INVISIBLE STRINGS // SARAJ

Rajat stormed into his room, slamming the door shut with a little more force than he intended. The sound echoed in the silence of the house, but he didn't care. He was still fuming from the argument with Savi. He kicked the side table near his bed in frustration, wincing when the sharp edge jabbed into his toe. The pain distracted him momentarily, but only made him angrier.

He flopped down onto his bed, sitting there with his elbows on his knees, head hanging low. He ran his hands through his hair, tugging at the ends as he tried to make sense of everything. It all felt so messed up. Why couldn't she see his side for once? Why did she always have to question everything, analyze every detail? He hated having serious fights with Savi—arguments were one thing, but this? This felt like something had broken between them, and he wasn't sure if he could fix it this time.

"She just doesn't understand," he muttered to himself, clenching his jaw. "She's too skeptical about everything."

Aashka had slowly crept into his life, and he started to find himself believing her. She had been very kind to him and seemed to really listen to what he had to say, she also seemed like the type of girl his family would like.

"No you're going ahead of yourself" Rajat shook his head, "She's a friend"

Logically on paper, she seemed to be perfect but then Savi's face flashed before him and everything felt bleak in comparison. 

He glanced over at his phone on the bed beside him, the screen lighting up with two unread messages from Aashka. He stared at them for a moment, the notifications taunting him, but he couldn't bring himself to open them. 

Not now. 

Not after everything that had happened today. With a frustrated huff, he tossed his phone aside and headed to the bathroom for a shower, hoping the hot water would help clear his mind.

The water pounded against his back, and he let his head drop forward, closing his eyes as he tried to wash away the lingering anger. He thought about Savi's face, the hurt in her eyes, and he felt a pang of guilt twist in his chest. He hated seeing her like that. But at the same time, he couldn't help feeling that she was being unfair, that she was too quick to distrust Aashka, too quick to dismiss his perspective.

Maybe he was the one being naive, but he just wanted to believe in something good for once, without questioning it to pieces.

Later that night, Rajat sat at his desk, hunched over his laptop as he typed away, finishing up his assignments. He glanced at the stack of papers beside him and noticed a familiar worksheet peeking out from under his own. It was Savi's, her messy handwriting scribbled across the top.

He felt a smile tug at his lips as a memory flashed through his mind—a moment from a few weeks ago in the library. He had been minding his business in the library, catching up on some reading for the past three hours, and time did seem to have slowed down from the past hour and that's just when she made an entrance. Dropping down into the seat next to him, dumping a small stack of papers onto his side of the table.

"Can you finish these for me?" she asked casually, like it was the most natural request in the world, which it was as she had gotten into a habit of bullying him into doing her work for her. 

Rajat raised an eyebrow, peering over the rim of his glasses at her. "Savi, these are your assignments! And what is this, psychology? I thought you wanted to be an IAS officer"

She gave him her best innocent smile. "They're just credit fillers. And bas aise hi IAS nahi bante, degree bhi hona padte hai lekin yeh argument hum baad mein karenge please Rajat? I have to go meet Priya, and I promised her I'd help her with her project. I'll owe you one."