" Can i be your friend ? "

Author ' pov 

A girl standing near the main door looking at the moon , small breeze soothing her open hair , her eyes blank , face expressionless , mind blank , no thoughts disturbing her , all she did was live that moment of sheer silence, her eyelids fluttering slowly , she sighed shifting her weight from one foot to the other , standing there for few more minutes  enjoying the quietness which was disturbed by a loud voice coming from inside the house

"f/l come inside"  she reluctantly made her way in the house , where her mother stood with her one hand on her waist , and glaring at f/l

" Don’t you know what time it is ?, Do you ever think what will people say ? It doesn’t look good for a girl to stand outside that too this late at night , and you should have been asleep by now , your college is resuming from tomorrow. [deep breath] Now why are you standing go to your room . "

She nodded and looked at her mother's retreating figure and then went to her room , she has always been silent person , only using her voice when necessary, she laid on her bed and let her mind wonder , there is not a particular thing she thinks about , her first thought never matched with where her second thought lands , her eyes fluttered again and this time sleep consumed her

Next day

" I told you to go to bed early , now see you're running late for college "

She rushed out of the house , while her mother shouted at her , hurrying towards the bus stand . She sighed taking seat in bus and thanked god that she didn’t missed it . Putting on her earphone she played some random song and faced the window, enjoying the art in the sky .

Noticing that her stop is next , she removed one earphone, and stood near door and get down at  her stop , pulling out her phone she checked time and was relived that 20 mins are left before the first lecture starts

The sun cast a golden hue over the bustling campus, the harmony of chatter and laughter filled the air. It was the second day of the second year, and the chaos of friendships, rivalries, and unspoken romances continued to swirl around like autumn leaves caught in a gentle breeze.

She walks to her class while whisper singing the song along which was playing , engrossed in it she didn’t notice a group of students and her shoulder collided with a girl making both of them stumble , the girl gasped as a little bit of coffee spilled on her hand f/l look at her and panicked 

" I-I am so sorry, I didn't noticed you "

She said her heart racing , expecting that girl to snap at her and say some bad words to her and storm off but to her surprise that girl's face showed no sign of anger or irritation, instead that girl passed her a small smile

" Its okay , I didn't see you come , either "

that girl said while wiping her hand , and then left from there with some girls following her, leaving f/l confused yet to admire her . She also turned , going to her classroom

Its been half an hour the lecture started , every student is paying attention to what the lecturer is saying , when the sound of door opening disturbed the quiet environment and everyone's attention shifted to the door , where stood a girl and boy heaving,

" Excuse me ? " the teacher eyed the two.

" Umm actually mam we  joined today and got late while finding the right classroom " ,

the boy explained to the lecturer, who glared at them but then nodded and told them to take seat and warned them not to be late again the duo smiled her way before stepping further searching for vacant seats , the girl noticed f/l who was writing something in her notebook and pulled the boy with her and stand in front of f/l who raised her head and frowned looking at the girl she bumped into earlier , then moved her eyes to the boy before facing the girl  who smiled at her

" Hello ,can we sit beside you ? "

f/l  nodded shifting a bit , now the three of them are sitting with that girl in middle

" Hi " the girl whispered to f/l , who turned to her

" Hi " f/l whispered back with a small yet genuine smile ,

" What is your name ? "  the girl asked

" shivani and yours ? "

" Kritvi rathore and he is my cousin samhit rao " , she said pointing towards the boy who gave her a smile then they focused on the lecture .

The  bell rang fourth time , and in no time the whole class was empty as everyone rushed outside only f/l , kritvi and samhit were left , the cousins packed their bag ,

" Why don’t you join us for lunch shivani ? " , kritvi asked noticing that she hadn't packed her bag , f/l looked at her with a smile and shook her head

" Thanks for asking but I don’t go out during lunch break "

" Why? don’t you eat with your friends " she asked further, and f/l shrugged

" I don't have friend " , she told her before looking back at her book expecting them to leave but a hand came in front of her , starleting her , looking up she found kritvi smiling at her

" Can I be your friend ? "she said , f/l sighed not reacting too much , despite knowing she might also find her boring and will distance herself from her she accepted the handshake and her offer , returning the smile

" Okay "

" Hey I am also here , hey accept to be my friend too " , samhit said forwarding his hand also , which f/l accepted nervously,

" So now that we are friends why don’t we go to canteen together , I will introduce you to my bhai . "

" Umm actually I don’t like to go there " ,

" Why ? "

 samhit and kritvi asked together , and three of them chuckled

" Just because, I don’t like crowded places " , she answered them honestly  " but you both should go you said your brother will be there also , aren't you guys getting late ? " , she said , and they both agreed with her and went from there , f/l exhaled loudly as they both were out of her sight .