Himanshu couldn’t look her in the eyes. He quickly averted his trembling gaze to the side. It was like he didn’t want to look into eyes that were now getting happy for someone else. Before his mind could even process anything, he lowered his gaze.
But at that exact moment, he realized there was something else in her eyes... something Himanshu could actually understand. It was... hope. A hope that felt way bigger than Vaibhav’s perfect proposal.
Without wasting a single second, trying to reconnect that breaking eye contact, he raised his trembling, widening eyes back up. He looked at her closely. The moment his gaze locked with Priya’s again, her eyes widened for a split second. Almost as if she was waiting for exactly this.
Staring into her eyes, Himanshu gulped hard through his dry throat.
That eye contact of barely three seconds had created some weird, invisible bond between them.
Himanshu abruptly broke the eye contact, looked to the side, and just waited for her answer.
A heavy silence took over the classroom for a few moments.
Then Priya’s very quiet, broken voice echoed out, like she wasn’t ready to answer this question at all.
Taking a deep breath, she said,
"I... I just need a day."
Hearing this, a second later, the class erupted into whispers all over again.
That red rose in Vaibhav’s hand was just left hanging there. His perfect smile instantly faded, as if he hadn’t expected this answer at all.
This time, everyone genuinely thought Priya would say ’yes’. But just like Vaibhav, they probably had to react with shock too. Some guys in the class couldn’t stop smiling, as if exactly what they wanted was happening right in front of them.
Who knows why... but Himanshu’s mind felt a weird sense of relief. His uncontrollable panic slowed down. His grip on the bag strap loosened and let go. Looking at Priya, it really seemed like she was pretty excited about this surprise, but for some reason, she asked for a day. But maybe Himanshu kind of understood why that happened.
And just like him, Vaibhav understood it too. Vaibhav stared closely at Priya’s conflicted eyes. He noticed that Priya’s gaze kept drifting toward the classroom door, getting stuck on that guy (Himanshu). Vaibhav’s jaw clenched slightly. For a split second, his grip tightened around the rose.
But a moment later, Himanshu’s mind just wasn’t ready to accept that all this was just the magic of one eye contact.
But somewhere, Himanshu was thinking right. After all, despite such little bonding time and absolutely zero risks, why would anyone reject such a better offer?
After what Priya said, who knows why, but Himanshu’s heart was itching to make contact with her again.
He looked at Priya. Priya wasn’t making eye contact with Vaibhav anymore; she was keeping her gaze down. Almost like she wasn’t happy saying what she just said. Or rather, she chose something she herself didn’t expect to.
And maybe that’s exactly why Himanshu’s heart was craving to make eye contact with her. He wanted to look... into the eyes of the person who had actually considered him as something.
But right then, seeing Vaibhav’s returning smile, Himanshu’s mind started sinking back into that same swamp of pain.
Lifting his knee off the floor, Vaibhav stood back up and spoke with that same confidence.
"Figured you’d say something like that."
Closing his eyes for a second, with a light chuckle, he shrugged his shoulders.
"That’s exactly why I like you." He paused for a beat, then smirked. "And anyway, I already know what your answer’s gonna be."
Priya looked into Vaibhav’s eyes again. But who knows why, this time there was a clear confusion running in her eyes. Like deciding between a yes and a no was getting really hard for her.
Tightening the grip of her fingers, Priya gave Vaibhav an awkward smile.
"I’ll be back tomorrow with this exact same flower... to get my answer."
Keeping that same smile on his face, Vaibhav turned toward the classroom door with his rose.
The class went dead silent again. The Vaibhav who was always used to winning, got a ’wait’ today instead of a ’yes’. And for a guy like him, this wait was nothing short of an insult.
He took his heavy steps toward Himanshu, who was still standing at the door.
Himanshu could see his face clearly. His smile was still intact, like nothing had happened, but his eyes... Himanshu could see something unsettling in his eyes. His eyes were slightly narrowed, like a deep anger was boiling up inside him, ready to explode.
As he got closer, Himanshu became even more sure. Without looking at Himanshu even once, Vaibhav reached right next to him.
And right then... Himanshu felt the touch of that same hand on his shoulder again.
For a second, Himanshu’s body went numb. Like this touch wasn’t out of friendliness, it felt more like a warning.
With that same smile, Vaibhav turned his neck toward Himanshu.
"By the way... what’s your name, bro?"
Himanshu looked into his eyes for a second and then quickly looked away. Maybe it was the fear of the gap between a loser and a celebrity.
"Himan... Himanshu."
Facing the corridor, Vaibhav squeezed Himanshu’s shoulder tightly and then took his hand off.
"Drop me a request on Insta... I’ll follow back, bro."
Keeping his tone normal, Vaibhav said it in his usual style, but who knows why, Himanshu felt a weird suffocation hiding behind that tone.
With an awkward and scared smile, Himanshu just nodded.
Vaibhav’s footsteps echoing down the corridor could be heard clearly.
And a second later, the whispers about Vaibhav and Priya started up in the class again.
After a few moments, burying those thoughts about Vaibhav inside, Himanshu walked into the class.
And that’s when he saw Dhruv sitting on the side.
He was sitting in his chair with both arms crossed over his chest, his neck tilted to the side, and eyes closed. Looking at him, it felt like he wanted to stop all this, but maybe even he didn’t want to mess with Vaibhav. Some other guys sitting around had the same vibe.
Looking at them, that suffocation inside Himanshu slowly started growing even more.
But somewhere deep down, Priya’s eyes were suppressing that suffocation.
After taking his seat, he tried really hard to make eye contact with Priya, but Priya didn’t look back even once.
For two whole periods... Himanshu kept getting lost in overthinking about Priya’s eyes. Who knows why, but his mind just kept replaying every single detail of that eye contact on a loop.
Unable to control his emotions anymore, he made an excuse to use the washroom and walked out of the class.
After checking around the bathroom for a bit, he stood near the basin and looked at himself in the mirror. He locked eyes with his own reflection.
And right then... a faint smile appeared on his face. And then that smile slowly grew, turning into a small burst of laughter.
"Sh-she... she actually looked at me. She looked at me."
"Oh my god."
Pushing the hair off his forehead, staring wide-eyed into the mirror, he mumbled again.
"Does this mean... she actually feels something for me?"
’Yeah... there’s definitely something...’ his inner voice comforted him.
And just then, Himanshu’s breathing slowly started getting heavy, like he was about to cry.
A little moisture started showing in his eyes. A tear slipped out, but before it could even reach his cheek, Himanshu wiped it away with his hand. The second... the third... and he wiped away the fourth one the exact same way before it could fall.
Maybe... for the very first time, he had seen happy tears for himself.
Maybe this would be a normal thing for anyone who finds it easy to build relationships.
Maybe this would be a normal thing for anyone who easily gets everyone’s attention or respect.
After standing there quietly for a few moments, he washed his face with cold water. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and was just about to wipe his wet face...
But right then... the sound of a flush came from the stall next to him.
Himanshu’s heartbeat spiked instantly.
The sound of the stall door opening echoed, and the footsteps of that guy started getting closer and closer to Himanshu.
Himanshu just kept staring down at the floor, blinking his trembling eyelids.
Then came the sound of the tap turning on at the washbasin beside him.
Himanshu slowly raised his gaze toward the mirror on the side.
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