Arik first saw Riya on a rainy July morning outside the old college library.
The campus of St. Edmund’s College smelled of wet mud and fresh paint because the new semester had just begun. Students rushed across the courtyard holding bags over their heads while the rain poured like silver threads from the dark sky.
Arik stood beneath the library staircase, hugging a notebook against his chest. He hated crowds, hated noise, and especially hated rain because it reminded him how lonely he felt. He had always been the quiet boy—the one who listened more than he spoke.
Then she appeared.
Riya came running through the rain wearing a pale blue kurta, laughing while trying to shield herself with a useless black umbrella that had turned inside out because of the wind. Her hair clung to her cheeks, and she looked completely unbothered by the storm.
She stopped near him, breathing heavily.
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