The morning dragged on, heavy and colorless. Diya went to class, kept her head down, and said nothing more than a few words when asked. During lunch, while the others gathered in noisy corners and friendly circles, she walked past the canteen without a second glance and made her way back to her room.
She wasn't angry. She wasn't even sad anymore.
She just needed space—from everything and everyone.
Maddy had texted. Twice. She left them on read.
Harsh had pinged her too. A short, kind message. Still, she hadn't replied.
When she closed her eyes, her thoughts twisted into knots. When she opened them, the world felt too sharp to look at. So she slept—or tried to.
In the late evening, her phone buzzed again. A notification popped up on the group chat from the get-together:
Group Chat: [College Get-Together Girls ]Ahaana: "Heyyy Diya! Guess what? Me and Nivi just reached hostel!! "Nivi: "You better come down. We're on your floor!"
Diya blinked at the names.
Nivi.
Maddy's best friend. One of the few people who knew how close things had once been.
Her stomach twisted a little, but something about the message made her move. She got out of bed, tied her hair, slipped into a clean hoodie, and walked out to the hallway.
The girls were there, dragging suitcases and laughing over some hostel corridor chaos.
"There she is!" Nivi said with a bright smile.
"About time!" Ahaana added, throwing her arms around Diya.
Diya smiled, a little stiff at first, but grateful. She sat with them, helped them unpack, and joined their conversation. They joked about the hostel food already being legendary (for the wrong reasons), shared their travel horror stories, and gossiped about the cute senior boys they spotted during orientation.
But through it all, Nivi didn't say anything about Maddy.
Not a word. Not a question.
She wasn't cold. She wasn't distant.
She was just... normal.
And for some reason, that hurt Diya more than she expected.
Did Nivi not want to make things awkward? Or did she think Diya didn't deserve to talk about it? Or maybe, Nivi knew everything and had already chosen which side to stay on?
Diya didn't ask.
Instead, she laughed at the jokes, made fun of Ahaana's massive makeup bag, and let herself be distracted.
It wasn't deep. It wasn't healing.
But it helped.
Even if only for an evening.