The moment Aira and Reyhan stepped inside Northcrest's library, she immediately regretted agreeing to this.
The place was quiet, organized, peaceful—
everything Reyhan Malhotra was not.
The librarian, Mrs. D'Souza, looked up and nearly dropped her pen.
"Reyhan Malhotra… in a library?"
Reyhan placed a hand on his chest. "Wow. Zero faith."
She narrowed her eyes. "Are you lost?"
"Nope. I'm here to study."
Mrs. D'Souza choked on air.
Aira hid her face.
"Good luck," the librarian whispered to Aira before walking off.
Aira sighed and sat down at a table near the window. "Okay. We're here. Let's focus."
Reyhan pulled out a notebook and a pen.
Aira blinked. "You actually brought study materials?"
Reyhan smirked. "I came prepared."
Then he opened his notebook.
Inside were doodles.
Only doodles.
A stick figure. A cow. A tree that looked like it was on fire.
And something that looked suspiciously like… her?
Aira stared. "You draw like a confused toddler."
He gasped. "Rude. And incorrect. That's artistic expression."
"That's psychological concern."
Reyhan leaned forward. "Want me to draw you again? I can add eyelashes this time."
"No."
She snatched the notebook. "Let's just start."
He grinned like she had handed him a trophy.
Aira wrote the first question in her notebook:
Describe your partner's strengths.
"Okay," she said, "I'll write yours first."
Reyhan sat up, suddenly interested. "Go on."
Aira tapped her pen. "Um… you're good at… uh…"
"Take your time," he said smugly.
Aira glared. "I'm thinking."
He leaned his chin on his hand. "This is sad to watch."
"Shut up," she muttered.
After a full thirty seconds, she finally wrote something.
"You're… observant."
Reyhan blinked.
His smirk softened—just a tiny bit.
"That's it?" he asked.
"And tall."
He groaned. "That's not a skill."
"I don't know, you use it like one."
"Explain."
"You weaponize your height."
He grinned. "That's fair."
Aira inhaled. "Okay. Now your turn. Write my strength."
Reyhan didn't even hesitate.
He wrote immediately.
Aira froze.
"What did you write?"
Reyhan slid the notebook to her.
"She's honest."
Aira quietly stared at the page.
Not dramatic.
Not sarcastic.
Just… true.
"That's it?" she asked, voice softer.
"That's enough," he said.
Something warm flickered in her chest—something she refused to name.
She quickly changed the topic. "Okay, next: weaknesses."
Reyhan grinned. "Your specialty."
"Funny."
She wrote his first:
Weakness: Ego the size of the moon.
Reyhan read it and laughed under his breath. "Accurate."
He took his pen and wrote under her weaknesses.
She snatched it instantly.
When she read it, her stomach twisted.
"She doesn't know how interesting she is."
Aira's heart stuttered.
Her breath caught.
Her brain lagged.
"What—why would you—" she stammered.
Reyhan leaned closer, voice dropping into something annoyingly sincere.
"Because it's true."
Her pulse practically sprinted.
She forced herself to look away, flipping the page aggressively. "Okay, next part—interests."
Reyhan hummed. "I already know yours."
"You don't know anything about me."
"Sure," he said, tapping her notebook, "but you like history, iced coffee, sitting near windows, and using sarcasm as a defense mechanism."
Aira's jaw dropped.
"How do you know all that?"
He shrugged.
"I notice things."
"Why?"
She didn't mean to ask it. The word slipped out before she could stop it.
Reyhan went still.
Then he said quietly,
"I just do."
And suddenly the library didn't feel so cold anymore.
The room felt too small.
The distance between them too small.
Her rulebook too fragile.
Aira coughed to break the tension. "Okay—um—let's keep working."
Reyhan leaned back, amused. "You're flustered."
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are."
"Stop talking."
"You like when I talk."
Aira threw a pencil at him. "No, I don't!"
He picked it up and smiled.
"Don't lie, Rookie. It really doesn't suit you."
Aira buried her face into her notebook.
Rule #8 had officially shattered into dust.
RULE #8: Do NOT study with Reyhan Malhotra.
Because he doesn't let you study…
he lets you feel.