The Ordinary Special

Rishan Almeida was average.

Not the kind of guy people hated. Not the kind they loved either. He wasn't popular, wasn't a topper, and definitely wasn't someone you'd expect to remember years after leaving school.

For most of his life, Rishan was okay with that.

He had spent years trying to change himself anyway. His appearance changed. His confidence came and went. Friends disappeared and returned. His grades went up, then down, then up again.

By Class 10, he thought he had finally figured things out.

He had a few friends. He was doing well enough in school. He could talk when he wanted to and stay quiet when he didn't. And somehow, the boy who once preferred going unnoticed had even ended up becoming the class monitor.

Life wasn't amazing.

It wasn't terrible either.

It was just... normal.

And Rishan liked normal.

Especially because normal didn't include romance.

He had watched enough people his age chase relationships to decide that teenage love was mostly hormones, trends, and a very efficient way to waste your time.

Then he met Aira Nakamura.

At first, nothing happened.

No love at first sight. No racing heart. No sudden realization that she was somehow different.

She was just Aira.

And maybe that's where the problem started.

Because somewhere between ordinary conversations, school days, exams, friendships and the little moments neither of them thought much about, Rishan began looking forward to seeing her.

For a boy who had spent years believing teenage love wasn't real, that was going to be a little difficult to explain.