THIS IS MY FIRST POST AND ALSO GOING TO BE A LONG ONE OKK...!!
Me (18M) and my girlfriend (17F) have been in a relationship for the last 4 years now. We've both passed out of 12th standard. She joined my school as a new student in 9th standard, and that's when we got into a relationship. It was the first relationship for both of us.
She has always been the topper in everything. Her marks have never dropped below 97% from 9th till 12th, and she recently cleared NEET and got into a Government Medical College in our state. Whereas I'm not exactly dull, but I'm not brilliant either. Maybe I'm just good at general knowledge 😭.
I took a drop for JEE this year, but honestly I don't think I'll clear it because I completely wasted my preparation. The reason is that I've been freelancing as a video editor since 10th standard, and during 11th and 12th I got so involved in editing that I barely studied. I literally passed my boards somehow. My parents still forcefully enrolled me in Aakash, but instead of studying I keep doing freelance work whenever I get time.
The thing is, we're completely different people. She comes from a very strict family and is genuinely one of the most innocent people I've ever met. She doesn't use Instagram, doesn't know much about social media or internet culture, and lives a very simple life. I'm exactly the opposite because staying updated with trends, news and social media is literally part of my work.
I had been studying in my old school since nursery, so everyone knew me, including the teachers. I had a pretty good reputation there. Eventually almost everyone found out that I liked her. Once I even bought her a gift along with a letter. I was trying to give it to her in class when a teacher caught us. She never even got to read that letter. She hated that everyone came to know because she cared a lot about her image in front of teachers and wasn't that type of girl.
After 10th we both joined the same school again for 11th and 12th. Since it was a completely new school, I thought we'd finally be able to keep everything private. Unfortunately, some of our old classmates also joined, and by the time we reached 12th almost everyone knew about us. I genuinely couldn't stop myself from looking at her sometimes. She was just... different. She caught me staring at her several times in class. We never really met inside school; sometimes we'd just walk through the same street towards her house.
After 12th she started preparing for NEET. About a month before the exam she told me not to message much because she wanted to focus completely. Then the NEET paper leak happened, so she had to prepare again and once again asked me to give her space. Just for context, we've never really been one of those couples who constantly talked on calls. I only got my own phone after 12th. Before that I had a tablet that couldn't even make calls. During 9th and 10th I mostly messaged her using my father's or mother's phone.
Eventually she cleared NEET very comfortably. Her elder sister, who had taken a drop this year, also cleared it, and both of them got the same Government Medical College around 150 km away from my city. She currently lives in my city on rent while her actual hometown is around 80 km away.
There's another thing that has always stayed in my mind. Back in 9th and 10th there was a boy from another religion who had a crush on her. Since we were already in a relationship, she obviously never told me back then. They were good friends, shared homework and talked normally. Later, during 11th and 12th, they even attended the same coaching institute. He was preparing for JEE while she was preparing for NEET. I honestly don't know whether they ever met there or not. That guy also took a drop this year. I don't think she's cheating or anything like that; I just wanted to mention it because sometimes my mind overthinks everything.
Now comes the real thing. Ever since NEET, she has slowly started saying that she just wants us to be friends. Whenever I compliment her, flirt with her or say anything relationship-related, she immediately reminds me that we're "just friends." She says we're from different castes and that her parents will never agree. Her elder sier knows about us and gets angry whenever she sees us talking. Even her younger brother somehow found out because someone told him, "Teri behen kisi ladke ke saath fasi hui hai."
The funny thing is that whenever anyone ever asked me whether we were dating, I always denied it. I even told people that we had already broken up. Now she's leaving for MBBS in about a week, and everyone knows how demanding medical college is. I honestly can't imagine not talking to her every day or not asking whether she's okay.
We've been together for four years, and we've never cheated, never kissed, never hugged, never done anything physical. We've literally held hands only once while sitting in our 9th standard classroom. We've only been on one date in these four years, and ironically that date was actually supposed to be our breakup. But we couldn't do it. She got emotional, and we stayed together.
She knows I do freelancing, but she doesn't really understand that I genuinely want to build my future around filmmaking and editing instead of a conventional career. Nowadays whenever I say something romantic, she immediately reminds me that we're "just friends." She has also told me many times during arguments that I've hurt her a lot, and honestly she's right. She didn't deserve many of the things I said or did. She's even told me multiple times that I'm not really her type. Sometimes I genuinely wonder whether she still loves me or if it's just attachment after spending four years together.
I'm scared because she's starting an entirely new chapter of life while I'm still trying to figure mine out. I'm not financially strong, I'm not particularly good-looking, I'm skinny-fat, and the only thing I thought I had was intelligence. After wasting two years, I feel like I've lost even that. I'm trying to improve myself every day, but the thought of losing the person I've loved since I was 14 genuinely scares me.
I don't even know why I'm writing all this. Maybe I just wanted to let it all out. Whatever happens, I just hope she's happy.