🎵 Song: Ishq Hai – Instrumental Version

"Every love story has two kinds of confessions...

One made to your best friend...

And the other...

Made to yourself."

The next morning...

School had returned to its usual rhythm.

Students filled the corridors with endless chatter.

Teachers hurried toward their classrooms.

Everything seemed normal.

Except...

Two people couldn't stop thinking about what had happened the previous night.

One remembered a mischievous boy climbing onto her balcony.

The other remembered the frightened look on a shy girl's face before she realized it was him.

Class 11-A

As soon as Aarohi entered the classroom...

Mehak knew something was different.

Her best friend looked distracted.

She kept smiling to herself for no reason.

And every few seconds...

She would unknowingly touch her own cheeks.

Mehak narrowed her eyes.

"Something happened."

Aarohi immediately looked up.

"What?"

"You."

"What about me?"

"You've been smiling since you entered."

"I have not."

"You absolutely have."

Aarohi quickly looked away.

Mehak crossed her arms.

"Start talking."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Aarohi Sharma..."

Mehak leaned closer.

"I've known you long enough."

"Either you tell me..."

"...or I'll keep guessing."

Aarohi sighed.

"You're impossible."

"I learned from you."

After making sure no one was listening...

Aarohi slowly began telling her everything.

From the moment she had been combing her hair...

To suddenly seeing Reyansh standing behind her.

Mehak's eyes became wider with every sentence.

"He climbed... onto your balcony?"

Aarohi nodded.

"Yes."

Mehak almost shouted.

"Is he insane?"

"Shhh!"

Everyone turned toward them.

The girls awkwardly smiled before lowering their voices again.

Mehak whispered,

"And then?"

Aarohi smiled helplessly.

"I got so scared that I almost screamed."

"But before I could..."

"He covered my mouth."

Mehak placed a hand dramatically over her own heart.

"Oh my God."

"What if Uncle had seen him?"

"I know!"

"I told him the same thing."

"And?"

"He just smiled."

Mehak shook her head.

"That boy has absolutely no fear."

Aarohi laughed.

"Exactly."

Mehak looked at her suspiciously.

"Wait..."

"What?"

"You're smiling while telling me this."

Aarohi's smile immediately disappeared.

"I am not."

"You are."

"No."

"Aarohi."

"What?"

"If someone else had done something this crazy..."

"You would've been furious."

Aarohi became quiet.

Mehak smiled knowingly.

"But because it was Reyansh..."

"You secretly liked the attention."

Aarohi's cheeks instantly turned pink.

"M-Mehak!"

"I'm right, aren't I?"

"I..."

"I don't know."

Mehak laughed.

"I knew it."

Class 10-B

Meanwhile...

Reyansh walked into his classroom.

He seemed unusually cheerful.

He greeted almost everyone.

Even answered a teacher politely.

Arjun watched the entire thing.

Something was definitely wrong.

Very wrong.

He sat beside Reyansh and stared at him.

"What?"

Reyansh asked.

"You've been smiling since morning."

"So?"

"You only smile like this after winning football tournaments."

Reyansh shrugged.

"Maybe I'm just in a good mood."

Arjun folded his arms.

"No."

"This is something else."

During the first period...

Reyansh kept twirling his pen while smiling to himself.

At one point...

He even chuckled quietly.

Arjun had seen enough.

During lunch break...

He dragged Reyansh to an empty corner of the playground.

"What now?"

Reyansh asked.

Arjun looked straight into his eyes.

"Tell me the truth."

"What truth?"

"What's going on with you?"

"Nothing."

"Liar."

"I'm serious."

"So am I."

Arjun pointed a finger at him.

"You've changed."

"I have not."

"You have."

"You've stopped flirting with random girls."

"You don't fight over every little thing anymore."

"You smile at your phone."

"You keep looking toward the Class 11 corridor."

"And yesterday..."

He paused dramatically.

"You looked happier than I've seen you in months."

Reyansh stayed silent.

Arjun sighed.

"I've been your best friend since childhood."

"I know when something's different."

"So..."

He smiled knowingly.

"Tell me."

"Is this about Aarohi?"

Silence.

For several long seconds.

Finally...

Reyansh let out a slow sigh.

"...Yeah."

Arjun grinned.

"I knew it."

Reyansh leaned against the wall.

"You know..."

"I never planned any of this."

Arjun stayed quiet.

Listening.

"I thought teasing her would just be fun."

"She was shy."

"Innocent."

"And watching her get flustered was entertaining."

He smiled faintly.

"But somewhere..."

"...it stopped being just teasing."

He looked toward the senior block.

"I started waiting to see her every morning."

"If she wasn't on the balcony..."

"My day felt incomplete."

"If she didn't argue with me..."

"School felt boring."

Arjun smiled softly.

"And when she got sick?"

Reyansh didn't answer immediately.

Instead...

He remembered seeing Aarohi asleep with a burning forehead.

Remembered kissing her forehead.

Remembered how scared he had felt.

His voice became quieter.

"I hated it."

"I couldn't even focus in class."

"When Anaya said she had a fever..."

"I felt..."

He searched for the right word.

"...helpless."

Arjun nodded.

"Because you love her."

Reyansh looked down.

A small smile appeared on his face.

For the first time...

He didn't deny it.

"I think..."

He chuckled softly.

"...I've completely fallen for my Ocean."

Arjun laughed happily.

"Finally!"

"I thought you'd take another six months to realize."

Reyansh rolled his eyes.

"Thanks for the support."

"I'm serious."

Arjun patted his shoulder.

"You know what the funniest part is?"

"What?"

"You're the biggest red flag in this school."

"And somehow..."

"You fell for the sweetest, most innocent senior girl."

Reyansh smiled.

"I know."

"And that's exactly why..."

He looked toward the Class 11 building once again.

"...I want to become someone worthy of her."

Arjun's teasing expression softened.

He had known Reyansh for years.

He had seen his arrogance.

His fights.

His stubbornness.

His carelessness.

But today...

For the first time...

He saw something else.

Sincerity.

Arjun smiled.

"You've changed, brother."

Reyansh smirked.

"Don't tell anyone."

"I have a reputation to maintain."

Arjun laughed loudly.

"Too late."

"I've already met the guy behind the reputation."

Across the campus...

Completely unaware of the confession that had just happened...

Aarohi smiled while talking to Mehak.

And from the other side of the courtyard...

Reyansh looked at her for just a moment.

His Ocean.

The girl who had unknowingly turned the school's most notorious boy...

Into someone who wanted to become better.

End of Chapter 40 💙🌊