The pink sports car and the black stinger became iconic - but not for their price tags.
It was the way she held onto him on morning rides. The way he waited outside class. It was the way their conversations flipped from Shakespeare to street slang in seconds.
They laughed bigger. Smiled brighter.
"Romeo and Juliet of North Campus," people whispered.
But this felt nothing like tragedy.
She was the mystery with gold bracelets and blurry Instagram filters.
He was the boy with dusty shoes and answers that made professors pause.
Somehow, they made the ordinary sparkle.
Kabir stopped teasing.
Tanya stopped whispering about car keys.
In fact, Rohan helped Kabir prep for a debate once. Tanya borrowed Shia's poetry notebook and scribbled in a verse:
"No wager. No win.
Just the way he makes you grin."
Even Shia forgot sometimes - that it had started as a bet.
Until guilt visited her like an unexpected rainstorm.
But every time she saw Rohan waving across the lawn, his smile free of suspicion, full of joy.
The guilt melted.
Because the bet had been a spark.
But the flame? That was them.