It was a warm Monday afternoon when Tina's phone buzzed with a mail from the Cyber Ethics professor. She was chosen for the intercollegiate hackathon team. The lines blurred for a moment as she re-read the email. This was the kind of opportunity she'd come to Pune for.
Mira peeked over her shoulder. "Hackathon? You better beat their asses. Especially that arrogant guy from St. Xavier's, Dev something."
Tina's eyes froze on that name. "Dev Malhotra?" she asked.
"Yeah. Don't tell me you know him."
Tina simply nodded, her voice tight. "We were in the same school. He was... strange."
Later that day, during lab hours, Ishaan caught up with her.
"Hey, hacker queen," he said, leaning against the doorframe with a grin. "I heard about the hackathon. Looks like we're on the same team."
"You applied too?" she asked, surprised.
"Of course. You think I'm just a poet with great hair?"
Tina raised a brow. "You forgot 'charming boy' from Mumbai."
He laughed, stepping inside. "Touché."
Their banter always had a magnetic pull, like two opposing wires constantly sparking under tension. Yet beneath it lay mutual admiration neither had dared to name.
The team met for the first time in the innovation lab — six students and their faculty mentor, Professor Shalini Nair. She was sharp-eyed and confident, her crisp cotton sari matched by an equally sharp intellect.
"I want this to be more than a competition," she said. "I want it to be a statement — that innovation lives in ideas, not prestige. You'll be facing Xavier's, Symbiosis, even MIT. Make your hours count."
As she exited, the team broke into roles. Tina took on the system design. Ishaan handled front-end integration. Dev Malhotra, unfortunately, was also on the team, from a collaborating college.
He walked in late and looked directly at Tina.
"Well, well. The quiet genius from school. We meet again," he said with a smirk.
Tina gave a professional nod. "Dev."
"You look... focused."
"She always does," Ishaan cut in. "Some of us have to work to be brilliant."
Tina stifled a smile as Dev narrowed his eyes.
That evening, as Tina and Ishaan reviewed some Python scripts in the library, Ishaan leaned closer.
"You okay with Dev on the team?"
She didn't look up. "Not really. He makes me uncomfortable."
"Then say the word and I'll stick to you like a shadow."
She finally looked up. "That might scare him more than code ever could."
There was a long pause.
"You know," Ishaan said, "you don't have to carry all this alone."
Tina's voice softened. "I've carried myself for so long, I forgot how not to."
They stayed like that for a moment too long before Mira's voice called from the hall, teasing, "Library dates now?"
But not everything was teasing and light.
That night, as Tina walked home alone from the mess hall, she felt it again — the prickle on the back of her neck, the sound of quiet footsteps behind her.
She turned sharply.
No one.
A few steps later, she found a folded note slipped under her dorm room door. It was typed.
"You shine too brightly. Some of us see everything you hide."
Her hands trembled. She hid the note before Mira entered, pasting a composed smile on her face.
The next day, at team meeting, Tina brought her A-game. Logic trees, database schemas, encryption proposals — she laid it all out.
Dev clapped, slowly. "Impressive. But what if someone cracked your encryption in under a minute?"
"Then I'd know you cheated," Tina replied flatly.
Ishaan whistled. "Remind me not to be on your bad side."
Dev's smile didn't reach his eyes. "Let's just hope no one has anything to hide."
The words stung, a direct challenge, but Tina didn't flinch.
She knew shadows had eyes. But she also knew one thing — she wasn't alone anymore.
Outside, Ishaan caught up with her again.
"You know," he said, "I've never seen anyone hold their ground like that."
"It's not ground," she said. "It's a line. I won't let anyone cross it."
Ishaan looked at her like he was memorizing every word.
And from behind a tree near the lab, a pair of eyes watched them leave — unblinking.
To be continued.....