Karan slammed his locker shut, frustration mounting as he glanced at the time. Another hour until his next class. He had a bad habit of procrastinating, but he wasn’t in the mood to study today. His mind kept wandering, and it wasn’t to the project he had to finish or the party he was supposed to go to later. It was the conversations, the unspoken tension, the strange feeling that things were different, that there was something unexplainable about the way he felt.
A couple of his friends walked by, waving at him. Karan half-heartedly waved back, not really interested. Instead, he turned towards the student center, hoping the noisy environment would distract him from the constant hum of thoughts about his work, his friends, and, most of all, her.
The student center was buzzing with chatter, and he made his way to the usual group of friends hanging out at a corner table. Sameer and Raj were already there, talking animatedly. Sameer, always the talkative one, was in the middle of explaining some joke, and Raj was laughing along. Karan tossed his bag on the chair and slumped into the seat next to Sameer.
“Feeling antisocial again?” Sameer teased, glancing at Karan with a raised eyebrow. “You look like you’re about to fall asleep.”
“Just tired,” Karan muttered, rubbing his eyes. He wasn't in the mood for his usual banter, but Sameer seemed to be in the mood to tease.
“So, did you and Meera make any progress on the project, or were you too busy making googly eyes at her to do any real work?” Sameer grinned, clearly enjoying poking at him.
Karan groaned, his fingers tapping the edge of the table. “She’s not even like that, alright? I’m just trying to get this project done.”
Sameer leaned back, raising both hands in mock defense. “Sure, sure, Karan. Whatever you say.” He shot a sly look at Raj, who was still chuckling at Sameer’s antics.
Raj looked up, noticing the tension. “You two need to relax. You sound like you’re both in high school.”
“High school? Please, this is college, Raj,” Karan replied, rolling his eyes. “We're past the drama phase.”
“Are we?” Sameer raised an eyebrow, clearly not convinced.
“Anyway,” Raj interjected, “Karan, you should really let me set you up with someone else. Meera’s not the only girl out there, you know. You can’t just spend all your time focused on her.”
At the mention of Meera’s name, Karan stiffened, but he quickly recovered, trying to ignore the rush of irritation that followed. “I'm not focused on her,” he said firmly, though the words sounded a little too defensive.
“Right,” Raj teased, rolling his eyes. “So who’s your next target, huh? Anika?”
The mention of Anika caught Karan off guard. He’d been spending more time with her lately, mostly because she was always around and eager to hang out with him. But the more he tried to focus on Anika, the more he found himself drifting back to the one person who refused to give him the time of day—Meera.
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Anika’s just a friend.”
“Sure she is,” Sameer replied with a grin. “You know, Anika's got a thing for you. I can see it in the way she looks at you.”
Karan shot him a look. “Stop it. It’s not like that.”
“Yeah, but it could be,” Raj teased. “You could use someone else to distract you from whatever you’ve got going on with Meera.”
Karan didn’t know how to respond. The idea of being with Anika to get his mind off Meera sounded easy enough, but he couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that he wasn’t doing this for the right reasons. Every time Anika laughed at one of his jokes or smiled at him, a part of him tried to convince himself that he liked her. But every other part of him kept looking for something else—someone else.
Before he could respond, the door to the student center opened, and in walked Meera, her eyes scanning the room until they landed on the group. She made her way over to them, and Karan couldn't help but notice how effortlessly she held herself, like she was always a step ahead of everyone else.
"Hey," she said, her voice calm and composed as usual. She set her bag down and glanced at Karan, as if waiting for him to acknowledge her.
"Hey, Meera," Karan said, nodding. Sameer and Raj greeted her too, but Karan couldn’t quite shake the feeling that there was something unspoken in the air.
Raj leaned back in his chair, looking between Karan and Meera, clearly sensing the subtle tension. "So, are you two done with the project yet or what?" he asked casually.
“We’ve got some more to work on,” Meera replied, her eyes meeting Karan’s for a brief moment before looking away. "We’ll need to go over some more details."
Karan nodded, trying to keep things light. “We’ll figure it out. It’s just some last-minute things to iron out.”
Meera gave a small nod but said nothing more. The silence between them was palpable. It was as if both of them were playing a game of who could act less affected by the other, but the distance was becoming increasingly obvious.
Sameer, sensing the awkwardness, grinned mischievously. “You guys should just admit it already,” he said, his voice half-joking. “There’s some serious tension here. You two are basically already a couple.”
Karan shot Sameer a glare, trying to hide his discomfort. "Cut it out, Sameer."
Meera’s face remained unreadable, though Karan thought he saw the faintest twitch of amusement at Sameer’s words. She gave Karan a glance, her expression softening, but only just. “We’ve still got a project to finish,” she said, as if to cut the conversation short.
Karan watched her walk away, her retreating figure only making the frustration inside him grow. Why was she always so impossible to read? Why did she have to be so elusive, even now, when he was trying his best to act like everything was fine?
“Just admit it, man,” Sameer said once she was out of earshot. “You’re obsessed with her.”
Karan slammed his fist on the table, his patience wearing thin. “I’m not obsessed with her,” he snapped. “I’m just trying to get this project done.”
But deep down, Karan knew it wasn’t just about the project. It wasn’t just about Meera being a challenge or her indifference. It was something else—something that, at the moment, he couldn’t quite put into words.
YOU ARE READING
Silent Vows
RomansaKaran Kapoor has always lived life on his own terms-charming, confident, and a notorious playboy who never took anything too seriously. Relationships were just a game to him, and emotions were something he could easily brush aside. That is, until a...
