Time: The next day, 9:00 AM Everyone looked half-dead in class. Bloodshot eyes, heads buried in arms, the occasional groan. How long did that party even last? I wondered. A few people were conspicuous by their absence—Lena, Miara, Rahul. No surprise there. I wasn’t feeling much better myself. Seventeen shots—that number alone made my stomach churn. Lesson learned, the hard way. But still, there was no way I could skip class. The Boards were coming up. Well, who was I kidding—Boards or no Boards, I couldn’t miss seeing Yash. We smiled at each other across the room. That tiny grin was enough to wake me up more than coffee. Maybe next time we had a pop quiz, I’d find a way to distract him and finally outscore him. Old habits die hard, I guess. When roll call began, the room stirred awake like zombies trying to remember they were human. “Cheryl Mathew…” — Present. “Dinesh Verma…” — Present. “Miara… Miara… Miara Boss…” No reply. Miara was absent. Word was, she and her parents had flown off ...