It all began with a cab ride - Part 1
Hi guys, this is my story from the days of my college life. I have been thinking about what happened and how life unfolded later. This is the beginning of everything with her. Let me first introduce myself. I am Shubham (name changed), and I was doing a BCA during my graduation. I am a 6-foot guy with a broad upper body, but slim. I do work out, but not that regularly. I have a decent face, and I do get good attention from girls and ladies. Now, back to the story. I was in my second year of college. By then, I was very sad and lonely because of how my friendships turned out in the first year, and I was hopeful for a better year. I hated everything at that time. My grades were bad, my friends were snakes, and I was all alone. It was my 19th birthday when I got a message from a classmate of mine. Let’s call her Gunjan (name changed). She was the topper type — smart, everywhere. Everyone seemed to know her. Not the prettiest girl in college, but she had this charm you couldn’t ignore. She was adored by a lot of people. I had only interacted with her related to group projects whenever we ended up in the same group, and that too very little. My female friends didn’t like her because she was very different from them. She was not too much into fashion or beauty, but she was still admired by juniors and seniors. I had heard a lot of seniors talking about how they would love to date her, but she never really paid attention to anyone like that. Her message made my day. I just couldn’t believe she texted me. Maybe she texted everyone on their birthday, but we never really spoke much to each other directly. She wasn’t even on my Instagram, and that’s when I thought I should send her a follow request. I had already had very bad friendships, so I was cautious about not being too desperate to find a new friend. But something about her made me think about her for a week. After a week, I sent her a request. There were already 100+ mutual friends, so I thought it wouldn’t be too weird. To my delight, she accepted my request. I was happy, but I wanted more. I felt she could be the person I’d been waiting for all along. I didn’t tell anyone yet — my toxic group would’ve ruined it for me. So I moved slowly, thinking about how to start a conversation. Talking in person felt too daring, and my friends would notice. I added her on Snapchat — perfect for starting casual chats back then. She didn’t accept my request that day. I got worried. Maybe I’d moved too fast. Maybe she wasn’t interested. But just as I was about to lose hope, I got a snap from her. I went crazy with happiness. In that moment, I didn’t even realize how mad I was, obsessing over someone I barely knew. I started a snap streak with her. Casual snaps, nothing too heavy. She would send simple ones too — pictures from her balcony, her face with the puppy filter, messy food. I would stare at every snap, thinking about what to say, but never finding the right words. Then one day, she sent a snap of homemade sandwiches. I realized she wasn’t in the hostel. I started typing. At first, I wanted to ask about the sandwiches, but that would have been too obvious — too much like I was trying to initiate a conversation. So I said: “Arey, Riya mujhse fir baat nahi kar rahi yarr… Gauri, tu bata, kya karu main…” Riya was my childhood friend, and so was Gauri, but it was a lie – pretending like I texted the wrong person. I was nervous. Then I saw her typing… and she replied with a simple, “?” I couldn’t contain my happiness. Me: “Sorry, wrong person. I was messaging my friend Gauri but accidentally messaged you.” Gunjan: “It’s alright.” Me: “Riya isn’t my girlfriend, by the way… just a friend. She has this habit of getting mad at the smallest things.” Gunjan: “Oh, okay. I didn’t ask, by the way.” Me: “Right… sorry, I’m a chatterbox.” Gunjan: “Cool, no prob.” Me: “Cool.” That was our first-ever direct conversation. I was over the moon. After that, I continued replying occasionally on Snapchat. We started talking more frequently, but in class, we pretended we hadn’t been chatting until 2 AM the night before. A month passed, and I wanted to talk to her in person. I really liked our conversations — we shared a lot. It turned out her friend group was toxic, just like mine, and she was also looking for a new friend. I decided I wanted to meet her, and I no longer cared what my friends would say. I asked if she would meet me after classes for coffee outside the college. She said, “Sure.” I didn’t dress up much — I tried to keep it casual — but I was extremely nervous. Then I saw her walking toward me. I had been waiting at the gate, heart racing. She was in a black V-neck t-shirt and blue skinny jeans, and she was looking hot. I felt lucky just to be there with her. She sat across from me, and we ordered two cold coffees. It was a bit awkward at first, but gradually it became easier. Talking to her in person was definitely better than chatting online. Her perfume was intoxicating, and her cleavage made my hormones jump. Until then, I had only liked talking to her, but from that moment on, I was attracted to her. We started meeting more often, and we started getting comfortable with each other. We would hug, sit closely in the movie theaters, and hold hands during walks. I was going crazy. I had never imagined she was like this. I had come looking for a friend, but now I was fully attracted to her. I wanted to move fast, so I made a plan. I messaged her on Snapchat: Me: “Hey, are you up for the club? Bollywood night — you said you wanted to go, right?” Gunjan: “Yeah, I saw it on Instagram… but how will we get out of the hostel so late? And how will we come back? I really want to… but it doesn’t seem possible.” Me: “Don’t worry… I’ve got it all covered. Just think about what you’ll wear.