An Innocent Crush ✓

09 | Is he worried?

Kiara kept staring at her phone, feeling confused about whether to inform Dhruv about her injury. Biting the inside of her cheek, she started writing a text.

"Sir, I just wanted to let you know that I had a little accident and hurt my ankle. It's nothing serious, just a sprain. I won't be able to make it to class for a few days..."

She hesitated before hitting send, wondering if it was the right thing to do. But she knew that she couldn't keep avoiding him forever. She needed to let him know, and she hoped that he would understand. With a deep breath, she tapped the send button and waited for a response.

*****

Dhruv had just come out of his lecture room and went straight to the cafeteria. He was starving, but his heart didn't feel at peace. It felt like something was not right. As he reached the cafeteria, he saw his friends already waiting for him.

“Hey Dhruv, glad you could make it,” his friend Raghav said, sarcastically clapping him on the back.

"Shut up,” Dhruv replied, grabbing a sandwich from the counter.

“Is everything okay?” his friend Aarav asked, concern evident in his voice.

"Yeah, why did you ask?”

As he sat down with his friends, his phone buzzed in his pocket, distracting him from his thoughts. He pulled it out and saw a message from Kiara.

Without wasting a second, he opened it and read her words. His stomach churned with concern as he read her text about her ankle injury.

"What happened? You look pale," one of his friends asked, Dhruv shook his head and sighed before answering, "it's nothing, uh order something for me… I'm going to the washroom" he said before getting up and heading towards the washroom.

Once he entered the washroom, Dhruv looked at the message again. He wanted to ask so many questions, he wanted to scold her for being so clumsy, he wanted to know about her injury but why? Was he worried about her?

What a stupid question, of course he was worried! Letting out a heavy sigh, he started typing a reply to Kiara's text.

"Okay, take care and get well soon"

That's it? That's it? Men are stupid… sometimes.

But at least he responded, and that's what mattered to Kiara. She let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding and smiled. Now, all she could do was focus on getting better and hopefully, seeing him soon.

*****

"How is Kiara?" Dhruv couldn't help but ask. Vikram looked at him immediately and gave Dhruv a tight smile before answering, "I guess she's doing well, but it was bound to happen bhaiya. She's so restless all the time, running around like a toddler... she's completely crazy.”

Dhruv sighed hearing Vikram's words, but he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief knowing that Kiara was okay. After all, he couldn't deny that he cared about her well-being, even if he didn't want to admit it to himself just yet.

“Okay, take out your books. We'll start trigonometry today…”

The classes went normal, Dhruv taught them the basics and a few sums too. But his mind kept drifting back to Kiara, wondering how she was doing. He couldn't shake off the feeling of concern that had settled in his chest ever since he received her message.

When the class finally ended, and the students left the classroom, Dhruv found himself reaching for his phone once again. He hesitated for a moment before typing out a new message to Kiara.

"Hey, just wanted to check in… I started trigonometry today… and it is quite difficult. Hope you're feeling better. Let me know if you want me to explain the chapter." He hit send and leaned back in his chair. He couldn't deny that he missed seeing her in class and hearing her laughter. And as he put his phone away, he couldn't ignore the small flutter in his chest that came with the realization.
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Dhruv entered his bedroom after having dinner and collapsed onto his bed. As he closed his eyes, his phone buzzed with a notification. He reached for it and saw a reply from Kiara.

"I'm feeling better, but still resting. Trigonometry, huh? I'll definitely need some help with that. Can you teach me now? If you're free... actually, I'm free right now and I can't sleep as well... hehe"

Dhruv couldn't help but chuckle at her message.

"Sure, I can teach you now. Let's do a video call, it'll be easier to explain. Give me a minute, I'll set everything up," he replied, a smile on his face as he realized that he was actually looking forward to helping her out.

As the video call connected, he saw Kiara's face light up on the screen, and he knew that helping her with trigonometry was definitely going to be a welcome distraction.

"Ahem! Show me your ankle..."

"Why? Are you worried about me?"

"...Take out your copy," he said, trying to hide his smile.

"I was just kidding, look here-"

Kiara attempted to lift her left leg to show Dhruv her injury, but instead, she hurt herself in the process, "ahh- ah, shoot!"

Dhruv's concern flared up as he watched her wince in pain. "Kiara, be careful!" He said, with worry evident in his voice.

Reluctantly, Kiara showed him her ankle, and Dhruv couldn't hide the concern on his face as he assessed the injury.

"Sit there and don't you dare try to move…"

"But you just asked me to-"

"Shut up!"

Kiara nodded with a small pout on her lips, but Dhruv could still see the discomfort on her face.

"I'll explain the chapter first..."

“Okay sir…”

‘Khadoos’ she mumbled under her breath, glaring at Dhruv.

“Did you say something?” he asked, lifting his perfectly shaped eyebrows.

“What? No! I didn't-”

“But I heard you…”

“Just teach me already sir!!!”

Sorry... Sorry, so so so..... Sorry for updating so late... But my mental health was more important, someone close to me died last month... Also my final exams are going on... I have exams tomorrow, wish me luck 🤞🏻

Hope y'all will forgive me❤️