Chapter 5

Not every moment stays perfect.

No matter how good things feel…

something always changes.

It started with something small.

So small… it shouldn’t have mattered.

But it did.

That day, Zara was looking for Arin.

He wasn’t in class.

Not in the hallway either.

“Maybe he’s outside,” she thought.

As she walked toward the back corridor…

she heard his voice.

She stopped.

Arin was there.

With Nisha.

Zara didn’t mean to listen.

But she couldn’t walk away either.

“You didn’t have to help me that much,” Nisha said, smiling.

“It’s fine,” Arin replied casually. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

Zara frowned slightly.

Help?

What help?

“You’ve always been like this,” Nisha continued.

“Even before…”

She stopped.

“Before what?” Arin asked.

“Nothing,” she said quickly, laughing it off.

Zara’s heart felt strange.

“Even before…?”

What did that mean?

Then she saw it.

Nisha lightly touched Arin’s arm while talking.

A simple gesture.

But to Zara…

it didn’t feel simple.

Something inside her tightened.

She stepped back before they could see her.

Her thoughts were already running faster than the truth.

“Why didn’t he tell me?”

“Since when are they this close?”

“What am I missing?”

By the time Arin found her…

she was already distant.

“Zara!” he called, walking toward her.

She turned, her expression calm.

Too calm.

“Where were you?” she asked.

“With Nisha,” he answered honestly.

That honesty should’ve helped.

But it didn’t.

“I saw,” she said.

He paused. “Saw what?”

“You two,” she replied quietly.

“The way she was talking… like she knows you better than I do.”

“Zara, it’s not like that—”

“Then what is it like?” she interrupted.

Her voice wasn’t loud.

But it carried something heavier.

“She said ‘even before’,” Zara continued.

“What does that mean?”

Arin ran a hand through his hair.

“You’re overthinking.”

That word.

Overthinking.

Something in her broke a little.

“I’m not,” she said, her voice shaking slightly now.

“I just want to understand.”

“I was just helping her,” he said.

“That’s it.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?”

He didn’t answer immediately.

And that silence… said more than words.

Zara nodded slowly.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” he repeated.

“Yeah,” she said, stepping back.

“You don’t have to explain.”

“That’s not what I meant—”

“But that’s what you did,” she cut him off.

There was hurt in her eyes now.

Clear. Real.

“I thought…” she paused, swallowing her words.

“I thought we didn’t hide things from each other.”

“We don’t,” he said quickly.

“Then why does it feel like you are?”

Silence.

Again.

But this time… it wasn’t comfortable.

Arin stepped closer.

“Zara, listen to me—”

“I don’t want to,” she said softly.

And that hurt more than anything else.

“I just need some time,” she added.

Before he could say anything—

She walked away.

And this time…

He didn’t stop her.

Because for the first time—

He didn’t know how to.

Sometimes…

it’s not the big things that break something.

It’s the small misunderstandings…

that slowly turn into distance.

Everything felt wrong.

Not loud.

Not broken.

Just… empty.

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