Riya sits curled in the corner of the sofa, her round glasses slipping down her nose as she traces the edge of a dog-eared notebook. The bustle of her family fills the space: her father, Michel, stands tall and stern by the dining table, reviewing bills with a furrowed brow; her mother, Viha, moves quietly in the kitchen, face unreadable. Laughter bursts from the hallway as Thanya, her older sister, flits past like a beam of light, her presence instantly brightening the room.
Michel scans Riya’s marks, lips pursed. "You scored well, but you must aim higher, Riya. There’s always room for improvement." Viha glances over, her concern hidden behind a busy silence. Upstairs, the sound of Thanya’s laughter grows louder, followed by a soft thud—her latest test paper, marked with red, peeks out from her bag. Riya bites her lip, watching as her parents shrug off Thanya’s failure with a gentle chuckle, their love for her palpable and effortless.
Riya lies in bed, staring at the ceiling. Her thoughts swirl, heavy with the weight of unspoken dreams. "Why can’t I ever be enough?" she whispers to herself, voice barely audible over the hum of the ceiling fan. She imagines a future where someone chooses her without conditions—where her heart is seen, treasured, and never measured against another.
Riya slips into her dreams even as she wakes, her mind drifting to stories she’s read about soulmates and love that heals. School feels distant, her textbooks mere props in a play she no longer wants to perform. The once-perfect consistency in her grades begins to falter, unnoticed by all except herself.
The world moves on, busy and indifferent. Riya feels herself fading, her efforts swallowed by the void of comparison. She no longer strives for perfection; instead, she searches for meaning in the quiet moments, longing for someone to see her as whole. Her grades slip, and she wonders if anyone will notice—or care.
Riya closes her eyes, whispering dreams into the night. She doesn’t know what tomorrow will bring, only that her longing for unconditional love has changed her. In the hush between day and night, she makes a silent promise—to keep searching, to keep dreaming, to one day be chosen, not for what she can do, but for who she is.
