*Avani's POV*

It was four in the evening, and for the past hour, I'd been sitting on the floor with my college bag wide open, absentmindedly shifting books from one side to the other.

My gaze landed on one of them. BMS - Bachelor of Management Studies.

I sighed dramatically, already feeling my mood sink. But then...

My eyes caught something written at the bottom of the cover.

Semester 6. My eyes instantly lit up.

"One last year..." I whispered, folding my hands dramatically. "Kanha ji, please... just give me the strength to survive this college for a little longer. Once I have my degree in my hands, I swear I'll never look back."

I let out another long sigh.

"People become doctors. Engineers. Lawyers..." I buried my face in the pile of books.

"And me? I don't even know what I'm going to achieve with a degree in Business Studies."

I groaned into the pages.

"I seriously hate the course I chose for myself." I was sitting in my room, overthinking for the hundredth time.

My phone screen flashed ... Priya calling.

And just like that... my peace was officially over.

"Come downstairs. Now." Even through the phone, her voice sounded like an order, not a request.

Priya Dave. -Our group's Hottieee... An unnecessary aggression machine. Put her in a crowd of a hundred people, and she'll spot the tallest guy with the sharpest jawline in seconds. Priorities, you see.

I went downstairs, and of course .. she was already there, arms crossed, as if I had kept her waiting for hours.

And then enters...

Anika Mehta. -our Poo. Or should I say Bollywood's unofficial extension. If life is a normal scene, Anika turns it into a full-blown movie with background music, slow motion, and dramatic dialogues. Everything she says is performed like there's an invisible camera recording her.

And then...

Rohit Desai. Yes, a guy. And no, he's not the "just a friend" cliché. he's genuinely one of us. Surviving between three girls for this long already tells you how strong his patience is. Sarcasm is his default language, and he holds all our secrets like a locked file.

"Kya Avi, tune toh humein paraya hi kar diya!" Anika said dramatically, as if she was in her third heartbreak scene.

"Excuse me, what?" I blinked.

"Bro, your Engagement is being discussed and you didn't tell us?" Priya added.

I froze. "What are you even high on? Have you both lost it?"

"Rohit told us," Anika said.

I turned to him slowly. Death stare activated.

"What... bro?"

"Guys, guys, why are you assuming things?" Rohit raised his hands in defense. "Avani, I just saw a guy leaving your house... wearing a pink shi.."

"And we also found out that you're the fiancée of some Aarav Shah... oh, I mean, rumored fiancée!" Anika added with a teasing grin.

"Shut uppp!" I screamed.

"Avi, let's eat first. Then you can spill everything," Anika said as she climbed into the auto.

Uff my unbothered, emotionless friends.

We reached our usual spot. 'Tapri Tales'.

Our go-to adda. Therapy spot. Bakchodi headquarters. Not some fancy café..just pure desi vibes. Slightly tilted signboard, half-working fairy lights, mismatched chairs... but full-on majaa ni life. The waiter didn't even ask for our order anymore. 4 cutting chai, 2 bun maska, and unlimited gossip automatically.

"His name is Aarav," i finally said.

"Ooohh," anika and priya sang in sync.

"Guys, let me finish," i rolled my eyes. "You know Shah uncle, right?"

"Mahesh uncle's friend?" rohit asked.

"Yeah. Aarav is his son. He came to drop dadi, and mom forced him to stay for lunch."

"Okay but... he looks hot," Priya said, already imagining things.

"Wait...how do you know?" I narrowed my eyes.

The three of them exchanged looks.

"Means... where did you see him?" I tried to cover up.

Rohit casually showed me a picture.

A blurry, badly clicked, suspiciously stalker-like picture of Aarav leaving my house.

I stared at it.

"First of all, did you click this while riding a bike?? It's literally blurred." Aesthetics matters.

"And second..what is wrong with you guys? You can't just click pictures of random people!"

God.

My jobless, useless, completely dramatic friends.

What will happen to them?

The chatter continued.

__________________________

After all the chaos...the storm of thoughts that flooded my mind...this is the first time I'm finally sitting in silence, actually thinking about it...

I don't know why, but right now, I have this sudden urge to see his Instagram open in my hands.

What?

I'm not a stalker.

...But you do want his Instagram.

That doesn't make me a stalker, okay?

Friends exchange Instagram handles.

We will too.

If it really mattered that much, we would've done it today itself.

Why do I suddenly feel the need to check his Instagram?

It's not like he asked for mine either...

So what am I even supposed to do?

Ughhh.....shut up!

...Stalking mode activated.

___________________

aarav.shah | shah_aarav | AaravShah | blah blah...

For God knows how many hours now, I've been searching this name on Instagram.

But ... username not found.

I got up and walked to my cupboard in irritation.

Opened it.Nothing.

Just my messy clothes staring back at me.I shut it.

I'm trying so hard to distract myself, but my mind keeps circling back to the same thing...

I want to see his Instagram.

I opened my college bag. Books scattered everywhere. My assignment still lying unfinished on the table.

Great.

I went downstairs, grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen, drank it, came back upstairs...

I've already done that three times.

Ugh. Why am I so frustrated?

You have a crush on him.

What? No.

Yeah.

Shut up. I just wanted to see his Instagram.

You want to check his Instagram.

Yeah, that's normal.

It's called stalking.

No way.

In every way.

It felt like a full-on war between me and my own brain.

And I still couldn't find his account.

Then...

"Heyyy..." Priya walked in dramatically.

"When did you come?" I asked, completely unbothered.

"Hmm... maybe 2007?" she said, clearly not serious.

"I'm already irritated, don't start," I muttered, almost losing hope.

"Why? Didn't find his ID?" she said like she had hidden cameras installed in my room.

I stared at her in disbelief.

"Arey... I have a lot of experience in this, you know. And also, your Instagram search bar is literally open," she said, doing some weird dance move.

I rolled my eyes.

"Come on, tell me the name. Let's dig out his entire kundali," she said, snatching my phone.

"I told you yesterday," I replied, annoyed.

"So what? Why would I remember your man's name?" she teased.

"Oh hello, he is NOT my man, okay? He's just a friend."

"I've never seen you this obsessed over a 'friend' before."

...Okay, she kinda has a point.

"What? I'm not obsessed."

"Oh please, now you're hiding things from me? Ladke ka chakkar, babu bhaiyaa," she smirked.

At this point, my irritation hit its peak.

"Aarav Shah," I said, giving up..maybe because I had no argument left.

"Ahh, finally! Now we're talking... just wait and watch, Avani ji," she said like her superpowers just unlocked.

Honestly, she's way smarter than I thought... at least when it comes to boys. Or should I say..hot boys.

"I think I found him!" she said, sounding unsure.

I leaned into my own phone like a desperate puppy.

"Umm... yeah. It's him."

"WHAT?! REALLY? GIVE ME!" I practically screamed.

I snatched the phone from her and opened the profile she found.

My gaze had barely landed on my phone screen when Priya suddenly snatched it out of my hands.

"Tell me one thing, Avi," she said, narrowing her eyes like a police officer during an interrogation. "Why do you suddenly want to stalk the profile of a childhood friend you had completely forgotten until two days ago?"

"He's my friend, Priya." I rolled my eyes. "I agree we hadn't been in contact for years, but now we're friends again!"

"Then if everything's fine, why did you get so angry when Anika called you Aarav's fiancée?" Priya asked.

Looks like she wasn't going to let this go today.

"Angry?" I repeated, realizing something. "When did I get angry?"

Priya stared at me.

"Then what was all that back there?"

I looked away nervously.

"You know what, Priya... I barely remember anything from my childhood."

Her expression softened.

"Except Aarav."

I paused before continuing.

"And that stupid rumor."

Priya remained silent, listening carefully.

"Everywhere I went, people turned my entire childhood into a joke." My voice grew quieter. "No matter where I was, someone would bring up that rumor. They held onto it as if it was the most interesting thing about me."

I swallowed hard.

"When I was younger, I didn't understand any of it. But now..." I let out a shaky breath. "Now those things affect me more than they should."

The words rushed out before I could stop them.

"It feels like I'm not a person to them. Like I'm just a joke... a rumor... something people laugh about."

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

"But Avii," Priya said gently, "you're not a child anymore. You can make your own decisions now."

She leaned back dramatically.

"And besides, Aarav is handsome, rich, hot, successful...."

"Priya."

"What? I'm just stating facts."

I groaned.

"So what's the actual problem?" she asked. "Don't you like him?"

I fell silent.

Then I shook my head.

"The problem was never Aarav."

My fingers tightened around the edge of the pillow.

"It was always the people around us."

I buried my face into the pillow.

"Their jokes. Their assumptions. All those things I never understood."

I closed my eyes.

"And honestly..."

My voice came out muffled.

"He's too annoying to handle!"

"Okay, okay." Priya raised both hands in surrender.

For the first time since the conversation started, the room fell silent.

And then...

Ding!

A notification popped up on my phone.

'aarav_shahhh requested to follow you.'

"WTF" i screamed. "What is that priyaaa!!!"

"I guess you liked one of his post accidentally!!" She said handling my phone to me.

"I?? I liked that photo? " I gave her the look.

"I'm sorry babe.." she said going into the blanket.

I quickly unliked it, my heart racing.

"Chill, Avii. It's not a big deal," Priya said, settling comfortably into my blanket.

I grabbed a pillow. Turned toward her. And smacked it straight into her face.

I'm dead.