Title: The Unspoken Connection
Chapter 21: A Curious Encounter
Rhea's heart was still reeling from the excitement of knowing that Aryan believed in her. She had gone to sleep with a smile on her face, her thoughts filled with visions of their conversations.
The next day, Rhea woke up late, feeling dizzy and disoriented. The school was closed for a five-day preparatory holiday before their upcoming exams. She had been looking forward to this break, hoping that Aryan would text her and ask about her exam preparations.
However, the day passed without a single message from him. Rhea felt a pang of disappointment and wondered if she had misread the situation entirely.
The next day, Rhea mustered up the courage to text Aryan. She recalled their previous conversation about physics and decided to send him a PDF of their school's previous physics paper.
"Hey, that day you asked for important questions, so I asked one of our classmates to send me a PDF of the previous physics paper. You can consider these questions if you want," she wrote.
Rhea waited anxiously for Aryan's response.
After 17 minutes, her phone buzzed with a text from him. "Thanks👍🏻👍🏻," he wrote.
Rhea's heart skipped a beat as she replied, "My Pleasure." Aryan reacted with a '❤️' leaving Rhea feeling nervous and flustered.
She reacted with a '😊' and quickly closed WhatsApp. But her curiosity got the better of her, and she couldn't help but check her phone again.
Within 4 minutes, she received another notification from Aryan. "I think the previous year's paper was easy😄," he wrote.
Rhea replied, "Don't worry, this time too the paper will be easy.😁"
The conversation continued, with Aryan asking Rhea if she had gone to school that day. Rhea's face turned bright red as she replied, "No."
Rhea asked Aryan with curiosity, "How is it possible that you didn't go to school today?😂 Your attendance is always high. You barely take a leave."
Aryan replied, "My attendance is nearly 90%. I don't have the school app, so I don't know how much exactly my attendance is."
Rhea jokingly replied, " Ohh...Wow!! Look how smart you are😂.
The conversation continued, with Rhea jokingly teasing Aryan about his attendance. But as she got busy chatting with her friend, she noticed that Aryan was still online, waiting for her response.
As she closed WhatsApp, she wondered if Aryan was waiting for her to say something more. She couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something more to their conversation.
And then, something strange happened. Rhea checked WhatsApp again, and Aryan was offline. But when she checked again after 10 minutes, he was back online. She found it strange that whenever she gets 'Online' he also gets 'Online' and when she gets 'Offline' then he also gets 'Offline'.
Was this just a coincidence, or was Aryan trying to send her a message? Rhea's curiosity was piqued, and she couldn't help but wonder what Aryan was thinking.
To be continued.....

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"The Unspoken Connection"
Short StoryThe Unspoken Connection •Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary •Description: Rhea, a high school student, finds herself entangled in a silent admiration from her classmate, Aryan. Despite his persistent staring, Aryan's shy nature keeps him from...