Aira was trying to trust her—
quietly… slowly… but not too quickly.
Aarohi, on the other hand, trusted her completely.
One day, Aira decided to take a small step.
She wanted to call her a friend.
But instead of saying it directly…
she wrote a poem.
wrote something for you," Aira texted.
Aarohi replied almost instantly,
"If you're comfortable… can you share it with me?"
"Okay."
After a pause, Aira sent it—
"Jab khud se vishvaas uthne laga,
Tab tum mere saath the.
Jab kisi pe vishvaas nahi tha,
Tab tum mere paas the.
Jab koi nahi tha,
Tab tum meri zindagi mein the.
Naa jaane ye rishta kya hai,
Par jo bhi hai… bahut khaas hai."
There was silence for a moment.
Then she typed,
"Will you be my friend?"
Aarohi's heart melted reading those lines.
"Yes… I will be your friend," she replied.
"And I love this poetry. You know, it was always my dream that someone would write something like this for me… and you did."
"I'm really happy."
Aira smiled at her screen.
"But… I still need time to trust you."
"Take your time," Aarohi replied softly.
"I'm not going anywhere."
"Thank you for understanding."
"No sorry, no thank you in our friendship."
"Okay."
But things weren't that simple.
Aira felt a quiet insecurity growing inside her.
Aarohi had a boyfriend.
And somewhere deep down, it felt like she was doing something wrong.
Aarohi, however, felt happy.
Truly happy.
But in her heart… feelings had already started forming.
Feelings she didn't want to name.
Feelings she didn't want anyone to know.
Because she knew—
this wasn't right.
Still…
she just wanted to spend time with her.
Days passed.
And slowly, everything changed.
They felt butterflies.
They smiled at their screens.
They waited for each other's texts.
They felt comfortable… understood.
Like their vibes matched perfectly.
Exams were approaching.
Aarohi was stressed about her board exams.
She didn't like maths at all.
But she was a good student.
Aira, on the other hand, had done really well in her 10th boards.
Now she was in 11th.
The next day—
"Do you like travelling?" Aarohi asked.
"Yes… I want to travel all over the world."
There was a pause.
Then—
"Will you travel with me?"
Aira stared at the message.
Confused. Surprised.
But also… something else.
"Of course… where do you want to go?"
"Everywhere," Aarohi replied.
"And you?"
"Golden Temple… Kerala… Tamil Nadu… Assam… Meghalaya… and maybe Thailand."
"Okay," she said.
But that "okay" carried a quiet promise.
Aarohi was straightforward.
If she felt something, she said it—without
overthinking.
She was ambitious.
Strong.
She had suffered a lot—because of her family, her past love, and friendships.
People often saw her as bold… even a little "baddie."
But with Aira—
she was soft.
Aira, too, got attached easily.
And now…
she was deeply attached.
And so was Aarohi.
Neither of them knew—
where these feelings would take them.