Location: Lecture Room 1, Later That Week – Shifa Medical College
The ceiling fan above hummed a lazy rhythm,
its blades slicing through the heavy afternoon silence.
The lecture on cellular metabolism was dragging
A blur of enzymes, reactions, and pathways projected on a flickering screen.
Words floated in the air, but none of them landed in her mind.
Eshmal sat in her usual seat
Diagonally behind Amaan.
Pen twirling between her fingers,
Eyes resting on her notebook…
But not really reading.
Not when he was that close.
Not when every time he tilted his head,
The back of his neck peeked through his collar,
Soft and sunlit under the white light.
Not when his fingers moved effortlessly
Jotting down notes in that familiar,
Straight-lined handwriting
She somehow still remembered from childhood.
And just as she was about to look away
His pen rolled off.
It slipped silently off the edge of his desk and landed near her foot.
One soft clatter.
One shared moment.
He paused.
She paused.
A few heads turned, but no one really noticed.
Except her.
With calm grace,
She bent down and picked it up.
Her fingers curled around it, his warmth still lingering on the surface.
She reached forward.
Their eyes met.
Their fingers brushed.
Just lightly.
Just enough.
Her breath caught.
“Thanks,” he said.
Voice low.
Barely audible.
But enough to shift something inside her chest.
The first word he had spoken to her in years.
She nodded.
Looked down.
Hid the smile blooming on her lips.
The one she had once practiced in front of mirrors as a girl.
Her fingers trembled slightly as they returned to her notebook.
But her heart danced.
***
💭 FLASHBACK: Class 5 – After the Split
That was the year they separated boys and girls.
No more seating changes.
No more random moments during math class.
No more sitting behind him during lessons.
Only the school bus remained.
Her silent lifeline.
Every day, she’d sit by the window.
Waiting for that green badge to enter the frame of the sliding glass.
“SACH MONITOR”
Bright green on his chest.
When he came, her heart would bloom.
When he didn’t…
It felt like the world skipped a beat.
She’d whisper prayers to herself,
“Bas ek dafa nazar aa jaye…”
It wasn’t love, she thought.
Not then.
But it hurt like it.
She remembered one winter afternoon. The sun casting sleepy shadows in the bus.
He boarded late, panting from running.
She had moved closer to the aisle, pretending to need more space.
But really, she just wanted to see him walk by.
YOU ARE READING
The Strings Between Us
Romance"Some hearts never forget... even when silence replaces every word." Eshmal & Amaan Soft girl × Loyal boy Childhood friends to lovers She fell first, he fell deeper Unspoken feelings × Invisible red threads Heartbeat moments × Nostalgic longing Slow...
