She Fell First but He Never Did!! Made of Glances and Almosts

It had been a week...

Seven long days...

Each one measured not by classes or hours... But by absence.

She hadn’t seen him...

Not even once...

And Meihika had tried not to care...

She convinced herself he was probably busy...

Maybe their paths weren’t meant to cross again...

Maybe that brief moment in the corridor was just that a moment...

.Not fate.

.Not foreshadowing.

Just a blip...

But hearts don’t follow logic...

Especially not the kind of heart Meihika had soft, poetic, easily bruised...

Still… she showed up to campus every day with her journal tucked in her bag, her eyes casually scanning the corridors, the benches, the entrance gate hoping, waiting...

Until that day...

That one cursed, beautiful day...

The library was unusually silent the kind of silence that felt sacred. Heavy. Measured...

The golden hour sunlight spilled through the tall arched windows, painting the wooden tables in patches of honey and dust...

Meihika stepped in quietly, holding a list of books she barely remembered borrowing...

And then she saw him...

Meihika

Veer...

Seated by the window, one arm stretched lazily across the back of his chair, the other resting on a thick law book that looked untouched...

He wasn't reading...

He was just... existing...

In that effortless, dangerous way of his like he owned every room he sat in...

Her breath caught before she could stop it...

She quickly looked away, pretending to search the shelves...

She found a table far enough that he wouldn’t notice her, but close enough that she could still see him...

A few rows in front, slightly off to the side...

And so she sat...

Pretending to read...

Watching him between paragraphs...

Veer tapped a pen against the table, his gaze occasionally flickering to the people around...

And then—

He caught her...

His eyes locked on hers...

Not for a second...

Not by accident...

He held it.

That gaze...

As if he was waiting for her to look...

As if he knew she’d look...

Meihika's spine stiffened...She looked down immediately, cheeks blooming crimson.

Her fingers clutched the page too tightly...

When she glanced back up he was smirking...

.Not mockingly.

But knowingly...

Like he was in on a secret she hadn’t confessed yet...

And maybe he was...

She told herself not to look again...

But curiosity is just another name for falling...

He leaned back in his chair, legs stretched out casually, flipping pages without reading them...

And for the next ten minutes, he didn't take his eyes off her...

Every now and then when he knew she was peeking he'd tilt his head, raise his brow slightly, and then look away just long enough to make her crave the next glance...

It was a game...

And she was losing it, beautifully...

An hour passed...

She tried to read, but the words blurred...Her heart was louder than her thoughts...

And then just as she was gathering her things to leave a shadow fell across her table...

Meihika

**She looked up**

And there he was...

Meihika

(Veer...)

Veer

Leaving already? **he asked, voice soft, low. Measured**

Meihika

I— yeah. I’ve been here a while.. **she said, blinking up at him**

He nodded, then pulled the chair beside her and sat down uninvited, unapologetic, completely sure she wouldn’t ask him to leave...

She didn’t...

Veer

Didn’t see you around lately... **he said, casually flipping through her notebook, not asking if he could**

Meihika

You were looking? **she blurted, immediately regretting the crack in her voice**

Veer

**He smirked** Maybe...

Meihika

**heart stuttered**

That one word... maybe...So cruel...So sweet...

So full of nothing and everything...

Veer

**He pointed to her notes** You write a lot. Are these… poems?

Meihika

Sometimes... **she said quietly**

Veer

Read me one?

Meihika

**She hesitated** I— they’re not that good...

Veer

**He leaned closer, voice just above a whisper** Then I’ll pretend they are...

Meihika

**She almost laughed**

But instead, she flipped to a page one of the safe ones...

Her voice was soft as she read....

Meihika

[He didn’t say he loved her. He just looked long enough for her to believe it...]

.Silence.

She looked up, instantly regretting reading that one...

But he was staring at her again...This time without a smirk.

Just… watching. Quiet. Unreadable.

Veer

That one... **he said slowly** —was good...

Meihika

**She bit her lip** It’s not about anyone, I swear...

Veer

**He tilted his head** Did I ask if it was?

Meihika

No, but—

Veer

But you're scared I’ll think it is...

Meihika

**looked away**

Veer

**He leaned back, arms folded now** You’re interesting, you know that?

She didn’t know what to say. So she didn’t...

Veer

**He stood up, slow and calm like always** I'll see you around, Literature Girl...

And then he was gone...

But she stayed...

Sat at the empty table for twenty more minutes...

Rereading her poems...

Tracing where his fingers had touched the page...

Trying not to smile...Trying not to fall...

But the truth was...

She already was...

Later that night…

Meihika’s journal entry...

[He didn’t touch me... He didn’t hold my hand... He didn’t say anything a man says when he’s falling in love... But he looked... And smiled... And asked... And God, it was enough to ruin me...]

Because what she didn’t know yet was—

He was watching...

He was playing...

Not cruelly...

But not kindly either...

He saw her fall...

And he let it happen...

One glance at a time...

One smile at a time...

One “maybe” at a time...

_________________

And it wasn’t love...

But it felt like it...

And sometimes… that’s the most dangerous thing of all...

Hazel [AUTHOR]

I hope you like this short story...