It all began on July 15, 2024, in the exam hall. The paper was late, but her distraction wasn’t. Ankita still remembered how her eyes had wandered and landed on him — her senior, sitting a few rows ahead, calm and collected. While everyone else fidgeted, she smiled quietly to herself, not knowing that a simple crush was beginning to form.
Two days later, on July 17, she got his contact. And that tiny detail felt like destiny’s gift. Messages started — questions about subjects, jokes, random rants. And each time he replied, Ankita’s heart found another reason to admire him. He was patient, kind, reserved, yet always there when she needed an answer.
Days slipped into weeks. She laughed at his dialogues —
“Abhi socha nahi hu, soch ke batata hu.”
“Kabhi ghamand nahi kiya.”
She teased him for his jackets, his innocence, the way he once mistook her story about Baby for something else entirely. She stored these little moments like treasures, while he… stayed the same. Calm. Detached. A little too quiet.
At first, it didn’t bother her. After all, she was the extrovert, the one who talked a lot, who believed in giving energy without expecting much back. But as college events filled her schedule — hosting games, planning fests, studying late — she began to notice something.
He never messaged first.
It was always her.
Her “Good mornings.”
Her “Did you eat?”
Her long updates about her day.
And his replies, though kind, were just… replies. Nothing more.
One evening, after another tiring event, she unlocked her phone to text him like always. Fingers hovered over the keyboard — “Hey, today was so hectic but guess what…” — then paused. For the first time, she wondered: Would he even notice if I didn’t message?
So she didn’t.
That night passed. Then another. And another. Her phone stayed silent. No “How are you?” No “What’s up?” Just… nothing.
The realization stung — not like heartbreak, but like an ache that slowly spread. Maybe he was too reserved, maybe he didn’t care the same way, or maybe it was just never meant to be.
Her crush, her distraction, her “Legendary Senior Subscription”… quietly expired. Not with a fight, not with a goodbye — but with silence.
And that’s how it ended.
Not with a chapter closing, but with a story that never really began.