Aarav woke up and checked the time. It was 9 AM—two hours before his parents would return home. A sharp pang of hunger clawed at his stomach, and he realized he hadn't eaten anything since last night. With a sigh, he dragged himself out of bed and into the kitchen. The dull clatter of a pan hitting the stove was the only sound in the empty house as he boiled water for instant noodles. Five minutes later, he was back in his room, slurping them down without tasting a single bite.
As he ate, his fingers scrolled mindlessly through Instagram reels. His eyes were vacant, his expression blank. It was as if something had taken over him—some unseen force pulling him deeper and deeper into an abyss. No happiness. No sadness. Just nothing. The minutes blurred together, and before he even realized it, an hour had passed.
His phone rang. Aradhya. Again.
He stared at the screen, his finger hovering over the answer button—then, just as quickly, he ignored it.
With only an hour left before his parents arrived, Aarav forced himself to study. He sat at his desk, flipping open his physics textbook. His fingers clenched the pen tightly as he tried to solve the numericals. The first ten minutes were a frustrating cycle of trial and error—nothing made sense, the formulas refused to stick, and his weak mathematical skills only made things worse.
And then, as if on cue, it started.
The voices.
"Come on. Just a little more. You can do this."
"Why are you even trying? You never wanted this. You're only here because of them. It's their fault you're miserable."
"No. They love you. They just want what's best for you."
"Love? This is love? Then why does it feel like you're suffocating? Why does it feel like you're drowning? Look at your brother, your sister—thriving, achieving, making them proud. And you? You're just a disappointment."
"Everyone has their own pace. It's okay to struggle. Just one step at a time."
"One step at a time? You think you have time? You're falling behind. You'll never catch up. You're never going to be enough."
"That's not true. I can do this—"
"No, you can't. Stop fooling yourself. You are nothing. You are a failure. A waste of space."
"No, please—"
"Just end it. End it now. The world doesn't need you. No one would even notice if you were gone."
The words echoed, growing louder and louder until they filled every inch of his mind. His hands trembled. His chest felt tight. His vision blurred as unshed tears burned in his eyes.
He was drowning.
Suffocating.
Breaking.
And yet… despite all of this, he could never bring himself to do anything. Whether it was hating or ending it all, he simply couldn't.
Because deep down, he just wanted to make things better.
He just wanted to make them proud.
And then—the doorbell rang.
His parents were home.