Is this Fate?

Chapter no 2

The teacher started talking, something about cell membranes or muscle tissues—I wasn’t really sure. I nodded along, pen in hand, trying to look busy. But my focus? Gone. Completely hijacked by Roll no. 27 sitting somewhere behind me.

I didn’t turn around.

I wanted to.

But I didn’t.

Because that would be obvious.

And girls like me—we don’t do “obvious.”

So I stared at my notebook instead.

Pretended to take notes.

Wrote “plasma membrane” three times just to seem focused.

But in my head?

I was guessing what kind of handwriting he had.

If he actually paid attention or just stared at the clock till class ended.

If he even remembered saying “Roll no. 27” like that or if it was just a throwaway line for him.

For me, it wasn’t.

Every now and then, I heard his voice—low, calm, when the teacher asked him something. His answers were short, but sharp. He didn’t over-explain. Didn’t mumble either. Just enough to prove he knew the answer, and didn’t care to impress anyone with it.

That annoyed me.

A little.

Maybe because it worked.

I caught myself tapping my pen too hard on the desk and forced myself to stop.

I needed to focus. On the chapter. On the notes. On anything but him.

But then someone from the back row laughed at something, and I swear—his laugh was in there. Not loud. Not fake. Just this soft, short chuckle that disappeared too quickly.

I didn’t even know what was funny.

But I smiled.

Quietly. Like a reflex. Like a glitch in my face.

Great. Now I was smiling at things that weren’t even about me.

I didn’t know his name.

I didn’t know if he even knew I existed.

But I knew his roll number.

And maybe for today, that was enough.