The atmosphere in the room was tense, bristling with fear. The smell of fresh paper and ink hung in the air as the ominous ticking of a clock sounded loudly, setting the rhythm to which everyone's hearts thudded. Sahana glanced at her wristwatch, barely thirty seconds left. Of all the times her fingers had to cramp, now was by far the least convenient. She groaned softly, pushing her fingers beyond their limit, pain shot straight to her very bones.
The tinny bell cut through the room, bringing with it a wave of relieved sighs. Sahana leaned back in her chair, raised her hands above her head and stretched her aching fingers. She pivoted in her chair to look at her friend, "Adi! How'd it go?"
"Don't ask", he replied with a deadpan expression.
"That bad? Huh. I'm pretty sure I'll pass by two marks at least", she said, beaming.
The invigilator snatched her paper off the desk and frowned at her outburst. Sahana packed her stationery and hall ticket into a clear pouch and left the room.
"Do you... want to discuss the paper...?" she hesitantly asked Aditya.
"Sorry Sahana, not really. I'd rather not discover that I did even worse than I think right now."
"Okay", she shrugged. Just as she was shoving her water bottle into her bag, she felt it. It was nothing like she had ever expected, it tugged at her very soul, sending her head reeling, making her knees weak and her breath catch in her throat. The shift in the aether was almost palpable, her skin rippled with gooseflesh and her tongue tasted sour. As if from a distance she heard her boots squeak across the floor as she fell to the ground, her bangles breaking as her wrists hit the floor and her dupatta fell in a heap beside her. Aditya grabbed her arms and knelt beside her.
"Sahana! Sahana! Are you okay? Sahana!" he exclaimed.
"I felt it... I actually felt it... It's real... he's close", she gasped between breaths. Sahana shook her head and felt reality falling back in to place again. She stood up slowly and smiled sheepishly at the small crowd around her.
"Sorry, I pulled an all-nighter, feeling a bit dizzy. I'm okay now", she told people around her. The crowd dispersed just as quickly as it had formed, re-joining the cacophonous flow of people pouring out of every room and stairwell.
"Hey Adi, remind me again, how many colleges did I tell you I was rejected by before coming here?"
"Four... I think. Yeah, four", he replied puzzled, "Wait. Why...?"
Sahana straightened her black kurta, stuffed her dupatta into her backpack and kicked the broken fragments of her bangles to the side. She pulled out her phone and entered her passcode.
"Sahana? Why are you asking me that right now...?" Aditya repeated.
Her phone screen went black and then opened a camera with what appeared to be a pre-set filter on it. Raising it up to her eyes, Sahana surveyed her surroundings through the filter. Everybody around them appeared as amorphous blobs, except... there it was! On the floor above them, the glowing red blob. A quick swipe, a few more taps and she put her phone back in her backpack.
"What was that? A new photography app? Sahana? Seriously, what the hell is going on?"
"Hmm... Four colleges eh?" she said, looking up from her phone, "Well, looks like I'm going to have to add a fifth to my list. It's been great knowing you Adi, you're a really cool guy and you're way smarter than you give yourself credit for. Also, you should just ask Ranjitha out, she already likes you, kick the CS habit and start taking your projects more seriously. What else... um... yeah, don't try finding me after this you won't be able to. I'll stay in touch", with that, she patted him on the shoulder, tightened her backpack and went bounding up the stairs.
