tenth episode
479 Words
Mahira.
The girl who was sweet, pretty, cheerful — the kind everyone adored easily.
The girl who talked to Aimal openly.
The girl who once tied his ID card lace because it was loose — a small act, but Zarnab had noticed… quietly, painfully.
Zarnab swallowed.
Her lips tried to curl into a smile that wasn’t really a smile.
“That’s… nice for him,” she said softly.
“You’re okay?” Laiba asked, already knowing the answer.
“Why wouldn’t I be? It’s his choice.”
But inside her chest, the truth was spreading like a slow, dull ache.
She didn’t ask how Laiba knew. She didn’t want details.
But life has its own cruel timing.
Just when she tried to distract herself, someone called from the next table:
“Aimal! Bro, tell us openly—you really like Mahira or not?”
Zarnab froze.
Aimal had just entered the library with two friends.
He stopped, embarrassed, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Yaar keep your voice low,” he muttered.
“So it’s true?” his friend teased.
Aimal didn’t deny it.
He just looked down… but he smiled — that shy, soft smile Zarnab had secretly memorized a hundred times.
That smile wasn’t for her.
Never was.
And that was enough.
Zarnab lowered her head instantly so no one could read her face. She forced her expression to stay blank, but her chest felt tight — really tight — as if someone squeezed her heart from inside.
Laiba touched her arm gently.
“Zarnab…”
Zarnab shook her head.
“I’m fine,” she whispered, even though her voice trembled for the first time.
She gathered her books carefully, like she was afraid they would hear her heartbreak, and stood up.
“Where are you going?” Laiba asked softly.
“I… forgot something in class,” she replied.
A lie.
But she needed to get out.
She needed air.
She needed a moment where no one saw her breaking.
As she walked past Aimal’s table, she didn’t look at him.
Not even once.
But Aimal glanced up.
He saw her leaving quickly, her steps faster than usual.
For a second, he frowned — as if wondering why she looked upset, why she didn’t say hi, why her silence suddenly felt different.
But he didn’t know.
He didn’t know her heart had shattered quietly.
He didn’t know the secret she had hidden for so long.
He didn’t know that with one truth, her entire silent world had collapsed.
Outside the library, Zarnab finally stopped.
She let out a shaky breath and whispered to herself:
“So this is how it feels… when the love you never confessed breaks you anyway.”
She wasn’t angry.
She wasn’t jealous.
Just… hurt.
A deep, private wound.
Her hidden love had always been silent.
Now her heartbreak was too.
- Writer
