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.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF9laeRyr22
She turned slowly.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWORDqFKsml
Her eyes didn’t look at her mother.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDNURT761W3
They looked at the pain she’d buried for years.
“Mama… you know I hate him,” she said, her voice low, tight, aching.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDBjuK4IS1A
“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.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUC3MLxYoTf
“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.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsLnGqhozVT
Silent.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHc8gFALecI
Still.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7HFUrhxYWE
Listening.
He didn’t speak.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhlQV7OJYCR
Not a single word.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNL8VrTsJ4
But his eyes — they said everything.
Tears welled up in his eyes.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TaZ4gxvt5
Not Sara’s.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfMuJLPZ8xM
His.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiuinLu5aeW
He didn’t let them fall.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqorEU60urw
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.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLeREQBqoPO
Her heart had built walls.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyjWkM6SsH2
And today… they weren’t ready to fall.
At college, the sun kissed the pavement as the gate opened with its usual rusted screech.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQeGX9zW29L
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.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXHUrK2sxPE
“No sender. But I was told, ‘She’ll know.’”
Sara blinked, surprised — then, slowly, a faint smile curved on her lips.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7V7B6QMjjo
Not wide.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Gqi9Ne5nK
Not loud.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtYz6bWsDfP
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.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2cxFgNkEMo
Her steps slowed.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1HXWiq9CJU
Her heart didn’t.
She looked around.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUMmcsYwyRh
Left.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmkU0LlzbbI
Right.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiWdkvfqYnG
Nobody.
“Where are you?” she muttered.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy72AaJd7tc
“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.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRc1TPWgZqu
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.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkMSWF1OXlj
A quiet smile playing on his lips.
“You always know, don’t you?” he asked, stepping closer.
Sara didn’t answer right away.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZHBWrX2Hli
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.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYPZsPG1rhJ
“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.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRGjQUpGh8
“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.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN9s0nStNMr
“And… I missed the sound of it.”
She met his eyes, and for a second, the world around them blurred.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2MqAZs1gNt
No cruel uncles.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuG5BsnwG2V
No painful memories.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyCtAF4VicA
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.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNcFDAjJfTP
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.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqUXfp7Xq6c
“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 —40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwsauoTen3r
but loud enough for the wind to carry it.
And together, they walked —40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSmWfMlqIMt
not hand in hand,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡetit3PniMH
but heart beside heart —40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCKtjHjl7Ni
with something blooming softly40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDj1GztLcH4
between the pain and the past.
and then Add to home screen.