Chapter 9: The Bargain of Hearts

Kabir was born wild. Even when he was with Ritika, he still flirted with girls everywhere, without restraint. It was as if rules were made only to be broken by him, and everyone else was just background noise.

But the day he confessed to me, I told him:

“I’ll be your girlfriend.”

“But, you can’t have anyone else around you but me.”

Kabir naturally agreed without hesitation.

But he still flirted with pretty girls on the playground, and the back seat of his scooty always carried one beautiful girl after another. I watched from the classroom window, sometimes with a pang, sometimes with forced indifference.

I quietly treated my own words as nonsense—covered my eyes and pretended to be blind, covered my ears and pretended not to hear.

Because I had no bargaining chips. In our world, love alone wasn’t enough.

Until that day in the cyber café, when I realised I did.

I never brought up the matter of him not having other girls again, but whenever he got close to another girl, I said nothing—just picked up my bag and went to the library. I’d bury myself in books, the silence of the library soothing the sting in my heart.

Then, on the next ranking list, I quietly climbed up another page. The teachers noticed, but said nothing. A few classmates whispered, but I ignored them.

So Kabir compromised.

He started to actively avoid every girl around him, even his childhood friend Ritika.

And I reciprocated, firmly holding the bottom spot on the last report card. It was our unspoken deal, written in glances and silences rather than words.

Kabir’s most beautiful, most vibrant days finally belonged to me alone—completely.

I was very satisfied. For once, I wasn’t just a footnote in someone else’s story.