For days, Riya carried a thought she couldn't ignore.
She had promised herself she would never leave this feeling behind.
But a small part of her wondered something else.
What if he knew?
Not fully. Not a big confession. Just… a small hint.
One afternoon during class, when most students were busy talking and the teacher hadn't arrived yet, Riya quietly took out a tiny piece of paper from her notebook.
Her heart was beating loudly.
With slightly trembling fingers, she wrote just four words.
"I love you, Lakshith."
She stared at the words for a long moment.
Then she folded the paper quickly.
Lakshith's bag was hanging
on the side of his desk.
When no one was looking, Riya walked past it and slipped the small paper into the first zip of his bag.
After that, she returned to her seat as if nothing had happened.
Her hands felt cold.
Minutes passed.
Then Lakshith suddenly began searching inside his bag.
"I kept it here somewhere…" he muttered.
As he opened the front zip, the small folded paper fell into his hand.
Without thinking much, he was about to throw it away.
Riya's heart jumped.
"Look at it first," she said quickly. "Then throw it."
Lakshith frowned slightly but opened the paper anyway.
The moment he read it, his expression changed.
His eyes widened in shock.
"What is it?" one of his friends asked, leaning closer.
Lakshith silently showed him the paper.
Within seconds, the news spread across the classroom.
"Ooooo!" several students shouted teasingly.
"Who wrote that?"
"Lakshith has a secret admirer!"
The noise grew louder and louder.
Riya sat frozen in her seat.
She hadn't expected things to escalate like this.
Lakshith's face turned red with embarrassment.
His friends kept teasing him, laughing and grabbing the paper from his hands.
And then something unexpected happened.
Lakshith's eyes filled with tears.
He started crying.
Riya felt her chest tighten painfully.
She had seen Lakshith laugh, argue, and tease people countless times.
But she had never seen him cry before.
And today… he was crying because of something she had done.
The class representative stood up angrily.
"Who wrote this?" they demanded.
"This isn't funny!"
No one answered.
In frustration, Lakshith suddenly grabbed the paper, tore it into small pieces, and threw them into the dustbin.
At that moment, the teacher entered the classroom.
Seeing the noisy situation, the teacher immediately warned everyone to stop creating unnecessary drama.
Slowly, the classroom
became quiet again.
Riya stared at the desk in front of her.
Her heart felt heavy.
For a moment, she wanted to stand up and say it.
I wrote it.
She wanted to stop the teasing. She wanted to protect him.
But another thought stopped her.
If she confessed now… everything would change.
She wouldn't be able to talk to him normally anymore.
They wouldn't walk together after school like before.
Their small arguments and conversations would disappear.
So Riya stayed silent.
That day, she made another decision—one that would change everything.
I will never confess my love again.
Not until their school life ended.
Even if her feelings grew stronger… even if it hurt.
Because the sight of Lakshith crying was something she never wanted to cause again.
For her nothing his more
important than him.