Chapter 3:The Rain Between Us
The shift happened on a rainy Tuesday.
Aryan stopped scrolling. The screen went black, reflecting his hollow eyes. He pulled a crumpled notebook from his bag—his unfiltered self, with frayed edges and ink-stained pages.
He wrote: I am afraid of being alone, but I am more afraid of being seen.
When the final bell rang, the rain turned the parking lot into a sea of grey. Aryan stood under the gym overhang, clutching his notebook.
"You're going to miss the bus, Aryan," Meera said, standing beside him.
"I like the rain," Aryan said, his voice rusty. "Sometimes I feel like I'm looking at everyone through a storefront window. I'm afraid if I break it, the shards will cut everyone else."
Meera looked at him with exhausted, knowing eyes.
"The glass isn't there to keep them out, Aryan. It's there because you think you're a storm that'll ruin their living room."
Aryan stepped into the mud and held out his notebook. The rain began to bleed the ink of his secret sentence.
Meera touched the damp page.
"I have a notebook too," she whispered. "But mine is hidden."