The library was quieter than usual.
By the time they reached it, most of the students had already left for the evening.
Aanya walked straight toward their usual table.
She put her bag down.
Pulled out her notebook.
Opened a fresh page.
Aditi sat opposite her.
Sagnik took the chair beside Aanya.
Neither of them spoke.
Aanya uncapped her pen.
At the top of the page, she wrote:
35 DAYS.
Then underneath it—
FINAL EXAMS.
She underlined both.
Aditi stared at the page.
"You've been here for thirty seconds."
Aanya didn't look up.
"And?"
"You've already made it look like we're planning a military operation."
"We are."
"It's an examination."
"Exactly."
Sagnik looked at the page.
"What are you planning?"
Aanya turned the notebook toward them.
"Everything."
Aditi sighed.
"Of course."
Aanya ignored her.
"First, I need to finish the remaining portions."
She began writing.
"Then revision one. Then revision two. Then question papers."
Sagnik leaned closer.
"And sleep?"
Aanya paused.
She looked at him.
"I'll sleep."
"When?"
"At night."
"How much?"
She didn't answer.
Aditi immediately pointed at her.
"See?"
Sagnik nodded.
"I see."
Aanya frowned.
"Why are both of you looking at me like that?"
"Because you're already planning to sleep for four hours."
"I wasn't."
"You were thinking about it."
"I wasn't."
Sagnik smiled.
"You were."
Aanya looked down at her notebook.
Then quietly crossed something out.
"Fine."
She added another line.
Sleep — minimum 6 hours.
Aditi stared.
"Did I just witness personal growth?"
"Don't push it."
For the next hour, they worked.
Actually worked.
Aanya broke the syllabus into sections.
Aditi helped rearrange the subjects.
Sagnik pointed out where Aanya had underestimated the time required.
Every time Aanya tried to fit too much into a single day, he quietly moved something.
She noticed.
"You changed my schedule."
"You gave yourself fourteen hours of studying."
"I can do it."
"You can."
He looked at her.
"But you shouldn't."
Aanya stared at the timetable.
She didn't like hearing it.
Not because he was wrong.
Because he was right.
Eventually, she sighed.
"Fine."
She adjusted the schedule.
"Happy?"
"Very."
"You're annoying."
"I know."
She continued writing.
By ten, the library was almost empty.
Aanya looked at the page.
Thirty-five days.
It no longer looked like a number.
It had become blocks.
Subjects.
Revision.
Tests.
Days.
She could see the entire path now.
And that calmed her.
This was familiar.
This was something she understood.
Work.
Structure.
Control.
She closed the notebook.
"Done."
Aditi stretched.
"Finally."
Sagnik looked at the timetable.
"You'll manage."
Aanya nodded.
"I will."
There was certainty in her voice.
Not arrogance.
Something quieter.
She had always trusted herself when it came to studying.
And perhaps that was why the sudden interruption waiting somewhere in the future would hurt so much.
Because for now—
everything was under control.
Or at least,
she believed it was.
They left the library together.
The campus was almost silent.
Aanya walked between them.
She was still talking about what she needed to study tomorrow.
Aditi complained.
Sagnik laughed.
The same rhythm.
The same three people.
Only now there was a countdown quietly running in the background.
Thirty-five days.