The rain in Pune wasn't like Bangalore. It came sharp, sudden — not a gentle monsoon memory, but a drumming kind of urgency. Like the city itself, it didn't wait for you to be ready.
Tina sat in the dim glow of the innovation lab, eyes on her screen but mind drifting elsewhere. Code blurred into patterns. Functions looped endlessly. Nothing was breaking—but something inside her felt like it might.
"Your script's perfect," Ishaan said, watching over her shoulder. "But you're not."
She blinked, startled. "Excuse me?"
"I meant you're distracted. That note from yesterday still bothering you?"
She hesitated, fingers pausing mid-keystroke. "It's not just the note."
Ishaan sat down beside her, close but not crowding. "Dev?"
She didn't answer immediately. Instead, she pulled out a USB and slid it across the table.
"Encryption prototype. Triple-layered RSA with a visual hashing module."
Ishaan raised a brow. "You coded your trauma into a firewall?"
She gave a half-smile. "I trust machines more than people."
"People like Dev?"
Tina exhaled. "Back in school… he wasn't always cruel. He started with charm. The kind that made you question your instincts. Then came the jokes. The digs in front of others. The whispers that followed me everywhere. And no one stood up for me."
Ishaan's jaw tightened. "That won't happen again. Not while I'm around."
Tina looked at him—really looked. She didn't know what scared her more: the promise in his voice or the warmth in his eyes. Because both were getting harder to push away.
Later that night, Mira burst into their dorm room like a whirlwind.
"You'll never guess who I saw chatting with Dev outside the cafeteria."
Tina didn't look up. "Let me guess—someone shallow and easily impressed?"
"Worse. Riya Kamat."
Tina froze.
Not her.
Riya had been the ringleader in school —the master of subtle humiliation. Unlike Dev, she never raised her voice. She used smiles like knives. A compliment from Riya could shatter your self-worth by morning.
"What is she doing in Pune?" Tina asked slowly.
"She transferred to our university," Mira said. "Fashion tech or something. But guess what department she's been hanging around? Ours."
Tina's grip on her pen tightened until the plastic cracked.
The next morning, during the hackathon briefing, Riya walked in like she owned the floor. Polished, poised, and poisonous.
"Tina Rathod," she said with a sugary smile, "you haven't changed a bit. Still allergic to eyeliner, I see."
Tina stared at her coldly. "Some of us evolved emotionally instead."
Riya's eyes glinted, but she didn't react. Dev, standing beside her, smirked like he was in on a private joke.
Ishaan stepped forward. "Tina, Professor Shalini wants us in Lab B. Now."
Tina followed him wordlessly, shoulders stiff.
Once they were alone, Ishaan turned. "You okay?"
Tina looked out the window, rain streaking down like static on glass. "I survived worse than them. But I didn't come here to relive it."
"Then let's make sure they don't forget you didn't come here to break either."
Over the next few days, Tina threw herself into the project. Her part of the system was not just functional—it was elegant. Secure. Unbreakable.
Still, the tension built like pressure in a sealed circuit. Every time she crossed paths with Riya and Dev, there were subtle digs. Riya's offhand comments in group discussions. Dev's smirks whenever Tina corrected his lazy logic.
But Ishaan stayed close. Not overbearing—just present. Always present.
And when he laughed, Tina found herself wanting to laugh too. When he reached for her notes, she let his hand brush hers a little longer.
She hated how comforting it was. She hated how seen she felt.
Because comfort was a risk.
One night, while walking back from the innovation lab, Tina saw something that stopped her in her tracks.
A sticky note on her dorm door.
Same font as before. Same eerily calm tone.
"Firewalls don't block memories. Or people."
She ripped it down, heart pounding. Mira wasn't home yet.
Her phone buzzed.
A message. Unknown number.
"Don't you miss the good old days? You'll wish you did."
She stared at it, breath caught in her throat.
And then, without thinking, she called Ishaan.
He picked up immediately. "Tina?"
"I need you to walk me somewhere," she said.
His voice changed instantly. "I'm coming."
She didn't even realize she was shaking until he stood in front of her, reached out—and waited. Not rushing her. Just being there.
She placed the note in his hand. Their fingers touched.
"I'm not afraid," she whispered.
He met her eyes. "You don't have to be. Not alone."
To be continued....