Chapter 2 — How It Started

If someone asked Class 11-B when Mahi and Aarav became rivals, nobody could give an exact answer.

Some said it started in ninth grade.

Some said tenth.

A few insisted they had been competing since the first day they met.

But the truth was much simpler.

It started with one test.

Two years ago.

Mahi had recently transferred into the school.

On his first day, he had walked into the classroom with the confidence of someone who already knew he would fit in.

He wasn't the quiet type.

Within twenty minutes, he had already introduced himself to half the class, made two friends, annoyed one senior, and somehow managed to make the teacher laugh.

Then came the first mathematics test.

Mahi didn't think much of it.

He liked mathematics.

He was good at it.

And he wasn't particularly worried about the students around him.

Until the results came back.

The teacher stood in front of the class with the answer sheets.

“Highest marks this time…”

She paused.

The entire class waited.

“Aarav. Ninety-eight.”

Everyone clapped.

Mahi looked toward the boy sitting near the window.

Aarav simply took his paper.

No smile.

No celebration.

Nothing.

Mahi stared at him for a moment.

Then looked at his own paper.

Ninety-six.

Two marks.

That was all.

He should have ignored it.

Instead, he walked over to Aarav's desk.

“Hey.”

Aarav looked up.

“You got ninety-eight?”

“Yes.”

Mahi held up his own paper.

“Ninety-six.”

Aarav nodded.

“Okay.”

Mahi frowned.

“That's it?”

“What else?”

“I thought you'd at least celebrate.”

“Why?”

“Because you got the highest.”

Aarav shrugged.

“It's just a test.”

Mahi stared at him.

Then smiled.

“Fine.”

Aarav waited.

Mahi placed his paper on the desk.

“Next time, I'll beat you.”

Aarav looked at the paper.

Then at Mahi.

“Okay.”

That response irritated Mahi more than any insult could have.

“Okay?”

“Yes.”

“You don't think I can?”

“I didn't say that.”

“You're acting like you don't care.”

“I don't.”

Mahi narrowed his eyes.

“Then I'll make you care.”

Aarav simply picked up his pen.

“Try.”

That single word became the beginning of everything.

---

The next test came two weeks later.

Mahi studied harder.

Much harder.

He stayed up late reviewing formulas.

He practiced questions.

He even asked his friends to give him random problems.

When the results came back—

Mahi: 99.

He stared at the paper.

Then immediately looked toward Aarav.

Aarav's score was written in red at the top.

100.

Mahi's expression dropped.

“You've got to be kidding me.”

Aarav looked over.

“What?”

“You got a hundred?”

“Yes.”

“Again?”

“Yes.”

Mahi stared at him.

“You didn't make a single mistake?”

“No.”

“That is deeply annoying.”

Aarav almost smiled.

Almost.

Mahi noticed.

“Did you just smile?”

“No.”

“You did.”

“I didn't.”

“You absolutely did.”

“I didn't.”

Mahi pointed at him.

“I saw it.”

Aarav turned back toward his notebook.

“Then congratulations.”

Mahi couldn't decide whether to laugh or scream.

That day, he made himself a promise.

He would beat Aarav.

Not once.

Not by luck.

Properly.

And Aarav seemed to accept the challenge without ever officially agreeing to it.

---

The competition spread.

At first, it was only academics.

Then came the science exhibition.

Aarav's project won.

Mahi's came second.

Then the inter-class debate.

Mahi's team won.

Aarav's team came second.

Then a school quiz.

Aarav won.

Then a presentation.

Mahi won.

Every victory was followed by another challenge.

Neither of them could stay satisfied for long.

Their classmates began noticing.

Whenever a competition was announced, someone would immediately ask:

“So who's going to win?”

And the answer was always the same.

“Probably Aarav.”

“Maybe Mahi.”

“Let's just watch.”

---

There was one particular competition that changed the way their rivalry was seen by everyone.

The annual academic championship.

Students earned points through mathematics, science, literature, general knowledge, and several other events.

The student with the highest overall score would receive the championship trophy.

For weeks, Mahi and Aarav remained almost perfectly tied.

Every time one moved ahead, the other caught up.

The final event was a mathematics challenge.

The entire auditorium was watching.

Mahi sat on one side.

Aarav sat on the other.

The final question appeared on the screen.

Students began solving.

Mahi looked at the problem.

Aarav was already writing.

Mahi's eyes widened.

“Seriously?”

He immediately started solving.

A few minutes later, both submitted their answers.

The judges checked the papers.

Then announced the result.

Aarav had won.

By one point.

One.

Mahi stared at the scoreboard.

Aarav stood beside him holding the trophy.

Mahi looked at him.

“You know what?”

Aarav glanced over.

“One day.”

Mahi pointed toward the trophy.

“That is going to be mine.”

Aarav looked at the trophy.

Then handed it toward Mahi.

Mahi blinked.

“What are you doing?”

“Practicing.”

“For what?”

“For the day you finally win.”

Mahi stared at him.

Then laughed.

“You're impossible.”

“So I've heard.”

That was the first time Mahi realized something strange.

Aarav wasn't competing because he hated him.

He simply liked competition.

And perhaps, without either of them realizing it, Mahi had become the only person who could truly keep up with him.

---

Years passed.

The rivalry became normal.

But there was always an invisible line between them.

They competed.

They argued.

They teased each other.

Yet neither crossed that line.

They weren't friends.

They weren't enemies either.

They were simply...

rivals.

At least, that's what everyone thought.

And Mahi believed it too.

He had no idea that the boy he had spent years trying to defeat would eventually become the center of a reality his own mind would create.

A reality where the rivalry disappeared.

A reality where Aarav wasn't his competitor.

A reality where Aarav was something completely different.

Something Mahi wouldn't remember as a dream.

He would remember it as love.

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