~ 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 ~

Chapter 1. Yeh Un dino ki baat hain...

Author's POV:
Riya was attending her cousin sister's wedding, dressed beautifully and surrounded by laughter and music. She was enjoying the ceremony when she decided to send a snap to her best friend, Pratha. Pratha replied almost immediately, admiring the decorations and lights. "Wow, this place looks so nice," she said through a message. But then her curiosity was caught by someone in the background of Riya's picture. "Wait... who's that guy in the black kurta?"

Riya smiled and typed back, "He's my cousin brother." After some time, Riya sent another picture — a clearer one this time — showing her cousin standing with a calm expression.

"Is he handsome?" Riya teased.

Pratha, intrigued, replied, "Yes, definitely! But who is he?"

Riya smirked at her screen before typing back, "We can call him Mr. Black Kurta. He's the one who wore it at the wedding yesterday."

"Oh wow, he's really handsome! But what's his name?" Pratha asked eagerly.

"Find out for yourself," Riya replied playfully. "I won't tell you. Bye!"

She laughed to herself and decided to call her cousin, Tiksha. "Hey, how are you?" Riya greeted.

"I'm fine, how about you?" Tiksha replied. Before Riya could answer, a familiar voice joined in. "Yes, she's fine," said Garv, interrupting.

Riya chuckled. "Oh, so you're there too?"

"Yes, I'm here," Garv replied. "Now tell me something..."

"What should I tell you?" Riya asked, amused.

"I'll tell you something," Garv said with a teasing tone, "but not right now."

Tiksha sighed. "You two can talk later," she said, rolling her eyes.

Riya laughed softly. "Fine. If you're free, let's chat on Snap tonight."

"But why?" Garv asked.

"Okay, forget it then," Riya said quickly.

Garv smiled through the phone. "Alright, I'll message you later. But you better reply."

"I will," Riya promised, and the call ended.

Later that night, Pratha sat on her bed, scrolling through her phone. She couldn't stop thinking about the man Riya had called "Mr. Black Kurta." 'Riya didn't tell me his name... but that's fine, she thought. I'll find him on Instagram. I'm sure Riya follows him' She thought. After searching through Riya's followers, Pratha finally found two possible profiles.

'Oh wow, two IDs... but which one is his? I'll ask Riya.' she thought.

She quickly texted her best friend. "Hey, is his name Garv or Vaibhav?"

Within moments, Riya replied, laughing through her message. "You found him really fast! Yes, it's one of those two."

Pratha smiled. "I think it's Garv, right?" After a few moments of teasing, Riya finally gave in and sent Garv's Snapchat ID, along with a snap of him. While Pratha was busy smiling at her screen, Riya's phone buzzed again — this time, it was a message from Keshav, the guy she used to have a crush on. Out of boredom and curiosity, Riya decided to reply, using one of her fake accounts. She thought it would be harmless, but the conversation quickly took a dark turn. Keshav started speaking rudely, his words crossing every limit of decency. He began demanding things Riya had no intention of sharing. At first, she tried to ignore him, but when he became verbally abusive, something inside her broke. Her heart sank as she realized the kind of person he really was.

Tears welled up in her eyes, and she whispered to herself, "How can someone talk like this? What's wrong with people?" Her mother's voice came from outside the room. "Riya, beta, go to sleep now."