BRIDGING HEARTS

{17}

AUTHOR'S POV

Jeia called Saniya.

"For God's sake, Jeia, are you okay?" Saniya's voice was filled with concern.

"I'm fine, Saniya. I dozed off. Sorry, I just saw your missed calls," Jeia replied.

"Are you really okay? I'm so sorry, Jeia, for whatever happened today. Aarav shouldn't have done that," Saniya said apologetically.

"Why are you apologizing? It's not your fault. Let's just drop this topic. I've decided I won't talk about him anymore or have anything to do with him," Jeia said firmly.

"Hmm," Saniya hummed in agreement.

"Okay, Saniya, I need to end the call. I have to go freshen up," Jeia said, and they both ended the call.

Jeia hurried to the bathroom, the cool water refreshing her senses. She wore her cozy pajamas.

Entering the dining area, she found Aarav already seated. Despite his attempts to engage her, she moved past him as if he didn't exist. Aarav sighed deeply and sank back into his chair.

As others joined for dinner, the room filled with an uneasy silence. The usual bickerings between Jeia and Aarav were gone, replaced now by uncomfortable silence. Aarav couldn't help but steal glances at Jeia. She sat quietly, picking at her food with a distant expression.

Next day

Jeia got up to go to college, her heart heavy with an uneasy feeling after yesterday's incident.

She stared at herself in the mirror. "You can do this, Jeia," she whispered, trying to muster some confidence.

Taking a deep breath, she grabbed her bag and headed out of her room, ready to face the day despite the lingering doubts.

Once again, Aarav felt ignored by jeia at the dining table.
Jeia, lost in thought, headed out for college, wondering how her classmates would react.

As usual, she spotted Saniya waiting for her. When she got closer, Saniya gave her a warm hug and asked how she was doing.

In the classroom, Jeia saw that everything seemed normal. Some students came to apologize, while others didn't care.

Despite this, Jeia felt relieved.

Soon, students started coming into the class as it was time for the professor to arrive.

Aarav entered along with Sameer. He spotted Jeia sitting in her usual place, her head hung low. He stared at her before going to his bench.

The professor came and started his lecture. Aarav couldn't help but steal glances at Jeia.

"Did you talk to her? Did the misunderstanding get cleared?" Sameer whispered to Aarav.

"Kaha yaar, baat sunna toh chodh, wo toh mujhe aise ignore kar rahi hai kal se jaise mujhe jaanti hi nahi," Aarav replied.
(Man, forget about talking, she's been ignoring me since yesterday as if she doesn't even know me.)

"Toh ab kya karna hai?" Sameer asked.
(So, what are you going to do now?)

"I don't know. Firstly, I need to tell her and make her believe that it wasn't me who did it. Then I'll decide how to catch the one who did it," Aarav stated.

Sameer hummed in response, and both of them shifted their focus to the board.

"I expect you all to finish the work I've given in the next two days," the professor said as he walked out. It was already time for the students to wrap up and head home.

AARAV'S POV

The whole day had slipped by in a blur of frustration. I kept trying to talk to her, but she ignored me at every turn. Stupid girl. She wouldn't even give me a chance to explain. Idiot.

I won't lie; I did feel bad for her. I had never seen her hurt before. Learning about what happened to her in childhood made me feel guilty, even though I had nothing to do with it. I used to tease her because she would get really irritated, and I thought it was funny. I never meant to hurt her.

But now she thinks I pulled that stunt to publicly humiliate her. That's not what happened at all.

I sighed deeply, feeling the weight of the day pressing down on me, I went to bed.

To be continued...

Short update
Stay tuned to know what will aarav do now
Will jeia forgive him??