The night before fest rehearsals officially began, Hostel Block C forgot how to be quiet.
Music leaked from every floor. Someone was crying on the stairs. Someone else was laughing too loudly. The warden's whistle had already lost three battles.
Room 407 was lit.
Fairy lights on. Windows open. Scripts, clothes, chips, and cables everywhere.
Ananya sat cross-legged on her bed, going over the hosting schedule again.
Opening.
Solo segment.
Sponsor announcements.
Closing.
She exhaled slowly.
Pihu was pacing. "Why is the registration desk my responsibility? I can't even register my own emotions."
Meher lay on her bed scrolling aggressively.
Nandini highlighted lines on a paper, calm as a monk.
At 11:43 p.m., Pihu's phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
Her face changed.
She stepped into the balcony.
The door slid shut.
Ten seconds.
Twenty.
Then Ananya heard it.
A sharp, broken inhale.
She got up and followed.
Pihu was gripping the railing, phone in her hand, eyes wet, breath uneven.
"Hey," Ananya said softly.
Pihu shook her head. "I'm fine. I just… got something in my eye."
"Mmm," Ananya said. "Your voice box?"
Pihu laughed weakly.
Then the laugh broke.
"They're closing the shop," she whispered. "My dad just told me. Two months. Maybe less."
Ananya moved closer.
"He tried to sound normal. Like it's a weather update. But I could hear it. He's scared."
Her words rushed out now.
"What if they need me to come back? What if I'm sitting here decorating passes while my family is drowning?"
Ananya didn't tell her to be positive.
She didn't say everything happens for a reason.
She placed her hands over Pihu's shaking ones.
"You are allowed to build your future," she said. "Even when your present is messy."
Pihu's eyes spilled.
Meher and Nandini appeared quietly behind them.
No questions.
Only presence.
Four girls. One small balcony. A city breathing outside.
The hostel didn't sleep that night.
But something inside them did.
The fear.
Just a little.