It all started with a friend request and a late-night game session. Who knew the game on a screen would lead to something so real—and so fleeting?"
It was another late night. Like every day I was playing Roblox. Nothing was unchanged until she joined the lobby. This changed my whole life. Even though I wasn't into these things I felt these. I learned new lessons and how to survive. That night was different. We played together and had fun. I didn't know but I never had so much fun like that very night.
Dhruv is one of my game Friends. Advika was mutual friends with Dhruv.
"Wow, you are terrible at this," she laughed. That way, she kept teasing me. Even I started to say some flirtish words. I was taking her as all the other girls. But who knew such a sweet girl could ever exist on earth?
"says the one who just fell off the roof," I shot back, and just like that, the game didn't feel so ordinary anymore. she was talking to me as if she knew me from before. I was talking to her as if she was my friend from a long ago.
She wasn't bad—not great, either, but she had this boldness about her that made me chuckle. Halfway through the round, she finally spoke in the chat.
*"Nice try. Maybe next time, though."
The audacity made me laugh. She was trying to trash-talk me, but her voice was more amused than sharp. Girls like her weren't rare to me—I'd talked to plenty who thought they were clever. Still, I typed back.
"Next time? You think you're surviving this round?"
The match ended with me narrowly winning, and she sent a simple "Veer." I grinned as I typed back, "I'm Veer Kirtani. Better luck next time,.....?"
"My name is Advika Sharma....."
She didn't respond right away, but I noticed she stuck around for another match. And another. By the third game, I started playing up my usual charm—nothing serious, just teasing her about her moves, throwing in a compliment or two. That was just who I was. People liked me because I made it easy to like me.
"You're not bad, Advika," I said casually after the fourth game. "For a rookie."
"Not bad?" she shot back, and for the first time, I heard something in her voice—a spark, maybe. "Keep talking like that, and I'll make you regret it next round."
I laughed. It wasn't flirting. Not really. I didn't think about her after logging off that night. But a few days later, when her friend request popped up, I didn't hesitate to accept. Why not? It was always good to have more people to play with.
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The next day, I got a notification: Friend Request from AdWisher_7
I almost laughed. Of course, she'd add me. They always did. But as I clicked "Accept," I realized I wasn't entirely surprised. She'd been a decent player, and besides, it didn't hurt to keep the good ones around.
*"Yo, what's up?" I messaged her the first time she came online after that.
*"Not much. Ready to lose again?" she replied almost instantly.
"Cute. You think you've got a chance?"
"I know I do."
That's how it started—quick, sharp, and easy. She wasn't like most of the people I played with. She didn't fawn over me or try to impress me. If anything, it felt like she was the one testing me, waiting to see if I could keep up with her pace.
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Weeks went by, and Advika became a regular part of my games. She wasn't just good—she was smart. We teamed up more often than not, and even though I didn't think much about it at first, I realized I actually looked forward to her being online. It was... fun. That's all it was. Or at least, that's what I told myself.
One night, after a particularly brutal match where we both got wiped out early, she sent me a private message: "Veer, got Insta?"
I hesitated. Usually, I kept my gaming life separate from everything else. But for some reason, I typed back, "Yeah. What's yours?"
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Still, I didn't take her too seriously. I'd had plenty of "friends" online—people who came and went, left a mark for a while, then disappeared. Advika wasn't any different. Or at least, that's what I thought at the time.
The truth was, she didn't seem to care about impressing me. She didn't gush over my wins or laugh at all my jokes. If anything, she called me out when I was being too cocky, and that... was new.
*"You're so full of yourself," she said one night after I bragged about a particularly flashy play.
"And you love it," I shot back without missing a beat.
*"Sure, keep telling yourself that," she replied, but I could hear the smile in her voice.
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I didn't know what I expected from Advika, but whatever this was, it was... interesting. Not life-changing, not love-at-first-sight, but enough to keep me coming back. Enough to make me wonder what it would be like to meet her in person.