The uniform lay neatly on the bed.
Vritika stood before the mirror.
For a few seconds, she simply stared at her reflection.
New school.
The thought alone made her stomach twist.
She adjusted her collar.
"What if it's the same?"
Her hands paused.
"What if they laugh again?"
A memory flashed through her mind—moving lips, mocking smiles, students repeating her gestures just to entertain themselves.
Her fingers slowly clenched.
"No."
She shook her head and forced herself to continue buttoning her blazer.
"This school is different."
"But what if it isn't?"
The question returned immediately.
"What if everyone stares when they find out?"
"What if the teacher asks me a question?"
"What if they don't know I'm deaf?"
Her breathing grew shallow.
"What if they think I'm ignoring them?"
"What if they get angry?"
"What if they think I'm stupid?"
She looked at herself again.
In the mirror, she could see a girl's pale face because of fear of getting judged.
Her eyes dropped to the floor.
"Maybe I shouldn't go."
The thought appeared so suddenly that even she was startled by it.
Her grip tightened around the edge of the dressing table.
"Maybe staying home would be easier."
For a moment, the idea felt comforting.
Then another thought surfaced.
"Watch everyone else move forward while I stay exactly where I am?"
Her brows slowly furrowed.
"No."
She had already done enough hiding.
Vritika took a deep breath.
"If the teachers don't know, I'll tell them by gestures."
"If the students stare, let them stare."
"I'll tolerate it."
Her gaze lifted to the mirror again.
The fear was still there.
It hadn't vanished.
It was sitting behind her eyes, refusing to leave.
Then she took a long breath and with a heavy heart…
Vritika picked up her school bag.
As she reached the door, another thought appeared.
"What if nobody wants to be my friend?"
She stopped.
After a moment, a tiny smile tugged at her lips.
"What if someone become my friend…"
And for the first time that morning, she found herself taking a step toward it instead of away from it.
At School
The corridor gradually quietened.
Because a man in a black suit had just stopped outside Class 11-C.
A few students exchanged glances.
One nudged another.
A third abandoned all dignity and openly stared.
The bodyguard stepped aside.
A girl stood beside him.
Vritika's fingers tightened around the strap of her bag.
Too many eyes.
Her gaze dropped to the floor.
One step.
The classroom door seemed much farther than it should have been.
The bodyguard pointed toward the entrance and gave her a silent nod.
A moment later, he turned and walked away.
She was alone.
Her fingers found the edge of her sleeve.
She straightened it.
The classroom came into view.
Students.
Desks.
Conversations.
Her feet slowed.
The same questions roamed in her mind.
Vritika inhaled and stepped through the doorway before her courage could reconsider.
Several heads looked at her.
For a moment, she almost forgot how to breathe.
At the back of the classroom, Aarohi looked up.
And froze.
Her pen slipped from her fingers.
It bounced off the desk.
Aarohi blinked.
She whispered to herself, "How? I am in my dreams or something? Am I seeing her in real or it's my delusion?
Aarohi stared.
"The universe had many flaws but allowing one person to possess that much beauty felt particularly irresponsible."
Her eyes narrowed.
"Maybe it's a coincidence… so she is also in class 11. But that night why she was running breathlessly and she was also afraid."
Beside her, Ayaan turned a page.
He was completely unaware that Vritika just arrived.
Aarohi immediately elbowed him.
He didn't respond.
She elbowed him again.
"Ayaan."
He mumbled, "Hmm."
She said, "Look."
"No."
Aarohi frowned.
"No?"
Ayaan continued reading.
"If a new student has arrived, she'll still be there, she is not going anywhere, so I can see her later, let me complete my notes."
A few nearby students chuckled and whispered to each other, "How beautiful she is, I guess I fall in love with her at first side."
Ayaan turned another page of his book.
Aarohi again muttered, "Just look at her for once."
"Aarohi."
His voice remained calm.
Aarohi responded, "What?"
Ayaan replied, "And then what? Is the sky supposed to change color?"
Aarohi told to herself, "If for once he will look, will he die or what?"
One of his friends said, "Are you that much busy that you can't have some glances of her?"
He explained, "I don't collect glances the way other people collect trophies."
Aarohi stared at him.
Meanwhile, Vritika quietly moved toward an empty seat.
Aarohi's attention returned to her.
And unfortunately, the situation becomes as if it was a coincidence.
Vritika sat down.
Her bag rested on her lap.
Both hands remained clasped around it.
Across the room, the classroom door opened again.
Reyansh entered.
His tie was slightly loose.
He dropped into his chair.
Reached for his notebook.
Then his hand stopped.
His gaze lifted crossed the room and landed on Vritika.
A second passed.
Then he looked away.
He opened his notebook.
Reyansh leaned back in his chair.
His expression was unreadable.
Yet his fingers tapped once against the desk.
Then stopped.
The teacher entered.
Everyone rose from their seats.
Vritika sat down thinking, "Does she know that I am deaf."
The teacher introduced Vritika to everyone.
Cut-
The teacher had barely left when the classroom settled into its familiar rhythm.
Some students compared marks.
Others argued over questions they were still convinced had been checked incorrectly.
Ayaan sat near the window, turning the pages of a notebook while Aarohi attempted to convince Reyansh that her answer deserved at least three more marks.
Reyansh disagreed with remarkable confidence for someone who had not even looked at the answer sheet.
The classroom door opened.
Nobody paid much attention.
A girl stepped inside carrying a stack of checked notebooks against her chest.
"Ma'am asked me to give these to your class."
A few students nodded.
Vritika looked at her from few benches apart.
The girl shifted the weight of the notebooks slightly.
"Could someone distribute them, please?"
Before anyone could volunteer—Ayaan rose from his seat.
He stated, "I'll do it."
Yet somehow half the class looked up as he was the most popular guy.
Ayaan crossed the room and stopped before her.
"Give them to me."
He looked at her.
Yet Ashi found herself staring.
Enough to make her forget why she had entered the classroom.
Something felt strangely familiar.
A feeling like hearing a melody she could not quite remember.
Ayaan extended his hand.
Ashi blinked.
The stack shifted.
For one disastrous second, neither of them had a proper grip.
The notebooks slipped.
The entire pile scattered across the floor.
A collective gasp travelled through the classroom.
Aarohi immediately covered her mouth.
Because she was trying very hard not to laugh.
Ashi's eyes widened.
"Oh God—"
She crouched instantly.
"I'm so sorry."
One notebook.
Then another.
Her hands moved faster than her thoughts.
"I am so, so sorry."
Ayaan was already kneeling beside her, gathering the fallen copies without the slightest trace of irritation.
"It's fine."
Ashi looked up.
"Still… I am sorry."
Ayaan picked up the last notebook and placed it neatly on top of the stack.
"It's okay."
Ayaan stood and took the notebooks from her.
This time their hands didn't miss.
"Thank you," he said.
Ashi nodded.
Then paused.
For the briefest moment, her gaze lingered on him again.
That strange familiarity returned.
Elusive.
Like a memory standing just beyond reach.
Before she could grasp it, the feeling slipped away.
Aarohi watched the entire exchange with narrowed eyes.
Then she looked between the two of them.
Reyansh noticed that look immediately.
"Aarohi."
"Hm?"
"Don't."
"I haven't done anything."
The innocence in her voice was so unconvincing that even she seemed offended by it.
Ashi adjusted a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"Sorry again."
"There is nothing to apologies for.
Then she turned and walked towards the door.
Ayaan returned to distributing the notebooks.
Ashi, however, found herself glancing back once before leaving.
By the time she reached the corridor, she still could not explain the peculiar feeling that had followed her into the classroom.
Ashi's Room- Night Time
Ashi's eyes flew open.
Darkness greeted her.
For a moment, she remained still, her breath uneven against the silence of the room.
The dream lingered.
Fragments of it.
A shadow.
A fall.
Blood.
And him.
Shadow Hunk.
Ashi pushed herself upright.
The blanket slipped from her shoulders.
Her pulse hammered against her ribs with an urgency that made no sense.
She pressed a hand against her chest.
The rapid beating refused to slow.
"What was that?"
The question echoed through her mind.
She had seen dreams before.
Yet none had ever followed her into wakefulness like this.
The image returned.
Shadow Hunk reaching for something.
Then disappearing.
A strange dread tightened around her heart.
Ashi frowned.
"Why was she even worried?"
She swung her legs off the bed and sat there for a moment.
The room was quiet.
It was only a dream.
She inquired to herself, "Why did it feel as though she had been running?"
Her breathing still carried the faint traces of panic.
She rubbed her forehead.
"This is ridiculous."
The words sounded far more confident than she felt.
Her gaze drifted towards the window.
The city outside slept peacefully.
Everything was normal.
Yet the uneasiness remained.
Ashi shook her head.
"What is wrong with me?"
"I had never even met him properly."
"Had never spoken to him."
"Then why was he appearing in my dreams?"
"Why had seeing him hurt left me feeling like this?
The question lingered unanswered.
Ashi exhaled slowly and lay back down.
The pillow felt cool beneath her head.
She pulled the blanket over herself and closed her eyes.
A few moments passed.
Then she opened them again.
The restlessness had not entirely left.
With mild annoyance, she turned onto her side.
"It was just a dream."
"People dream strange things all the time."
The explanation sounded reasonable enough.
Eventually she allowed her eyes to close once more.
Outside, the night remained still.
Inside, sleep returned.
Though somewhere in the deepest corner of her mind, the image of Shadow Hunk refused to disappear quite as easily as she wanted it to.
Vritika's Room- That Night
Vritika glanced toward the small bell on her bedside table and pressed it once.
A few moments later, there was a gentle knock.
"May I come in, ma'am?" the caretaker asked politely.
Vritika nodded.
The middle-aged woman stepped inside with a warm smile and signed.
"You called me ma'am?"
Vritika took a slow breath before signing.
"Yes."
The caretaker watched carefully.
Vritika continued signing.
"I wanted to ask you something."
"Of course."
"Why don't my teachers know that I am deaf?"
The caretaker froze.
The smile on her face slowly faded.
Vritika noticed the sudden change and frowned slightly.
She signed again.
"They all talk to me as if I can hear them."
A pause.
"Today it was my first day that's why it got managed."
Another pause.
"Did no one tell them?"
The caretaker lowered her eyes.