The Night Before:
I was anxious the whole night. Sleep didn't feel like an option, not when my chest was heavy with questions and my mind was replaying a thousand possibilities. Even in the morning, the silence continued. No texts, no calls, nothing. He wasn't active anywhere, and the absence felt louder than any sound.
At least he could've said something, right? Anything. A single word to calm me down, to let me know what was going on. But instead, I was left with this suffocating uncertainty.
What if she said something that hurt him? What if something happened between them that he didn't want to share with me? The worry consumed me until it became a dull ache. But beneath it all, a scarier thought lingered: did he even understand my concern? Or worse — did it even matter to him?
By 11 a.m., I was already drowning in my own overthinking. My texts were still unanswered. My mind, restless. I couldn't take it anymore, so I called Priyanka.
Her voice was a lifeline at first, steady and practical. But then she said words that hit me harder than I expected:
"I had a conversation with Vidya last night. I asked where Shresth was. She said he was right in front of her, he came late. And then… she laughed and said, my brother is blushing."
That was it. A simple sentence, but it ripped something inside me. Blushing? Why would he blush? What happened?
The First Blow:
Around the same time, he finally texted me. Just one line:
"I'll talk to you tomorrow about whatever happened."
Tomorrow? That was all? No explanation, no comfort, no reassurance. Tomorrow. And I was left questioning — did I matter enough to be told today?
Priyanka could see the way I was spiraling. By afternoon, even she got frustrated. She said firmly, "This guy can't keep you on the hook like this. Either he informs you, or what's the point? You're already tensed, and he knows it. Don't let him be cruel to you."
She even confronted him directly. She called him and asked him outright — what happened? Did she come? Was there hope?
And his reply…
"Yes, there was hope."
That was the crack in the wall, the start of the collapse.
The Call I'll Never Forget—
From morning till evening, I tried to stay calm. I tried to act like I didn't already know what Priyanka had told me. I tried to breathe normally even when my heart felt like it was drowning. I called him two times that day. Both times it said busy.
Finally, around 6 or 7 in the evening of 6th October, he picked up. That date is burned into me forever, because that was the day my heart shattered into pieces I didn't know how to gather back.
The first words out of his mouth:
"I was going to call you. I was discussing with Vidya that I would explain everything to you."
Everything? The way he said it already told me more than I wanted to hear. My heart was pounding, bracing itself for the storm.
And then came the dagger.
"Charu, I wrote about it last night after coming back. I waited almost two hours there for her."
Two hours. Two whole hours. For a guy like him, who always valued time more than anything — he waited. That was all the confirmation I needed. My instincts screamed the truth before he even finished.
He sent me the note he had written. His digital diary. His truth.
The Note That Broke Me
(title: "Well, it was a surprise")
Ahh, it was a wonderful day… today after a long period of time I met her. It was our first meeting after I expressed my feelings to her…
In life, I never thought that I would fall in love, but yes, she is just wonderful, as perfect as an angel… I, who was always late and never punctual about time, in just one day I changed. Only I know how those 2 hours passed for me… it was a strange feeling: there was happiness, there was nervousness, there was fear that something might go wrong, and there was worry too.
She is a simple, cultured, understanding, and perfect girl, and I am a stubborn boy with anger issues…
I had to hear some scolding from dad because I missed some work, but for this priceless moment, I accept everything… When she was walking towards me, it felt like the world stopped for that moment, and then when her friend said "go meet your spouse (husband)," I don't know why but it felt so good, though I became a little nervous… I wanted to say a lot, but maybe I couldn't say it… To be honest, I never imagined that a guy like me, who has confidently spoken to countless people, would feel so shy…
Now what more can I say about her, except that when she was leaving after saying bye, it felt like she also took my heart along with her.
The Ache:
I still have that note. I've read it 20–30 times since then, and every single time it breaks me all over again.
Because the truth was undeniable: he would always have a soft corner for her. He would never not love her. And that realization burned like acid in my chest.
I tried so hard to control my emotions, my tears, my trembling voice. But the world felt like it had turned upside down in just a few minutes.
He said it himself:
"Yes, Charu, there is still some hope."
And all I could reply was,
"Ohh, I see… that's good. Let's hope for the best, yk."
But inside, I was bleeding.
Then I asked the question that mattered most:
"So what about us, Shresth?"
His answer was another cut:
"We'll always be friends, Charu. We can be, you know? It's good for both of us… for now, forever."
Maybe he friend-zoned me. Maybe he was being cautious. Maybe he was lying to himself. I don't know. All I knew was that something inside me collapsed completely.
The Beginning of the Real Drama—
What do you think happened next? Did he just go back to her while I quietly moved on?
If it were that simple, I wouldn't be writing this story.
No, this was just the beginning. His words and his actions soon stopped aligning. The thin line between "just friends" and "something more" blurred faster than either of us could stop it.
We were at an age where nothing felt certain. We didn't know what we truly wanted from life, what was right, what was wrong. We only knew how to follow the flow, and that flow was pulling us into chaos neither of us was prepared for.
That day — 6th October — was not the ending. It was the climax beginning.