A few days after the unexpected morning at the doorway, another Saturday arrived.
Normally, Riya would have been happy about the weekend.
But this Saturday was different.
The school had arranged a special gathering for parents.
And, unfortunately for Riya, her parents had to attend.
She wasn't even supposed to be part of the gathering.
But there was one small problem—she couldn't stay at home alone.
So, whether she liked it or not, Riya had to go with them.
From the moment they arrived, she knew this was going to be a long day.
The meeting began.
Then it continued.
And continued.
The teachers spoke about school matters, academics, discipline, and several other things that Riya had absolutely no interest in listening to.
After a while, she gave up.
She found a comfortable place to sit and eventually fell asleep.
Nearly an hour passed before
she woke up.
The meeting was still going on.
Riya sighed and looked around impatiently.
When is this going to end?
After more than three hours, the gathering finally came to an end.
Her parents began preparing to leave.
Riya happily followed them toward the gate, already thinking about getting home and enjoying the rest of her Saturday.
Then, for some reason, she turned around.
And stopped.
There he was.
Lakshith.
He had also come to the gathering.
Riya stared at him in disbelief.
He was here?
She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed him even once during all those hours.
And then she noticed what he was wearing.
He was dressed completely in black.
For Riya, he looked unusually
striking that day.
She stared at him for a few seconds longer than she should have.
Then she noticed his expression.
Lakshith was looking at her too.
And judging by the surprise on his face, he hadn't expected to see her either.
Their eyes met.
Riya wanted to smile.
She wanted to wave.
She wanted to say something.
Anything.
But suddenly, she couldn't do any of it.
Her parents were already walking toward the gate.
"Come on, Riya."
She reluctantly turned around and followed them.
But every few steps, she looked back.
Once.
Then again.
And again.
Lakshith was still there.
She kept turning until the distance between them became too great.
Only then did she finally face forward.
On the way home, Riya couldn't stop thinking about it.
She had spent more than
three hours at school.
She could have seen him.
She could have talked to him.
She could have at least said hello.
But she hadn't even
known he was there.
And now the only thing she had left was a few seconds of eye contact from across the gathering.
Still, somehow, those few seconds were enough to make her smile.
It was strange.
Sometimes, the moments Riya waited for never happened.
And sometimes, the moments she never expected became the ones she remembered most.