After that message, I put my phone away.
I didn't reply.
I didn't ask anything.
For once, I decided to act normal.
The next day at school, I saw the boy again.
He was sitting in his seat, laughing with his friends.
Nothing strange.
Nothing suspicious.
I told myself,
See? You imagined everything.
Still, my eyes kept going back to him.
In class, the teacher asked a question.
He answered loudly.
Confident. Normal.
Not like someone hiding a secret.
During break, he passed by me in the corridor.
Very close.
I smelled soap.
He almost bumped into me.
"Sorry," he said quickly.
I nodded.
"Yeah."
That was it.
No secret look.
No hidden message.
I laughed quietly to myself.
"So dramatic," I whispered.
That evening, I was doing homework when my phone buzzed.
Unknown Number:
You didn't talk to him.
I stopped writing.
Slowly, I picked up my phone.
So he noticed that too.
I typed:
Should I have?
The reply came fast.
Unknown Number:
No.
That single word felt heavy.
I leaned back in my chair.
So he knows who I look at.
Who I meet.
Who I avoid.
I typed again:
Then why tell me I noticed him?
A pause.
Then:
Unknown Number:
Because curiosity changes people.
I stared at the message.
Before I could reply, another one came.
Unknown Number:
Tomorrow, you will choose.
My chest tightened.
Choose what?
I typed it.
Seen.
No reply.
I closed my phone and lay on my bed.
I didn't know what the choice was.
But I knew one thing—
Whatever it was,
it would not feel small.