The music still echoed in her ears.
Even hours after the festival ended, Aanya lay awake in bed, the ceiling spinning above her, the melody from that one song looping in her heart like a secret she didn't understand.
"Some hearts are waiting across lifetimes…"
Why did it feel like that song was written for her?
She turned restlessly, clutching her pillow, her eyes moist, her soul unsettled.
"How can I feel so much for someone I've never met?"
The question tore through her like a whisper she'd been avoiding for years.
She didn't have a name. She didn't have a face.
But she had a feeling. And that feeling felt older than her memories.
She sat up, pressed her hand to her chest, and closed her eyes.
A warmth pulsed beneath her ribs—gentle, familiar, yet utterly unknown.
She wasn't in love with Vedant.
She knew that now. Not fully.
What she felt that night…
It wasn't from this world.
The Next Morning
She walked into college like a shadow of herself.
The sky was overcast, her steps slow. The laughter around her felt distant, like background noise. She tried to blend in, tried to smile when Meher waved at her. But her heart wasn't in it.
She took her seat beside Vedant in the lecture hall.
"Hey," he said softly. "You alright?"
Aanya forced a smile. "Yeah. Just… tired."
But the truth was—she wasn't tired.
She was emotionally shaken, trying to understand something too big for words.
Her Mind That Day
She couldn't focus on the professor's voice, nor on the notes scribbled in her notebook.
All she could think about was that feeling.
That moment under the stars.
That song.
That ache.
She looked out the window, watching the wind stir the trees.
Something inside her whispered:
"He's real. You just haven't found him yet."
And suddenly, a wave of emotion rose in her chest.
Tears threatened to escape.
"Why are you in my heart?" she asked silently.
"Who are you? Why do I miss you like you were always mine?"
She gripped the edge of her desk to steady herself.
This wasn't normal.
It wasn't imagination.
It wasn't some teenage dream.
It was truth, coded into her soul.
Later, in the Cafeteria
Vedant sat across from her. Meher was talking animatedly about some assignment, but he wasn't listening.
He was watching Aanya.
She was there… but not really there. Her fingers played with her spoon, her eyes distant, lost in some other world.
After a pause, Vedant leaned forward. "Aanya?"
She blinked and looked up. "Hmm?"
"You're drifting," he said gently.
She gave a soft, tired smile. "I know."
And after a moment, she whispered, almost to herself:
"I think… a part of me belongs to someone I haven't met yet."
Vedant didn't respond. He just looked at her, eyes heavy with emotion he didn't know how to express.