VELVET REIGN

at didn't know the girl who had just stepped through them. Ananya's shoes, a pair of fading Kolhapuri flats that had seen t

re beautiful dolls in a glass house, with shining hair that curled just so, boys with careless grins that hinted at inherited power. Anany

e she had wrapped in old brown paper to preserve it. She inhaled slowly, steadying herself. She had memor

ad like little islands, occupied by students who wore their uniforms like couture. Her seat was at the very fr

one stepping into a spotli

whispered edge of mockery brushing her skin. A group of girls, their lips glossed and th

e even wash

like...

at quiet and stil

r voiced. Her mind was sharp - sharper than theirs, she knew - but sharpness wasn't currency

bric that clung too tightly to her b

ness of a locked room. Her body, though larger than the girls around her, moved with a silent grace that pulsed with withheld power. Her heart carried songs - aching, aching songs of pla

ey nev

look through the help - present, but not important. "Good morning, class," she said, her voice syrup

ging, who let women speak with fire. She turned the page carefully,

er - always the center. Riya, with her kohl-lined eyes and honeyed voice, r

s a seduction of syllables - soft but deliberate, intimate like breath on the back of a nec

yard. It was quieter here - more real. The air smelled like bark and soil, and her food,

ures. The boys traded sneakers and attention, their voices thick with careless bravado. Ananya didn't envy their world. Not really. What she yearne

unwrapping each bite with the reverenc

ey

ct like the others, but handsome in a way that felt untamed. His shirt was ha

terature class,

No one ever

eter than she meant. It wrappe

hing the lines earlier. Yo

ed, then sm

in. "Most people fake it. Or sle

any

oll off his tongue with more interest t

t like that,

ted. Not in the world

air between them. Maybe she wasn't as invisible as she thought.

il and stood up. The neem tree

hips moving with a rhythm just a shade more deliberate. She didn't want

ng began to unfurl - a hunger not just to b

their l

her