Chapter-1 Reconnecting Shadows

I was sitting in my room, scrolling aimlessly through social media, when suddenly I noticed something that caught my eye—an ID I hadn't seen in years. It took me a moment, but the name on the profile sparked something in me. It was his—Rudra's profile.

It felt strange seeing his name after all these years. It had been so long since we last spoke, since we last laughed, and teased each other. We were childhood friends, but life had taken us down different paths, and he had left after 6th grade. Our worlds drifted apart, until now, a random instagram request, and the memories flooded back.

I wasn’t sure if I should send him a friend request. Would it be weird? Would he even remember me? But curiosity won. I clicked 'send' and waited. A few minutes passed, then my phone buzzed.

He had accepted it.

Not wasting any time, I opened the chat window. Before I could even type a word, my phone buzzed again, and it was him.

“Oh, is that Aniksha?” he asked, his message catching me off guard. It felt surreal—he remembered. But did he really remember me?

I couldn’t help but smile.

"Yeah, it’s me, Aniksha," I replied, feeling a rush of excitement. I didn’t even have time to process everything before his reply came in.

“Whoa... Aniksha? Long time no see! It’s been forever. What have you been up to?”

I was grinning from ear to ear now. It felt so natural, like no time had passed. We got talking, and before I knew it, we were chatting for hours. It was like we picked up right where we left off, teasing each other, laughing, and reminiscing. The energy between us felt electric, like the old spark was still there, but something new was forming.

The teasing started almost immediately. I couldn’t resist calling him out on something silly he said, and before I knew it, I sent him a message:

“So, how’s the height, still short or...?”

His response came in so fast, I could almost hear his playful tone through the screen. “its still the same", he wrote, laughing, and suddenly it clicked.

That was it. That’s when I knew. I had to call him what I always did—Chotu.(shorty)

And that’s when he went wild, playfully threatening me, “Shut up! I’ll kill you for calling me that. Wait till I meet you somewhere. You’re dead, you know?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. The teasing, the flirting, the pure excitement—it felt like no time had passed at all. Rudra had changed, but in many ways, he was still the same. And as I teased him, a little thrill sparked inside me. Was this something more than just friendship? I couldn’t help but wonder.

But for now, we were just two people reconnecting—laughing, teasing, and reawakening old memories. And for me, that was enough.

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