There are some people you lose touch with — and strangely, it never feels like you lost anything.
Maanav was one of those people.
We weren't classmates. Just schoolmates — the kind you might spot from a distance in the corridor but never really talk to. I think we knew of each other, but that was all it ever was.
Then, years later, after school had turned into a dusty memory and life had scattered us across different countries, we reconnected.
No dramatic twist of fate. Just a text.
A familiar name on my screen: Maanav.
> Manav: hey
That's it. Just hey.
No backstory, no drama, no "remember me?"
Classic boring boy energy.
Still, I replied. Because I clearly have no control over my curiosity.
And boom.... The guy who used to exist somewhere in the background of my school corridors had now become my full-time chat playlist.
We talked about everything — random food debates, college chaos, how adulting sucks, and occasionally, extremely useless deep talks that made zero sense but still felt like therapy.
He now lives in Bellford, surviving cold weather, grown-up bills and international student struggles.
I am still in Devgarh, surviving delayed results and family lectures.
Our timezone may have disagreed, but our chaos didn't.
One evening, after a particularly nonsense conversation that started with "What if pigeons had Wi-Fi?" (don't ask), I finally texted:
> "Aaj ke liye itna kaafi hai."
And this man — this poetic menace — replied:
> "Kaafi toh kaafi logo ke liye hota hai… main toh samundar hoon, sab kuch samet leta hoon."
**That's when I named his as ocean guy....**
I blinked. Once. Twice.
Was that… flirting or a weather report?
So I typed back, "Bas karo ab, kaafi hai."
And he, without missing a beat, sent:
> "Kafir hai tu."
Excuse me???
Sir went from romantic shayari to spiritual insult in three seconds flat.
That's when I knew — he wasn't normal.
Dramatic. Overconfident. And way too poetic.
We weren't dating. Not even close.
But there was something..... something, something....
A strange comfort in knowing someone was awake on the other side of the screen — even if that screen spanned across Devgarh and Bellford.
Even if most of our chats were jokes and over-the-top lines.
Even if I wasn't ready to name it.
I still liked the way it made me feel.
To be continued.....
✨ Some pings aren't coincidences — they're beginnings in disguise.