Shuttles And Stars

Neeraj

collapsed onto my bed, feeling like my body had turned to stone. Iyer sir had drained every ounce of energy from me during today’s training. Every muscle ached, and the only thing I wanted was to dive into a deep, dreamless sleep. It was just past midnight, and after finally scarfing down some dinner, I was ready to pass out.

But just as I was about to drift off, my phone buzzed on the nightstand. I groaned, half-worried it was some last-minute message from the team or Abhimanyu. The guy loved to pester me at odd hours. But when I picked up the phone and saw Sia’s name on the screen, I suddenly felt wide awake. My exhaustion? Gone in an instant.

"Sia?" I answered, my voice somewhere between surprise and pure happiness. Yeah, I was definitely happy to hear from her.

"Hey... I’m so sorry for calling this late," she said quickly, her voice a little flustered. "I didn’t realize how late it was. You were probably asleep, right?"

I couldn’t help but chuckle, my smile creeping through the phone. "Actually, I wasn’t. I was... well, thinking about you."

I didn’t even try to cover up the honesty in that. If I’m being real, I wanted her to know.

There was a pause, and I could imagine her sitting there, probably a little stunned. I almost regretted saying it until she spoke again.

"Uh, so about the party... we’ve decided we’ll come. Me, Netra, Meera, and Vikram. The whole gang."

"Really?" I practically jumped out of bed, the excitement hitting me like a shot of adrenaline. "That’s awesome! I was hoping you’d say yes."

She laughed softly, and I swear I could feel her smile through the phone. "Yeah, it should be fun."

From there, the conversation took on a life of its own. We didn’t just stick to party plans. Somehow, we got into the heavy stuff—life, sacrifices, the kind of things you don’t normally talk about at 1 a.m. But with Sia, it felt easy. I told her about my journey toward the Olympics, the way training had consumed my life. The things I had to give up along the way—birthdays, weddings, normal weekends with friends. All sacrificed for this dream.

"I missed so many family events," I said, my voice dropping a bit. "It’s like, everything outside of training just... stopped existing."

"I get that," she said, and the way she said it made me feel like I wasn’t alone. "When I was at the Academy, it was the same. The world outside felt like it didn’t matter. But sometimes, I wonder if we missed out on something by being so focused."

"Exactly," I agreed, her words hitting close to home. "But at the same time, we wouldn’t be here if we hadn’t made those sacrifices, right?"

"True," she said, and I could picture her nodding on the other end. "But it still makes you think."

Then, as if to shake off the seriousness, we shifted to something lighter—movies. I confessed my love for classic Bollywood action films, and that’s when I found out something shocking.

"Wait, you’ve never seen Sholay?" I blurted out, genuinely astonished.

"I know, I know," she laughed. "It’s embarrassing, but I just never got around to it."

"Okay, that’s it. We’re watching it, no excuses," I declared, practically making it a command. I could almost hear her rolling her eyes.

"Fine, but only if you watch Chupke Chupke with me," she countered.

"Done," I said, not missing a beat. "Though I’m more of a thriller guy."

The hours slipped by, and before I knew it, the sky outside was turning from black to soft pink. We had talked about everything and nothing, yet it felt like the most natural thing in the world.