. Season 2 – Episode 2: The Distance Between Us

Days passed after that first encounter, but something had shifted — not loudly, not dramatically, just enough to be felt.

I went back to my routine. School. Notes. Friends. Silence where chaos once lived. Even my friends noticed it.

“You’ve changed,” one of them said casually one afternoon, like it was just an observation.

I only smiled.

Because change didn’t feel like something I did.

It felt like something that happened to me.

And then, once again, I saw him.

Outside the school gate.

This time, he wasn’t leaning confidently like before. He stood a little straighter, eyes scanning the road like he was waiting — not desperately, not obviously — just… expectantly.

When he spotted me, his lips curved into that familiar half-smile. The one that used to mean trouble.

“Ameena,” he said, walking closer. “So this is your new thing now? Silent mode?”

I stopped walking.

Turned to face him fully.

“Is there a rule that says I have to talk all the time?” I asked calmly.

He blinked — once.

That wasn’t the reaction he expected.

“No, I just—” he paused, then laughed lightly. “You used to roast me for saying something like that.”

“Used to,” I replied.

That word landed heavier than I meant it to.

He studied my face again — not teasing now, not joking. Just observing. Like he was slowly realizing that the version of me he knew belonged to a different time.

“You don’t mess around anymore,” he said quietly. “Not even a little.”

“I do,” I shrugged. “Just not with everything. Or everyone.”

There was a pause between us. Not awkward — thoughtful.

He kicked a small stone with his shoe, hands slipping into his pockets. “You know… tuition feels weird without you causing chaos.”

I almost smiled.

Almost.

“But you’re doing fine without it,” I said. “College. New people. New life.”

He nodded, but something in his expression said otherwise.

“Yeah. Still… I didn’t expect you to be the one who changed this much.”

I met his eyes then — steady, unflinching.

“I didn’t expect it either.”

That was the truth.

We stood there for a moment longer, the air thick with things neither of us said. He wanted to tease. I could tell. It hovered on his tongue — that old habit.

“So,” he tried, grinning slightly, “no more chaos from you, huh?”

I tilted my head. “Who said that?”

His eyebrows lifted. Hope? Curiosity?

“I just don’t waste it anymore,” I added. “I choose when and where.”

That did it.

Something unreadable crossed his face — admiration, maybe… or surprise. Maybe both.

He laughed softly. “Wow. Savage.”

I smiled this time. Small. Controlled.

“Guess you finally noticed.”

I turned to leave, not waiting for a reply.

Behind me, his voice followed — quieter, thoughtful.

“You’re not the same girl from tuition, Ameena.”