Kabir paused, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Wait, what do you know?”
“I mean… I literally just heard you two talking about it ten seconds ago,” Piya replied, deadpan.
Kabir’s eyes suddenly caught sight of a group of girls walking by.
“Excuse me…” he muttered, instantly abandoning them to head over.
Misha rolled her eyes.
“Fool,” she grumbled.
“The moment he sees a girl, he completely slips up. But anyway, Piya, he’s actually a good guy at heart.”
Piya smiled, but before she could answer, her eyes suddenly widened in pure wonder.
“Wow…
“wow!” Look over there!”
Misha quickly spun her head around, trying to follow Piya’s gaze.
“Wait, what? Is Tom Cruise standing over there or something?”
She looked, but there was no famous celebrity—just the soft, quiet flutter of snow beginning to fall.
Disappointed, Misha cleared her throat.
“By the way, Piya… you’re in Vancouver. Snowfall is completely normal here.”
“But I’ve never seen snowfall like this before!” Piya gasped, her eyes shining.
“The first time was just outside the airport, and now this! I want to get closer—let’s go outside!”
“Wait, what?!” Misha called out.
Before Misha could stop her, Piya sprinted toward the main entrance doors of the college.
She stepped out into the open courtyard, threw her arms wide, and closed her eyes, letting the freezing snowflakes gently kiss her skin.
Misha walked out into the cold and nudged her.
“Piya, come on, let’s go! This is getting out of hand.”
“No, just look at how lovely this snowfall is!” Piya insisted, still enchanted by the falling snow.
“Piya, let’s move it!
If you stay out here much longer, you’re going to be buried under three feet of snow.
Come on, “otherwise we’ll turn into frozen corpses!””
Holding her admission papers tightly in her other hand, Piya let Misha pull her back toward the college entrance.
But as they turned to step inside, a broad-shouldered man bumped hard into Piya.
The force of the collision threw her off balance.
Piya couldn’t catch a glimpse of his face, but as he kept walking, she noticed him standing a few feet away.
He was wearing a dark black vest despite the freezing cold, and etched across his exposed shoulder was a strange, intricate tattoo.
Misha instantly flared up and shouted after him.
“Hey! Do you not have eyes?! If you bump into someone, the least you can do is say sorry!”
The man didn’t flinch.
He didn’t turn around, move an inch, or utter a single word.
He simply continued walking away into the cold, vanishing into the distance.
Misha made a move to march right after him, but Piya caught her arm to hold her back.
“Forget it, Misha…”
“But Piya—”
“It’s fine. Let it go.”
As they both walked back into the warmth of the college building, Misha let out a small sigh.
“Piya, I really am sorry again for that slap earlier…”
“Misha, please! You’ve already apologized a hundred times,” Piya replied with a gentle smile.
“I forgave you right away. And honestly… I think I actually needed that slap.”
Misha stopped dead in her tracks, staring at Piya in pure shock.
“Wait, “what”?”
“Yes, really,” Piya explained softly.
“My mom always used to say that if something bad happens right before you start something new, it means everything else that follows will be good. So, since you slapped me right at the entrance, I’m pretty sure everything from now on is going to be perfectly fine.”
Misha stared at her for a moment, letting the logic sink in, before bursting into a loud, bright laugh.
Misha walked Piya to the hostel to help her drop off her luggage.
As soon as they entered the room, Misha met Piya’s two new roommates and immediately locked eyes with them, dropping her voice to a sharp, menacing tone.
“Listen up,” Misha warned, stepping forward.
“If either of you tries to rag her, tease her, or create any trouble for her…
“nobody will be worse than me.””
She pointed a firm finger at both of them.
“And one more thing—she is my friend. If you give her a hard time, I will make your lives so miserable that you can’t even begin to imagine it, even in your worst nightmares.”
“Okay, Misha,” one of the roommates quickly agreed, nodding nervously.
“Don’t worry, your friend is like our friend too.”
“Hmm, that’s good,” Misha said, satisfied.
She turned to Piya.
“Okay, Piya, listen up. We have a very important lecture today that we absolutely have to attend. You quickly freshen up, and I will wait for you at the main college building. Okay?”
“Okay,” Piya agreed.
“Bye, see you later.”
With a final warning glance at the roommates, Misha left.
Left alone in the quiet space, Piya looked around her new room.
After the terrifying night in the forest and the chaotic morning, she finally took a deep breath.
This was it—a fresh start.
A new beginning.
The Uninvited Guests
Later at the college building, Misha was pacing back and forth, checking the time.
‘”Ugh, where is this ‘Miss Positivity’ left behind?”‘ she muttered to herself.
Just then, Piya jogged up to her.
“Oh, you could have come a “little” earlier!” Misha teased impatiently.
“The lecture is about to start, come on!”
The two girls hurried inside.
A few hours later, after surviving their first day of classes, they finally stepped back outside into the crisp air.