AUTHOR POV.
Morning crept into the campus like it was scared to be here. A thin mist clung to the old red-brick walls, softening the edges of the world the way nightmares soften just before they bite. The law college didn't look threatening at sunrise, but that was the trick. Monsters love good lighting. Monsters disguise as humans ofcourse.
Sona walked through the main gate with her bag slung over one shoulder, looking like she belonged to sunlight instead of shadows. Crips white shirt black pants hairs pulled up in ponytail i phone smart watch expensive heels and starbugs coffee in hand looking like every bit of expensive lawyer to be. The courtyard buzzed with freshers floating around, taking selfies like they were signing treaties of peace with their own insecurities.
Riya walked beside her, half-awake, clutching a cup of canteen chai.
"I swear this place drains my will to live," she muttered.
Sona chuckled. "You were born drained."
"Rude. Accurate. But rude."
Students streamed across the lawn. Seniors leaned on railings, pretending to be busy while scanning the newcomers like predators evaluating prey. Somewhere behind them, a crow screeched at nothing. Or maybe at everything.
Up on the second-floor corridor, Arjun Kapoor walked with Kabir Malhotra, both acting like they hadn't nearly broken someone's jaw yesterday. Same boaring uniform white just black trousers slightly damp hairs carelessly feeling across forehead giving them both effortlessly hot badboy vibe no so lawyers type ofcourse. Kabir spoke first, running a hand through his messy hair.
"Bro, you sure you're ready for actual lectures?"
Arjun smirked. "I was born ready."
"You were born annoying."
"Same thing."
Arjun's eyes drifted downward, scanning the courtyard the way someone checks a room they already know by heart. Like he was waiting for something. Or someone.
Kabir caught him staring.
"Dude, stop looking like a watchdog."
"I'm not."
"You absolutely are."
Arjun ignored him.
Below, Sona felt it. That invisible prickle at the back of her neck, the silent buzz in her bones. The kind of feeling that says someone's watching, but doesn't bother to tell you who. She rubbed her arms even though she wasn't cold.
Riya noticed.
"You good?"
Sona nodded. "Yeah. Just… weird morning."
"It's law school. Weird is the default setting."
They reached their classroom, Section A. The room smelled of chalk, floor cleaner, fresh books and buried ambition. Desks were scratched with previous generations' heartbreaks and boredom doodles. A ceiling fan spun in lazy circles like it was rethinking its life choices.
Sona and Riya grabbed a bench near the window. Sunlight fell across the floor in neat stripes, slicing the room into light and shadow. One of those shadows twitched.
"Hey," a voice came from the doorway.
Arjun stood there, hands in pockets, bag slung carelessly on shoulder, pretending he'd just wandered in instead of following the exact path she'd taken since morning.
Kabir waved, far too excited for 9 am.
"Morning, ladies."
Riya smirked. "Look who decided to join civilization."
Kabir dropped his bag on the bench in front of them. "Can I sit here?"
"You already did," Sona said.
"Consent is a myth," Kabir groaned dramatically.
"Not in law school, genius," she shot back.
Arjun slid onto the same bench, quiet but observant, like he was cataloguing every movement in the room. And maybe he was.
"You're early," he murmured.
Sona shrugged. "Couldn't sleep."
"Bad dreams?"
"Bad coffee."
Arjun huffed a tiny laugh. "Tragic."
But something in his voice dropped one shade too low. One beat too thoughtful.
Kabir leaned back and whispered loudly, "Okay, wow, morning flirting already?"
Arjun threw a pen at him without looking.
Sona's cheeks warmed, which annoyed her. She didn't blush. She wasn't the blushing type.
Riya raised an eyebrow. "So. You two know each other well now?"
Sona waved it off. "We just talked yesterday."
Kabir scoffed. "Yeah, and planets collide every other Tuesday too."
Before Sona could argue, the classroom door slammed shut on its own. Nobody was near it. The sound echoed through the room, thin and sharp, like a spine cracking.
Everyone went silent.
Riya whispered, "Tell me that was the wind."
"There is no wind," Arjun said.
His voice wasn't mocking this time. Just quiet. Focused.
The professor entered a moment later, breaking the tension with her loud stack of books.
"Welcome, students. Let's begin."
But the uneasy air clung to the rafters long after she started speaking. Like something had entered the room along with her, but hadn't taken a seat.
Sona kept glancing at the door.
Arjun kept glancing at her.
And somewhere outside, beyond the windows, someone watched all of them with the patience of a serpent. Like the distance between strangers and friends was just a thread.
A thread waiting to snap.
The sun climbed higher by the time their first lecture ended, washing the corridor in a soft golden glow that made everything look too peaceful for the truth simmering beneath it. Students spilled out of classrooms, buzzing with new friendships, new crushes, new reasons to procrastinate.
Sona walked beside Arjun and Kabir, Riya trailing behind with her notebook hugged to her chest like a shield against the world.
Kabir whined dramatically, "Law school is not for humans. This is manufactured torture."
Riya rolled her eyes. "You say that about brushing your teeth also."
"That's beside the point."
Sona snorted. "You two sound like a married couple."
Kabir gasped. "At least let me deny it properly!"
Arjun just walked quietly, hands shoved in his pockets, listening to their stupid banter with a faint smile that he pretended wasn't there. But even devils can get softer around loved ones.
The four of them settled under the banyan tree near the canteen. The air smelled like samosas, ink, and youth. Kabir launched into some story about his old school prank, waving his hands like a deranged storyteller.
Sona laughed. Not a polite laugh. A genuine one, the kind that tugged the corner of her eyes and softened her voice for a moment.
Arjun watched her from the corner of his eye, like he wasn't allowed to look directly but couldn't look away either.
"You're weirdly quiet," Sona said, nudging Arjun lightly with her knee.
Arjun blinked, caught off guard. "Just listening."
"You look like you're remembering something."
He shrugged. "Maybe I am."
Riya sipped her iced coffee. "Same. I don't know why but you two look like… déjà vu."
Kabir nodded wisely. "Yeah, like you're people who were supposed to meet."
Sona groaned. "Not this soulmate nonsense."
Arjun chuckled. "Relax. Nobody said soulmate. Just… familiar."
That word fell between them like a pebble in a quiet lake. Soft impact. Lasting ripples.
They didn't talk about it.
They didn't need to.
The afternoon stretched, warm and lazy. Sona and Arjun argued about which judge was the most dramatic. Kabir jumped in and got roasted. Riya doodled little flowers in her notebook and pretended she didn't see the ridiculous chemistry forming in front of her.
For a moment, life felt normal.
But normal was a paper-thin illusion. For them atleast.
When Sona went to her locker before the next class, the hallway was empty, quiet enough that each footstep sounded like a secret being spilled. She spun her lock combination and opened the metal door.
Something slid out.
A single black rose. Dark as midnight, tied with a thin ribbon. Fresh. Cold. Familiar.
Not bought. Chosen.
Sona froze. Her breath caught somewhere between her ribs.
"What the…" She picked it up slowly, fingers brushing the petals. They were soft, almost too soft, like they'd been kept safe… protected… before ending up here.
She looked around. No one. But the quiet felt heavy, like a held breath.
He was back. Her stalker. She shut the thought as soon as it came.
She tucked the rose into her bag and shut the locker firmly.
No panic.
No overthinking.
Just… ignoring it like she ignored most of her problems.
A few corridors away, Arjun stood in the library aisle, flipping through a dusty poetry book he absolutely did not intend to study.
He froze when he saw a folded paper tucked neatly between the pages with dark chocolate scent and lipstick mark on it.
Someone had written a couplet in looping, elegant familiar handwriting.
If fate ever tears you away,
I'll tear the world apart just to find your shadow again.
Arjun stared at the handwriting a beat too long.
He'd seen it before.
Somewhere in a place memory couldn't reach.
Somewhere he shouldn't remember.
He folded the page carefully and slipped it into his pocket, jaw tightening.
She was back . His stalker. The thought came he osuhed ur away as quickly. No she couldn't. Not here. Not again.
None of them said a word about what they found.
By evening, as the canteen lights flickered on and students rushed around in chatter and laughter, Sona's phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
No name.
Just one line:
Stay away from them.
She locked her phone.
Shoved it into her pocket.
Treated it like spam or an ex who doesn't understand boundaries.
Riya appeared beside her. "Ready to head to hostel?"
Sona nodded casually. "Yeah. Long day."
Arjun and Kabir waved from a distance, heading toward the boys' hostel, silhouettes stretched by the setting sun.
Everything looked peaceful.
Everything felt almost right.
But behind that paper-thin calm, invisible threads were tightening.
Threads woven by hands none of them had truly seen.
Hands that had never stopped watching, wanting, claiming.
And friendship, no matter how soft, was just the first layer.
The walls around them were made of paper.
And someone was already pressing their fingers against the other side.