When you smile

Chapter 51

Dev's P.O.V.

I step out of the school building, the weight of the world on my shoulders. The corridors are bustling with students, each one wrapped up in their own world of laughter, gossip, and teenage drama. It's a stark contrast to what's been churning inside me, hidden behind my mask of normalcy.

I can't escape the echoes of my own words to Raj earlier today: "We're friends, just friends." Those words, so carefully chosen to hide the truth, now reverberate in my mind like a haunting refrain.

As I make my way towards the schoolyard, I spot Arya sitting alone under a sturdy old tree. Her back is against the trunk, and she seems lost in thought, her gaze fixed in the distance. I hesitate for a moment, wondering if I should go over there and sit with her.

Taking a deep breath, I approach her, my heart heavy with the weight of unspoken words and unshared pain. "Arya," I say softly, my voice barely a whisper.

She startles slightly, turning her gaze toward me, and there's a flicker of surprise in her eyes, quickly replaced by a profound understanding. "Dev," she replies, her voice equally soft.

I sit down beside her, our shoulders touching, and for a moment, we just sit there in silence, both of us lost in our own thoughts. The tree provides a sheltering canopy above us, and the gentle rustling of leaves in the breeze is the only sound that breaks the quiet.

"It's been one of those days, huh?" Arya finally breaks the silence, her voice carrying a heaviness that matches my own.

I nod, not trusting my voice to speak. 

Arya continues, her words a gentle caress of understanding. "Life can be so strange sometimes, can't it?"

I can only listen, the lump in my throat making it hard to respond.

"It's really strange, isn't it?" I finally speak, my voice barely above a whisper. "How we sometimes say things we don't even mean but desperately want them to be the reality but at the same time we don't because there's a part of that reality you actually like...or love."

The distant sounds of students chattering and playing echo in the courtyard as I fiddle with a blade of grass, pulling it apart thoughtlessly.

Arya begins softly, her gaze distant, "Everything is like an ever-turning wheel, isn't it? And we're all just trapped in its relentless spin, trying to find some semblance of control."

I nod, my voice equally hushed. "Just like a storm that never stops, like being trapped in a whirlwind. No matter how hard you try to escape, it just drags you along. At one point, your efforts don't matter anymore; you just feel like you haven't reached anywhere. You're right there where you were ages ago...same spot, same person"

Arya's laughter echoes hollowly as if trying to defy the world's cruelty. "Funny how we spend our lives trying to fight against it, to make our own paths. But sometimes, it feels like the harder you struggle, the tighter the grip of the storm."

I glance at Arya, the one person who seems to understand the unspoken. "Sometimes," I begin, my voice tinged with a weariness that seems to have settled deep within my bones, "sometimes, it's like life has this way of knocking you down when you least expect it."

I swallow hard, my eyes stinging with unshed tears. How does she always know exactly what to say?

Arya turns to me, her eyes searching mine for the hidden pain she knows lurks there. "I know," she says softly, her voice a soothing balm to my wounded soul. "It's like life's favorite game is to see how many obstacles it can throw in our path."

I nod, feeling a lump form in my throat. "And it doesn't even play fair," I continue, my words flowing with a raw honesty that I rarely share. "It's like you're walking on a tightrope, trying to balance, and just when you think you've got it, the rope starts fraying." I take a deep breath, my jaw tightening, "And the people who should be there to catch you when you fall are the ones who let you down the hardest."