The room felt heavy with silence after her mother’s voice broke through the air:
“Sara, Romi is offering to drop you to college today…”
Sara paused, still brushing her hair, her hands trembling ever so slightly.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvX6JXR3lLJ
She turned slowly.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7zV0mBJVt
Her eyes didn’t look at her mother.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYLsglEztOh
They looked at the pain she’d buried for years.
“Mama… you know I hate him,” she said, her voice low, tight, aching.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXFlUgsExzH
“Not because of what he does… but because of what his father did to us. I can’t forget. I won’t.”
Her mother stepped closer, folding the dupatta tighter over her shoulder.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLFesaAeyb1
“I know, meri jaan… but he’s not his father. He’s—”
Sara cut in, her voice now sharper, like a crack in glass:
“But the blood is the same. I don’t need another favor that feels like a chain. Let the world test me — I’ll take the crowded bus, the heat, the push, the pain. But I won’t sit beside him. Not today. Not ever.”
Just then, the door creaked.
Romi stood there.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8U04YRCX4w
Silent.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX4YfvKzBCj
Still.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWhP5hlPs4u
Listening.
He didn’t speak.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4J5f1lCEWT
Not a single word.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJQK3Jx5Ge
But his eyes — they said everything.
Tears welled up in his eyes.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTjGUh8JRlN
Not Sara’s.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDBj8Ys7VcS
His.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXURIWS1ZkR
He didn’t let them fall.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpr8QJUOsSh
Just stood there with that quiet ache, as if the guilt in his blood was too loud to silence.
Sara walked past him, not even glancing.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUbuX1pk4sV
Her heart had built walls.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEAgMjlOA9u
And today… they weren’t ready to fall.
At college, the sun kissed the pavement as the gate opened with its usual rusted screech.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz2VJNXkNBx
Sara walked in, keeping her eyes low until her friend Ayesha caught her by the wrist.
“Guess what? This is for you,” Ayesha whispered, slipping a cream-colored envelope into her hand.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVY97iq204U
“No sender. But I was told, ‘She’ll know.’”
Sara blinked, surprised — then, slowly, a faint smile curved on her lips.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7LUerUBNRo
Not wide.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8XUQsT7lHV
Not loud.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs7wch6s7hP
Just… soft. Familiar.
“I know who it’s from,” she whispered, almost to herself.
“Ohooo… mysterious lover?” Ayesha teased.
But Sara was already walking away — toward the quiet side of the building, near the old banyan tree.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBLKBViEbqf
Her steps slowed.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMhDZ6VINW
Her heart didn’t.
She looked around.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNpfNY575L7
Left.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8d69QMF85I
Right.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcbfpIOw3JI
Nobody.
“Where are you?” she muttered.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9as5q6MiEJ
“I don’t have all day. Uff, you… I’m going to be late.”
Suddenly, two hands gently covered her eyes.
She didn’t flinch.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLmcUjJvEBA
She didn’t need to.
A tiny, knowing laugh escaped her lips.
“Mikaal…”
The hands slowly moved away, and she turned.
He stood there — leaning slightly forward, half-shadowed by the branches above.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFQ5WsUgDjx
A quiet smile playing on his lips.
“You always know, don’t you?” he asked, stepping closer.
Sara didn’t answer right away.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHv31fU6pJP
She looked at him — at the boy who always appeared when her world felt too loud, too cruel, too cold.
“Because your presence feels like peace,” she finally said.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP7OPCdKmKV
“And peace… doesn’t need to be announced.”
Mikaal’s smile softened, eyes fixed on her like she was the only thing that existed in that moment.
“I had to see you,” he said gently.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRtfx3W6Rm4
“Even if just for a few seconds.”
Sara looked down, holding back the smile that wanted to rise.
“Why?” she asked softly.
“Because your silence says more than anyone else’s words,” Mikaal replied.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRck6N5LRMv
“And… I missed the sound of it.”
She met his eyes, and for a second, the world around them blurred.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA3u1W0MKzU
No cruel uncles.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlrYjQfZtOW
No painful memories.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡksnBFHb4Pd
Just the rustle of leaves… and the quiet closeness of something unspoken.
Sara held out the envelope.
“Was this from you?”
He didn’t answer directly.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvgbGtVer9x
He just smiled and said:
“If it made you smile… then yes.”
Sara looked away, cheeks warming. But her heart felt lighter.
“You’re impossible, Mikaal.”
“Only for the world,” he replied.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLnUMf9ZyOK
“Not for you.”
The bell rang in the distance.
“I’m getting late,” she said.
“Then let me walk you,” Mikaal offered.
Sara looked at him, hesitated… then nodded once.
“Just till the stairs.”
“Just till forever,” he whispered under his breath —12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbgZUbQyFUK
but loud enough for the wind to carry it.
And together, they walked —12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVlaOCJi0sB
not hand in hand,12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFJKACNhajK
but heart beside heart —12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5pzdP6SvOe
with something blooming softly12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe1reZwDlkP
between the pain and the past.
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