The next morning, Aarav woke up earlier than usual.
For the first time in many days, he felt excited to go to college. The memory of yesterday's conversation with Anaya kept replaying in his mind.
"You are very special to me."
Just thinking about those words made him smile.
When he reached college, he immediately looked around for Anaya.
She was standing near the garden, talking to someone on the phone.
When she saw Aarav, her face brightened.
"Good morning!" she said happily.
"Good morning," Aarav replied.
They started walking toward their classroom together.
"Did you sleep well?" Aarav asked.
Anaya laughed.
"Not really. I kept thinking about what you said yesterday."
Aarav felt slightly embarrassed.
"Was that a bad thing?"
She smiled.
"No… actually it made me happy."
Aarav felt his heart race again.
Just then, a loud sound of a bike stopping near the college gate caught everyone's attention.
A tall boy stepped off the bike.
He looked confident, wearing a black jacket and sunglasses. Many students turned to look at him.
Anaya suddenly stopped walking.
Her smile disappeared.
Aarav noticed immediately.
"What happened?" he asked.
Anaya looked shocked.
"That's… impossible."
The boy removed his sunglasses and looked around.
Then his eyes stopped on Anaya.
A slow smile appeared on his face.
He started walking directly toward them.
Aarav felt something strange.
"Do you know him?" he asked.
Anaya didn't answer.
The boy finally reached them.
"Hello, Anaya," he said calmly.
Anaya looked nervous.
"Rohan… what are you doing here?"
Aarav looked between them, confused.
The boy—Rohan—glanced at Aarav and then back at Anaya.
"I came to see you," he said.
Aarav felt uncomfortable.
"Who is he?" Aarav asked.
Anaya hesitated.
Before she could answer, Rohan spoke first.
"I'm someone very important in Anaya's life."
Then he looked at Aarav with a small smirk.
"And you are?"
"Aarav," he replied.
Rohan nodded slowly.
"I see."
There was a strange tension in the air.
Anaya looked worried.
"Aarav… we should go to class," she said quickly.
But before they could leave, Rohan spoke again.
"Anaya, we need to talk."
His voice sounded serious.
Anaya looked down for a moment.
"Not now," she said quietly.
But Rohan didn't move.
"Sooner or later, you'll have to talk to me."
Aarav could feel something was wrong.
Very wrong.
He didn't know who Rohan was…
But one thing was clear.
Rohan's arrival was going to create big problems between him and Anaya.
And Aarav had a strange feeling that Rohan wasn't ready to give up on Anaya so easily.