Chapter 5: Old Friends, New Fights, and Birthday Surprises

As for Priya getting luckier than me, let’s not even mention it. Anyway, she definitely ate more than me at breakfast. Priya ordered three aloo parathas, chole bhature, and two cups of filter coffee. My stomach hurt just watching her eat, but heartbreak turns into appetite sometimes. I quietly ordered a single idli, not wanting to tempt fate.

Turning heartbreak into appetite, Priya generously ordered a full table. “Eat up, my treat!”

After breakfast, we planned to play some intense ranked games. But by accident, we ran into our classmate Suresh and his girlfriend’s sweet duo queue.

Suresh was the type who always acted as the elder brother of the group, but with his girlfriend, he turned into a complete softie. Priya would always nudge me and say, ‘Look at Suresh, one minute strict, next minute besharam!’

As soon as we joined, Suresh said, “Hey, don’t leave! My girlfriend’s in a promo match. Got any friends? Call them to help!”

So Priya and I felt too awkward to leave. Looking through my friend list, I saw a familiar account online. I couldn’t remember who it was, just that we’d played together before and they seemed pretty skilled.

I invited him, and Suresh started the game.

While picking heroes, Priya asked, “Who did you invite? Looks familiar.”

“You know them too? I just can’t remember who it is.”

Then, the lucky random I pulled in turned on his mic.

He gritted his teeth and called my name: “Meera.”

I panicked: “Remake! Quick, remake!”

Hai Ram, something cursed has found me! The universe had a twisted sense of humour. I could almost hear the background score from a suspense serial playing in my head.

After all, I could never forget Kunal’s voice.

But Suresh stuttered, “It’s a five-stack, you can’t remake in five-stack...”

I blacked out. Either surrender at six minutes or just close the game and pretend to disconnect.

While I hesitated, Suresh’s girlfriend started pleading, “Can we finish this game? I’ve played four promos and still haven’t ranked up.”

Messing up someone’s promo match is a one-way ticket to bad karma.

No choice, I held my nose and picked top lane.

Kunal played jungle, and before he even hit level four, he ganked top three times.

The enemy team got so annoyed, they typed in all chat:

[Enemy jungle, are you nuts? Is top lane your dad? You keep coming, don’t you ever stop?]

Kunal calmly replied: [That’s my girlfriend.]

The enemy team went silent.

I coldly added, “Ex-girlfriend.”

Kunal said, “Meera, you never told me we broke up, so you’re not my ex.”

His tone was so stubborn, it reminded me of those old Bollywood dialogues—‘Tumne haan nahi bola, toh main maanta hoon tumne na bhi nahi bola.’

Suddenly, I remembered—we were supposed to break up on the spot.

Priya didn’t even scold me. She just took my phone and quickly deleted Kunal. She was ruthless, like an exam invigilator snatching away a cheat sheet. Her face was all business—no drama, no lectures, just quick and clean.

As for breaking up? We didn’t even say a word.

Seeing me silent, Kunal started reflecting on his mistakes.

“Was it because I didn’t give you blue buff before? But Meera, after level four, I always gave you blue.”

“Or is it because of Sneha? The things she said about you—I roasted her back, don’t be mad.”

“Add me back, I’ll send you the chat log, okay?”

“I’m not Rohan, I won’t take someone else’s side against you. If there’s a problem, just tell me—I’ll change.”

Hearing this, I cried inside. Stop, ex-husband. You did nothing wrong. I’m the cold-hearted one.

And then there’s Priya, muted, snarking next to me:

“Wow, not like Rohan, won’t take someone else’s side against you.”

“I’m starting to ship you two.”

She nudged me and winked, like some matchmaking aunty from the colony.

I stayed quiet, and Kunal slowly muted too.

But his gameplay was still on point. In under ten minutes, he got a pentakill and ended the game fast.

Before destroying the crystal, Kunal left a message:

“Meera, I’ll give you your birthday present in person.”

I froze. Before I could ask, the game ended. Back in the lobby, Kunal was already gone.

Only then did I notice the WhatsApp message he’d sent yesterday.

Priya and I exchanged looks. No way—Is he going to solo-kill me offline?

Luckily, Priya was calm. She thought for a second and said, “Relax, he doesn’t have your address. He definitely can’t find you.”

I nodded. That’s right. I’ve always been careful—never let Kunal order delivery, never let him send me anything, never sent a photo of my face. So how could he find me?

I patted my chest, finally at ease. But—

I forgot about one thing. Priya was right next to me.

The WhatsApp ringtone pinged again—what now?