A photograph rested on the rain-soaked ground where he had been standing.
Waiting for her.
For a moment, Aarya couldn't move.
The courtyard seemed strangely distant.
The rain.
The students.
The voices around her.
Everything felt muffled beneath the pounding of her heartbeat.
The photograph was real.
Which meant he was real.
Wasn't he?
Slowly, she bent down and picked it up.
Rainwater dripped from its corners.
"Aarya?"
Saanvi's voice sounded nervous now.
"What photograph are you looking at?"
Aarya turned it over.
Her breath caught.
It wasn't another picture of her.
It wasn't a picture of the college.
It was a bench.
An ordinary wooden bench near the Fine Arts garden.
The photograph looked harmless.
Except for one thing.
The timestamp.
Tomorrow.
The picture had been taken tomorrow.
Just like the previous one.
Aarya felt her stomach twist.
"That's impossible."
"What is?"
She silently handed the photograph to Saanvi.
Saanvi examined it.
"It's a bench."
"Look at the date."
The color immediately drained from Saanvi's face.
"Okay."
A pause.
"Okay, I officially don't like this anymore."
Neither did Aarya.
Because impossible things were becoming normal.
And that terrified her.
---
The rest of the day passed in a blur.
She attended classes.
Answered questions.
Pretended to listen.
Pretended to be normal.
But her mind remained fixed on two things.
The photograph.
And the boy.
Even though she still didn't know his name.
Even though she knew almost nothing about him.
Somehow she couldn't stop thinking about him.
The sadness in his eyes.
The relief on his face when he saw her.
The way he had whispered—
"You weren't supposed to see me."
What did that even mean?
---
The rain continued throughout the afternoon.
By lunchtime, the campus had become a mixture of umbrellas and puddles.
Aarya and Saanvi sat beneath a covered corridor overlooking the garden.
The future photograph lay between them.
Neither knew what to do with it.
Saanvi broke the silence first.
"What if he's stalking you?"
Aarya immediately shook her head.
"No."
"You answered that very quickly."
"I don't think he's dangerous."
The words left her mouth before she could stop them.
Saanvi stared.
"You literally know nothing about him."
Aarya looked down at the photograph.
Maybe.
But every instinct told her the same thing.
The boy wasn't trying to hurt her.
If anything...
He looked afraid that she might get hurt.
---
A sudden movement near the garden caught her attention.
Three familiar stray dogs.
The same three dogs.
The ones she had seen earlier.
Their tails wagged excitedly.
As if greeting someone.
Someone standing beside the bench.
Aarya immediately stood.
Her pulse quickening.
Because she could see him.
Again.
Leaning casually against the exact bench from the photograph.
The boy.
The camera hanging around his neck.
Watching her.
Saanvi followed her gaze.
"What happened?"
Aarya didn't answer.
Because she already knew what Saanvi would say.
There was nobody there.
Nobody except him.
And her.
---
"Aaru?"
Saanvi grabbed her wrist.
"Where are you going?"
But Aarya was already walking.
Across the pathway.
Across the rain.
Toward the bench.
Toward him.
For a second, something changed in Agastya's expression.
Surprise.
Then happiness.
Small.
Brief.
But real.
As though he hadn't expected her to come.
As though her choosing to walk toward him meant something.
Something important.
Something precious.
Then a voice interrupted.
"Oh, this is new."
Aarya stopped.
A girl stepped beneath the shelter beside the bench.
Perfect makeup.
Perfect hair.
Perfect timing.
Shagun.
She glanced between Aarya and the empty space beside the bench.
Then raised an eyebrow.
"Who are you talking to?"
Aarya froze.
Agastya was still standing there.
Right beside Shagun.
Yet Shagun couldn't see him.
Not even a little.
"Nobody," Aarya answered.
"Good."
Shagun crossed her arms.
"For a second I thought you'd finally lost it."
Saanvi appeared behind Aarya.
"Can you be nice for one day?"
Shagun looked genuinely confused.
"Why? That sounds exhausting."
Saanvi groaned.
Aarya almost laughed despite herself.
Almost.
Shagun's gaze drifted toward the photograph sticking out of Aarya's notebook.
"Still collecting mysteries?"
"Still collecting opinions nobody asked for?" Saanvi shot back.
Shagun smirked.
"Fair."
Then her expression became thoughtful.
Only for a second.
"You know, trusting people you barely know never ends well."
Aarya blinked.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Shagun shrugged.
"I'm just saying."
Her eyes briefly met Aarya's.
"People aren't always who they pretend to be."
Then she walked away.
Leaving the words hanging in the air.
For some reason, they made Aarya uncomfortable.
---
When she looked back toward the bench—
Agastya was gone.
Again.
The dogs remained.
The rain remained.
The bench remained.
But he didn't.
Frustration flooded her chest.
Why did he keep disappearing?
Why did he always leave before she got answers?
Then something caught her eye.
Carved into the wooden surface of the bench was a symbol.
Small.
Easy to miss.
A sunflower.
And beneath it—
A single letter .
A.
Aarya's breath hitched.
Her fingers traced the carving carefully.
Fresh.
Recently made.
As if someone had carved it only hours ago.
The moment she touched it, a folded piece of paper slipped from beneath the bench.
Waiting.
Just like the photographs.
Slowly, she unfolded it.
Only five words were written inside.
Words that made her heart stop.
"I'm trying to stay."
____________🌻_____________
Hey sunshines hope you like this one !
Comment and like 💗
Thank you for reading...
Write a comment ...