Chapter 2 – The Samosa Alibi
"Proposal?!" Ekaksh nearly choked on thin air. "Library? Yesterday? Bro, I was literally—"
Raghav leaned forward, eyes sparkling. "Rejected in public, haan? Bhai, even Sharma canteen wale samose don't reject people, but Neha did."
The class roared. Neha pretended to look embarrassed, but her smile stretched wider than the blackboard. "I didn't want to say anything, but… yes, he did."
"Lies!" Ekaksh threw up his hands. "Pure lies! I wasn't even near the library! I was—"
Before he could finish, a calm voice cut through the noise.
"I saw him."
Everyone turned. It was Isha.
She didn't raise her tone, didn't look up dramatically. She just said it while adjusting her notebook. "I saw him eating samosa at the canteen. I was having lunch there too. If he had been at the library, I would've noticed."
Silence. For about two seconds. Then—
"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The class howled.
Tanya smirked first. "So you were watching him eat, haan?"
Raghav banged the desk like he was hosting a comedy show. "Not just watching—lunch date confirmed! Samosa lovers' paradise!"
"Ekaksh and Isha, sharing samosa, writing destiny!" someone from the back yelled.
"Arre, new couple unlocked: #EkSha!" shouted another.
Ekaksh froze. Isha blinked once, then calmly underlined her notes as if the whole room wasn't losing its mind.
"I didn't mean—" she tried.
"Bas bas bas, madam," Raghav grinned. "We all get it. You don't need to defend him so much unless… you know…" He wiggled his eyebrows.
Ekaksh pointed at Neha. "Wait! Why is no one grilling her for spreading fake news?!"
The class ignored him entirely. The ship had sailed, and it was EkSha.
By the time the bell rang, the rumor had transformed:
Period 3 → "Ekaksh proposed and got rejected."
Period 5 → "Actually, Ekaksh and Isha were eating samosa together."
By the end of the day → "They've been secretly dating for months, confirmed by Tanya's cousin's brother's dog walker."
Ekaksh slumped back on his bench. "One minute I'm a rejected romeo, next minute I'm half of a power couple. How does this school even work?"
Beside him, Isha closed her notebook neatly, stood up, and said with a small smile, "Maybe you should stop eating samosas so publicly."
And walked away.
Leaving Ekaksh staring at her back, wondering why her words felt heavier than all the teasing.