The board exams were a few days away.
Every classroom was quieter than usual.Books replaced gossip. Headphones played last-minute formulas instead of love songs.
But in Aditi's mind?
There was only noise.
The kind that comes after betrayal.After being laughed at.After your most private feelings are turned into public jokes.
And worst of all?
He still hadn't said anything.
She sat in the back row now. Far from him.Far from the boy who once felt like home.
Abhimanyu noticed.
Every day.Every time she avoided his eyes.Every time she walked out before he could say her name.
He tried to text once.
"Aditi. Can we talk?"
But it stayed on Delivered.Never Read.
He felt like someone watching his own story from outside — powerless, stuck, wishing for a rewind button.
Then came the storm.
Literally.
The night before the science paper, it rained harder than it had all year.The power flickered. Streets flooded.And just like fate wanted it — they both got stuck at the same school gate.
Everyone else had already left.
Aditi was on a call with her father.Abhimanyu stood under a broken roof, trying not to look at her.
But the wind had other plans.
Her umbrella flew.Her papers slipped.
And before she could even blink, he was there.
Helping. Holding. Shielding her with his arms.
They stood inches apart, soaked in silence and unspoken words.
She looked at him.
He looked… broken.
"Aditi," he said, voice soft but shaking, "I didn't know about the post. I didn't see it. I swear."
She stared. Didn't speak.
"I never meant to hurt you," he added. "I've been trying to fix everything, but… you won't even look at me."
Her eyes glistened. "Because it already broke me, Abhi."
The way she said his name—Abhi—like it still belonged to her.
"I didn't even get to say goodbye," she whispered.
"You weren't supposed to," he said. "Because it was never goodbye."
For a second, it felt like time paused.
Their eyes met.
Like maybe — just maybe — they weren't over yet.
But then her dad called from the car.
And the moment shattered.
She turned. Walked away.
Left him there, in the storm.
And just like that…
The last moment they had before the exams ended.
Some storms don't come from clouds.Some storms come from hearts full of words left unsaid.