A Love Written in the Shadows

It feels like it happened just yesterday, but it was five long years ago—1,825 days or 43,800 hours. It was October 4, 2019, the day college reopen. Unfortunately, none of my school friends were with me, and I was new to the place. Dressed in formal attire wearing a solid black skater dress short sleeves and a simple pendant necklace , my mum’s watch to get good luck on my first day of college holding a small cross-body bag , looking tiny at 4 feet tall, I entered the campus with no clue where to go. The classroom location was mentioned on a board, and I said to myself, “It’s okay, Riya. Calm down. Let’s find the class and make new friends.”

As I started walking up the stairs, I suddenly heard a voice say, “Hey, you!” My heart skipped a beat and began pounding faster. Using gestures, I asked, “Me?” The voice replied, “Yes, you. Come here!” It was a tall man, around 6 feet, wearing a cap, black pants, and a white shirt. He had sunglasses in his pocket and spoke in an abrupt tone.

“Do you know where the S2 classroom is?” he asked.

I was too scared to respond, so I shook my head and quickly left without even glancing back. I hurried up the stairs and eventually found a direction board on the wall that led me to the classroom. Luckily, I managed to find it and entered. The lecturer, who was already speaking to the other students, turned to me and said in a soft tone, “Please remove your shoes and place them in the shoe rack before entering the classroom.”

I quickly replied, “Sure, ma’am,” and turned to leave. As I turned, I accidentally bumped into someone.

“Don’t you have eyes?” he shouted angrily. His words hurt.

With a trembling voice, I said, “Sorry, mister. I didn’t notice you.”

To my dismay, it was the same man I had met on the stairs earlier. As I tried to rush off, he said, “Hey, you! Stop there! When I asked you about the classroom, you said you didn’t know. Then how did you end up here?”

Still trembling, I replied, “I saw it on the direction board.”

“Oh, so you’re not dumb. I thought you were dumb,” he scoffed. “If you’re not dumb, why did you use gestures instead of speaking?”

His tone was so rude. I thought to myself, I don’t want to be friends with someone like this. Angrily, I burst out, “Alright, whatever! Think what you want—I don’t care. I’m leaving now.”

But then he said, “Hey, wait! What did the lecturer say to you?”

“She told me to leave my shoes in the shoe rack before entering the classroom,” I replied.

“Alright, where’s the shoe rack?”

“It’s 10 steps behind you.”

He walked over to the shoe rack , and bent down to remove his shoes, and I couldn’t help but notice how broad and sculpted his chest was. His shirt’s first two buttons were undone, and he wasn’t wearing an undershirt. Oh God, what an elegant chest. He must go to the gym.

“Okay, I’m Vihan,” and you, he said. “First, I thought you were dumb. Then I thought you were deaf. What did you say?

I thought, Why should I tell my name to someone who thinks I’m dumb and deaf? In a cold voice, I replied, “It’s not needed. I’m leaving now.”

As I got to class, the professor said, 'You were supposed to leave your shoes outside. Did you forget?'

"Damn, I completely forgot while talking to that guy. Wait, was I distracted by his words or his broad chest?

To be continued…