Then out of nowhere, all of a sudden, he just smiled and laughed. “Why are you so tense, Krisna? It’s like you just met me right now. I know that we haven’t been friends that long yet, but you should be comfortable with me already. Just throw away your introversion, don’t be timid when you’re talking to me.” He said to me in an enthusiastic tone of voice, as if he was trying to encourage me or something.

I wasn’t shy because of him, in fact, I wasn’t shy at all. It’s because he stared at me with that look on his face. He looked at me like I was...