Chapter 4: A Love Written in the Shadows

What ?noting mom , reya said “ my friend Advika must have put this bandage inside my bag.”

“Oh! Did you get hurt?” her mom asked, worried.

“No, Mom. When I stepped out of the forum, my leg slipped, and I hit a bench. It’s just a little scar on my elbow, nothing serious.”

“Let me see,” her mom said, moving closer to examine the injury. “It’s not that bad, Mom. I’m fine, really,” Reya assured her. Her mom frowned. “On your first day, you already got hurt. I told you, Reya, before going outside, you need to pray to God to protect you from evil things. But you never listen to me. That’s why you got hurt today!”

“Mom, don’t panic. It’s just a small scratch, okay? Can you fetch me some snacks, please?” Reya asked, trying to divert her mom’s attention.

Her mom sighed. “You never listen to my words, but you always want me to do what you ask. Maybe you deserved that pain for disobeying me.”

“Alright, thank you for the lecture,” Reya said, rolling her eyes. “I don’t want to continue this argument anymore. I’m going to my room. Oh, and here, take the bandage.” She handed the bandage to her mom and started walking upstairs to her room.

As she climbed the stairs, Reya clutched the bandage in her hand, her mind racing. Who could have put this in my bag?

Once in her room, she pulled out her phone and texted Advika:

“Hey, did you reach home?”

Advika replied, “Yeah. And you?”

“Just now,” Reya responded. Then, after a pause, she texted again, “Hey, did you put this bandage in my bag?”

“What bandage? I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about,” Advika replied, confused.

“Alright, maybe it was my mom who put it there for safety,” Reya typed back.

“Okay, Reya. I have some work to do. Talk to you later,” Advika said.

“Sure,” Reya replied, though her mind was still preoccupied.

It must have been him, she thought. But what if it wasn’t? What should I do?

Reya considered her options. His number might be in the common class group. Should I text him? What if it wasn’t him?

She tried to recall what happened earlier. When I hit the bench and went to sit in my place, he sat behind me and even asked if I was okay. My bag was near the bench, so he might have put the bandage in my bag at that time.

“Whatever,” Reya muttered. I’m going to ask him why he did it.

Determined, she went to her room, pulled out her phone, and searched for Vihan’s number in the common class group. She hesitated, biting her lip as she found his profile. His picture showed him wearing a black suit.

He’s not bald in this picture, she thought, zooming in. He doesn’t look that intimidating. Actually, he looks really nice with hair.

Her gaze lingered on his arms and chest in the photo. Wow, he’s hot—especially his arms and chest. Stop, Reya, snap out of it!

She took a deep breath and typed, “Hey, I’m Reya.”

Her stomach fluttered with butterflies as she hit send. Immediately, she turned off her phone, overwhelmed by nerves.

“What should I say if he replies?” she wondered aloud. Should I delete the message?

Grabbing her phone again, she checked to see if he’d replied. The message was marked as delivered, but he hadn’t seen it yet.