood light.
[What’s my fault in this? She used to do such things. And I just predicted that once her heart will break she will end up on Avyukt’s shoulder and they will get in relationship. See that’s what happened.]
"Par ye samajh nahi aata iska wo jo boyfriend tha senior, kya naam tha uska? Acha jo bhi tha, uska kya hua?" Avika said the same thing I was wondering about too.
[But I don’t understand she had a boyfriend, whoever it was, I don’t remember his name, what happened to him?]
"Arre uska jo bhi hua ho, meri theory sahi nikli na. I told you, ye pakka Avyukt ke saath relationship mein aayegi. I don't know ab Avyukt ne sympathy mein kiya ya fir willingly but ye toh hona hi tha. Or anyways wo senior toh ab pass out ho gaya na. kya hi farak padta hai?" I said trying to sound logical and nonchalant about the news of his relationship but deep down it was hurting.
[Whatever it was but my theory is proven right. I told you she will get into a relationship with Avyukt. I don’t know if Avyukt did it out of sympathy or willingly but it was bound to happen. And anyways, that senior has passed out now, who cares?]
My friends seemed to bought my act and we went back to our rooms after finishing our meals.
Flashback ends.
No one knows this, but that day, I cried quietly to myself after returning to the room. Noor and I were roommates back then, but even she didn't notice — maybe because I was too good at hiding it, or maybe because I didn't want anyone to see just how much it hurt. I kept telling myself he had every right to love whoever he wanted. And he did. But that didn't stop the ache. That day, something shifted. I realised it was never just a harmless crush. It was something deeper — something I didn't have a name for back then, but my heart did. It had always known.
Hi All!
Yeh raha aapka aaj ka chapter. Wattpad pe ek chapter aage chal raha hai but koi ni I will update chapter on Thrusday here then dono equal pace pe ho jayenge. Yahan pe ek update extra hogi. Wattpad pe toh updates only Saturday ko hoti hain.
Toh tayyar ho jao mere delusions dekhne ke liye ab 😂
Bye Bye. See you in next chapter. ❤️
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