Then, on March 22, Veer surprised me by asking, "Will you be my girlfriend?" At first, I was taken aback. It felt like a big step, and I said no. But soon after, I realized that I, too, had feelings for him. I didn't confess directly, but the way I talked to him after that made it clear—I liked him.
His reply was calm but persistent. "It doesn't have to be sudden. Just think about it. I like you, Advika. More than a friend."
I set my phone down, needing a moment to breathe. Did I like him that way? The question was harder to answer than I thought. Veer was sweet and caring, and we clicked in a way that felt natural. But a relationship? That was uncharted territory for me.
When I picked up the phone again, I sent him a hesitant, "I'm sorry, Veer. I don't think I'm ready for this."
His response surprised me. Instead of being upset or pressuring me, he replied, "That's okay. I just wanted you to know how I feel. We can still be friends, right?"
I smiled at his message, relieved. "Of course."
But after that day, something changed. Veer didn't treat me any differently, but I started seeing him in a new light. His little jokes, his thoughtful messages, the way he always remembered the smallest details about my day—it all started to mean more. I found myself thinking about him even when we weren't talking, wondering what he was doing if he was thinking about me too.
I didn't confess my feelings directly. I wasn't sure how, or even if I needed to. Instead, I let my actions speak for me. I made more effort to reach out, sent him memes I knew he'd find funny, and started dropping little hints in our conversations. Veer wasn't oblivious; he picked up on it quickly.
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It was a usual evening, or at least I thought it was. Advika and I were texting, but something about her messages felt... off. Normally, she was full of energy, always quick with a witty reply or a random meme. But tonight, her responses were slower, shorter, and lacked her usual spark.
"Hey, are you okay?" I typed, genuinely concerned.
"I'm fine," she replied, but even through the screen, I could tell she wasn't.
I pressed a little more. "You don't seem fine. What's wrong?"
For a while, there was no reply, and I wondered if I had pushed too far. Then, my phone buzzed.
"Veer," she wrote, "do you ever feel like someone is trying to tell you something, but you're just not getting it?"
I frowned, confused. "What do you mean?"
"You," she said. "I'm talking about you."
I blinked at the screen, completely lost. "Me? What about me?"
She sent a sighing emoji, and then the words that completely threw me off: "Can't you understand that I like you?"
For a moment, I just stared at my phone, my brain trying to process what I'd just read. Advika liked me?
"Advika? are you serious?" I typed, my fingers shaking slightly.
"Yes," she replied. "I've been trying to tell you for days, but you're too dense to notice."
I couldn't help but laugh, though my heart was racing. "Why didn't you just say so earlier?"
"Because I was scared," she admitted. "But I couldn't keep it in anymore."
That was the moment everything changed. "Well, in that case," I wrote, grinning, "I guess we're official now."
And just like that, we were. It was simple, unexpected, and absolutely perfect.