It happened on a Thursday.

There was a visiting professor from Delhi — Professor Anand, whole department showed up. Aria got there early, grabbed a good seat, opened her notebook.

Zayan sat next to her.

Close enough that their arms almost touched, she could hear him breathing and close enough that when he leaned forward to write something she could see exactly what he was noting down.

She focused very hard on Professor Anand.

The lecture was really good. The kind that made her remember exactly why she chose this, the way building is strong and beautiful.

She was in third page in her notes when Zayan slid his notebook toward her.

She looked down.

You missed the part about passive cooling, Page 2.

She looked at him.

He was looking at Professor Anand.

She looked at his notebook, Page 2 had three lines she hadn't caught as she'd been too busy processing the previous point.

She didn't say anything. Just copied the lines into her own notebook.

Then she slid his back.

Five minutes later she wrote something on the corner of her own page and tilted it toward him.

"The load bearing example he used is wrong. Real world application doesn't work like that."

She felt him go still beside her.

Then he leaned slightly toward her notebook and read it.

Wrote something on his own page and tilted it back.

"You're right. But don't say that out loud. He's been in the field for twenty years and he will not take it well."

Aria looked at that for a second.

Then she wrote —

"How do you know?"

"Because I tried once in First year, you don't."

She looked at him properly for just a second.

He was still looking at Professor Anand but there was something at the corner of his mouth.

Not quite a smile, but close.

She looked back at her notebook.

Something warm and completely unwanted settled in her heart.

She ignored it.

After the lecture the crowd took forever to clear. Aria was gathering her things when she heard that a girl from the senior batch, loud enough to carry .

"Is Zayan still doing that project with the Jaipur girl?"

"Yeah. Mehta or something."

"Why her though? He could've switched partners easily."

"I know right. Weird choice."

Aria kept her eyes on her bag. Kept packing. Her face was completely neutral.

She was fine.

Totally fine.

"He didn't try to switch," Zayan said.

She looked up.

He was standing beside her, bag over his shoulder, looking at the two girls with unbothered expression. They looked shockingly as they clearly hadn't realized he was close enough to hear.

"He didn't try to switch," he said again like he was clarifying a fact. "Just so that's accurate."

Then he looked at Aria.

"Ready?"

She stared at him for one second.

"Yeah," she said.

They walked out together.

Aria said nothing the whole way down the corridor.

Her chest was doing something she absolutely refused to name.

Not her problem but it started to feel like her problem.