The door creaked open, and Meher stepped in, calm and composed, holding the old book she had picked up earlier.
Meher (softly):
"You're here."
Nidhi (casual, already sitting on her bed):
"Yup."
Ananya glanced at Meher, her eyes drawn to the book in her hand.
Ananya (quietly, to herself):
"She's still holding that book… Didn't she see me vanish?"
Meher turned slowly toward her, tone steady but distant.
Meher:
"I looked for you… for quite some time. It was like you just disappeared."
Ananya (surprised, then trying to sound casual):
"Oh—yeah. I went to talk to a teacher about something. You were gone before I could say anything."
Meher just nodded and walked over to her bed, beginning to unpack.
Ananya watched her silently, thoughts spinning. She noticed I was gone... But I can't ask her about the old hostel now. Even if I did, I know she won't talk.
As Meher turned to face the wall, still unpacking, her calm voice floated through the room.
Meher:
"Have you two even prepared for lectures? Stationery? Clothes?"
Ananya and Nidhi (in sync):
"No…"
Meher (sighs):
"As expected. Lectures start Monday. We only have two days left. Tomorrow, we're going shopping."
Nidhi (instantly excited):
"Finally! My fashion sense was crying already! New notebooks, cute pens, and maybe a tote bag too—I'm ready!"
Ananya (laughing):
"Meher, do you have a list of what we actually need?"
Meher (nodding):
"Yes. Since we're in the AI branch, the teachers shared a list in the group. We'll need:
A decent laptop with at least 16GB RAM
A scientific calculator
Notebooks for each subject
Pen drives
External hard drive
Basic electronics kit for the AI lab
Headphones for coding sessions
And don't forget ID-sized photos—they ask for those randomly."
Ananya (blinking):
"That's… a lot."
Nidhi (teasing):
"Well, I'll buy the pen drives. Ananya, you get the hard drive. Meher already has everything, obviously."
Meher (with a small smirk):
"Yes. And we'll split the rest. But listen—after shopping, no more excuses."
Ananya (grinning):
"Then let's go for a movie after shopping?"
Nidhi:
"Dinner too! Before the real struggle begins."
Meher (softly):
"Alright. But for now… let's sleep."
They finished unpacking, chatting lightly about the day, college excitement, and Nidhi's obsession with pastel stationery.
The room fell quiet as Meher turned off the light. Darkness settled over the hostel room, broken only by the soft breathing of three tired souls.