Ashriti's POV
"Hi, Ashriti."
That's all it said.
Simple. Casual. Harmless.
But my thumb hovered over the screen like it was something dangerous.
I wasn't used to messages from boys.
I wasn't allowed to be.
From childhood, I had been trained for one thing—
Be a good daughter.
Be a good wife.
One day, be a perfect bahu in an arranged marriage.
Love was not something I was supposed to experiment with.
Talking to boys?
Absolutely not.
Which is why I didn't have any guy friends.
Except Adray.
But I don't even count him.
Neither does my family.
He has been there since I existed.
I don't even remember meeting him.
He just… was.
Like background music.
Harmless. Familiar.
Safe.
But this message wasn't safe.
The name on top of the screen made my heartbeat slightly uneven.
Shivrit Poptani.
A senior from school.
And not the good kind.
He had a reputation.
Girls whispered about him.
Teachers kept an eye on him.
Parents warned their daughters about boys like him.
I never knew the full story.
Just fragments.
Temper.
Fights.
Attitude.
Money obsession.
The kind of boy good girls are told to avoid.
Which is exactly why my fingers didn't move away from the screen.
I shouldn't reply.
I knew that.
If my family found out, there would be questions.
Restrictions.
Lectures about dignity.
About reputation.
About how girls like me don't talk to boys like him.
Especially not boys with a "bad image."
But something inside me didn't care.
Maybe it was curiosity.
Maybe it was boredom.
Maybe it was loneliness I hadn't named yet.
Or maybe…
It was the thrill of doing something forbidden.
The fact that I wasn't supposed to reply made me want to reply even more.
Why did he text me?
How did he get my number?
What did he want?
My heart was beating faster than it should for three simple words.
Hi, Ashriti.
I stared at the message for five whole minutes.
Then ten.
Then fifteen.
I locked my phone.
Unlocked it again.
Read the message again.
I knew I shouldn't.
I really knew.
And that's exactly why—
I typed back.
"Hi."
And that was the first mistake I ever made.