The past didn't begin with something dramatic.
No grand moment.
No perfect timing.
It started with boredom.
Lockdown had turned days into something meaningless.
Wake up.
Online classes.
Scroll.
Sleep.
Repeat.
Aarav sat in front of his laptop, half-listening to a lecture he didn't care about.
His phone buzzed.
A message from a friend:
"Bro try Omegle. Timepass max."
Aarav smirked.
"Why not."
A few minutes later—
he was on the site.
Talk to strangers.
He typed one word:
anime
And clicked.
Connecting…
Stranger disconnected.
Again.
Disconnected.
Again.
"Yeah, this was a bad idea," he muttered.
He was about to close it—
when a new chat appeared.
Stranger: hi
You: hi
Stranger: do you watch anime?
You: yeah. mostly to avoid reality
Stranger: same 😭
Stranger: what are you watching now?
You: rewatching aot
Stranger: AGAIN??
You: don't judge
Stranger: i'm judging very hard right now
You: okay what about you then
Stranger: demon slayer
You: acceptable
Stranger: wow thank you for your approval sir
You: so how many times have you rewatched it
Stranger: enough to know i need help
You: relatable
Stranger: what do you even do all day in lockdown
You: survive
Stranger: very detailed answer
You: thank you i worked hard on it
Stranger: clearly
You: what about you
Stranger: i paint sometimes
You: that's unexpectedly cool
Stranger: unexpectedly??
You: you give chaotic energy
Stranger: I AM chaotic
You: what about you
You: music. gaming. overthinking
Stranger: overthinking?
You: yeah. it's my main talent
Stranger: same
Minutes turned into an hour.
It didn't feel like talking to a stranger anymore.
"You're the first normal person I've met here."
"same. everyone else is weird"
"EXACTLY 😭"
"hey… if we disconnect, we won't find each other again right?"
"yeah"
"then… do you wanna talk somewhere else?"
"sure. instagram?"
"yeah"
She sent her username.
He sent his.
"followed"
Aarav opened Instagram.
Her profile appeared.
Messy hair.
A soft smile.
A bookshelf behind her.
He didn't know her name yet.
But he followed.
That night—
they texted again.
And again.
And again.
And without realizing it—
something had already begun.