Exams ended.
And everything went back to normal.
Or at least…
it was supposed to.
Chart periods started again.
Those slow, lazy classes where no one really paid attention.
People moved around more.
Sat wherever they wanted.
Talked to whoever they wanted.
That's when I noticed it.
Aisha.
And Praveena.
Aisha sat right in front of him.
Praveena was his benchmate.
Which meant they were always there.
Right there.
At first, it didn't seem like anything.
They were just talking.
Laughing.
Turning back and forth during class.
Normal.
But then it kept happening.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Aisha would turn around to talk to him.
Praveena would already be there, sitting next to him, laughing at something I couldn't hear.
They didn't have to try.
They didn't have to look for reasons.
They were just… there.
Effortlessly.
And I wasn't.
I tried not to think about it.
I really did.
"They're just sitting there," I told myself.
"It's normal."
"It doesn't mean anything."
But something about it bothered me.
More than it should have.
I found myself noticing it constantly.
Looking over without meaning to.
Watching conversations I wasn't part of.
And I hated it.
Because I knew what that meant.
It meant that this—
Whatever this was—
Was no longer nothing.
And maybe…
That was the problem.
Because for the first time…
It didn't just confuse me.
It hurt.