After that day, something changed.
Not around them.
Not in the classroom.
Not in the college.
Only within them.
Life continued as usual. Lectures, assignments, practicals, and endless conversations filled every day. To everyone else, nothing was different.
But whenever they happened to be in the same place...
Time seemed to slow down.
One morning, she entered the classroom a little earlier than usual. Most of the seats were still empty. As she walked to her usual place, she could feel someone's eyes on her.
She didn't have to look.
For some reason...
She already knew who it was.
A few seconds later, she looked up.
There he was.
Sitting in the last row.
The moment their eyes met, both of them looked away almost at the same time.
She lowered her head, pretending to arrange her notebook.
A faint smile escaped her lips.
"Why am I smiling?" she whispered to herself.
Across the room, he let out a quiet breath and looked out the window.
Stop looking at her, he told himself.
You already have someone in your life.
He wasn't trying to fall for anyone.
In fact, he kept reminding himself that he shouldn't.
Yet every time she walked into the classroom...
His eyes searched for her before his mind could stop them.
...
Days passed.
The silent moments became more frequent.
Sometimes, while the lecturer explained a topic, she would unknowingly look toward the last row.
As if he sensed it, he would look up too.
Their eyes would meet.
Just for a second.
She would immediately turn back to the board, cheeks growing warm.
Her friend noticed.
"What happened?"
"Nothing."
"Then why are your ears red?"
She quickly touched them and laughed nervously.
"It's just hot."
Her friend accepted the answer.
But she knew...
It wasn't the weather.
...
One afternoon, the class ended earlier than expected.
Students rushed out, filling the corridor with laughter and conversations.
She stepped outside with her friends.
At the same time, he walked out from behind with his group.
Without planning it, they ended up walking in the same direction.
Neither of them spoke.
There were dozens of students around them.
Yet somehow, they were aware only of each other's presence.
At the staircase, she slowed down to let another group pass.
He stopped too.
For a brief moment, they stood side by side.
Close enough to hear each other's footsteps.
Far enough to remain strangers.
She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, trying to hide the smile that threatened to appear.
He noticed.
Without realizing it...
He smiled too.
Neither of them understood why such tiny moments felt so unforgettable.
...
That evening, he sat alone on the terrace of his house.
His phone buzzed.
It was a message from his girlfriend.
He smiled and replied, trying to focus on their conversation.
Yet somewhere in the back of his mind...
A pair of quiet eyes kept appearing.
He closed his phone and sighed.
"What is wrong with me?" he asked himself.
He wasn't proud of the confusion in his heart.
He never wanted to hurt anyone.
Especially the girl who trusted him.
So he made himself a promise.
No matter what he felt...
He would never let those feelings cross the line.
Sometimes...
The hardest battles are the ones no one else can see.
And while she wondered why her heart skipped a beat whenever their eyes met...
He was trying to convince himself that those moments meant nothing.
Neither of them knew...
That the silence between them was slowly becoming a language of its own.
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