Rhea pov :
The next morning, i woke up early and started getting ready for my college but still my mind was thinking about him. I jerked all the thoughts away and went to college.
The morning sun filtered through the tall college windows, bouncing off marble floors and sun-kissed faces. I walked slowly through the main corridor, my books hugged tightly to my chest, as if they could protect me from the noise of the outside world.
College was louder than i'd imagined-every hallway bursting with voices, laughter, teasing seniors, and excited first-years. Everyone seemed to have somewhere to be, someone to talk to.
Except me .
As I stood in the queue at the college canteen, staring blankly at the list of items on the board-none of which I planned to order.
I wasn't hungry.
Not really.
Not when my phone kept buzzing every few minutes with a new like or comment.
My latest post had gone a little viral. A few hundred likes. A few dozen saves.
But the only one that mattered was still sitting at the top of her notifications:
@kabir.m_official liked your post.
Across the canteen, Anaya popped a straw into her cold coffee and leaned closer to Rhea. "You're glowing."
"No, I'm not." i replied and i looked away.
"You're always not hungry. At this rate, your stomach's going to unfollow you."
We both laughed, and for a moment, i forgot about the awkwardness of being new.
Anaya glanced at me sideways. "So... someone's poetry page is blowing up."
I looked down. "It's nothing."
"Liar. Your page blew up last night. And guess who's stalking you like a fanboy?" she started teasing me.
I didn't reply. I didn't need to.
My face already gave everything away.
"Okay," Anaya said, lowering her voice dramatically, "just imagine-what if he figures out it's you?" I was shocked, and quickly turned towards her.
"He won't." i replied but in my mind I was thinking what if he finds out about me.
"What if he does?"
I shook my head. "He wouldn't care." i thought he wouldn't care.
But the possibility lingered in my chest like a skipped heartbeat.
Kabir pov:
"Still stalking your mystery poet?" Arjun teased, nudging me in the ribs as we stood at the far end of the canteen.
I rolled my eyes . I said "It's not stalking. It's... curiosity."
"You've read that post like six times," Arjun said. "You in love with the girl or the font?"
I chuckled. "It's just different. Feels like someone actually gets something for once."
"What if she's like... a middle-aged professor using a pen name to vent about life?"
I rolled my eyes. "Then she's a genius professor."
Still, something about @SilentSoul_07 had gotten under my skin. Her words felt like pieces of my own unspoken thoughts.
Author's pov:
Later that day, after back-to-back lectures and a long walk from the library, Rhea turned the corner toward the main corridor-just as someone else did.
She didn't see him.
He didn't see her.
Until-
Crash.
Her notebook flew out of her hand and landed with a soft thud. She lost her balance and was about to fall when Kabir caught her.
She closed her eyes waiting for pain but it never came she slowly opened her eyes. When her eyes meet him , the world around them faded.
For a moment, everything stilled.
The corridor noise, the background chatter-it all faded. Just the two of them, crouched on the floor, staring.
But she quickly recovered from that.
"Oh-shit, I'm sorry," in a deep voice he said, and she looked up.
His hoodie was gone today. Instead, he wore a dark green T-shirt and a backpack slung over one shoulder.
He bent down quickly to grab her notebook.
She bent down at the same time as him-and their hands nearly touched.
She snatched it before he could.
"No worries," she said, eyes lowered.
He hesitated. "You okay?"
"Yeah. I-uh-wasn't looking."
He picked up her pen, holding it out gently. She took it, fingers brushing.
"You're new, right? First year?"
She nodded.
He smiled-just enough to make her heart stutter.
"Be careful next time. These corridors are dangerous," he joked, walking away, earbuds back in place.
Rhea stood frozen for a second longer than necessary.
She clutched her notebook and whispered, "He talked to me."
Rhea watched him go, heart pounding louder than footsteps in an empty hallway.
She didn't know what she was more afraid of-
That he might find out who she was.
Or that he never would.
At night:
The hostel was unusually quiet that night.
Most girls were either chatting in the common room or scrolling endlessly through reels. Rhea lay curled up on her bed, the soft yellow light of her desk lamp casting long shadows on the wall. Her diary sat open in her lap, ink still drying from the poem she had just written.
"We collided for a second-But the memory kept repeating,Like a skipped heartbeat That refused to settle."
She reread it three times, then closed the diary gently, as if her words were made of glass.
Her phone buzzed beside her.
@kabir.m_official posted a new story.
She hesitated, then clicked.
A soft guitar loop. A picture of the night sky from the boys' hostel terrace.
Captioned:
"Ever feel like someone knows your silence better than your voice?"
Her heart skipped. Again.
Anaya rolled over on the next bed, tossing her blanket off. "Still thinking about your Insta crush?"
Rhea smiled at herself. "No."
But her fingers told a different story. She opened her poetry page.
@SilentSoul_07: Some silences aren't empty-They're full of questions no one dared to ask.
She hit the post, turned off her lamp, and lay in the dark-her eyes wide open.
---
Across campus, under a wide open sky on the boys' terrace, Kabir sat with his back against a pillar, earbuds in, lost in thought. The city lights blinked far away, like tiny truths no one wanted to admit.
Arjun had gone to bed.
Kabir stayed.
He checked his phone-half out of habit, half out of hope.
There it was.
A new post.
From her.
He read it once. Then again.
And for some reason, he felt like the words were meant for him.
"Some silences aren't empty-They're full of questions no one dared to ask."
He exhaled. A short laugh. Not out of amusement, but wonder.
Who was this girl?
Whoever she was, she had a way of making him feel seen-even from behind a screen.
@kabir.m_official
(DM):"You ever write about someone you barely know?
And still feel like they've lived inside your mind for years?"
He sent it.
And for the first time in weeks, he didn't feel alone.
---
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