Destiny: Time To Fall In Love

Chapter 1 - First meeting

Aashi Malhotra was the kind of girl who believed in the "click." Despite her neighborhood being full of boys who would gladly stand in line for a single date, she remained happily single. To her, love wasn't a pastime; it was a destiny. She was bubbly, calm, and a little bit of a dreamer, waiting for the one person who would make her world shift on its axis.

"Sweetheart, you are walking on thin ice today," a voice teased, pulling Aashi out of her thoughts.

Richa, her best friend since they were in diapers, was already at the corridor's edge, checking her watch with a smirk. "Mr. Awasthi hates latecomers more than he hates incorrect formulas. He'll eat you alive if you walk in after him."

Aashi laughed, grabbing Richa's arm. "Not if we run! Come on, I'm not in the mood for a lecture on punctuality today."

They hurried toward the Chemistry wing, but as they pushed open the heavy oak doors of the lecture hall, they didn't find the usual gloomy silence of Mr. Awasthi's domain. Instead, the room was buzzing. Girls were huddled in groups, some giggling uncontrollably, others frantically touching up their lip gloss.

"Did everyone suddenly win the lottery?" Aashi whispered, leaning toward Richa. "Or did Mr. Awasthi finally lose his mind and announce there's no final exam?"

Richa made a face, looking around at the chaos. "Maybe we're in the wrong building. This looks more like a fan club meeting than a science lab."

They slid into their usual seats, both of them bursting into a quiet fit of giggles at the absurdity of the scene. Aashi tapped the shoulder of the girl sitting behind them.

"Hey, Khushi? What's the big deal? Did the cafeteria start giving out free coffee?"

Khushi leaned in, her eyes wide with frantic excitement. "You guys don't know? Mr. Awasthi transferred ! We're getting a new professor. Nitya saw a glimpse of him in the Dean's office and she says he's....I quote....handsome as hell. Like a Wattpad character come to life."

Aashi raised an eyebrow, a playful smirk on her face. "A Wattpad character? In a chemistry lab? That's a bit much, don't you think?"

"No, seriously!" Khushi insisted, giggling. "Word is he's incredibly young to be a professor. A total genius. That's why everyone is drooling...he's got the brains and the face."

"Well, let's see if he can actually teach, or if he's just a pretty face with a periodic table," Aashi joked.

But before Richa could respond, the room suddenly went dead silent. The heavy door at the front of the hall creaked open, and the Dean stepped in, followed by a shadow that made the air in the room feel suddenly, strangely still.

The Dean's voice boomed through the hall, cutting through the whispers like a knife. I straightened up, trying to look like the model student I usually was.

"I would like to inform you that your chemistry teacher, Mr. Awasthi, has been transferred to another city," the Dean announced.

Finally! I felt a surge of pure joy. I bit my lip to keep from cheering out loud, but internally, I was doing a full victory dance. No more being eaten alive for being thirty seconds late. I leaned over to Richa and mumbled, "Best news of the year. My nerves can finally rest."

I came back to my senses just as the Dean gestured toward the door.

"So students, we have a new chemistry professor. Please come in, Mr. Aryan Oberoi."

The air in the room seemed to thin out as a figure stepped through the doorway.

If Khushi's "Wattpad" description had sounded like an exaggeration before, it felt like an understatement now. Aryan Oberoi didn't just walk into the room; he owned it. He was wearing a crisp white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing forearms that definitely didn't look like they spent all day just holding chalk. His dark hair was perfectly styled but looked soft enough that you'd want to run your hands through it.