The First Glance

September 5th, 2022.

The last Teacher’s Day celebration we’d ever have in school.

I didn’t know that day would change something inside me.

The classroom was its usual mess—noisy, chaotic, with laughter bouncing off every wall. Teachers were out, and the 12th standard seniors were sent in as "discipliners," but let’s be honest, no one was really taking them seriously.

And then there was him.

He wasn’t yelling or laughing like the others. No overconfidence, no fake attitude—just him, quietly sitting on the teacher’s desk, head slightly down, as if lost in a world none of us could reach.

Black shirt. Grey pants. A name I didn’t know. A feeling I couldn't explain.

I don’t know how long I stared at him. Maybe a minute. Maybe more. He never looked up.

And yet, I felt something shift in me, something dangerously close to love.

I didn’t even know him.

But I wanted to.

And then—just like that—the bell rang.

He stood up.

He walked out of the classroom.

And my heart? It absolutely panicked.

I wanted to say something, anything, but my voice betrayed me. My feet froze. So I turned to my friend behind me and begged her like it was a life-or-death situation.

"Please. Go ask his name. His section. Anything. Just go!"

She laughed, then ran after him with another friend, like it was some sort of mission. I watched from my seat, half praying, half dying inside.

They came back breathless, dramatic, and victorious.

"His name is Avinash," she said.

Avinash.

I whispered it to myself like a secret.

"But what section is he in?" I asked, holding onto hope like it was a lifeline.

They shrugged.

"Didn’t ask."

Disappointment slammed into me harder than I expected. I smiled to hide it, but it stung.

The next few days, I searched for him in corridors, at assemblies, near the school gate.

Nothing.

He disappeared—like he was just a passing dream.

And maybe, that’s what he was supposed to be.

But somewhere deep down….. I didn’t think so.

Days passed.

Weeks, even.

And every morning I walked into school hoping I’d spot him—Avinash.

In the corridors.

By the canteen.

In the morning assembly.

Anywhere.

But it was like he had vanished with that bell on Teacher’s Day.

I kept telling myself: It was just a moment. Just a silly crush.

But I knew I was lying.

Because even without knowing him….. I felt something.

It wasn’t just attraction—it was deeper, almost unsettling.

I watched every 12th-grade group passing by. I even tried lingering longer near the senior wing, pretending to be lost or waiting for someone.

Nothing.

I had nearly given up hope of ever seeing him again.

Maybe it was just one of those one-time things—the kind that happens, messes you up, and disappears.

But then, out of nowhere—

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