The morning sun filtered through pale blue curtains, dust motes dancing in the light like tiny fairies. Sara sat at her study table, dressed in her ironed school uniform, long dark hair cascading down her back in waves. Her eyes, soft and shimmering like pools of moonlight, remained fixed on the textbook in front of her—but her mind was elsewhere.
The clock ticked steadily. 6:45 a.m.
Another day.
Her room looked like a haven, filled with neatly arranged books, a few fairy lights pinned around her corkboard, and polaroids of her and Yumi—the only person who made her feel seen. A photo of her family sat on the shelf, its frame slightly tilted. Her father's smiling face beamed out, forever frozen in time. He had died when she was just ten. That day was when the house turned cold, even in summer.
Her mother knocked once, then stepped in.
"You're still not ready? Don't be late. Your brother's waiting," her mother said sharply, not even glancing at her face.
Sara nodded silently, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, her voice caught in her throat.
Her elder brother, Aryan, was downstairs—her mother's pride, the golden child. Captain of the football team, charming, and always forgiven. Sara adored him, even when he ignored her completely. She never complained, not when he took the last slice of cake, not when he forgot her birthday last year, not even when their mother openly compared them and said, "Why can't you be more like him?"
Despite it all, Sara kept trying—aceing her tests, helping with chores, and smiling in every family photo like she was fine.
But she wasn't. She hadn't been for a long time.
---
The school was buzzing that day. Parents swarmed the hallways with serious faces and clutched files. The Parent-Teacher Meeting had turned into a silent battlefield in Sara's head.
She sat on the bench outside her classroom, her fingers twitching around her result file. Her mother and brother stood beside her, talking among themselves. Her mother glanced at her briefly.
"You better not have embarrassed me," she whispered. "You know how much pressure Aryan has with college. Don't mess up."
The words sliced through Sara like paper cuts—small but stinging. She nodded, her throat tightening.
They walked into the class.
Her class teacher, Mrs. Sharma, smiled when she saw Sara. "Ah, my brightest star. Please come in."
Sara sat down beside her mother. Aryan leaned against the wall, arms folded. Mrs. Sharma went on about her scores, her leadership in class, how she helped others, how teachers admired her.
But none of it reached Sara. Her mother stayed quiet the entire time. No smile. No "I'm proud of you." Just silence.
Then, Mrs. Sharma looked at Sara, noticing the tension. "Sara, dear? You okay?"
And something inside her shattered.
Her chest clenched, and her eyes brimmed over before she could stop them. Tears rolled down her cheeks silently, uncontrollably. A wave of shame and exhaustion swept over her like a flood. She buried her face in her hands, sobbing quietly as her mother shifted uncomfortably.
Mrs. Sharma stood up, gently placing her hand on Sara's shoulder. "Sweetheart, it's okay. Let it out."
Some students and parents glanced from their seats. A few whispered.
Sara wished the ground would open and swallow her whole.
Then—
The door creaked.
A boy entered, walking in casually with his father. He wore the school sports jacket, his hair slightly tousled, his smile careless. The room dimmed in the background, but he… he glowed.
Sara looked up through blurry eyes and stopped breathing.
He wasn't just handsome. He was something else. His presence was magnetic—unintentional, raw, warm like a sunbeam after winter. He laughed at something the teacher said, and that laugh—it wasn't just sound. It echoed inside her.
She stared at him openly, confused by the intensity.
"Wow," she thought. "He's so handsome."
For a moment, her tears stopped. Her world paused.
He didn't see her.
But something inside her had already changed.
---
That night, curled in her blanket, she dialed Yumi's number.
"Yumi… something happened today. I cried—like, really cried. In front of everyone. It was so embarrassing."
"What? Are you okay?"
"I don't know. It just happened. I couldn't hold it anymore. But then… then this boy walked in. And I don't know how to explain it, but I just… looked at him and thought, have we met before? It felt like… déjà vu. But I'm sure I've never seen him."
"Was he cute?"
Sara's silence answered for her.
Yumi giggled. "Saraaa! Crush alert!"
"I don't know. I just… I want to see him again."
---
To be continued in Chapter Two