Surveillance Squad

It had been three weeks since the "Ben Situation."

And Jaanvi had officially lost track of how many times her phone buzzed with texts like:

Saachi: blink twice if ur okay
Meera: did u drink water today
Siya: I swear if u don't sleep 8 hours I will personally sedate u
Ron: tracking suspicious male activity within 10 feet radius stay alert soldier
Aryan: any creeps I should beat up or nah?
Kiara: on a scale of 1 to he-must-die, how're you feeling today?

She loved them.

She also wanted to gently punt them into the sun.

Especially when Aditya started texting things like:

Aditya: don't talk to anyone named Ben ever again. including Ben & Jerry.
Aditya: also I replaced your pepper spray with a taser. use wisely.
Aditya: also I'm outside. open the door.
Aditya: I brought cupcakes.

To be fair, the cupcakes were excellent.

And so was the effort.

In the past three weeks, someone in the group had always been within a five-foot radius of her. In class. At lunch. After school. On weekends. Ron even tried to install motion sensors in her locker until the principal caught him with a screwdriver.

("It's for safety, Mr. Harlan."
"You're drilling into school property, Mr. Verma."
"You say that like it's a bad thing.")

Jaanvi had never felt more... watched. Or cared for.

Which is why, on one otherwise calm Friday afternoon, she finally snapped.

"Guys. I'm not made of glass."

The entire lunch table froze mid-bite.

"Uh-huh," Meera said, slowly lowering her sandwich. "And how many hours did you sleep last night?"

"Six."

Rey narrowed his eyes. "How many bottles of water?"

"One and a half?"

Siya gasped. "Have you journaled? Reflected? Healed emotionally?"

"You guys are so weird."

"Okay, but weird and effective," Aryan said proudly. "Notice how no one's tried to murder you lately."

"High standards," Jaanvi muttered. "Incredible bar we've set."

Aditya, sitting beside her, shrugged. "You'll miss us when we stop."

"I'll miss the snacks you bring," she said. "Not the hourly emotional check-ins."

But when her eyes met his — even with the sarcasm — there was something warm underneath.

A soft thank you.

He just grinned.

"Next week I'm installing cameras."

"Please don't."

"Too late."

Siya patted Jaanvi's hand. "Sweetie, just let the Surveillance Squad™️ do its job."

"Why are we trademarked—"

"We also have a group chat," Kiara added helpfully. "Called Jaanvi's Defense League."

"I—okay, I'm filing for emancipation."

"No you're not," Ron said, stuffing fries into his mouth. "We're your family now. You're stuck."

Saachi leaned in. "Forever."

And Jaanvi, despite herself, smiled.

Because yes — it was dramatic. Annoying. Overbearing. Borderline illegal.

But it was love.

Loud, chaotic, ridiculous love.

And she wouldn't trade it for the world.

Healing doesn't always look like silence.
Sometimes it looks like laughter,
a group chat that never sleeps,
and a friend who shows up with cupcakes
—just because.