The next few days passed almost the same.
Class.
Notes.
Homework.
Silence.
And irritation.
Especially during mathematics lectures.
Anaya had stopped trying to ask questions completely.
There was no point anyway.
Whenever she raised her hand,
Aarav either ignored it
or continued teaching as though he had not heard anything at all.
At first,
it had embarrassed her.
Now,
it only annoyed her.
At least that was what she kept telling herself.
That morning,
a physics test had already ruined everyone's mood.
Students looked exhausted while discussing formulas nervously before class began.
"I'm definitely failing."
Alisha dropped dramatically onto the bench beside Anaya.
"You say that before every test."
"Because it's true every time."
"It wasn't true last time."
"That was luck."
Anaya smiled faintly despite herself and reopened her physics notebook.
Derivations filled nearly every page in messy handwriting.
Most of the notes were self-made.
No tuition.
No guidance.
Just hours of sitting alone and understanding things somehow.
Even then,
half the concepts still confused her.
"Still studying?"
Alisha looked surprised.
"The test is already over."
"I know."
"Then why?"
Anaya shrugged lightly.
"If I leave it now, I'll forget everything tomorrow."
Before Alisha could answer,
the classroom suddenly quieted.
Aarav had entered.
Instantly,
Anaya lowered her eyes toward the notebook again.
Not consciously.
It simply happened.
The lecture started immediately.
Today's topic was difficult,
and within fifteen minutes,
most of the class already looked lost.
Aarav continued explaining calmly across the board.
Questions.
Formulas.
Solutions.
Everything moved too fast.
Anaya tried keeping up sincerely,
but one important step disappeared from her understanding again.
Her grip tightened around the pen slowly.
For a moment,
she almost raised her hand.
Then stopped herself.
No.
She would manage herself later.
Halfway through class,
Aarav suddenly began checking homework notebooks one by one.
The room immediately became tense.
Some students hurriedly completed unfinished work while others exchanged worried looks.
When Aarav reached Anaya's desk,
his eyes briefly moved across the notebook pages.
Only for a second.
Then—
"Step three is wrong."
His voice remained calm.
Anaya looked down quickly.
"It gives the correct answer."
"The method is still wrong."
Without another word,
he moved to the next bench.
That was all.
Yet somehow,
her mood became irritated instantly.
Because technically,
he was right.
The answer had come correctly,
but one step truly was incorrect.
Still—
why did it bother her this much?
The rest of the lecture became difficult to focus on.
Not because of studies.
Because her mind kept replaying that same sentence repeatedly.
"Step three is wrong."
Such a small thing.
Then why did it remain stuck inside her head?
After class ended,
students gathered around Aarav with doubts again.
Chemistry practical discussions replaced mathematics immediately.
Someone asked about internal marks.
Someone about assignments.
Anaya quietly packed her bag without looking up.
That was easier.
She preferred understanding things herself anyway.
Even if it took longer.
The entire evening became exhausting.
A small family gathering had filled the house with noise and conversations.
Relatives laughed loudly in the living room while children ran around carelessly.
Normally,
Anaya would have sat quietly with everyone.
But today—
something felt strange.
She could not sit in one place properly.
After five minutes,
she stood up.
Walked toward the balcony.
Returned again.
Then stood near the doorway silently for no reason.
Her younger sister noticed almost immediately.
"What happened to you?"
"Nothing."
"You've been walking around continuously."
"I'm fine."
But even while answering,
Anaya realized she was not fine at all.
Something restless had settled inside her chest since morning.
A strange incompleteness she could not explain.
Later at night,
she tried distracting herself with chemistry notes.
Acids.
Reactions.
Equations.
None of it entered her mind properly.
Again and again,
her thoughts wandered somewhere else.
Back toward the classroom.
The cold silence.
The ignored questions.
The sharp voice.
Anaya suddenly closed the notebook in frustration.
Why was she even thinking about all this?
It made no sense.
She disliked him.
Then why did his presence affect her mood so much?
The thought itself irritated her instantly.
A few minutes later,
her younger sister entered the room quietly.
"You're still awake?"
"Hm."
"What are you thinking about so seriously these days?"
"Nothing serious."
"Liar."
Anaya almost smiled faintly.
Then after a small silence,
she spoke absentmindedly.
"There's this teacher…"
"The strict one?"
"How do you know he's strict?"
"You complain about him every day."
Anaya looked down at the chemistry notebook quietly.
"He's strange."
"How?"
"He notices every small mistake."
"Then study properly."
"That's not the point."
"Then what is the point?"
Anaya opened her mouth to answer—
but stopped.
Because suddenly,
she realized something uncomfortable.
The entire day,
without understanding why,
she had been thinking about him repeatedly.
Not happily.
Not romantically.
Just constantly.
And somehow—
that frightened her more than anything else.