The morning sun bathed city college in a golden hue , but for prihan , the warmth felt like an unwelcome guest. The corridors were teeming with life -- a chaotic sympony of laughter, heavy backpacks and the frantic shuffling of footsteps . Prithan stood at his usual spot , leaning against the weathered window frame near the library, where the scent of old parchment met the humid air of the hallway.
He was a man of shadows in a world of blinding light . His white shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, bore the faint creases of a restless night . He didn't belong in the crowd, yet he waited there every day, anchored by a single sound and then it arrived. A ripple of melodic laughter that cut through the mundane noise Isha .
She moved likna summer breeze -- ethereal and untamed . Her sky - blue tunic fluttered as she walked , and her unruly tresses danced across her face , momentarily veiling her radiant eyes. Behind her followed a triil of admirers and friend but her gaze was already searching for one familiar face.....
Isha darted through the crowd and locked her hand around prihan 's wrist. A jolt of electricity surged through him freezing is very soul. She leaned in , her voice a cocktail of excitement and wonder .
" Prihan ! I have been looking for you everywhere. You won't believe what happened!"
Prikan looked down, unable to meet the brilliance of her eyes. He whispered, his voice a steady mask of clam ," what happened, Isha ?"
" Abhro ! He proposed to me today! In front of everyone, right there in the courtyard. It was like something out of a movie , prithan . I think I am the happiest girl alive!"
Prithan smiled - a fragile, rehearsed curvature of the lips. It was the kind of smile that didn't reach the eyes , the kind that serves as a tombstone for a dying heart .
" That's wonderful," he managed to say ." Abhro is a good man ."
Isha squeezed his hand , her joy oblivious to the tremors beneath his skin ." Good, he's incredible! But pritha, i couldn't have celebrated this without you .
You are the only person I trust blindly . How , come to the canteen -- Abhro is waiting for us ."
Prihan wanted to vanish . He wanted to scream , But instead , he followed . He always followed. Her happiness was his only sanctuary , even if it was the very thing burning him alive .
Abhro sat at the center of the canteen radiating the effortless charm of wealth and confidence. As they arrived, Isha look the seat right beside him , their shoulders brushing . Prihan sat across form them , a spectator in the theatre of his own heartbreak .
He watched them . The way Isha's eyes lit up when Abhro spoke , the way she instinctively leaned into his space
Underneath the table , prihan clenched his first until his knuckles turned white , fighting the urge to shatter the silence .
Isha suddenly turned to him , her face glowing."prihan , Abhro is planning a massive party for his birthday. I want to get him a watch , but I am clucless about these things. You have such great taste - will you come with me to pick one out. A lump formed in prihan's throut sharp and jagged . He swallowed the bitterness . " Op course, I will come ."
Abhro laughed , sliding a chocolate towards prihan with a friendly gesture." Thanks , man . Isha always say you are like her shadow . Honestly , I am almost jealous of the bond you two share ."
Prithan looked at the chocolate, his mind whispering a silent prayer : Do not be jealous Abhro , you have inherited the palace ; I am merely the watchman at the gate , forever guarding a treasure i will never possess.
When prihan finally returned to his cramped form room , he didn't turn on the lights . He sat by the window, watching the flickering streetlamp outside, casting long , dis torted shadows on the wall .
He pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket . It was a note he had spent hours writing the previous night. It read : Isha , for three years , l have carried a truth that's tearing mr apart . My presence in your life in not a gesture of friendship ; it's an act of worship .
Slowly , methodically , he tore the paper into a thousand tiny pieces . They drifted to the floor like Isha . Isha was happy with abhro . To speak his truth now would be an act of selfishness . She would either hate him or , worse, pity him .
" If I cannot have your love ," he whispered to the darkness , " i refuse to lose the right to stand by your side ."
That night , a fever took hold of him - a physical manifestation of the fire in his soul. As he lay shivering in the dark , his phone buzzed . A message from Isha .
B. " Prithan, you are coming with us to the movie tomorrow, right ? It will be so much full with you there !" With trembling fingers , he typed back :
" Yes I will be there"
He was willing to drink the poison of her friendship , just to catch a glimpse of the girl who would never be his .