**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 hike to Kudle Beach was breathtaking. We started at the mouth of the trail, swallowed by lush greenery and the ever-present, salty scent of the sea. The path was a mix of narrow dirt tracks, rocky scrambles, and steps worn smooth by countless footsteps.
As we descended, the beauty unfolded around us—a symphony of chirping birds and rustling leaves. The sea breeze, cool and insistent, felt like a taunt, a reminder that I'd broken something precious.
The group stopped to take pictures, all easy smiles.
Alan was ahead, talking with Vineet and Chandran, his posture relaxed as if our fight didn't bother him.
Then Priya gathered the girls, her face glowing. "So," she announced, grinning. "Chandran and I are now official." She looked directly at me. "But we're taking it slow. Took a leaf out of your book and am playing hard to get." She laughed.
"Hey!" I chuckled, the sound thin. "That's not what I'm doing." My smile faltered. "And don't take it too far, or he'll lose interest."
Shahana, slipped an arm around my shoulders. "What happened?" she asked softly.
The confession tumbled out in a low whisper. "We kinda got in a fight. He... he crossed a line, and I yelled at him." I watched Alan's back as he walked ahead. "Now he has his walls up. He's been exchanging numbers with other girls right in front of me. To hurt me."
As I said it, I realized that if what he'd sworn in the bathroom was true—that there had been no one else for years—then this sudden, public flirtation had only one purpose: retaliation. My Alan, who had always bent over backwards to make me happy, was now intentionally hurting me. That could only mean one thing — I had hurt him so deeply that the boy who protected me was now protecting himself from me.
"You guys are inseparable," Priya said with optimistic certainty as we resumed walking. "You'll figure it out."
I wished I had her faith.
We soon arrived at the beach, a stunning crescent of gold against the blue. We set up umbrellas and mats. The moment the last stake was in the sand, Chandran grabbed Priya's hand with a whoop and they ran toward the water. Vineet and Shahana followed, laughter trailing behind them.
And just like that, it was only Alan and me left on the large beach mat. He lay back, closing his eyes against the sun. I sat beside him, the roaring of the waves filling the void where our conversation should have been.
I didn't know how to start. The words felt stuck, lodged somewhere between my guilt and my fear. So I waited, hoping Alan would break the silence. He didn't. He just lay there, watching our friends.
Shahana was splashing water on Vineet, and he was laughing.
I took a small breath. "I'm sorry..." I offered, the words barely a whisper. Maybe I had been wrong. Maybe he hadn't been trying to grind against me in the water. Maybe it was had just being an awkward hug. And even if he had... did my reaction fit the crime?
