> Setting: Elemental International College — same Media & Expression class. Students are now deep into their group project work. The sun filters through the windows as chatter fills the room.
---
🎧 Background: Light, suspenseful melody with subtle tension.
---
Professor Ayaan walks in, flipping through attendance and humming to himself.
Suddenly, a peon hands him a note.
---
🎙️ Prof. Ayaan (reading aloud):
> "Samir Khan — out for two days due to family emergency."
He looks up and scans the room.
---
🎙️ Prof. Ayaan:
> "Red! You don't have a partner now. Hmm… well, let's not let your dramatic potential go to waste."
Red straightens up, curious.
---
🎙️ Prof. Ayaan (pointing to Aahi and Aarif's table):
> "Join Aahi and Aarif's group."
The room goes silent.
Aahi's eyes widen. Aarif lowers his pen. Red walks up slowly, carrying his signature red rose.
He gives Aahi a small smirk. Aarif avoids eye contact.
---
🎙️ Red (light-heartedly):
> "Looks like the universe ships us three."
🎙️ Aahi (a bit awkward, but kind):
> "Um… welcome to the team, Red."
---
They clear space. Red sits beside Aahi. Aarif is now diagonally across from him — tension brewing silently.
---
🎙️ Red:
> "So… what's the story? Let me guess. The charming guy wins the girl in the end?"
Aarif finally looks up, unimpressed.
---
🎙️ Aarif Khan (dryly):
> "In our version, the charming guy isn't the one holding a mirror all the time."
Aahi coughs to break the tension.
---
🎙️ Aahi (gently):
> "Let's stay on track, guys. We're already halfway done. We can just write one extra scene to balance the trio."
---
They start brainstorming.
Red throws in overly dramatic ideas.
Aarif keeps shutting them down calmly.
Aahi mediates, like a graceful bridge between two clashing tides.
---
After an hour, they finally get something on paper — a scene with a triangle of misunderstanding and a selfless act of friendship.
Oddly… it mirrors their real lives.
---
🎙️ Red (leaning back, twirling the rose):
> "Funny how stories reflect real people."
Aahi looks at him. Then at Aarif. She smiles, but it's a tired one.
---
🎙️ Aahi (softly):
> "Sometimes stories tell us what we're afraid to say."
---
Professor Ayaan watches from afar, rubbing his chin.
He whispers to himself:
> "Now this… is drama."
---
Aahi walking out of class with her file.
Aahi walks out the main gate.
She waves at Aarif and Red from a distance with her sweet, signature smile.
They both raise a hand — at the same time.
Aahi leaves.
A long silence follows.
Only the sound of birds and the rustle of trees remain.
---
Red is the first to speak.
He tosses his signature rose into the nearby fountain. The petals scatter.
---
🎙️ Red (calmly, but pointed):
> "You know… I never thought you'd be my competition, Aarif."
Aarif doesn't respond immediately. He stands still, hands in his pockets, eyes on the fading trail where Aahi walked away.
---
🎙️ Aarif Khan (quietly):
> "I didn't think we were competing."
---
Red laughs. But it's a bitter one.
He circles Aarif slowly like a lion testing the strength of another predator.
---
🎙️ Red:
> "Don't act innocent. You know what I'm talking about. You like her."
Aarif meets his gaze now.
There's no denial.
No pretense.
---
🎙️ Aarif Khan (firmly):
> "Yeah… I do."
Red clenches his jaw.
He exhales.
The last piece of silence between them shatters.
---
🎙️ Red:
> "Funny thing is… I liked her first."
---
Aarif's brows tighten.
---
🎙️ Aarif Khan:
> "Back in Surat?"
🎙️ Red:
> "Yeah. She saved me. Laughed at my jokes. Held my hand when I was scared. And when she left, something broke inside me."
---
Red steps closer.
His voice lowers.
---
🎙️ Red:
> "Then she came back… and you showed up like some misunderstood knight."
🎙️ Aarif:
> "This isn't about who came first. It's about who makes her smile now."
---
Red chuckles again — but this time, it's heavier.
He looks down, then back up with a strange glint in his eyes.
---
🎙️ Red:
> "Then let's make it fair."
He takes out another red rose — smooths the petals.
---
🎙️ Red:
> "Let's bet on it."
---
Aarif blinks.
---
🎙️ Aarif:
> "What kind of bet?"
---
🎙️ Red:
> "Simple. We don't interfere. We don't lie. We don't force her."
He takes a dramatic step forward.
---
🎙️ Red:
> "But whoever wins her heart first… wins."
---
Aarif stares at him. A storm brews behind his eyes, but his voice remains calm.
---
🎙️ Aarif Khan:
> "She's not a trophy."
🎙️ Red:
> "She's not. But this way… we keep it clean."
---
Silence again.
Then… Aarif steps forward too.
Now they're just inches apart.
Eyes locked.
He offers his hand.
---
🎙️ Aarif Khan:
> "No tricks. No games. Just truth."
Red grabs his hand — and shakes it tightly.
---
🎙️ Red (smirking):
> "And may the best heart win."
---
> Scene fades out as thunder finally cracks above the college sky…
> In the distance, Aahi sits in her room, humming softly, unaware that two hearts have now sworn a quiet war… for her love.