**Winner 2024 Amby Awards**
Fiza has everything planned-medical school, a respectable future, and an engagement she never wanted. Determined to escape a loveless match, she creates a checklist to find the perfect husband her father will approve of.
...
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The JIPMER campus was huge and buzzing with a chaotic energy that was equal parts exciting and overwhelming. While we girls got actual hostel rooms, the boys were all crammed into the Community Center, sleeping on mats on the floor.
I followed Anjana and Neha into the Community Center. There was this weird smell - damp and musky, with a strange, vaguely familiar undertone I couldn't quite place.
Almost immediately, Koushik, the senior leading our music group, spotted me. "Fiza! Good, you're here. Come with me."
I glanced around for Anjana and Neha, but they had already melted into the crowd. So I followed him.
"Here," he said, handing me a bag filled with dried plants and old newspapers. "Separate the leaves and flowers. Just toss the stems."
I took the bag with a smile. It seemed like a simple, mindless task. Maybe it was for a prop? Something for the dance team?
I got to work, my fingers carefully pulling the fragile leaves apart. After a while, the monotony set in. Bored, I pulled out my phone and texted Alan.
Me: Wru?
Alan: In the Community Center
Me: Me too. Find me
I smiled at the thought of him.
A few minutes later, I heard his laugh and looked up to see him walking toward me, a lazy grin on his face and a crudely rolled cigarette dangling from his fingers.
He knelt down beside me.
My eyes widened. "Are you smoking?" I asked, even though I knew the answer. I had heard all the rumors—the drugs, the alcohol, the wild parties. But seeing it right in front of me was different.
He took a long drag, then blew the smoke directly near my face. It didn't smell like tobacco. It was earthier, sweeter. "It's a joint. Want to try?"
My heart sank. Disgusting. "Don't do that near me," I said, swatting at the air between us. Eww!
I forced myself to focus on the task, separating the leaves frantically while trying to ignore him.
Alan stubbed out his joint on the concrete floor and sank down beside me. Before I could process it, his hand was cupping my face, his thumb tracing a slow, deliberate line from my earlobe to the corner of my mouth. His touch was surprisingly gentle, but it sent a jolt through my entire system. His face was inches from mine, his eyes glazed but intensely focused on me.
"You're so beautiful," he whispered, his voice low and rough. "So beautiful..." He gently tucked a loose strand of my hair behind my ear, his fingers lingering, his gaze holding me completely captive.
I bit my lip, my heart hammering against my ribs so hard I was sure he could feel it. I should have pulled away. I should have slapped his hand. But the idiot that I was, I stayed frozen. The moment stretched and I felt myself dangerously close to leaning into it.
