TO CRUSH
A Novel by Pratik Gupta
What if love was never meant to be yours… but you chose to feel it anyway?
TO CRUSH is a deeply personal and emotionally layered coming-of-age novel that explores the beauty and ache of one-sided love.
Set against the vibrant backdrop of college life, friendships, festivals, and quiet late-night conversations, this story follows a young boy who never planned to fall in love — yet finds himself slowly attached to someone who may never belong to him.
Through stolen glances, heartfelt shayari, garba nights under Navratri lights, and conversations about life, spirituality, and dreams, he experiences love in its purest and most vulnerable form — not to possess, but to feel.
But what happens when confession brings clarity… and clarity brings distance?
This novel is not about dramatic heartbreak.
It is about:
The courage to confess without expecting victory.
The pain of remaining “just a friend.”
The quiet growth that follows emotional loss.
And the bittersweet truth that sometimes love teaches you more in separation than in togetherness.
Written in a raw, honest, and conversational voice, TO CRUSH captures the emotional chaos of youth — where friendships feel like family, festivals feel magical, and one person can unknowingly become the center of your world.
For every boy who loved silently.
For every heart that stayed even after knowing the ending.
For every one-sided story that was still lived fully.
Some stories are not meant to last forever —
but they are meant to change you forever.