The old college campus in Kolkata lay wrapped in a soft winter mist. The morning sun shimmered gently over dew-soaked grass, making the field sparkle like scattered diamonds. The corridors slowly filled with the hum of students, their footsteps echoing through the chilly air.
Yash stood by the staircase, a book in his hand, his thoughts somewhere far away. He wasn't much of a talker. He had friends, acquaintances—but no one he could truly call close.
That's when he noticed her.
A girl stood a little distance away, glancing around uncertainly. There was a hint of nervousness in her eyes, a file clutched tightly in her hands.
"Excuse me…"
Yash looked up.
"Could you tell me where the library is?"
Her voice carried hesitation, but her eyes held a quiet depth.
"It's up those stairs on the right, then to the left," he replied. "If you'd like… I can show you."
A faint smile appeared on her face.
"Thank you… I'm Jesmine."
"Yash."
That brief introduction somehow stretched into something longer. Even when they reached the library entrance, neither of them seemed in a hurry to go inside.
"You're new?" Yash asked.
"Yes… the city is new too."
"Are you scared?"
Jesmine paused for a moment before answering softly, "Not scared… just unfamiliar. But today, it doesn't feel entirely unknown."
Yash couldn't explain why, but he felt something shift inside him. A quiet intuition whispered that this girl might become an important chapter in his life.
After that day, they kept running into each other. Tea at the canteen after class. Sharing notes in the library. The anxious phone calls the night before exams. Through ordinary moments, their friendship slowly deepened into something warmer, something unspoken.
One rainy afternoon, the campus had nearly emptied. They stood side by side in the veranda, watching the rain blur the world beyond.
"You know," Jesmine said, her voice blending with the rhythm of falling rain, "when it rains, it feels like all the old sorrows get washed away."
Yash looked at her and replied gently, "Then I hope it washes yours away too."
She turned to face him.
"Do all sorrows disappear that easily?"
For the first time, Yash sensed it clearly—there was something hidden behind her quiet smile. Something she carried within her, unseen but deeply felt.