Three weeks.
That's how long it lasted.
Twenty-one straight days of back-to-back exams, tension, mental breakdowns, last-minute revisions, group study chaos, and that one burning question echoing in every corridor of the school:
"Will I even survive this?"
It started off with innocent determination.
We sat together on Day 1—me, Tejal, Jhanvi, Atharva, Veeryansh, and Avyansh—laying out our timetables like we were prepping for war.
Subjects were split. Tejal took charge of Chemistry summaries.
Jhanvi had notes for Biology.
I handled History and English.
Veeryansh volunteered for Physics (classic topper energy).
Avyansh... he was mostly just around for moral support and sneaky glances.
Atharva? He was vibes only—but somehow always had the smartest doubts.
Week 1 – The Descent
By Day 3, our group study sessions were 80% studying and 20% crying over formulas and forgotten dates.
"I swear if I see another organic equation, I'm going to combust," Tejal muttered, her head buried in her notebook.
Jhanvi had started talking to her water bottle like it was her therapist.
Me?
I barely remembered how to smile.
Siddhartha grew quieter each passing day. He kept trying to find moments to talk to me—but I was too deep in chapters and stress.
I noticed his eyes searching mine in class, in corridors, during breaks... but I didn't have space in my head for anything more than syllabus chapters.
Avyansh, though, noticed everything.
Week 2 – Burnout
By the second week, we were all ghosts.
Dark circles were our new makeup.
Our group chat was filled with late-night "bro, are you awake?" messages and 3 a.m. breakdowns.
There was a moment before the Math exam where I forgot how to breathe. I was staring at my notebook, and the numbers looked like a foreign language.
"You got this, Love," Avyansh had whispered, brushing his knuckles against mine beneath the desk.
That small gesture kept me going.
That, and fried rice Tejal brought as comfort food.
Week 3 – The Breaking Point & The Light
The final stretch felt endless.
It was Day 18 when we all officially hit our breaking point.
We were too tired to care. Too burned out to panic.
And then came the last paper.
Psychology.
Our comfort subject.
And just like that... when the bell rang that day, and we walked out of that exam hall, we all stood outside in silence—half confused, half free.
And then someone screamed:
"IT'S OVER!"
A collective roar of joy.
Tejal started dancing in the parking lot.
Atharva started beatboxing like a weirdo.
Jhanvi screamed into the air.
I turned to Avyansh.
He was already looking at me.
"We did it," I whispered.
"You did it," he said, voice low, eyes soft.
And in that moment, for the first time in weeks, I didn't feel tired.
I felt alive.
La Vie Café – The Aftermath Plan
"We deserve a party," Tejal declared that night on the group chat.
"Not just any party," said Atharva. "We deserve La Vie Café at golden hour with fries, milkshakes, and zero thoughts."
And so, it was decided.
The plan was set.
The group was alive again.
No more notes. No more revision. No more stress.
Just us, a window seat, the scent of cinnamon and chai, and laughter that didn't feel guilty anymore.
The exams were over.
But something else was just about to begin.
The buzz of La Vie Café felt like a distant echo compared to the silence we had all grown used to during the past few weeks. After twenty-one days of back-to-back exams, late-night study calls, panic breakdowns, and last-minute revisions, we had finally made it to the end. And for the first time in two months, stress was no longer our background music.
We—Eyana, Tejal, Jhanvi, Atharva, Avyansh, and Veeryansh—sat around our usual corner table, the fairy lights above us flickering like stars. It was comforting. A reminder that after every storm, there's calm—and sometimes, there's magic too.
Eyana leaned back on the couch, letting her head rest on Avyansh's shoulder. He ran his fingers lightly through her hair, the touch so natural, so intimate, it made her chest flutter. For once, there was no teasing or playful arrogance. Just his calm presence and the warmth of him being beside her. He looked down at her, brushing a strand from her face, whispering, "I'm proud of you, Love. You did it." And for once, she didn't blush or roll her eyes—she smiled, soft and real.
At the other side of the table, Atharva had his arm casually draped around Tejal. She was trying to pretend she wasn't used to it, hiding her smile behind her coffee mug. But he knew. He knew from the way she leaned closer, how her hand found his knee under the table, how she looked at him like he was both her peace and her chaos. "You'll miss the exam stress, won't you?" Atharva teased, bumping his shoulder into hers. She chuckled, "Only if you promise to help me stress again next term." They laughed, but their eyes lingered longer than necessary. That laughter held promise.
And then came the moment that shifted everything.
The lights dimmed slightly, the song playing overhead dropped into a haunting acoustic rhythm, and Veeryansh stood up.
Jhanvi looked up from her seat, eyebrows raised. "Where are you going?"
"I need to say something," he said, but his eyes never left hers. The group quieted down, sensing something different. Tejal blinked. Eyana exchanged a glance with Avyansh. Even Atharva straightened a little.
Veeryansh walked toward Jhanvi slowly, like the world had slowed for this moment alone. He reached into his coat and pulled out a folded piece of paper—her old sketch, the one she doodled months ago and thought no one noticed. He had kept it. Preserved it.
"I didn't know how to say it... so I waited," he began, voice low and serious. "I thought it would pass. That maybe I was imagining it. But every time I saw you, it only grew louder. My feelings... they've been screaming inside me."
Jhanvi blinked. Her breath caught.
"You're the one I've been thinking about. You always were."
A hush settled.
He stepped closer. "It's you, Jhanvi. You're the one I've liked all this time."
The air between them grew heavier, darker, intimate.
And then he reached for her hand. "You're my silence in chaos. My dark mystery that I can't stop solving."
She didn't speak. Not with words. But her eyes—those deep, questioning eyes—softened. Her fingers curled slowly into his. And in that silence, a story began.
No one interrupted. Not even Atharva.
And for the first time in a long time, all six of them sat under the fairy lights of La Vie Café, with no exams, no books, no deadlines—just feelings unraveling, hearts braving truths, and something like love finally beginning to bloom.
The roads were quieter now. The laughter from La Vie Café still echoed in our minds, but the night had settled into a strange silence. A softness in the air, like something unfinished.
Avyansh and Eyana walked side by side, his bike parked at the alley's end. The breeze was cool against their skin, but Eyana's heart had already started to grow warm from the night—and from him.
But then they both saw it.
A lone figure standing under the dim yellow streetlight near Eyana's gate.
Siddhartha.
Waiting.
Still.
Again.
Eyana sighed lightly. She could feel Avyansh stiffen beside her, the calm in his eyes slowly starting to darken.
"I'll go talk to him," she whispered, brushing her hand over Avyansh's fingers. "Just... stay here. Please."
Avyansh clenched his jaw but nodded once, his silence telling everything. She walked ahead.
Siddhartha's Confession
He looked up the moment she stepped close, his eyes tired, heavy... but full of something achingly tender.
"I waited," he said, voice low. "Not just tonight. I waited all these weeks."
Eyana looked at him, her face unreadable.
"I kept telling myself it wasn't the right time—first the exams, then your tired eyes, then Avyansh always beside you..." His voice cracked slightly. "And now it's too late, isn't it?"
She looked down, the words catching in her throat. He continued.
"I'm in love with you, Eyana. I have been... I just didn't know how to say it without ruining everything. But tonight, I didn't want to go home carrying it again. So here it is."
Silence.
Painful, gentle silence.
"You're one of the kindest people I know," she finally said, her voice warm but distant. "But sometimes... feelings don't always align the way we want. You'll always be a good friend of mine, Siddhartha. And I hope we can still keep that."
Siddhartha gave a small, sad smile. "I figured. But thank you for listening."
And then, he pulled her into a hug.
A tight, long, final one.
Avyansh watched from the shadows, arms folded, eyes narrowed. The hug. It lasted seconds too long. His blood boiled, chest tightening in ways even he didn't know how to handle.
The moment Siddhartha walked away, Eyana turned, expecting silence or sarcasm.
But what she got was his hand—wrapped tightly around her wrist, pulling her gently but firmly into a side alleyway dimly lit by a flickering bulb above.
"Avyansh—"
"Did you hug him back?" His voice was low, calm. Too calm. Dangerous calm.
"I just said goodbye—"
He stepped closer, backing her gently against the cool wall. His eyes bore into hers—possessive, hungry, hurt. "You're mine, Eyana. No one gets to hold you like that."
"It was nothing—"
"I know," he whispered, brushing his fingers along her jawline. "I trust you. It's them I don't trust."
His other hand came to her waist, fingers gripping just a bit tighter than usual. His forehead touched hers. "But the thought of anyone touching you—hugging you—burns me."
His breath was warm, heavy, as his lips ghosted over hers. "You have no idea what you do to me."
She melted under his touch, under the tension. His lips found her neck—slow, teasing, trailing fire—and she gasped, grabbing the collar of his shirt.
"Avyansh..." she whispered, caught in the heat of him.
He gently bit her earlobe. "Tell me you're mine."
"I'm yours."
"Louder."
"I'm yours," she said again, trembling slightly.
His fingers tangled in her hair, his kisses rougher now, deeper, possessive. But then—softness. A sudden pause.
He looked into her eyes.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, softer than she'd ever heard. "I just... can't lose you."
"You won't," she whispered back. "Even if you act jealous and pull me into scary alleys."
He smirked, kissing her forehead. "You like it."
"Shut up."
He did.
By kissing her again.
This time, slower.
This time, like she was his universe.
And under that flickering light, wrapped in shadows and their storm of emotions, Eyana kissed him back—knowing that sometimes, even jealousy has a heart of its own.
Tejal's pov
The group slowly parted ways under the star-scattered sky.
Eyana was still flushed from the alleyway.
Tejal, walking beside Atharva, tried to pretend she hadn't noticed the sparks between Eyana and Avyansh... but she was smiling.
Atharva, of course, couldn't resist.
"So," he started, bumping shoulders with her, "when are we reenacting their alleyway drama, Miss Tejal? Shall I find a dark corner or are you more of a candlelit-rooftop kinda girl?"
Tejal rolled her eyes. "You're impossible."
"Come on, I'm trying here," he smirked. "I brought you cupcakes, held your bag, and even offered you my hoodie when you were shivering during chemistry class."
She raised an eyebrow. "You didn't offer. I stole it."
"And you looked too hot in it to ask for it back."
Tejal blinked. "You're getting bold."
He grinned. "Getting? I've always been bold. You just weren't looking closely."
She bit her lip to hide her smile. "Stop teasing me."
He leaned closer, voice dropping to a murmur. "Teasing you might just be my new favorite subject."
Tejal blushed, hitting his arm lightly. "Atharva!"
"I'm just saying," he shrugged, "if Eyana and Avyansh get to be grossly in love in public, then maybe you and I should at least practice some private public affection."
"Goodnight, clown," she said, half-laughing, half-hiding her thundering heart.
"Sweet dreams, sass queen," he replied, mimicking a bow as she walked away.
Veeryansh's pov
A little further, beneath the trees near Jhanvi's quiet lane, the night stilled again.
Jhanvi stood at her gate, turning to Veeryansh.
"You didn't have to walk me all the way," she whispered, brushing her hair behind her ear.
"I wanted to," Veeryansh said, eyes steady on her face. "Besides... I needed to tell you something."
She paused.
He stepped closer.
His voice dropped, smooth and dark. "You've haunted my head, Jhanvi."
She blinked. "What?"
"Every time I sit to study. Every time we all hang out. Every time I laugh with someone—I think of you. Your silence. Your eyes. The way you chew the straw of your cold coffee when you're lost in thought."
"Veer—"
"No. Let me say it," he whispered. "It's been eating at me since that night on the trip. The way you looked at me when I sat next to you by the lake? I knew. I felt it."
Jhanvi froze.
Veeryansh stepped into her space, close enough for her breath to hitch.
"Jhanvi... it's you. You're the one. You've always been the one."
She swallowed, her heart screaming and quiet all at once.
Then, his hand came up, gently cupping her cheek.
"You scare the hell out of me," he said. "Because you make me feel things I've never known before."
The light from her gate flickered—dim, golden.
And in that moment, she leaned in. Just slightly.
That was enough.
Veeryansh closed the distance, brushing his lips against hers—soft, slow, reverent. A kiss not of fireworks, but of depth. Of knowing. Of being seen.
When they pulled back, she whispered, "Why now?"
He smiled. "Because I didn't want to wait till it was too late."
She looked at him for a long beat.
Then nodded once.
"Okay," she whispered.
He smirked. "So... I can finally stop pretending I don't watch you whenever you tuck your hair behind your ears?"
She laughed.
And they stood there, under a quiet sky, two shadows learning the shape of each other's hearts.
Eyana's Room – 12:47 a.m.
The night had fallen completely silent.
Eyana lay on her bed, the fairy lights above her glowing dimly. Her fingers rested on her lips—the same lips Avyansh had kissed, bruised with his jealousy. The weight of Siddhartha's hug still lingered on her shoulders, and Veeryansh's confession to Jhanvi played like a scene from a movie in her mind.
Her phone buzzed.
Tejal: 👀 Just saw your stormy-eyed boyfriend dragging you into that alley. You good, Romeo & Juliet?
Eyana sighed, smiling softly.
Eyana: He was jealous... Siddhartha hugged me. But I handled it. We talked. He confessed.
Tejal: Confessed?! As in, "I love you, Eyana"?!
Tejal: And THEN Avyansh saw that?! Girl, I'm shaking.
Eyana:
He said he's been in love with me. Said he waited for the right moment but it never came. And I said... he'll always be a good friend.
There was a pause.
Tejal:
That's big of you. But also... are you okay? That's a lot to carry in one night.
Eyana stared at the message.
Am I okay?
Her chest still hummed with the heat of Avyansh's touch. With the ache in Siddhartha's eyes. With the echo of Veeryansh whispering You're the one to Jhanvi.
Her entire circle was shifting—and she was standing at the center of it.
She took a deep breath.
Eyana:
I think I'm okay. Just overwhelmed. It's like everything suddenly became too real.
Typing...
Jhanvi:
Too real. That's exactly how I feel. He kissed me. Veeryansh. He said it's always been me.
Eyana's eyes widened. Her thumb hovered over the keyboard.
Eyana: OMG.
Tejal: WAIT WHAT?!
Eyana: THE UNIVERSE IS REALLY NOT LETTING US BREATHE!!
Jhanvi: Tell me about it.
And then, silence. Shared silence.
Each of them, in their own rooms, hearts rattling, stomachs fluttering.
And for once, no tests, no stress.
Just three girls in the middle of the night, holding each other through words.
The storm had passed.
For now.
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