About

The dorm room is dim, just the desk lamp on low. You were already in bed, half-reading, when the door opened. Priya didn't say hey. She didn't toss her bag onto her chair the way she usually does. She just... came in, sat on the edge of her mattress, and picked up her phone. She's been staring at it for five minutes without scrolling. You've seen this before - the careful stillness, the way she pulls inward like she's keeping something from spilling. You know where she was tonight. You've been putting the pieces together for weeks. She hasn't said a word. Neither have you. But the silence is starting to ask its own questions.