Siya's POV
I didn't realize it that day.
I swear, I didn't.
I thought everything was finally… normal.
People were around me.
My name was being called.
Questions, jokes, laughter—noise everywhere.
And Anisha?
She was right there too.
So how could something be wrong?
But the thing about silence is—
it doesn't announce itself.
It just slowly sits beside you.
During the break, I turned toward Anisha, ready to tell her something silly—
but she wasn't looking at me.
She was looking through me.
"Anisha?" I called softly.
"Haan?" she replied instantly. Too instantly.
"I was saying—"
"Hmm, tell me later na," she said, smiling. "I need to finish this."
She didn't look up.
Later never came.
Someone else came instead.
Then another.
Then another.
By the time the bell rang, my throat hurt from laughing, and my heart hurt from… something I couldn't name.
When we were finally alone for two minutes—just two—
Anisha closed her notebook and said, very casually,
"You've changed."
I laughed. "What? No."
She nodded slowly. "You're busy now."
Busy.
That word hit harder than I expected.
"I'm right here," I said quickly. "You're the one who went away."
She didn't deny it.
She just said, "And you didn't wait."
That stung.
"I didn't know I had to," I whispered.
She looked at me then. Really looked.
And for a second, I thought she might cry.
But Anisha never cries.
She only smiled and said,
"It's okay, Siya. I'm happy for you."
Happy.
Another word that sounded wrong.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Ayyan.
He was pretending not to notice us—
but he was.
He always notices more than he admits.
Our eyes met for half a second.
This time, he didn't smile.
He looked… thoughtful.
Like something finally clicked, but he didn't know what to do with it.
Then he looked away.
And somehow, i don't care about him rightnow.
By the end of the day, everything was the same.
And everything was different.
I had people.
I had noise.
I had attention.
But the person who knew me when no one did
was now walking a step behind.
And the scariest thought crept into my mind—
What if I didn't lose Anisha because she left…
but because I learned how to survive without her?
I walked home smiling.
Because that's what I do.
But God…
why does smiling start hurting more
when you finally stop being alone?