Tanya had been observing Mariah for quite a few days as she was appearing to be very tense. Very soon they were about to get to the final days of their first year in college. Exams were also nearing and they just had one month in hand. All the professors had asked the students to complete their files and submit them on time. They were having their lectures regularly and even the practicals were going on in a full swing.
That day, they had their practicals scheduled and the professor divided the students into groups of three. Even Reeva was in their class for this reason. She tried her best to keep Tanya away from Jahaan during the lectures. Be it any activity, Reeva made sure that she and Jahaan were on the same team. She used to sit next to him every day and even Jahaan never raised any concern regarding this. As they could not be in Jahaan's team, Tanya , Mariah, and Illahi were paired together as one team. Mariah was lost in her own thoughts and paid no attention during the lab activity. On hearing any loud noise, she used to shudder back to reality.
The entire day, Tanya was helping Mariah and was trying to perform well in the practicals. Just then, the professor gave them half an hour for a break and asked them to be back in time. Everyone kept their books in the lab and strayed away.
" Tanya , I will just go to the loo. My books are here. Do take care of them", saying this, Mariah left the lab. It had only been a while since she left and suddenly her phone, placed over her books, started ringing. It was a call from an unsaved number.
Tanya thought of answering the call but she stopped herself. After the phone stopped ringing, it beeped with a message notification. This
time, Tanya clicked on the notification and opened the message. It was a text from the same number. The message just read, "Room no. 204". It had nothing else in it. On seeing this , March's mind wandered off to the same weird guy she saw met in the hotel. She did figure out that
somehow, Mariah and the guy in room number 204 are connected.
After some time, Mariah came back to the lab and Tanya spoke, "Hey, your phone was ringing. It was from an unknown number. I didn't answer it".
On hearing this, Mariah immediately grabbed her phone and started checking it. Tanya could easily see her face turn pale. On reading the message, she got so tensed that beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. She gathered her books and started walking out of the lab.
"Hey! Where are you headed to? We still have half of the work to complete" Tanya spoke as she tried to stop her. Mariah quickly wiped her sweat away and forced a smile on her face. She turned around and replied, "I am so sorry but I will have to leave immediately. I have some urgent work to attend to. Please inform the professor about it". After saying this, she hurried outside the lab and vanished. Tanya was trying to ignore Mariah's matters but she could not bear to see her this way.
When all of them headed outside the lab after the practicals, they found a huge crowd gathered around the bulletin board. So, they went ahead too.
There was a huge notice of 'Prom Night' on the board. Prom night was two days away and just like every year, all the highest-scorers of the courses were to be given mementos and certificates from the founders on that day as well. These certificates were from the college to honor those students who performed brilliantly in academics. Illahi , Tanya , and many other
first-year students had no idea about the prom night. They were all standing together and asking one another.
Just then, Professor Anna showed up and asked, "Hey! What's going on? You guys don't seem to be excited at all for the prom night. Tanya , at least you should be happy as you will be awarded at the event."
"Miss Anna, it's not that we are not excited. It's just that we are clueless about what exactly is going to happen at the prom night. Is it so special that it is mentioned as such a huge notice on the board?" Tanya asked.
Professor Anna replied with a chuckle, "Yes, prom night is the biggest event organized by the faculty and the college. All the trustees, the principal, and the professors of the college will be a part of it. There will be award ceremonies, dances, performances, a grand dinner, and a lot more for you all. And not to forget the Prom King and Prom queen."
"Oh, this sounds so interesting. We are anyway tired of studying so much. Now, at night, we even dream of books and tests," Illahi chimed in.
Just then, Jordan walked up to them and intervened, "What prom night and what party are you talking about? We have our tests lined up for the next two days. Even now, I just came out of a lecture. Here we have a notice of the prom night and there, we have the notice of our tests. Duh!"
On hearing this, all the students started whining out of disappointment. "Ah come on! Those are just tests, not your exams. If you study now, you will feel less pressured during the examinations," Professor Anna explained.
After this, everyone started heading towards their respective classrooms. Tanya , along with Illahi , started looking out for Jahaan but suddenly, they were stopped by Miss Anna.
" Tanya , I need to talk to you about something in private. Please come with me," Professor Anna requested Tanya . It seemed she had something important to say.
Tanya asked Illahi to meet her outside the class after half an hour and walked with professor Anna.
The professor took her to a quiet place as Tanya asked her, "What's wrong Professor? Is everything ok? Did I do something wrong?"