The Strings Between Us

✨ CHAPTER THREE: A Pen Between Us

He smiled briefly as he passed.

She didn’t smile back.
She froze.

But the moment clung to her like perfume on a scarf.

***

⏳ BACK TO PRESENT – Same Day

The professor called for a break.

Chairs shuffled.
Bags zipped.
Laughter filled the corridor.

Most students walked out for a stretch.

But not him.
And not her.

Amaan stayed seated
Hand resting on his notes, eyes distant.

And behind him…
Eshmal.
Still.
Breathing in his silence.
Holding the soft electricity of that moment.

She uncapped her bottle and sipped, trying to calm herself.
But her heart still beat like it hadn’t come back from 2010.

It wasn’t empty between them anymore.
It was full.
Full of history.
Of glances across classrooms.
Of chalk dust and pencils and untold things.

She didn’t say another word.
Neither did he.

But in her journal that night,
She wrote a single line she hadn’t written in years:

“He said something today.”

***

💭 FLASHBACK: Class 6 – The Blue Badge

He had become a SACH PROTECTOR.

The green badge was gone
Replaced by a sharper title.
A deeper role.

And he
Taller.
Calmer.
No longer the boy who laughed when she pouted in the bus.

But still the one who lived in her chest like a gentle ache.

By then, her crush had long since turned into something else.
Something she didn’t even have words for.

She’d listen to drama OSTs alone in her room,
Picturing scenes in her head.

And every time the heroine cried,
She’d imagine herself.

Not crying for a dramatic reason
But because she hadn’t seen him that day.

He wasn’t just a schoolboy to her anymore.
He was her unwritten script.
The hero of every story she secretly told herself.

She remembered a school function when their eyes met across the assembly.
For a fleeting second, amidst the noise and songs
The world shrank.

And when the moment passed,
It left behind a void that only his smile could fill.

***

🌇 Present – Evening, Same Day

The day ended.

Eshmal walked toward the bus stop slowly,
Books hugged to her chest,
Dupatta dancing with the wind.

Behind her
Footsteps.

Unrushed.
Measured.

She didn’t turn.

Not until she was on the bus, seated by the window.

Then

She looked.

Through the reflection of the dusty glass,
She saw him.

Amaan.

Walking down the road alone.
Hands in his pockets.
Face calm, unreadable.

She smiled to herself softly.
This time…

She had seen him first.

And maybe just maybe
He had let her.

***

To be continued…

✨

Hiiiii lovely readers! 😍
If you’ve made it this far… uff I already love you.
And if your heart did that little dhak-dhak when their fingers touched over the pen…
same, bestie. SAME. 👀🫣

Let’s be real this isn’t just a story.
It’s that feeling of seeing someone again after YEARS…
and realizing your heart still remembers their name.

Tell me honestly, do you ship them already? 👀
Should Eshmal keep it lowkey? Or should we manifest a slow-burn but heart-melting reunion? 😭💌

Also, who else is emotionally invested in flashback Amaan with the green badge? Because I need therapy after writing that. 🫠

Drop your thoughts in the comments.
Your reactions literally give me life. 💬💕

I reply to everyone because I LOVE talking about these scenes like we’re all on a group call with chai in our hands and soft heartbreak in our voices. ☕💔

Don’t forget to hit that 🔥 VOTE button if you’re feeling the vibes,
and save the story to your library if you wanna cry, blush, and obsess with me chapter after chapter.
It’s gonna get deeper. And dreamier. And maybe a little more intense. 💭

More secrets are coming.
More memories too.

Until next chapter
Stay soft. Stay romantic. Stay tangled in the strings. 🌸

heartsbyara21 ✍️💫

***

💜Comment Below and ask me!

1. What do you think Amaan felt when their fingers touched?

2. If you were Eshmal, would you have said more during the break or stayed in the silence?

3. Have you ever had a journal-worthy moment like “He said something today”?

💋💭