The alarm buzzed faintly in the background, but Rhea was already awake.
She hadn't slept much.
She lay curled under her blanket, staring at the ceiling, last night's DMs from Kabir echoing in her mind like soft background music. Her phone rested against her chest, as if the words it held had somehow seeped into her heartbeat.
"You ever write about someone you barely know?
And still feel like they've lived inside your mind for years?"
Her fingers had hovered over the keyboard half the night, unsure of what to say.
She still hadn't replied.
Sunlight spilled through the cream-colored curtains, lighting up her small, plant-filled corner. The soft breeze fluttered the pages of her open diary on the desk.
She sat up, stretched, and looked in the mirror.
Messy hair. Puffy eyes. A soft smile she couldn't quite explain.
Anaya peeked out from under her blanket. "Tell me you dreamed about him too."
Rhea blinked. "I didn't even sleep."
Anaya sat up quickly. "What? What happened? Spill!"
Rhea bit her lip. "He DM'd me again. From his main account."
Aanya's jaw dropped. "As in... Kabir Kabir?"
Rhea nodded slowly. "And he asked... if I ever wrote about someone I barely knew."
"Oh. My. God." Anaya squealed, grabbing her pillow. "That's literally a love confession in poet language!"
"I didn't reply."
"Why?!"
"I panicked!" Rhea threw her head back, groaning. "What if he finds out it's me?"
Anaya sighed dramatically. "Girl, at this point, I want him to."
Rhea smiled and stood up. The campus was waking up. Birds chirped outside, and students began shuffling down for breakfast.
She opened her Notes app and started typing a caption for her next post.
"If you ask me who he is,
I'll tell you he's a feeling
I never thought I'd meet in real life.
Kabir stretched on his bed, rubbing his eyes as light spilled through the half-closed curtains.
His roommate was already up, playing guitar softly in the corner.
"Late night?" Arjun asked without turning around.
"Something like that."
Kabir rolled onto his side and reached for his phone. His first instinct was to check @SilentSoul_07's profile.
No reply.
But a new post.
"If you ask me who he is,
I'll tell you he's a feeling
I never thought I'd meet in real life."
He stared at the screen.
His heartbeat stuttered.
Was that about me?
Arjun peered over. "Bro, you've been staring at that line for three minutes. Did a girl finally break your cool-boy charm?"
Kabir smirked. "Maybe."
He slipped the phone into his hoodie pocket and stood.
The campus courtyard was already buzzing with life-students carrying files, rushing to class, others loitering by the coffee stand.
He passed by the literature block, casually glancing toward the garden where some first-years liked to sit.
And then-he saw her.
The girl from the hallway.
Rhea.
She sat on the bench under the tree, a book open, her fingers playing with the corner of the page. Her hair was tied up messily, but sunlight caught the curve of her face in the gentlest way.
He paused.
Something tugged at him.
Could it really be her?
Could this quiet, poetry-souled girl be the one behind @SilentSoul_07?
He didn't know yet.
But he was going to find out.
---
RHEA'S POV - EVENING
Evening fell like a hush across the campus.
Rhea sat in the garden, her book forgotten on her lap, as golden sunlight faded into a dusky pink. The breeze carried laughter and distant chatter, but in her world, it was quiet-peaceful and full of wonder.
All day, she had felt Kabir's eyes on her-not in a creepy way, but like he was trying to understand her, like she was a riddle he was starting to piece together.
Was it in her mind?
Or was he really... noticing her?
Her phone buzzed.
Another DM.
kabir.m_official:
That last post...
Was it meant for someone who doesn't know he's being written about?
Rhea smiled, heart fluttering.
She didn't answer right away. Instead, she opened her camera and snapped a picture of the evening sky-the silhouette of the tree above her, the fading light painting the clouds.
She added the photo to her story with a caption:
"He's sunlight and shadow,and I don't know which part I like more."
She didn't tag him.
She didn't need to.
If he knew, he'd feel it.
And he did.
---
KABIR'S POV - NIGHT
Kabir sat on the dorm terrace again, hoodie up, earbuds in, the city humming softly below. The stars had begun to peek through the clouds, and the world felt quieter now-less crowded with questions.
But not with her.
He had watched Rhea earlier that day. Something about the way she sat in the garden, staring at the sky as if it held answers, made his chest feel full.
He didn't want to assume. But he felt it more strongly now.
She might be her.
She might be @SilentSoul_07.
He checked her latest story. The tree. The light. The words.
"He's sunlight and shadow,and I don't know which part I like more."
He re-read it three times.
Then opened his DM again.
kabir.m_official:
Do you believe people can meet... through words first?
That they can fall for the voice inside someone's mind before hearing the real one?
He hit send.
Then lay back, watching the sky.
The silence between messages didn't bother him anymore.
Sometimes silence was just poetry waiting for the right heartbeat to match its rhythm.
And right now, his heart was listening.
---
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