Rheas Pov
Samar: Attendance check. Who's alive?
Neel: Physically yes. Academically no.
Yuhan: Mentally recovering.
Kabir: I regret this already.
Me: You joined. That's on you.
Samar: Rhea talking like she wasn't laughing the most today.
Me: Lies and defamation.
Neel: Screenshot taken.
Then Samar changed the group icon to a blurry photo of Neel eating pani puri.
Neel: DELETE THAT.
Samar: Evidence stays.
Conversation drifted. Chaos settled.
Me: Tomorrow's surprise test should be illegal.
Kabir: Agreed. Cruel and unusual punishment.
Yuhan: We still did okay.
Samar: Speak for yourself, topper gang.
I replied without thinking—
Me: Kabir literally carried the class on his back.
Seen by Kabir.
Seen by Yuhan.
Seen by everyone.
Silence.
Then—
Samar: 👀
Neel: Awwww.
Yuhan: Interesting observation.
Kabir: …It was a group effort.
My phone felt hot.
Me: I meant academically.
Samar: Sure you did.
Neel: Academically carried. Got it.
Trying to escape, I typed—
Me: Yuhan explained the answers really well too.
WHY AM I LIKE THIS?
Samar: Rhea appreciating people? Who are you and what have you done with her?
Neel: This chat feels romantic suddenly.
Yuhan: 😐
Kabir typed. Deleted. Typed again.
Kabir: Let's all calm down.
Which obviously made it worse.
Samar: Kabir being calm = confirmation.
Neel: I ship this chaos.
Me: YOU PEOPLE ARE DELUSIONAL.
Yuhan: Screenshot this moment. She's panicking.
I threw my phone on the bed.
Ping.
Samar changed the group name to:
"Caught Teasing Club"
I screamed into my pillow.
Somewhere on the other side of the screen,
I knew—
They were all smiling.
Most wanted Kabir's pov about this
Kabir's pov
I shouldn't have opened the chat.
I knew that.
Yet there I was, staring at the screen as Samar renamed the group something ridiculous and Neel immediately started instigating like it was his life purpose.
Samar: Attendance check.
Neel: Academically dead.
Rhea: You joined. That's on you.
I smirked.
She always says things like that—casual, sharp, effortless.
Then she typed it.
"Kabir literally carried the class on his back."
I read it once.
Twice.
And then did the worst thing possible—
I stayed quiet.
Because if I replied normally, it'd look obvious.
If I joked, it'd look suspicious.
If I ignored it, Samar would smell blood.
Seen by Yuhan.
Seen by Samar.
Seen by Neel.
I could practically hear them leaning closer to their screens.
Samar: 👀
Neel: Awwww.
Of course.
I typed a response. Deleted it. Typed again.
Finally:
"It was a group effort."
Safe. Neutral. Boring.
Still—
Too late.
Then Rhea did it again.
"Yuhan explained the answers really well too."
I sighed.
Not because of jealousy—
Because she had zero sense of self-preservation.
Samar went feral.
Samar: Rhea appreciating people???
Neel: Romantic vibes detected.
I could picture Rhea panicking on the other side of the screen. That made me smile. Just a little.
I typed again.
Deleted.
Typed again.
"Let's all calm down."
Worst possible sentence.
Instant confirmation bias.
Samar: Kabir being calm = confirmation.
Neel: I ship this chaos.
I locked my phone.
Didn't even try to defend it.
Because the truth was—
I had noticed.
Her laugh earlier.
The way she typed without thinking.
The way it all suddenly felt… louder.
And maybe—
Just maybe—
Being caught teasing wasn't the worst thing after all.