episode 5

A month passed and life slowly settled into its usual rhythm.

Maria and Faiz had been dating for months and at first, everything seemed perfect. Maria talked about him constantly, her face lighting up every time his name came up. Seeing her so happy made everyone happy too.

Then one afternoon, everything changed.

Maria sat quietly in class, unusually pale and distant.

Something was wrong.

“What happened?” Sara asked softly, moving closer. “You’ve been upset for days. Is everything okay?”

The moment those words left her mouth, Maria broke down.

Tears streamed down her face as she covered it with both hands.

Adrita rushed over immediately. “Hey—what happened? Why are you crying?”

The two girls stayed beside her, trying to calm her down until her breathing finally steadied.

Then, through trembling breaths, she whispered:

“Me and Faiz broke up.”

Both froze.

“What?” Adrita frowned. “Why?”

Maria wiped her tears, her voice shaking.

“He cheated on me.”

Sara’s expression darkened instantly.

Maria explained everything, how her older cousin had warned her that Faiz wasn’t trustworthy, how they had tested him using another account, and how easily he had flirted back. When asked if he had a girlfriend, he had denied Maria completely.

And when confronted, instead of apologizing, he had blamed her.

Even after that, Maria had tried to fix things. She had apologized first, begged him to stay, tried to save the relationship.

But he had coldly ended it.

By the time she finished, she was crying again.

Anger burned inside Sara.

That quiet, sweet girl had done nothing wrong.

And someone had broken her like this.

“Stop crying for him,” she said firmly, kneeling beside her. “He doesn’t deserve your tears.”

Maria looked up helplessly.

“I just want to talk to him one last time…”

There was silence.

Then came the answer.

“Okay,” Sara said. “I’ll handle it.”

After class ended, she marched straight toward Rohit.

“I’m going to kill you,” she snapped.

He blinked. “What? Why?”

“Don’t act clueless. Your friend cheated on Maria.”

Rohit looked genuinely surprised.

“I didn’t know...”

“Well, now you do.”

Without waiting for another excuse, she crossed her arms.

“Call him. Maria wants to talk to him.”

Nearby, the boys were gathered as usual.

Ishan was also there...

And a few steps away, Faiz turned at the sound of his name and walked over.

“What?”

The rude tone alone was enough to irritate her.

Taking a breath, she spoke carefully.

“Maria wants to talk to you. Just once.”

Faiz barely looked at her.

“I don’t want to talk to her.”

Then he turned and walked away.

Just like that.

For a second, she stood frozen.

Then anger hit hard.

The sheer disrespect made her blood boil.

If Maria hadn’t still cared about him, she would have slapped him right there.

That was when movement nearby caught her eye.

Ishan was watching.

And...

he smiled.

A small, amused smile.

Something about it made her even angrier.

What’s so funny?

Of course he’d enjoy this.

He never missed a chance to annoy her.

Muttering under her breath, she stormed back to Maria.

“Forget him,” she said sharply. “He isn’t worth this.”

Seeing Maria flinch, guilt softened her voice.

“I’m sorry… I'm just pissed.”

The rest of the group gathered around, doing everything they could to cheer her up.

Mohit cracked stupid jokes until, finally, Maria laughed through her tears.

And little by little, things felt lighter again.

Later that afternoon, while walking home, Mohit slowed beside Sara.

“Sorry.”

to be continued

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