I met a stranger

Chapter 1 - I Am

Hey there...

It all started with a question that never left me -
"Why don't I have that one special person?"

You know what I mean, right? That friend who feels more than a friend. That stranger who suddenly becomes your safe place.

Sometimes I thought maybe I wasn't good enough. Maybe I wasn't the kind of guy girls wanted. But whenever I looked into the mirror, I laughed at myself -

"Brooo, look at you... you're perfectly fine. Maybe you're just born in the wrong generation."

And I carried that thought deep inside me.

Oh, wait. I should probably tell you... I'm an introvert. Well, not completely. You can say ambivert. Quiet most of the time, but not dead silent either.

My closest friends? My siblings and cousins.
My sister - she's my secret-keeper. I can tell her almost everything without hesitation.
My brother - I share a few things with him too, but not much.
And then my cousins. Some are close enough that we share thoughts, laughs, and sometimes even silence.

I did have a best friend once, years ago. But we lost connection when I switched schools. Later, I shifted hometowns for studies... and life moved on.

But destiny has its own plans. I got admission to the same school where my favorite cousin studied. We weren't in the same section, but in the same class. And honestly, that made everything easier. He was an extrovert, full of confidence. I was the quiet one. He taught me how to talk, how to socialize, how to actually exist in a crowd without fading into the background.

Still... whenever I went outside and saw couples walking hand in hand, laughing, living their "perfect love story," a question burned inside me -
"They have their someone... where's mine?"

People often asked, "Are you in a relationship?"
And I always answered with a smile - "No, I don't want one."

But the truth? Nobody ever approached me... and I never had the courage to approach anyone. Because my thoughts were louder than my words:

Will she even like me?

Will she like my looks, my eyes, my height?

Will she like the way I talk? The way I behave?

Will she really accept me for who I am?

What if she leaves me... what would I do then?

These questions... they haunted me.

And yet, somewhere inside me, a small hope whispered -
"Maybe God has a plan. Maybe something is about to happen. Maybe someone is about to walk into my life... a stranger who won't stay a stranger for long."

Next chapter -