Morning classes had always felt boring to Anaya.
But strangely,
that morning felt different.
Not better.
Just… restless.
She reached school earlier than usual and quietly sat near the window, trying to revise her notes before class started.
The classroom buzzed with noise around her.
But her mind kept drifting somewhere else.
Or rather…
toward someone else.
"You're unusually early today."
Anaya looked up immediately.
Alisha dropped into the seat beside her with a teasing smile.
"That strict teacher scared you already?"
Anaya frowned instantly.
"Please. He's just annoying."
Alisha laughed softly.
"Still… he notices you a lot."
The words disturbed her more than they should have.
"He targets me. That's different."
"Hmm," Alisha hummed knowingly.
"Maybe."
Before Anaya could respond,
the classroom suddenly became quieter.
Without realizing it,
her eyes moved toward the door first.
Aarav had entered.
White shirt again.
Same calm expression.
Same cold eyes.
And somehow,
the strange restlessness inside her chest returned immediately.
Annoying.
Very annoying.
The lecture started normally.
Or at least,
it looked normal from outside.
But Anaya noticed something strange.
Every time she accidentally looked toward Aarav,
she found his attention already somewhere near her side of the classroom.
Not directly staring.
Just…
aware.
As though he always knew what she was doing.
It irritated her deeply.
Why did he notice everything?
Halfway through the lecture,
Aarav began checking notebooks.
Students passed them forward row by row.
Anaya suddenly froze.
Her notebook.
Her eyes widened slightly.
Last night, because of her strange restless mood,
she had forgotten to complete half the work.
Wonderful.
Absolutely wonderful.
She lowered her head slightly as Aarav checked each notebook one by one.
Then finally,
he stopped near her desk.
Silence.
Anaya looked away immediately.
A few seconds passed.
Then his calm voice came.
"Incomplete."
Heat rushed to her face instantly.
"I—I'll complete it today."
"That wasn't the instruction."
His tone remained perfectly calm.
And somehow,
that calmness always made things worse.
"You will rewrite the entire chapter."
The classroom became quiet again.
Someone at the back actually whispered,
"Again?"
Anaya clenched her jaw.
Seriously?
Rewrite the entire chapter over a few incomplete pages?
Meanwhile Alisha's notebook had mistakes too,
yet Aarav had simply corrected them quietly.
The unfairness irritated her badly.
After class ended,
students immediately gathered around Aarav asking doubts.
Anaya quickly packed her bag,
clearly annoyed.
"Khadoos…"
The word escaped under her breath before she realized it.
Very softly.
But unfortunately—
Aarav heard it.
Because when she looked up,
his eyes were already on her.
For one brief second,
something shifted in his expression.
Not anger.
Not surprise.
Almost like hidden amusement.
But it disappeared so quickly
that she wondered if she imagined it.
"Did you say something, Anaya?"
His voice remained calm.
Her heartbeat instantly became uneven.
"No."
"Then focus on your rewritten notes instead of unnecessary comments."
A few students laughed quietly.
Anaya grabbed her notebook immediately and walked away before her embarrassment could become visible.
The entire day,
her mood remained irritated.
But beneath the irritation,
another feeling quietly existed.
That moment.
The way he had looked at her after hearing "Khadoos."
Why was she thinking about it repeatedly?
It was stupid.
Completely stupid.
At home,
she threw her bag onto the bed and sat down heavily.
But after only two minutes,
she stood up again.
Then sat down.
Then walked toward the balcony.
Again.
Restlessness.
That strange unbearable restlessness had returned.
And this time,
it felt even worse.
Her younger sister entered the room while eating chips.
"You're doing that again."
"Doing what?"
"Walking around like someone stole your peace."
Anaya frowned immediately.
"No one stole anything."
"Hm."
Her sister sat cross-legged on the bed dramatically.
"Then why do you look like this?"
Anaya stayed quiet.
Because honestly—
she did not know.
Later that night,
she finally opened the notebook Aarav had told her to rewrite.
At first she wrote angrily.
Pressing the pen harder than necessary.
But slowly…
her mind became calmer.
And without realizing it,
she started remembering his lecture while writing.
The exact way he explained things.
The pauses in his voice.
The way he corrected mistakes.
Everything replayed clearly inside her head.
As though her mind had memorized him without permission.
Suddenly,
Anaya stopped writing.
Her fingers tightened around the pen slowly.
Then a strange thought entered her mind.
If he truly disliked her…
then why did his attention remain on her all the time?
The thought frightened her immediately. Suddenly,Anaya stopped writing.
Her fingers tightened slowly around the pen.
Why was she even thinking about him this much?
It made no sense.
He irritated her.
Ignored her.
Made her feel invisible.
Then why did every small thing connected to him remain inside her mind for so long?
Anaya closed the notebook abruptly and stood up from the table.
No.
She did not want to think about this anymore.
But even while walking away,
that strange restlessness inside her chest remained exactly the same.
And for some reason—
that frightened her.