The Monday after the cultural festival was unusually quiet. The school corridors had lost the buzz of rehearsals and last-minute costume chaos. Posters still fluttered half-torn on the walls, but the excitement had passed.
Karthik sat by the window in class, watching raindrops trail down the glass. His thoughts drifted, as they often did now, to Ananya—her voice, her teasing, that whisper she left him with.
Maybe you don't belong in the shadows after all.
He didn't know what it meant fully, but it lingered like a warm ember in his chest.
"Earth to Karthik." A hand snapped in front of his face.
He blinked. Ananya stood there, one eyebrow raised, a smug grin playing on her lips.
"Zoning out thinking about me?" she teased.
"I was thinking about… veenas," he muttered.
She laughed. "Right. Veenas shaped like Ananya Yadav."
He rolled his eyes, but he was smiling—genuinely, without thinking.
Ananya noticed. "There it is," she said softly.
"What?"
"That smile. The real one. I missed it."
Karthik looked at her, surprised.
"Don't act like I don't know your fake ones," she added. "I've studied them, mister Iyer."
He didn't know how to respond. His cheeks were warm.
"Hey," she said, softer now. "I like this version of you. The one who smiles without hiding behind sarcasm."
"…I'm still a work in progress," he replied.
"Good. Then I'll stay till the final draft."
Her words hit him in that quiet, sacred place where hope hides. He didn't say anything, but his eyes said enough.
And that was the day Karthik realized—he wasn't just changing because of Ananya. He was choosing to change for himself.
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End of Chapter 70