Best Friends (Almost)

Something had changed.

Ayaan didn’t know when exactly, but he could feel it in the way he walked into school now — head a little higher, shoulders a little straighter, silence a little less heavy.

Maybe it was Meher.

Maybe it was all those shared walks, those silly chats, or how she looked at him like he was somebody, not a background character in someone else’s life.

He was still quiet. Still didn’t speak unless he had to. But now, he chose silence — it wasn’t forced anymore.

---

In class, he’d started answering questions.

Small things — a history date here, a chemistry equation there.

“Dude, what’s gotten into you?” someone asked once.

Ayaan just shrugged and smiled.

And of course, when things start getting better... someone always tries to pull you down.

---

It started on a random Wednesday.

Two boys — Rishi and Tanmay — the kind who lived to sit at the back bench and make everyone miserable, had spotted Ayaan walking with Meher outside school last weekend.

Now, they had ammunition.

“Hey loverboy,” Tanmay whispered loud enough for half the class to hear. “Your girlfriend got taste or pity?”

A few snickers. A few heads turned.

Ayaan ignored them at first. But the next day, it got worse.

“So you’re the guy Meher walks with? Seriously?” Rishi laughed. “She could do so much better.”

Ayaan stayed silent. But it stung.

Because Meher was stunning.

Bright eyes. Confident walk. A kind of beauty that turned heads — even when she didn’t mean to.

And Ayaan?

A plain, average boy with faded notebooks and old shoes.

He wasn’t the type girls noticed. Especially not girls like her.

---

That evening, they met again — near the juice stall.

Meher could tell something was off.

“You look like someone stole your lunch,” she said, sipping through her straw.

“Do I?” he asked, trying to brush it off.

“Yeah. And your usual sarcasm is down by 30%.”

He finally said, “Some guys at school saw us walking... they’re saying stuff.”

She didn’t even blink. “Let them.”

“You don’t care?”

“No. Do you?”

“I... I don’t know. It’s just... you’re way out of my league, Meher.”

She stopped walking.

“League?” she asked. “Are we in a cricket match?”

“You know what I mean.”

She turned to him, dead serious. “Ayaan, listen to me. If you think how someone looks decides if they deserve kindness or friendship, then you’ve already lost. I’m friends with you. Not your hair gel or whatever league nonsense you’re thinking of.”

He was quiet.

Then she added, “Besides, you’re not below average. You’re real. That’s rare.”

He smiled, but inside, he was still struggling. Because deep down, some part of him believed those boys.

Still, that night, he walked home a little slower — replaying her words like a song stuck in his head.

---

In school, the teasing didn’t stop, but Ayaan stopped reacting.

That confused everyone.

He wasn’t hiding anymore. He wasn’t biting back. He was just... calm.

And every time he walked with Meher, they laughed louder.

That confused people even more.

---

One afternoon, as they sat on a bench sharing a chocolate bar, Meher said, “You know we’ve become best friends, right?”