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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPPIKSmoPV8
She turned slowly.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPUwcfJDpx
Her eyes didn’t look at her mother.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ23pjNEwbYp
They looked at the pain she’d buried for years.
“Mama… you know I hate him,” she said, her voice low, tight, aching.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDc9bLk3OUD
“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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDKqUr8Vr9j
“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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPKjyrTZ82s
Silent.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ07aCy0GXVR
Still.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ74S3fdrkYI
Listening.
He didn’t speak.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCBZNCKXltv
Not a single word.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKhsHKet00P
But his eyes — they said everything.
Tears welled up in his eyes.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoNa71hHkfq
Not Sara’s.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtatwFgogf8
His.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ns30xysaW
He didn’t let them fall.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOdvM7LlBsJ
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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlzX6HlXpCZ
Her heart had built walls.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzpUJRVuSOH
And today… they weren’t ready to fall.
At college, the sun kissed the pavement as the gate opened with its usual rusted screech.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVUv9Ki9Zlp
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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXBSIJhXSy2
“No sender. But I was told, ‘She’ll know.’”
Sara blinked, surprised — then, slowly, a faint smile curved on her lips.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhj2fbn3wqK
Not wide.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMGnnVL1VKM
Not loud.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEtlM7KCaPb
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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Rjgbm47JV
Her steps slowed.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdgD0Zm0uwQ
Her heart didn’t.
She looked around.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSUGwdk1ZR
Left.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTJGujlYT8i
Right.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzBXPbCUFHX
Nobody.
“Where are you?” she muttered.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTbnfs2nuaX
“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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzfA0ZZ7x2i
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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4zKPEfvwWf
A quiet smile playing on his lips.
“You always know, don’t you?” he asked, stepping closer.
Sara didn’t answer right away.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrM8FdYIool
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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgrz5t8azL4
“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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27cFZFpFhG
“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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFQs8MIWY40
“And… I missed the sound of it.”
She met his eyes, and for a second, the world around them blurred.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSCPZor7r14
No cruel uncles.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdqjwKJzuPF
No painful memories.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLzGAO9Wp3i
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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjpevittf4p
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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIizPVQ9J0Y
“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 —10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWMKqj57wAL
but loud enough for the wind to carry it.
And together, they walked —10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE4bpZPpyYq
not hand in hand,10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlUcD1lZnAz
but heart beside heart —10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfmUKw3zil
with something blooming softly10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4mjK0Fzbu6
between the pain and the past.
and then Add to home screen.