The Traffic Light That Changed My Day
Dear, Diary
There are some days you remember because something extraordinary happens. And then there are days that become extraordinary because of something ridiculously ordinary.
Today…
I met a random girl at a traffic signal.
I don’t know her name.
I don’t know where she studies.
I don’t know if I’ll ever see her again.
Yet here I am…
unable to sleep because my mind keeps replaying those few seconds over and over again.
So before I forget even the tiniest detail…
I’m writing everything down.
Running Late
If anyone asks me how my evening started…
I’d simply say—
Terribly.
Today was the annual function for the first years in our college.
Everyone had been talking about it for weeks.
Music. Dance performances. Food stalls. New faces.
The beginning of college life. And naturally…
I overslept.
Not by five minutes. Not by ten. Almost half an hour.
I still have absolutely no idea how.
One moment I remember switching off my alarm…
The next moment sunlight was pouring straight into my room and my phone showed a time that made my heart stop.
“…Oh no.”
I jumped off the bed so fast I almost tripped over my blanket. My toothbrush spent less than a minute in my mouth. I wore the first white T-shirt I found.
Blue jeans. Sneakers. Ran downstairs.
Forgot my watch. Came back.
Forgot my wallet. Went back again. Finally grabbed my keys and sprinted out of the house.
Luckily…
Sam had convinced one of his ridiculously rich friends to lend me his car for the evening.
Not just any car. A gorgeous cherry-red convertible. Its roof folded neatly behind the seats, leaving the whole cabin open to the evening sky. The paint reflected sunlight like liquid glass. The black leather seats still smelled new. The engine purred the moment I pressed the ignition. It looked like something a movie hero would drive. It definitely didn’t suit someone who had just brushed his teeth in forty-five seconds.
“Come on…”
I laughed despite the panic.
“Just don’t betray me today.”
The engine responded with a soft growl. Good enough.
I pulled onto the road. The evening breeze rushed through my hair as I drove toward college.
Normally…
I’d have enjoyed every second of it.
Driving an open-top sports car through the city with music playing?
That’s the kind of thing every eighteen-year-old secretly dreams about.
But today…
I wasn’t even looking at the road properly.
Every traffic signal felt personal. Every slow-moving auto rickshaw was my sworn enemy. Every red light lasted an eternity.
And then…
I reached the biggest intersection in the city. The signal turned red. Right in front of me.
“…Seriously?” I sighed.
No problem. Thirty seconds. I could wait.
Twenty seconds passed.
Thirty.
Forty-five.
One minute.
The timer reset.
Red.
Again.
“You’ve got to be kidding me…”
Cars continued piling up behind me. Bikes squeezed into every impossible gap. Street vendors wandered between vehicles selling water bottles, flowers and balloons. Somewhere nearby, a bus driver leaned on his horn for what felt like an entire year. The smell of roasted corn drifted across the road. Children laughed near the pedestrian crossing.
The city was alive. I…
was losing my mind.
My phone suddenly lit up. Sam Calling…
I didn’t even let it ring twice. I hit the answer button and the call connected automatically through the car speakers.
“Where are you, bro?”
Sam sounded far too relaxed.
I tightened my grip on the steering wheel.
“Where am I?”
I laughed.
The dangerous kind of laugh.
“That’s what you ask me?”
“What happened?”
“What happened?”
I almost stood up in the driver’s seat.
“What happened is you had ONE job today!”
“…Uh oh.”
“Don’t ‘uh oh’ me!”
“You were supposed to wake me up!”
“I did.”
“No, you didn’t!”
“I literally came to your room.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
“I was asleep!”
“Exactly.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“You opened one eye…”
“…looked straight at me…”
“…said ‘five more minutes’…”
“…and rolled over.”
For a second…
I couldn’t say anything.
Then I groaned.
“Oh God…”
“I knew it.”
“You knew WHAT?”
“You’d go back to sleep the moment I left.”
“Then why didn’t you drag me out of bed?”
“I value my life.”
I couldn’t even argue with that.
Still…
I wasn’t going to let him win.
“So now I’m late because of you.”
“Correction.”
A laugh escaped through the speakers.
“You’re late because future Charlie trusted sleepy Charlie.”
“Oh, shut up.”
“I’m serious.”
“I swear, Sam… if I miss the opening ceremony—”
“You won’t.”
“I already have!”
“No.”
“Yes!”
“No.”
I frowned. “What do you mean ‘no’?”
“The event got delayed.”
“…”
I blinked.
“What?”
“Half an hour.”
“…What?”
“Chief guest’s car broke down.”
I stared straight ahead.
“…You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep.”
“They delayed the whole event?”
“They did.”
“…Half an hour?”
“Mhm.”
I slowly leaned back into my seat. The death grip I’d had on the steering wheel finally loosened. My shoulders relaxed. A deep breath escaped without me even realizing I’d been holding it.
“…Oh.”
Everything suddenly became…
quiet.
Not because the city had become quieter. It hadn’t. The horns were still blaring. People were still shouting. Buses were still growling past. I had simply stopped listening.
For the first time since leaving home…
I smiled. A cool evening breeze drifted into the roofless car. It brushed softly across the back of my neck. Almost instinctively…
I turned my head. And that…
was the exact moment my entire day changed.
The Girl Across the Road
The evening air drifted through the open roof of the convertible, carrying with it the smell of roasted corn from a nearby vendor. Somewhere a little kid laughed. A balloon floated lazily above the crowd before its owner tugged it back down. The city was still as noisy as ever. But for some reason…
it no longer bothered me.
I rested my left arm on the car door and finally looked around instead of staring impatiently at the traffic light.
People were everywhere. Office workers waiting to cross. Students with backpacks laughing over something. An elderly couple holding hands. Delivery riders impatiently revving their bikes. A fruit seller arranging oranges into a perfect pyramid. It looked like every ordinary evening I’d ever seen.
Until…
my eyes wandered toward the footpath on the opposite side.
And stopped.
There she was.
Standing beside another girl. She wasn’t doing anything extraordinary. She wasn’t trying to attract anyone’s attention. She wasn’t laughing dramatically or talking loudly. She was simply…
there.
A blue denim jacket rested casually over a plain white T-shirt. Simple blue jeans. White sneakers. Nothing expensive. Nothing flashy. Just…
comfortable. Natural.
A few soft curls escaped from the rest of her dark hair, dancing every time the evening breeze found them. She listened while her friend spoke excitedly, occasionally nodding with a small smile that looked far too genuine to have been practiced.
For some strange reason…
I couldn’t look away. Maybe it was because she looked so…
calm.
Everyone around her seemed to be in a hurry. Crossing roads. Checking phones. Running after buses. She wasn’t. It almost felt like time moved a little slower around her. I had no idea who she was.
And yet…
my eyes kept searching for reasons to continue looking.
What I didn’t know then…
was that she’d already noticed me.
Much earlier.
Apparently…
when I had been busy yelling at Sam—
“You had ONE job!”
—my voice had travelled much farther than I intended.
She had looked up. Not because she was interested. Because someone shouting that loudly naturally makes you curious. Her friend had continued talking. But she had briefly looked toward the source of the noise.
An idiot…
sitting inside a bright red convertible. Completely frustrated. Running one hand through his hair. Arguing with someone over Bluetooth. Probably looking like he’d just declared war on the entire city. She had smiled to herself. Not because I was funny.
But because she wondered…
“Who upset him this much?”
Then I had heard Sam say—
“The event’s delayed.”
My shoulders relaxed. The anger disappeared from my face almost instantly. I let out a long breath. And finally…
I turned. Not because I was looking for anyone. Just…
because I happened to.
On the footpath…
Kate(the girl’s friend beside her) suddenly stopped talking. She tilted her head slightly.
“Hmm?”
The girl hadn’t responded. Instead…
she was quietly looking somewhere behind Kate. Kate followed her gaze. Her eyes landed on me. A mischievous grin immediately spread across her face.
“Oh…”
The girl blinked. “What?”
Kate leaned closer. “I think someone likes what she’s looking at.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The boy.”
“What boy?”
“The one sitting in the red convertible.”
The girl’s eyebrows rose for the tiniest moment. “I wasn’t looking.”
Kate looked at her with exaggerated disbelief.
“No?”
“No.”
“So your eyes accidentally spent ten seconds in exactly the same direction?”
“I was just…”
She paused.
“…looking around.”
“Mhmm.”
“I was.”
“And I suppose you accidentally smiled too?”
“I did not smile.”
“You absolutely smiled.”
“I didn’t.”
Kate folded her arms dramatically. “I’ve known you for six years.”
“…and you’ve got exactly one smile that appears only when a boy is involved.”
The girl immediately looked away.
“Katy!…”
It wasn’t an embarrassed voice. It sounded more like a mother scolding her mischievous daughter.
Low. Calm. Firm.
“Behave.”
Kate burst into laughter. “What?”
“I’m just observing.”
“Observe quietly.”
“I can’t.”
“Kate…”
“What?”
“Please.”
Kate looked toward me again. Then back at her friend.
“You know…”
“What now?”
“…he’s actually kind of cute.”
The girl rolled her eyes.
“I wasn’t even looking at his face.”
“Oh?”
“I wasn’t.”
“So you noticed his face.”
“…”
Kate’s grin became even wider. “Got you.”
The girl sighed.
“I hate you.”
“I know.”
They both laughed.
Unfortunately…
that was the exact moment…
I looked up. And saw them looking in my direction.
The moment our eyes almost met…
my survival instincts kicked in.
Oh, no.
She saw me.
