Shadows of the past
Author's pov-
Divya felt her breath hitch as she watched vaani walk toward purv, her movements confident, almost rehearsed.
Purv stood still, his expression unreadable, but something flickered in his eyes-something Divya couldn't decipher.
"Long time, purv," vaani said, her voice smooth, as if they hadn't spent years apart. As if nothing had ever happened between them.
Divya's stomach twisted.
Purv's jaw tightened, but he didn't look away. "What are you doing here?"
Vaani's smile didn't falter. "It's a college, purv. People come here to study."
A tense silence stretched between them.
Divya felt like an outsider in her own story, sitting at the table with kaashi and Aditya, yet completely disconnected from the moment. She didn't want to be the insecure girl who feared the return of her boy's first love. But right now, she was.
She watched purv's every move, looking for a sign-for anything that would tell her he was unaffected by this.
Vaani glanced around, then her gaze landed on Divya.
And that's when Divya saw it-the curiosity, the silent assessment.
Vaani turned back to purv. "You're not going to introduce me?"
Purv's gaze flickered toward Divya, and for the first time since vaani arrived, his expression softened.
"She already knows who you are," he said simply.
Vaani raised an eyebrow. "Of course, she does." She turned to Divya, her smile polite. "And I know who you are too."
Divya straightened, meeting vaani's gaze head-on. "Do you?"
Vaani tilted her head slightly. "You're the girl who changed him."
A flicker of surprise crossed purv's face, but he masked it quickly.
Divya's heart pounded. She didn't know if vaani meant it as an insult or a simple observation, but the weight of those words settled heavily between them.
Vaani then sighed dramatically, turning back to purv. "Anyway. I just wanted to say hi. I'm sure we'll be seeing alot of each other."
She walked past him, her fingers lightly brushing his arm as she did.
Divya didn't miss the way purv tensed at the touch.
As soon as vaani was gone, kaashi exhaled. "Well, that was intense."
Aditya scoffed. "More like unnecessary."
But Divya barely heard them.
Her eyes were still on purv.
He was staring as the ground, his fists clenched, his entire posture rigid.
She knew he wasn't over his past. He had told her that himself.
But seeing him like this? It felt like watching him slip into a storm she couldn't pull him out of.
She swallowed the lump in her throat.
"Purv," she said softly.
He blinked, as if realizing she was there, then looked at her.
His gaze was conflicted-like he was stuck between the present and the past.
For the first time, Divya was terrified.
Because she didn't know which one he would choose.