For the next few days, he was gone.
No passing by the window.
No awkward glances.
No pretending to look cool.
Just… absence.
Sara sat in class with her chin resting on her palm, her eyes flicking toward the corridor more often than she'd like to admit. Each time someone walked past, her heart jumped—only to fall again when it wasn't him.
The world outside her window looked the same.
But without Aarav, it felt wrong.
"I think he's gone somewhere," Yumi said gently, watching her.
"Where?" Sara's voice was too quiet.
"I heard something about a sports tournament," Yumi replied. "Out of town. He's one of the best in basketball, right?"
Sara nodded. She had picked that up from overheard conversations in the hallway.
But knowing didn't stop the ache. It only gave it a reason.
---
Days passed.
Sara told herself to focus on studies, on her upcoming exams, on her goals… but her mind betrayed her.
She missed him in ways that made her feel ridiculous.
Like a junkie craving a hit of something she'd never even tasted.
Her hands grew cold during lunch.
She barely touched her food.
She couldn't sleep at night.
Every time she closed her eyes, his face flashed in front of her—bright and clear as if her imagination had memorized every line.
His slightly crooked smile.
The casual way he walked.
The way his laugh used to echo from down the corridor.
It became unbearable.
It wasn't a crush anymore. It wasn't even just admiration. It was something deeper, more painful, like her heart was growing too big inside her chest.
"I think I'm sick," she told Yumi one evening over the phone.
"What do you mean?"
Sara clutched her pillow tighter. "It's like… I can't breathe without seeing him. I feel heavy. Sad. Like something's missing."
Yumi was silent for a moment.
Then softly: "Sara… I think this is love."
Sara closed her eyes. "It hurts, Yumi. It really hurts."
---
The next morning, she walked through the school gates as usual.
Head down. Heart heavier than her backpack.
She wasn't expecting him to be back yet. But as she turned the corner toward her classroom—
There he was.
Leaning against a pillar with his hands in his pockets, talking to someone. His hair messier than usual, eyes sleepy from travel. He looked tired. But he looked real.
Sara stopped dead in her tracks.
Her heart thudded violently.
She couldn't move.
He looked up.
Their eyes met.
Just for a moment.
And that moment?
That was everything.
Sara forgot how to breathe. Her whole body lit up like fireworks.
And suddenly—he smiled.
Not a grin. Not a smirk.
A soft, almost lazy smile, like a secret he didn't know how to say.
Sara turned away quickly, pretending to check her phone, her face burning.
But inside her chest, something cracked open and bloomed like spring in full force.
---
That night, she sat at her window, writing furiously in her diary.
> Dear Lucky Charm,
You're back.
I missed you more than I knew I could miss someone I've never spoken to.
I don't know what this feeling is… but it scares me.
Because I think I'm falling. Not like falling down.
Falling into you.
She paused.
Then slowly wrote again, her pen shaking:
> From today… you're my lucky charm.
Because ever since you walked into my life, everything started to feel a little more alive.
She underlined it twice.
Lucky Charm.
His name, now sealed in ink.
And in her heart.
---
To be continued in Chapter Six