iatnuperi
Raka always arrived at school early.
He liked the quiet before the day began, when the hallway was still empty and the classroom felt soft with morning light. In that stillness, everything seemed gentler. The dust floating near the window. The distant sound of birds. The rows of desks waiting in silence.
And across from his seat, there was always Naren.
They had been sitting opposite each other for almost a year, yet they still felt like strangers. Not because they disliked each other. It was simply that neither of them had ever known how to begin.
Their conversations were always short.
"Can I borrow a pen?"
"Sure."
"Thanks."
That was usually all.
Still, Raka found himself watching Naren more often than he admitted. Naren was quiet, composed, and careful with everything he did. He always carried books neatly in his arms. He never raised his voice. He listened more than he spoke, and somehow that made him even harder to understand.
Raka, on the other hand, was the opposite.
He talked too much when he was nervous.
He laughed too easily.
And he had a bad habit of saying the wrong thing at the worst time.
One morning, while Raka was spinning his pen between his fingers, it slipped from his hand and rolled across the floor. It stopped near Naren's shoes.
Naren looked down, bent to pick it up, and walked over to return it.
"You dropped this," he said.
Raka looked up, a little startled.
"Thanks."
Naren nodded and went back to his seat.
Raka stared at the pen in front of him for a moment, then smiled to himself.
It was a small thing. Almost nothing.
But for Raka, it felt like the beginning of something.
A few weeks later, their teacher announced a semester project.
Everyone groaned.
Then the teacher began assigning partners.
Raka wasn't paying much attention until he heard his name.
"Raka and Naren."
He turned so quickly his chair nearly scraped the floor.
Naren was already looking at him.
For a second, neither of them spoke.
Then Raka grinned