Piya stepped into her room and immediately paused.
The air was thick with a strange, metallic odor—bitter and metallic, like crushed leaves mixed with something faint and coppery.
She looked toward the far corner.
Her roommates were sitting perfectly still on their beds and chairs, their eyes locked onto her.
Their expressions were unnaturally blank, their shadows stretched thin across the wall under the dull yellow bulb.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody even seemed to blink.
Exhausted beyond belief, Piya couldn’t bring herself to care.
She didn’t say a single word.
Without changing out of her cold, street-worn clothes, she pulled the heavy blanket over her shoulders, collapsed onto the mattress, and closed her eyes.
In the dark, her thoughts immediately drifted to the warden’s heavy warning.
The warm morning sunlight spilled through the window, resting gently on Piya’s face.
Her eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes to the crisp, bright morning.
Sitting up on her bed, she gave her tired body a long, needed stretch.
“Yesterday was so chaotic,” Piya murmured to herself, rubbing her eyes as the surreal memories of the previous night washed over her.
“Everything was so weird… so incredibly strange.”
The terrifying blue-eyed stranger in the shadowy woods, Kabir searching for her in the cold night, and the warden’s heavy, solemn warnings about her past and her friends—it all felt like a hazy, unsettling nightmare under the bright morning sun.
Piya shook her head, forcing a soft smile as she pushed the heavy blanket aside.
“Anyway, Piya,” she whispered, giving herself a quiet pep talk.
“It’s a new morning, a fresh start, and a chance for new happiness.”
Determined to put the eerie night behind her, she swung her legs off the bed, grabbed her towel and toiletries, and walked over to the bathroom to freshen up for her day at college.
Stepping out of the bathroom with a damp towel around her shoulders, Piya noticed her roommates were still fast asleep, completely still under their sheets.
But the air in the room hadn’t cleared—that same strange, metallic odor hung heavy in the space, thick and completely unfamiliar to anything she had ever smelled before.
Suddenly, a stray drop of icy water trickled down from her wet curly hair, hitting her collarbone and snapping her out of her thoughts.
She glanced at the wall clock and gasped—she was running horribly late for her morning class. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
Abandoning any thought of her hairbrush, Piya hurriedly threw her books into her backpack.
She strapped her watch onto her wrist, tossed her wet curls over her shoulder, and rushed out the door.
Without even pausing for breakfast, she hurried down the hostel stairs and made a run for the main college campus, her stomach empty and her mind racing to keep up with the day.
“It’s such a relief the hostel and college aren’t far apart,” Piya muttered to herself, adjusting her heavy backpack as she hurried across the short distance between the gates.
Near the campus entrance, Misha was pacing back and forth impatiently alongside Panchi—the sharp, organized manager and director of extra-curricular activities for the college.
“Oho, where is this Piya?!” Misha burst out, crossing her arms angrily.
“Today I’m going to talk to her and find out what the real problem was. And if that Tina was behind it, I swear I am actually going to crack her head open this time!”
Panchi rolled her eyes, adjusting her clipboard.
“Misha, calm down. Let her get here first.”
Just then, Kabir arrived at the main gate, looking unusually refreshed.
Behind his back, he held a small, freshly picked bundle of bright wild flowers he had carefully gathered for Piya.
A wide, quiet smile played on his lips as he looked around the crowded entrance.
At that moment, Piya stepped through the heavy archway of the main campus.
Spotting Misha and Panchi, a soft, genuine smile instantly lit up her face, relieved to see familiar faces.
But the moment her eyes met Misha’s, the warden’s heavy words echoed sharply in her mind:
“Girls like Misha study just for time-pass… stay away from them.”
Piya’s smile vanished instantly, her foot stopping mid-step as a sudden, painful hesitation washed over her.
Piya turned on her heel and veered down the side corridor, heading straight for her lecture hall.
“What the hell?” Misha gasped, staring in utter disbelief.
“Did she just ignore me?”
“Of course she ignored you,” Kabir chimed in smoothly, running a hand through his hair to adjust his style.
“She would never ignore “me”.”
“By the way, is today Valentine’s Day?”
“No,” Kabir replied defensively.
“Then why are you holding a flower bouquet? It looks so weird. Please stay away from me.”
Misha took a step back, then suddenly paused, her eyes narrowing.
“Wait a second… did you just come from someone’s funeral?”
“What?!” Kabir said, stunned.
“My mom told me about your weird childhood hobbies! Remember when you fell in love with my cat’s collar and carried it all the way to your house?”
“Oh, please, Misha! I was just a kid back then! I am an adult now, and I am very handsome,” Kabir scoffed, tossing his head back.
“And why on earth would I pick flowers from a funeral?!”
“Then who are they for?” Misha demanded, stepping closer.
“Is it for P—” Kabir blurted out before clamping his mouth shut.
Misha’s glare sharpened instantly.
“P? Who is P? Wait… if those are for Piya, I swear I will break your head!”
“No! No, no!” Kabir panicked, sweat nearly breaking on his forehead.
“I mean… it’s for… for Panchi!”
“What?” Panchi blinked, looking up from her clipboard.
“For me?”
“Yes!” Kabir shoved the flowers into Panchi’s hands.
“Danny bro sent these for you! He asked me to give them to you!”
Panchi’s face instantly lit up as she held the bouquet to her chest.
“Oh, Danny… he is so caring! Do you know, Misha—”
“Oh, please, Panchi, I am not interested in your boyfriend or your love story,” Misha groaned, rolling her eyes in absolute disgust.
“I am going to class. I need to find out why Piya ignored me.”
She stormed off down the hallway, leaving Kabir letting out a massive sigh of relief while Panchi admired her flowers.