Him OR Her

12. Unmasking the Shadow 🔞

Riya

The days that followed our night in the library were like a fever dream—filled with stolen glances, secret touches, and an ever-present tension that thrummed between us like a live wire. But the euphoria of our new intimacy was tempered by the fear that still linked in the background. The note we'd found, the constant feeling of being watched–it was like a shadow that we couldn't shake.

Jeet and I decided to stay close, spending every moment together hoping that proximity might offer some form of protection. But the more time we spend together the more that desire between us grew, becoming something almost unbearable and its intensity.

It was late one evening when we finally got a break. Jeet had gone to his dorm to grab of you think while I waited in his car in a secluded corner of a campus parking lot. The moon was high casting long shadows across the asphalt, and the air was thick with the Summer heat.

I was scrolling through my phone trying to distract myself, and something caught my eye–a figure, moving stealthily between the heading in the direction of Jeet's dorm. My heart skipped a bit, and I felt the familiar prickle of fear at the back of my neck.

Without thinking, I slipped out of the car, moving quietly as I followed the figure. The campus was eerily silent, the only sounds the distant hum of the city and the soft wrestling of leaves in the breeze. My pearls founded in my ears as I cracked closer trying to make out any details.

The figure stopped just outside the dorm building, glancing around as if to make sure they were'nt being watched. I ducked behind a nearby car, holding my breath as I watched them will something from their pocket–another piece of paper, folded just like the note we'd found.

I was about to step forward, to confront them, when the figure turned, and the light from a nearby streetlamp illuminated their face.

It was Vikram.

Jeet

I was on my way back to the car when I spotted Riya, standing frozen in the shadows, her eyes wide with shock as she stared at someone. I followed her gave and felt a surge of anger and betrayal when I saw who it was–Vikram, one of our classmates, standing outside my dorm with a look of smug satisfaction on his face.

I didn't think–I just acted. Moving quickly, I grabbed Riya's hand and pulled her back behind the car, out of sight.

"Stay here," I was urgently. "I'll handle this."

"But–" she started her voice shaking.

"No arguments, Riya," I insistered, my tone leaving no room for debate.
"Trust me."

I didn't wait for her response before I stepped out from behind the car, striding toward Vikram with purposeful steps. He didn't see me coming until I was almost on top of him, and by then it was too late.

"What the hell are you doing, Vikram?" I demanded, my voice low and dangerous.

He flinched, but then a twisted smile spread across his face. "Jeet, I didn't expect you so soon," he said, his stone mocking. "I was just leaving you a little present."

I grabbed him by the collar, showing him against the wall. "Why?" I growled. "What's your game, Vikram? Why the notes? Why the stocking?"

His smile faltered, and for a moment, I saw of clash of fear in his eyes. But then he laughed–a dark, bitter sound that grated on my nerves.

"You really don't know, do you?" He sneered. "You and Riya...you think you're so perfect, so untouchable. But you're just like the rest of us–pathetic, desperate for approval."