Moral of the Story: Communication costs less than weeks of unnecessary emotional damage.
Everyone in school knew one thing.
If you were looking for Arjun, chances were he was with Sam.
If you were looking for Sam, chances were Arjun was standing right beside him.
They had been best friends since kindergarten. Their teachers called them "the buy-one-get-one-free package."
Life was peaceful.
Until one Monday morning.
As Arjun walked toward his classroom, he noticed a girl waiting outside. The moment she saw him, she smiled nervously and walked straight over.
"Wait... she's coming toward me?"
His heart immediately started celebrating.
"Stay calm. Don't smile too much. You practiced this in the mirror."
He quickly fixed his hair, straightened his tie, and gave what he believed was his most attractive smile.
"H-Hi..." the girl said shyly.
"Hey," Arjun replied, trying to sound cooler than he actually was.
She clutched a pink envelope with both hands.
"A pink envelope... It's happening. Mom was right. I really am handsome."
She took a deep breath.
"Could you please give this to your deskmate, Sam?"
...
Arjun's smile didn't disappear.
It simply froze.
Only his soul quietly packed its bags and left.
He accepted the envelope.
"Sure."
"Thank you!"
She bowed slightly and hurried away.
Arjun watched her disappear down the hallway.
"...Well."
He sighed dramatically.
"Congratulations, Arjun."
"You got friend-zoned before you even got confessed to."
He patted himself on the shoulder.
"Character development."
A classmate walked by.
"Dude... why do you look like your ancestors just disowned you?"
"I climbed Mount Everest..."
"...then someone told me I was actually on a treadmill."
The classmate blinked.
"I have no idea what that means."
"Neither do I."
Arjun entered the classroom, walked past Sam's desk, gently placed the pink envelope on it without saying a single word, and continued to his locker.
Sam looked down at the envelope.
Then at Arjun.
Then back at the envelope.
"Why did he just hand this to me?"
Curious, he opened it.
«Dear Sam,
I've liked you for a long time...»
He searched for the sender's name.
Nothing.
He flipped the paper over.
Nothing.
He checked inside the envelope.
Nothing.
He even held the paper against the classroom window as if invisible ink would magically appear.
Still nothing.
Slowly...
Very slowly...
He turned toward Arjun.
Arjun was calmly walking towards his locker, humming to himself.
"He personally handed it to me..."
"He's pretending to act normal..."
Sam's eyes widened.
"Arjun likes me?!"
Meanwhile, Arjun opened his locker.
A white envelope slid out and landed at his feet.
"Huh?"
He picked it up.
It read:
«Dear Arjun,
I really like you.
Love,
Sam»
Arjun blinked.
"...Sam?"
He read it again.
Still said Sam.
His neck moved like a rusty robot as he slowly looked toward his best friend.
Sam happened to look up at the exact same moment.
Their eyes met.
Both immediately looked away.
"OH NO."
Neither knew it.
But at that exact moment...
Their shared brain cell resigned.
The next morning...
Normally, their day began with the same routine.
"Morning, idiot."
"Morning, ugly."
Today...
"...Morning."
"...Morning."
Silence.
The classroom felt ten degrees colder.
A student looked up from his notebook.
"...Did they just greet each other like coworkers?"
Another whispered, "The divorce was ugly."
Arjun immediately buried himself in his textbook.
Sam suddenly became fascinated by the classroom ceiling.
Neither had read a single word.
Neither even knew what chapter they were on.
They simply refused to look at each other.
For the rest of the day, they avoided one another with military precision.
If Arjun walked through the front gate...
Sam mysteriously remembered he had "something important" near the back gate.
If Sam entered the library...
Arjun suddenly became extremely thirsty.
If they accidentally turned the same corner...
Both spun around so fast they nearly created their own weather system.
Unfortunately...
Arjun's escape route ended with...
THUD!
"...Again?"
Arjun slowly looked up.
The principal rubbed his forehead.
"Mr. Arjun."
"...Sir."
"What were you running from this time?"
Arjun hesitated.
"...Feelings."
The principal blinked twice.
"...I'll pretend I didn't hear that."
Across the hallway...
Sam spotted Arjun near the science lab.
"Retreat!"
He rushed into the nearest classroom.
Silence.
It was the girls' art class.
Thirty students stared.
The teacher lowered her paintbrush.
"...Can I help you?"
Sam slowly backed out.
"Wrong classroom."
The teacher nodded.
"Reasonable."
Outside, Rohan happened to walk by.
He watched Sam exit the room.
"...New speedrun category."
"Entering the wrong class."
Then he kept walking.
By lunchtime, fate struck again.
There was only one empty chair.
Right between Arjun and Sam.
Both stopped.
"You sit."
"No, you."
"You were here first."
"I insist."
"No, really."
A first-year student casually walked over, picked up the chair and sat somewhere else.
"...Thanks."
The two boys sighed and ate lunch standing.
The canteen uncle shook his head.
"What a waste of a perfectly good chair."
Rohan passed by carrying a tray.
He looked at the empty space between them.
"...The divorce is getting serious."
He left before either of them could respond.
During chemistry class, the teacher called,
"Arjun, solve the equation."
"Yes, ma'am."
"And Sam, erase the board."
Both froze.
"The board is big enough for both of you," the teacher added.
They stood at opposite ends of the board as though an invisible force field separated them.
One classmate whispered,
"They're acting like two cats forced into the same bathtub."
The entire row nodded.
After school, Sam wandered into a convenience store.
"I should reject him gently..."
His eyes landed on a chocolate bar.
"Maybe chocolate would soften the rejection..."
He reached toward it.
Then froze.
"...Wait."
"Wouldn't chocolate make it look like I like him back?"
His hand retreated so quickly it almost saluted.
"Nope."
He turned around and walked straight out.
Behind the counter, the cashier watched the entire performance.
"...He came in..."
"...Stared at one chocolate..."
"...Panicked..."
"...And left."
The cashier shrugged.
"Teenagers."
Meanwhile, Arjun sat at his desk with a blank sheet of paper.
"I have to reject him politely."
He started writing.
«You're a wonderful person...»
He stared at it.
"...Too harsh."
Rip.
Another sheet.
«We should stay friends...»
"...That somehow sounds worse."
Rip.
Another sheet.
«It's not you...»
He dropped the pen.
"...I've accidentally started writing a breakup letter."
Rip!
Tiny paper pieces floated out of the open classroom window.
One landed neatly on the principal's shoulder.
He picked it up.
It read:
"...wonderful..."
Another scrap floated down.
"...friend..."
The principal sighed.
"I miss when students only forgot their homework."
Meanwhile...
Rumors spread through the school faster than free Wi-Fi.
"I heard Arjun proposed."
"No, Sam proposed."
"No, both proposed."
"They rejected each other."
"No, they accepted each other."
"My cousin from another school says they're engaged."
"...Your cousin lives in another city."
"The rumors travel."
Another student joined in.
"My cousin says they're expecting twins."
"...They're both boys."
"So?"
"...Fair point."
Rohan slowly closed his notebook.
"...At this point, the rumors have their own passport."
Elsewhere, two girls sat on a bench outside the school, each holding a slowly melting ice cream.
The first girl sighed.
"I wonder why Sam never replied to my letter."
The second girl sighed.
"I wonder why Arjun never replied to mine."
A quiet silence settled between them.
The first girl looked over.
"By the way..."
"What was your name again?"
"...Sam."
...
The first girl blinked.
"...Wait."
She frowned.
"You know Arjun's best friend's name is also Sam, right?"
Sam's eyes slowly widened.
"...Seriously?"
"Yeah."
"What a coincidence..."
Another pause.
The first girl asked,
"What's your surname?"
"Sam Sharma."
The first girl let out a relieved sigh.
"Oh."
"Then it's okay."
Sam tilted her head.
"...What's okay?"
"His best friend's surname is different."
Sam nodded.
"Then there shouldn't be any confusion."
Another silence.
Then...
Sam's smile slowly disappeared.
"...Wait."
The first girl looked at her.
"What?"
Sam slowly raised one finger.
"...I never wrote my surname."
...
The first girl stared blankly.
Then suddenly...
BONK!
She smacked her forehead.
"...WAIT!"
"I just realized..."
"I DIDN'T EVEN WRITE MY NAME!"
...
Silence.
Both girls stared at each other.
Neither blinked.
A crow cawed somewhere in the distance.
"...Wait."
"...WAIT!"
"The letters!"
"That's why they never replied!"
"And..."
"...that's why they suddenly stopped talking to each other!"
The two girls looked at one another in horror.
Being lifelong BL readers...
Their imaginations sprinted to the worst possible conclusion.
"...Do you think..."
"...they thought the letters were from each other?"
Another silence.
"...We're doomed."
The first girl grabbed Sam's wrist.
"Run!"
The two sprinted down the hallway before stopping at the exact same moment.
"...Wait."
"What are we supposed to do?"
Both stood completely still, thinking so hard they looked frozen.
Students walked around them.
One waved a hand in front of their faces.
No response.
Rohan walked by, glanced at them once and said,
"...Should I restart them?"
Still no response.
He shrugged and continued walking.
Suddenly, both girls gasped.
"THE ROOFTOP!"
They grabbed each other's wrists again and took off running.
Halfway there, the first girl looked down.
"...My ice cream."
Sam didn't even slow down.
"Sacrifices have to be made!"
The abandoned ice cream quietly melted on the bench.
The only innocent victim in the entire misunderstanding.
That evening, identical notes appeared inside two lockers.
Meet me on the rooftop after school. Come alone.
Arjun swallowed.
"This is it..."
"I have to reject Sam without destroying our friendship."
Across the hallway...
Sam read the same message.
"He's finally going to confess..."
"How do I reject my best friend without making family reunions awkward for the next fifty years?"
Neither of them slept well that night.
Tomorrow...
Everything would finally be explained.
Or become even more ridiculous.
The next afternoon...
The rooftop door creaked open.
Arjun stepped out first.
His palms were sweaty.
His heart refused to cooperate.
"Stay calm."
"Just reject him politely."
"Don't make it weird."
"It's already weird."
He sighed.
A few moments later...
The rooftop door opened again.
Sam walked out.
He spotted Arjun.
Arjun spotted Sam.
"...Hey."
"...Hey."
Silence.
A plastic bag drifted lazily across the rooftop, rolling between them like a lonely tumbleweed in an old cowboy movie.
Neither moved.
Neither blinked.
The bag reached the fence...
Changed its mind...
...and rolled back between them.
Still...
Silence.
Arjun scratched the back of his neck.
"So..."
"So..."
Another silence.
Somewhere below, a bell rang.
Neither acknowledged it.
Finally...
Arjun took a deep breath.
"I think we should..."
"Wait!"
Two voices echoed from the staircase.
The rooftop door burst open.
The two girls came sprinting out, completely out of breath.
"Huff..."
"Sorry..."
"We're..."
"So..."
"Late..."
The boys stared.
"...Who are you?" Arjun asked.
The first girl pointed at herself.
"I-I'm the one who gave you the pink envelope!"
She pointed at Sam.
"I told you to give it to your deskmate!"
Arjun blinked.
"...Oh."
She pointed toward the other girl.
"And this is Sam."
The boys looked at the girl.
Then slowly...
Very slowly...
Looked back at each other.
The girl named Sam raised a hand awkwardly.
"Hi..."
"I wrote the letter for Arjun."
"I signed it 'Sam'..."
"...but I forgot to write my surname."
The first girl groaned.
"And I forgot to write my name entirely."
Silence.
The four of them stood there.
Then the girls spoke at the same time.
"We think..."
"...you misunderstood."
Another silence.
Arjun looked at Sam.
Sam looked at Arjun.
Arjun pointed at him.
"...You don't..."
Sam immediately pointed back.
"I DON'T!"
"..."
"..."
Arjun slowly pulled the rejection letter from his pocket.
Sam slowly pulled out...
...absolutely nothing.
"I was going to write one," Sam admitted.
"I almost bought chocolate instead."
"You WHAT?"
"I changed my mind!"
"...Fair."
Arjun held up the letter.
"I've rewritten this seventeen times."
Sam stared.
"...Seventeen?"
"I wanted to reject you nicely."
"I WAS TRYING TO REJECT YOU!"
"..."
"..."
The realization finally crashed into both of them.
For nearly two weeks...
They had been avoiding each other...
Writing imaginary rejection speeches...
Running away in hallways...
Standing through lunch...
And emotionally preparing for a confession...
...that never existed.
For three whole seconds...
Nobody spoke.
Then...
Arjun snorted.
Sam covered his mouth.
Arjun laughed.
Sam laughed harder.
Within seconds, both were doubled over, laughing so hard they could barely breathe.
"You..."
"Hahahaha..."
"You thought..."
"I KNOW!"
"...that I liked you!"
"I THOUGHT YOU LIKED ME!"
They laughed even harder.
Arjun wiped tears from his eyes.
"I literally apologized to my pillow!"
Sam clutched his stomach.
"I practiced rejection speeches in the shower!"
The two girls watched in complete disbelief.
"...That's your reaction?"
Arjun nodded while laughing.
"This..."
"...is the dumbest thing that's ever happened to us."
Sam pointed at him.
"And it's entirely your fault."
"My fault?!"
"You HANDED me the letter without saying anything!"
"You OPENED it without asking!"
"You FOUND A LETTER FROM 'SAM'!"
"YOU NEVER ASKED WHICH SAM!"
"You never asked either!"
"...Fair enough."
The girls exchanged hopeful glances.
The first girl cleared her throat.
"So..."
"Now that everything's cleared up..."
"...would either of you..."
"...maybe..."
"...like to go out with us?"
Arjun and Sam looked at each other.
Then back at the girls.
Both smiled politely.
"I'm really sorry," Arjun said.
"I don't feel that way."
Sam nodded.
"Same here."
"We're flattered..."
"...but no."
The girls froze.
"...Wait."
"...We got rejected?"
"Both of us?"
"After causing all of... this?"
"...Yep."
Another long silence.
The first girl sighed.
"...I skipped lunch for this."
Sam sighed too.
"...I sacrificed my ice cream."
The four of them stared at one another.
Then everyone burst into laughter again.
Even the girls couldn't help laughing anymore.
It was simply too ridiculous.
As they walked downstairs, Arjun nudged Sam.
"So..."
"Burgers?"
Sam grinned.
"Burgers."
"You're paying."
"I've already paid emotionally."
"Good point."
The two girls watched them walk away.
The first girl folded her arms.
"...We really lost to a burger."
Sam shrugged.
"Honestly..."
"...I can't even be mad."
Outside the school gates...
Rohan adjusted his backpack and started walking home.
"...What a weird week."
As he passed a burger shop, he glanced through the window.
Inside...
Arjun and Sam were laughing so hard that one nearly dropped his burger.
A few seconds later, the two girls walked past the shop.
"I still can't believe we both got rejected."
"By two complete idiots."
They disappeared around the corner.
Rohan stopped walking.
He looked through the window again.
Then toward the direction the girls had gone.
Then back again.
"..."
"..."
He slowly nodded to himself.
"I don't know what happened..."
"...but somehow..."
"...everyone lost."
He shrugged.
"Good enough."
And continued walking home.
The next morning, the rumors somehow became even worse.
"I heard they had a double confession."
"No, it was a double rejection."
"My cousin says there was a rooftop love square."
"...Your cousin wasn't even here."
"The rumors travel."
Rohan closed his locker.
"...This school needs less imagination..."
"...and a lot more communication."
The End.
