The hallway buzzed back to life slowly, but the space between Aditya and Jaanvi still hummed with that impossible energy—like a live wire had sparked and left them both dazed.
Neither of them had moved.
Neither of them could.
Jaanvi's back still pressed lightly against the locker, her cheeks flushed, lips parted in a breath she never got to release.
Aditya stood just inches away, his hand twitching once more like it wanted to reach for her again, to brush a stray strand of hair from her face, to close the distance they both pretended didn't exist.
And then—
"—YO JAANVI—"
The voice echoed down the hall like a cannon blast.
Ron.
With Rey, Aryan, Meera, Kiara, Saachi, Siya, and Isaar trailing behind.
The entire group.
All of them.
At once.
They turned the corner, laughing about something, until they saw—
Them.
Frozen.
Way too close.
Staring at each other like they'd just been caught in a fire.
Dead. Silence.
You could feel the moment the group registered it.
Rey blinked.
Saachi's mouth dropped open.
Aryan straight-up dropped his granola bar.
Meera gasped.
Siya grinned.
Kiara whispered, "No way."
And Ron?
Ron made it worse.
"Ohhhhhh. We interrupting something?"
Aditya blinked fast, stepping back like he'd been electrocuted. "No—"
"Don't lie," Saachi said, smirking. "You looked like you were about to devour her."
Jaanvi blushed so hard she almost melted into her hoodie. "We were not—"
Kiara wiggled her eyebrows. "It's okay. You can kiss. We won't look. Much."
"Should we turn around?" Aryan offered, laughing. "Give you like, five seconds?"
"You mean ten seconds," Rey corrected, smirking. "There was a lot of buildup happening here."
Isaar, calm as ever, said, "Technically, that looked like a 2.3-second pause from lip distance."
Siya gave him a look. "How do you know that?"
"I calculated it."
"Oh my God," Jaanvi muttered.
She covered her face with both hands.
Aditya just sighed, staring at the ceiling like it might swallow him whole.
"You guys have the worst timing," he muttered under his breath.
"No, we have the best timing," Saachi said, arms crossed proudly. "This is history."
"It's not history," Jaanvi said, finally lowering her hands.
"Oh yeah?" Rey teased. "Then why do you both look like you're one breath away from kissing again?"
She opened her mouth—then closed it. Then opened it again. Nothing came out.
Because truthfully?
They weren't wrong.
Eventually, the group started walking again, but slowly, like they didn't trust Aditya and Jaanvi to behave themselves if left alone.
As they passed, Saachi gave Jaanvi a wink.
Ron whispered something to Aryan, who immediately choked on his laughter.
Kiara grabbed Meera's hand and mouthed, "IT'S HAPPENING."
And just like that, they were gone.
Leaving behind only Jaanvi.
Aditya.
And the silence.
Again.
He glanced at her.
"You okay?"
She didn't answer right away. Just let out a long, slow breath.
Then:
"We can never live that down."
He grinned—soft, crooked, dangerous.
"Good."
Some moments end in chaos.
Some are interrupted.
But some... stay unfinished on purpose.
Write a comment ...