Arya's POV

I was getting ready for the college in front of the mirror. And yesterday's memories were playing in my mind like an old cassette. The nightmare that made me horrified was still the reason of the erect goosebumps jewelled on my skin. I gulped and took a deep breath trying to erase the memories of the nightmare. And I looked at myself in the mirror.

And with a lot of courage, I tried to smile. I tried to turn the corners of my lips into a curve but it was a lot harder than I thought. My lips were curved as a smile but my eyes were devoid of any emotions.

Only sorrow was reflecting from my eyes and nothing else. But I wanted to smile, I wanted to have a real smile so I could overcome my fears. I fiddled with my fingers and forced myself to smile more. But all my tries were fruitless and I was becoming anxious

Then, I stopped and calmed myself taking deep breathes. “It’s ok Arya, You can do it, You can smile.” I comforted myself. “Why I am not able to smile? I smiled yesterday. There’s something wrong I am doing.” I thought to myself.

“Yesterday, when I smiled I came from Riyansh Sir's house. And I was feeling happy after coming from his house. Then why I am having a difficulty now?” I focussed more deeply. “Oh yes! How can I be so stupid? I am having a fake smile. Because I am not happy right now.” I figured out.

“I have to do something to make myself happy.” I thought when my phone chirped with a notification. I looked at it and it was a good morning message from Riyansh Sir with a grinning emoji. I replied him with a good morning with poker faced emoji just to annoy him.

And he quickly texted me back, “Arya, at least smile in the messages, Would you?” with a sad emoji, and I smiled at his response.

That was when, my eyes fled to the mirror themselves and I noticed I was smiling. For few seconds I just saw myself in the mirror. And the face of Riyansh Sir came in my mind slowly. “It’s him.” I said to myself.

“He is the reason for my smile. Whenever I am with him I feel good, safe, protected and respected. He's really my guardian angel who heals me with his magic. His beautiful smile is the reason I believe I can smile too. It’s always been him but I have never realised.” I concluded to myself, remembering him.

I smiled again proudly and this time I was feeling confidence painting my eyes with beauty. My eyes were no more a blank void. They were brimming with a newly found courage.

“Riyansh Sir is the reason I got the desire to be freed from my fears and he will be the person to help me in getting freedom from my fears too. Now, I know what to do.” I motivated myself with passion burning inside my heart.

Riyansh's POV

I was busy tying my tie and thinking about Arya. That girl didn’t even smile in emoji. That made me somewhat annoyed. I wanted to see her smile. I recalled our yesterday's talk. Well, I was happy I messaged her back after she sent me “hmm”.

Though, as her personality was, her sending me that response won’t be strange. But still somehow, I felt uneasy. She was innocent and she was so secretive about her feelings too.

So it had always been hard for me to decipher her feelings. But, the more I came to know her, the more I realized that she was brave to carry so much burden and never let anyone know about it.

I wondered how many nights she must have cried alone thinking her feelings could burden others? I also wondered how many times she cried that her tears even washed her emotions from her eyes.

I wondered so many more questions. But, I did not want to think about them deeply because they make my heart felt like it was drowning in profound sorrow.

My tie was perfect and then I wiped my damped eyes gotten wet thinking about the ache of her precious heart.

Gradually, the day passed and I went to her classroom. Everyone greeted me and like always my eyes sneaked to her. And blinked in confusion when I looked at her. I saw her and she looked different than usual.

Usually, she concealed herself in the alone corner of the wall. And usually, she stayed very alarmed and ignored everyone. But  today she was standing straight so proudly, having an unknown brightness adorning her face. Her eyes were also not fearful of any accidental gaze today.

And I didn’t have any idea if this should put me in worry or make me happy. During the class I glanced at her for any sudden transformation in her expressions but they were the same.

“Something must be going inside the head of my little lioness.” I thought to myself.

But anyways, I tried to focus on teaching. Class ended and today she kept sitting on her seat instead of escaping the room sheepishly.

Everyone went out of the room. It was me and her only. She looked at me with determination and I looked at her in confusion.

“Are you alright Arya? I asked her leaning against my desk.

She blinked her eyes and came towards me making my heart bump in suspense. “Sir, I want to tell you.” She uttered looking in my eyes.

“What do you want to tell me?” I questioned her in confusion.

She took a deep breath and I could see her struggling to say her next words. “I want to tell you everything, Everything that I hid from everyone till now, Everything that dreaded me, Everything that makes me feel scared. Because, as you said, I wanna overcome my fears, Sir.” She spilled with sadness in her voice.

I cupped her cheeks by my one hand and asked looking kindly in her eyes, “Are you sure you want to tell me everything, you were afraid earlier?”

She touched my hand which was cupping her cheeks and assured me with determination, “Don’t worry, I am not afraid anymore, I trust you.”

“I trust you.” When I hear those words from her mouth, joy flourished in my chest and I smiled at her.

“Okay, then I am ready to hear everything you say.” I comforted her.

“Not here, Sir. I want to tell you everything somewhere else. Come with me.” She said and picked her bag.

Though I was confused at this but I thought perhaps she wanted a correct atmosphere to tell me everything . “Okay, I am coming." I answered following her after picking my things.

To be continued...

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇Author's Note◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

❖Sometimes it really hard to smile. Don't you think?

❖Point out the grammatical errors. And like always, constructive criticism is welcomed.

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Today's Song

🎺🎸Jaane Kyun-Vishal-Shekhar🎤🎧