The final bell rings, echoing through the corridors like a quiet sigh of relief. The day feels longer than usual, the sun softer, spilling orange light through the classroom windows. Everyone is gathering their bags, their laughter filling the room with noise that somehow feels lighter than usual. Maybe because it's the last period of the day… or maybe because it's one of those afternoons that feel meant for something special.
We all step out together — me, Aashi, Arnav, Rayan, and a few others from our class. The plan is simple: walk home together, like always. Aashi waves to someone behind us and says, "Wait for Arnav! He's still talking to Sir!"
I nod, turning to Rayan, who's already standing beside me, holding his bag with one hand. He smirks lightly. "He's always the last one to leave," he says.
I laugh. "Yeah, it's like he's signing some secret deal with the teachers."
He grins, that familiar spark lighting up his face. "Probably negotiating how to skip homework."
I shake my head, pretending to scold him. "Oh really? You're one to talk. You always copy half of Aashi's answers."
He gasps in mock offense. "Excuse me! Only when I'm… saving time."
"Uh-huh, right," I say, smiling. The teasing slips so naturally between us now — no effort, no thought. It's just… easy.
Arnav finally joins us, waving from a distance. "Let's go!" he shouts.
We start walking, the small group spreading out across the road. The sunlight feels heavier now, painting everything gold. As we step off the school grounds, Rayan glances at the road ahead and says softly, "Stay behind me while we cross."
I blink. "Why?"
He doesn't look back, just says, "I'll keep an eye on the road. You'll get distracted talking."
I roll my eyes, but my lips curve into a smile anyway. "I can look both ways, you know."
"Uh-huh," he says, stepping ahead of me, still half turned toward the traffic. "And fall in the middle while you're laughing at your own joke? No thanks."
I shake my head but listen to him anyway. Somehow, even when he says simple things, they sound like care — quiet, steady, and unspoken.
Once we cross, he turns, walking backward for a few steps, facing me with that teasing expression. "See? You're safe now, because of me."
I give him a sarcastic clap. "Oh, thank you, my hero."
He laughs, a soft, low sound that somehow fills all the space around us. "You should say it with more emotion," he says, still grinning.
"I'm saving it for when you actually save me," I reply.
"You'll see," he says. "One day I'll earn that title properly."
I just smile. We keep walking, still talking — about random things, about the teacher who forgot his notes today, about how the new timetable makes no sense, about the canteen's samosas that are "probably made of rubber." Every little topic leads to laughter, and every laugh feels like something quietly building between us — something fragile, new, and familiar all at once.
We're so deep in our own little world that we don't even notice how far we've gone. Our voices mix with the noise of the street — kids shouting, rickshaws passing, birds fluttering away.
A tap on my shoulder makes me jump.
"Boo!"
I turn, startled, only to see Aashi grinning at me, her eyes full of mischief. "You two are unbelievable," she says, folding her arms.
I blink. "What?"
She laughs. "You left us! We were calling you, shouting your names — but nope. These two," she points between me and Rayan, "so busy talking, didn't even turn once."
My cheeks warm. "Wait, what? You were behind us the whole time?"
"Not the whole time," Arnav says, finally catching up, panting slightly. "Half the school saw you two walking like it's some movie scene."
Rayan laughs, rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh come on, we didn't even realize—"
"Exactly," Aashi interrupts. "That's the problem!"
I roll my eyes, half embarrassed, half smiling. "We were just talking."
"Uh-huh," Aashi says, smirking. "Sure. Just talking. Tell that to the people you almost bumped into because you were too busy looking at each other."
Rayan chuckles, glancing at me. "Guess we were."
There's a silence for a moment — that soft kind, where words don't fit because something unspoken hangs in the air. Then, as if on cue, we all burst into laughter.
Aashi slings her arm around my shoulder. "Next time, I'm walking between you two."
Rayan grins. "That's fine. I'll just talk over you."
"Try me," she says, pretending to glare.
We all laugh again, the tension dissolving into easy warmth. The road stretches ahead, glowing orange under the setting sun. Arnav and Aashi walk a few steps ahead now, arguing playfully about something, while Rayan and I fall back into step, side by side.
He glances at me. "You know," he says, "it's funny how time just... disappears when we talk."
He look at me, smiling softly. "Maybe because you talk too much."
I chuckles. "Or maybe because you actually listen."
He don't reply. He just look ahead, at the fading sunlight and the way our shadows stretch long across the road — side by side, almost touching but not quite.
For a moment, it feels like the world has slowed down, leaving just this — the warmth of the evening, the sound of laughter ahead, and the quiet, steady presence beside me.
And somehow, without saying anything, that feels like everything.
---
"Some moments don't need promises or goodbyes — they just stay, quietly, in the space between two people who didn't even realize how close they'd become."