Some parts of the dialogue (in italics) are in Hindi. They do not add much to the story. Translations will be added at the end of the chapter. Enjoy!

This is not edited. Please point out any errors if you see them.

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Since I saved so much on the journey to college, Vidushi thought, I can afford to buy some good food from the cafeteria.

They were near the college - the sight of farmers hard at work had been replaced by mud huts and tin roofed dwellings.

"Engineering College," the van driver called out as the van rolled to a halt.

Vidushi followed Parth to the front of the bus. She held onto the supporting rod near the door but immediately let go as she felt the brown flakes of rust crumble beneath her fingers.

"Here," Parth offered as he held out his hand.

Vidushi didn't take it. "I can manage." She jumped off the bus and didn't wait for Parth to follow her to the back, where all the luggage was loaded.

"Bhaiya, the red suitcase and the blue bag," Vidushi instructed the conductor who sorted through the piles of bags to finally extract hers.

"Aapka?" the conductor asked Parth.

"I've taken it, thanks. Coming, Vidushi?"

"Can't you see I have two heavy suitcases? Aren't you going to help?"

"But you just - " Parth let out a slow breath, counting backwards in his head. "Okay Vidushi, but I can't carry it to the hostel, I'm planning to go to the canteen first."

"Fine."

They crossed the road - highway really - and signed the check-in register the uniformed security guard held out. "Itna late?" he asked as he took the dog-eared notebook back. "Office closed hai." That meant they would have to stay in someone else's hostel room until the Hostel office opened again and they could get their new keys.

But the sight they were seeing now was worth it. The sky had turned a deep pink and clouds scudded across the sky. Flocks of crows flew towards the trees scattered across the college grounds.

He could see mothers hugging sons and fathers solemnly dispensing advice to daughters. Probably first year students. The sight made Parth oddly nostalgic for an experience he didn't even have.

"So sentimental," Vidushi snorted. "I'm going to be sick."

Ten, Nine, Eight....Zero. "Let's go to the canteen."

They walked across the grounds, dodging the families clustered beneath the lights for a final farewell, and past the Administrative blocks. The canteen was a mishmash of tables, some wooden from the days when the college started in the fifties, then metal desks from the days of License Raj and the newer plastic ones that were delivered last year when the canteen was constantly too crowded.

Parth dropped the bags at the nearest empty table and rotated his wrist, trying to release the tension. "I hope this table is fine. What should I order for you?"

"Poha and a nimbu soda."

Parth weaved through the tables scattered in the canteen and took a stool next to the counter.

"Raju bhaiya! How are you?" Parth asked the shopkeeper.

"Theek hoon," Raju smiled. "Aapka sprouts aur nimbu pani?"

"Poha aur Nimbu Soda bhi."

He felt the slap on his back before he heard it. "Arre Parth!"

"Hi Jignesh," Parth said. He moved his stool to the side, making place for Jignesh and Randhir. The graffiti scratched into the countertop changed. Param <3 Harshita was the most prominent message now.

"Aapka order," the shopkeeper said.

"Chalo let's get to the table," Jignesh took his cup of cheese Maggi. "Sanyukta and Kaustuki will also be here soon."

_______

"And you know there was a rude old man on the tour who always used to call us Chinki. When we went to the bird park a parrot stole his wig and dropped it on a flamingo!"

"Oh wow that's great Kaustu," Sanyukta answered.

"Hello...earth to Sanyu. Which world are you lost in? You haven't been listening to me since we left the hostel."

"Sorry yaar, I'm searching for someone."

"Oh really?" Kaustuki wagged her eyebrows and nudged Sanyukta. "Which guy are you searching for? Parth?"

"Yes I am searching for Parth, I haven't seen him for so long - and stop smiling at me like that!"

"It's okay to have feelings for someone Sanyu, that's how most beautiful relationships start."

"Parth is like my brother, you know that. Vaise I can see Vidushi, let's give her the key."

"Do we have to?" Kaustuki asked, following Sanyukta slowly to Vidushi's table.

"Hi Vidushi!"

The startled girl looked up from her cell phone. "Oh, it's you two. Have you seen my roommate? She's not picking up my calls."

"Actually Vidushi we're going to share a room again."

"What? Again! How is this possible? Last year I almost failed Environmental - Hi Randhir! How are you?"

The guys had just reached their table.

"Jiggy!" Kaustuki grinned and hugged him. "Chal baithte hain."

Jignesh grabbed two chairs from the next table for himself and Kaustuki. Parth had sat next to Vidushi. There was one seat next to him.

Sanyukta and Randhir were the only ones left standing. Sanyukta tried to run around the table and grab the last stool, but she was too slow. "Always in second place huh?" Randhir joked.

"Don't you have any manners? What happened to ladies first?"

Randhir pretended to look around the canteen. "Are there any ladies here without a seat? I don't see them."

Before Sanyukta could retort, Parth stood up. "I'll get a stool, you sit here Sanyukta."

"No way Parth! I don't want to sit with him. I'll help you find an empty chair."

"Good, you two useless people will be away from me."

Neither of them replied to his comment and for some reason Randhir felt odd.

----

"So, how was your summer Parth? Meet any hot chicks?" Sanyukta asked with a grin.

"I can't ever forget Arpita," Parth said. "Don't ever ask me to."

"I'm not asking you to forget her. I'm asking you to find some happiness. She'd want that too, you know."

"You don't know that. You have never even met her. Stop trying to control me, Sanyukta."

Sanyukta's eyes filled with tears. "Why are you acting like this? I am just trying to be a good friend."

Parth pinched the bridge of his nose as he slowly breathed in. "I'm really sorry, Sanyukta. This topic is a bit tough for me to talk about. Let's talk about something else? Actually, I just saw an empty chair."

He picked it up and they walked back to the table, an awkward silence springing between them. Parth placed Sanyukta's chair as far away from his as possible when they reached the table, next to Jignesh and Kaustuki who seemed to be deep in conversation.

"All okay?" Kaustuki murmured when she saw Sanyukta's face.

"Yeah I'm fine."

"Thank you your majesty for coming back," Randhir bit out. "Now that we're all here, I want to discuss something. My friend in Bombay Academy of Engineering told me they are having techfest in November this year."

"What? Why so early?" Vidushi asked.

"They want to have the cultural fest in Feb this time. So they preponed Techfest. The point is, we have very little time to prepare."

He looked around the table. Satisfied that everyone was hanging on to his every word, he continued, "This year, I want things to go well, and not be a disaster like last year."

"Wait what do you mean? We won last year!" Sanyukta protested.

"We won the contest for first and second year students as second years," Randhir sneered. "We didn't even qualify for the open competition."

"It was a pretty good performance Randhirbhai, making it to the second stage of the open contest," Jiggy said.

"We would have won if I was the captain, I would have made us practice more."

"Parth was a great captain!" Sanyukta defended loyally.

"Actually Randhir you're right, I was not a good captain. That's why I'm going to resign once I meet Vardhan sir."

"Looks like you won't have to wait long."

Rajesh, Vardhan sir's assistant was walking towards the table.

"Vidushi, Parth, please give me your luggage. Vardhan sir doesn't want you to strain and carry it."

Vidushi smiled. Finally, one of the perks she was promised when she joined the dream team! She could get used to it.

"Here you go!" She pointed out all her bags.

Parth was a lot more reluctant. "I can take it myself."

"Look, it's strict instructions from sir. He just wants you to focus on the dream team and not waste your time on small things. Go complain to him if you have a problem."

Sighing, Parth handed over his bags.

"So how was everyone's summer?" he asked, not really listening as Kaustuki launched into a story about a bird and a wig.

---

Vidushi was struggling to keep her eyes open. The Dream Team had long ago polished off the food on the table and had finally caught up on each other's summers. It had been an exhausting day and she was ready to collapse into bed.

Kaustuki was still talking about someone or the other she met in Singapore. Didn't she realize that not everyone's summer consisted of month-long vacations in foreign countries? Vidushi let out a yawn, hoping that would stop the monologue.

"Wow what a great story Kaustuki! I didn't notice it was twelve already." Jignesh gushed. Of course he would, Vidushi thought. That guy was so whipped.

"It's twelve?! Guys, don't we have a class at 8.30 tomorrow?" Sanyukta pointed out. Apparently the girl had some use.

General grumbling about the third year timetable filled the group as they left the table and headed towards the hostel. "No wonder Yoyo keeps failing third year," Randhir quipped. "Who keeps classes so early in the morning?"

It wasn't funny, but they were giggling all the way to the hostel doors.

"Good night girls," Jignesh called out as the boys headed to their hostel.

"Good night Vignesh," Vidushi replied, half asleep. Sanyukta and Kaustuki helped her to the lift.

"You're going to love this new room," Sanyukta was saying. "We ordered this whole set of candles from Forest Essentials, and now there are three of us, it's just thousand bucks each!"

Wait, what? Did this rich girl seriously say 'just thousand bucks each'? Suddenly Vidushi felt wide awake.

"Are you crazy? If you want some forest smell we can buy an air purifier for hundred and you bought some fancy candles? I don't have rich parents like you Sanyukta!"

"Sorry Vidushi, I was trying to make a joke. Don't worry, you will love the room, even if we don't have fancy candles."

"I'm very serious. This year is very important for me, I have an education loan of five lakhs and I need to get a good internship to pay it back. I can't afford any screwups in the exams or in tech fest."

"Okay Vidushi relax. Let's just go and sleep," Kaustuki said as she searched her pockets for the room keys. "Why is the room so dark? Did we switch off the light when we left?"

"Does it really matter? Hurry up, I'm so tired I could sleep on the floor."

"I'm trying Vidushi, but the switch is not working."

When Sanyukta finally found the right switch, it looked like Vidushi would have to do just that. There was nothing in the room. Not the three beds with the warm comforters they had bought together on the first day of first year, the books that they had organized by colour or the wooden cupboards with their full length mirrors. Even the walls that Sanyukta and Kaustuki had painstakingly covered with posters and fairy lights were bare. Someone had stolen every single thing from their room, except for a single light bulb and what looked like a speaker attached to the ceiling.

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Translations:

Chinki - a slur against people from North East India

Arre - no meaning - just an interjection, like Oh!

Bhaiya - older brother

Aapka - yours?
Itna late? - so late
Office closed hai - the office is closed

Poha - a rice based breakfast/snack food
Nimbu soda - lemon soda
Nimbu pani - lemon water
Chalo - let's go
Vaise - by the way

Chal baithte hain - let's sit down