Anaya sat on the edge of her bed, scrolling through old messages she hadn't opened in days. The room around her was quiet, too quiet. Only the faint hum of the fan above kept her company. The afternoon sun slanted through the curtains, casting long shadows on the floor.
Anaya whispered herself, "If even Rhea couldn't make it work... then what did love really mean?"
She continued, "Rhea, the girl who always smiled with her whole heart. The one who made love look easy, warm, like holding sunlight in your hands. If her love had cracked and faded away, what hope did anyone else have?"
Still, deep inside Anaya, the longing didn't disappear. It sat there, steady and small, like a candle burning in a corner of her heart.
Because even if love was uncertain, even if it hurt sometimes… she still wanted to believe in it.
But something felt off.
She didn't know what exactly had happened between Rhea and her boyfriend. None of them talked about it much. There had been no dramatic scenes, no loud breakups in the cafeteria, no sobbing in the bathrooms. Just… distance. Absence. A quiet fading.
It felt quite fishy, what had happened between them.
She tried not to think about it too much, but her thoughts had a way of wandering.
Somewhere, her mind slipped into the silence Rhea had left behind.
And in that silence, a memory stirred.
A week ago.
Rhea sat on the edge of a park bench, her hands buried in the sleeves of her oversized sweater. The sky was turning orange, the kind of sunset that made everything look more romantic than it really was.
Her boyfriend stood in front of her. Not too close. Not far either. His hands were in his pockets, the way they always were when he was trying not to fidget.
Neither of them spoke for a long time.
Then, quietly, he said,
"I think we've reached the end of something… and I don't know how to fix it."
Rhea blinked, slowly.
"So that's it?" she asked, her voice is calm, almost too calm.
"You're giving up?"
He didn't answer.
And that silence...
That heavy, unfinished silence...
That was the real goodbye.
She didn't cry. Not then. Not later. Maybe she was too tired. Or maybe a part of her had already known for a while. Sometimes, things don't break in one loud moment. Sometimes, they just… unravel. Quietly.
And just like that, they became strangers again.
Not enemies. Not friends. Just… people who once knew each other deeply, and now passed by like they didn't.
---
Back in the present, Anaya stared at the message Rhea had sent her days ago:
"I'm okay. Don't worry. Just needed to let something go."
But something still didn't sit right.
Why had he stopped coming to class completely?
Why hadn't anyone heard from him since?
That tiny candle of longing flickered again. Not for Rhea's story, but for her own hope for a love that wouldn't vanish without reason, for a truth that wouldn't stay hidden.
Because Anaya still wanted to believe.
Even when things felt blurry. Even when people disappeared from each other's lives without warning. Even when love… hurt.
The next day, Anaya walked to class, the wind cool against her skin. The campus looked the same, but something inside her had shifted. Her thoughts lingered on things she never said out loud. About Rhea. About herself. About that strange, distant ache in her chest.
Anaya saw Rhea's boyfriend across the courtyard,he is the boy who used to stand beside Rhea. But now he sat alone under the peepal tree, head bowed, fiddling with his phone. He looked… not heartbroken, not angry. Just empty.
Something tightened in Anaya's chest. And whispered herself,
"Should I talk to him?
Ask what happened?
Would Rhea be okay with that?"
She wasn't sure.
Instead, she walked past him, quietly. Just like everyone else.
That night, Anaya lay in bed, her phone in her hand, screen glowing softly. She scrolled past smiling couples on her feed, college romances, and filtered stories of love. It all looked perfect. Too perfect.
Anaya whispered herself, "But what did real love even look like?"
She continued, "maybe it looked like quiet park benches and unfinished sentences. Maybe it looked like waiting even after someone walked away. Maybe… it looked like her."
Anaya is still sitting there. Still hoping. Still wanting to fall.
Not for someone.
But for the idea of it.
And so, in that small room of her hostel with lavender bedsheets and a window that faced the city lights, Anaya whispered something only the night could hear:
"I don't want it to hurt. But I still want to love.
Anaya didn't know who she was saying it to.
Maybe to Rhea.
Maybe to herself.
Maybe to someone she hadn't met yet.
The wind rustled the curtains gently, almost like an answer.
And the candle in her heart kept burning.
As days passed,...
But Anaya didn't ask Rhea anything.
Not directly.
They still talked, laughed, and shared snacks during classes. But behind every laugh, Anaya sensed a hollowness in Rhea's eyes. A tiredness she hadn't seen before.
Anaya wondered if Rhea was hurting, or pretending everything was fine.
She wondered if love always ended like this like fading into quiet silences, avoided topics, and untold stories.
The questions stayed in her chest like stones, but she didn't know how to carry them without sounding intrusive.
So instead, she turned inward.
Maybe… love isn't about knowing everything.
Maybe it's about feeling something.
Even if it's just for yourself.
And with that tiny courage in her heart, Anaya began trying.
Not for anyone in particular maybe just for the idea of love itself.
Anaya started noticing people more.
The way the boy from her psychology class tied his shoelaces before every lecture.
The way a girl on the second bench smiled only when no one was looking.
She even caught herself staring at the CR. the one who always joked around with her and walked like he carried sunshine in his back pocket.
She looked for signs.
Tiny things.
A brush of fingers while passing a pen.
A pause in a conversation that lingered just a second too long.
A sudden awareness of her own heartbeat in the middle of a crowded hallway.
Sometimes, she'd walk slowly across the campus, pretending she was in a scene from a drama.
Like she was the quiet girl who would bump into someone and suddenly… everything would change.
But nothing changed.
Life stayed quiet.
Gentle.
Still.
Yet something inside her had shifted.
Anaya is no longer avoided love in her thoughts.
She no longer found it silly or far away.
It was still a little scary, still uncertain.
But now… it was also something she wanted.
Maybe she didn't need a prince or a grand story.
Maybe love could begin with something small.
A moment.
A glance.
A smile.
Anaya didn't know what would come next.
But for the first time, Anaya was no longer waiting for love to arrive.
She was walking toward it. slowly, quietly, and with all the gentleness in her heart.
And somehow, that felt like a beginning...