Indhu's POV
New month.
New me.
Oh—and did I mention the rain?
Last week, it had poured heavily. I got completely drenched while waiting for my van. When people warned me, I just shrugged it off.
"Nothing will happen."
But the next day, something definitely did.
My voice had changed.
"Did your voice change?" Aditya asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah," I said softly. "Cold."
Swetha looked at me immediately, worry written all over her face.
"Why did you get drenched in the rain?"
"I was waiting for my van," I replied honestly.
What I didn't say was this—
I loved the rain.
And I had deliberately pulled my vanmate out with me just to stand in it longer.
That evening, my temperature shot up.
Amma took me to the hospital. An injection. Medicines. Strict rest.
But the next day was a 4th-to-6th period block schedule.
I insisted on going to school.
In the first period itself, the medicine didn't sit well. I rushed to the restroom and threw up everything. When I came back to class, I fixed my posture and put on my brightest smile.
"I'm fine," I said.
Swetha didn't believe me.
"Are you sure you're okay?" she whispered.
I nodded. Smiled again.
Even though my head spun and my body burned with fever, I stayed. I didn't want to leave. I didn't want to miss school.
Eventually, the teacher noticed.
And just like that, Swetha was asked to help take me home.
Yeah.
That's what happens when we don't listen.
That day passed slowly, but something else had started—something unspoken, something shifting quietly.
The next day, when I casually told my friends how I'd gotten drenched in the rain—
Smack.
A hand hit my forehead.
"Ouch!" I yelled, almost raising my fist to hit back.
Then I saw who it was.
Aditya.
"Are you nuts, Indhu?" he scolded. "Standing in the rain like that?"
I stared at him, half shocked, half annoyed.
Yes, he did get punched right after for smacking me.
But still…
He said it for my own good.
And somewhere beneath the irritation and the chaos,
I realized something.
People scold you only when they care.