Realisation

Reyansh's PoV

The next day, we had our English class scheduled mid-afternoon. I was already done with the entire day and honestly didn’t even want to step inside the classroom.

But I was curious.

Curious about one particular tutor of mine who had occupied my thoughts for the last twelve hours.

I entered the class at the last minute, raking my eyes across the room, and that’s when I saw her.

Sitting at her usual seat.

Head bent down, eyes fixed on the book in front of her, earphones plugged in.

Everything looked normal.

She was quiet — her usual personality — but something still felt off. Her posture seemed too stiff, her movements too controlled, and her eyes refused to look up even once.

She was clearly ignoring my presence.

Did that session really mean so much to her?

I don’t even know how long she waited for me there.

Not like I was expecting her to smile at me like other girls usually did, but she could at least acknowledge me.

Did you acknowledge her efforts yesterday, sir? my conscience mocked me.

Okay, I get it. I started it, but—

Keep quiet, Reyansh. You started this, so now bear with it.

Before I could shut my conscience up, Mr. Mehra entered the class.

I was just about to head toward my usual seat — the last bench, obviously — when his voice stopped me.

“Reyansh. Not the last bench. From now onwards, you’re going to sit with Ananya.”

The entire class fell silent for a second.

And then came the whispers.

I frowned. “You’re kidding.”

Mr. Mehra looked up from the attendance sheet. “Do I look like I’m joking, Reyansh?”

A few people laughed under their breath.

Fantastic.

Instinctively, my gaze shifted toward Ananya.

Nothing.

No reaction.
No protest.
She didn’t even look at me.

She simply continued writing in her notebook as if none of this concerned her.

For some reason, that irritated me more than it should have.

Usually, she always had something to say.

But today?

Nothing.

“Go sit,” Mr. Mehra repeated.

Suppressing a sigh, I grabbed my bag and walked toward the front bench.

Even then, she didn’t look up.

Not once.

I dropped into the seat beside her a little louder than necessary, hoping for at least some reaction.

Still nothing.

Her eyes stayed fixed on the page in front of her, pen moving steadily, expression unreadable.

Right.

So this was how she was going to play it.

I leaned back in my chair, jaw tightening slightly.

Not like I cared.

And yet, somehow, her silence felt worse than if she had yelled at me.

Throughout the entire lecture, I kept doing something or the other to irritate her.

Tapping my pen against the desk.
Shuffling my bag loudly.
Leaning back in my chair enough for it to creak.

I even called out her name once under my breath.

Nothing.

Not a single glance.

It was honestly ridiculous how determined she was to ignore me.

Once the professor finally left the classroom, I decided to talk to her.

But this woman was already hurriedly packing her bag like she had a train to catch.

“Ananya,” I called out.

No response.

“Hey, listen to me.”

Still nothing.

“Can you stop whatever you’re doing for one second?”

Not even a reaction.

Just as she was about to walk past me, I caught her wrist.

That finally got me a response.

Her eyes immediately dropped to my hand around her wrist before slowly lifting to my face.

And that’s when I realised what I had done.

I released her instantly.

She took a small step back almost immediately, creating a careful distance between us.

“What is it, Mr. Malhotra?” she asked.

Her voice was calm.
Too calm.

“You’ve been ignoring me.”

“Have I?” she replied smoothly.

The calmness in her tone threw me off for a second.

I frowned. “You didn’t even look at me once during class.”

“And?”

I stared at her. “That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say?”

She zipped her bag shut before finally meeting my eyes properly.

“We’re not friends, Mr. Malhotra. I don’t see why this concerns you so much.”

Ouch.

Something about hearing my own words thrown back at me didn’t sit right.

I let out a short laugh. “Wow. So now we’re doing this?”

“I don’t know what ‘this’ is,” she replied calmly. “But if you’re done, I have somewhere to be.”

Again with that calm voice.

No anger.
No irritation.
Nothing.

It was like talking to a wall.

And weirdly enough, I preferred the annoyed version of her more.

Just as she tried walking past me, I moved slightly in front of her without thinking.

“Okay, fine,” I said. “I missed one session. Why are you acting like I committed a crime?”

For the first time, her expression shifted ever so slightly.

Not anger.
Not hurt.

Disbelief.

Then she smiled.

Not a real smile.

One of those painfully polite ones that somehow felt worse.

“You’re right,” she said softly. “It’s not that serious.”

Something about the way she said it made my chest tighten.

Because it clearly was serious to her.

She stepped around me this time, and unlike before, I didn’t stop her.

I just stood there watching her walk away, her grip tightening slightly around the strap of her bag.

And for some reason, I suddenly had the feeling that fixing this wasn’t going to be as easy as annoying her into talking to me again.

Chapter Aesthetic

What do you guys think, is she going to continue tutoring him or.......?

Also, do let me know how you feel about the book till now.