Dawn bled through her window, and Ariana's first conscious thought was of the exam. But her second was of him. As if summoned by the wish, her phone glowed with a notification.
Kian: Good luck today. You've got this. ☺
The simple message was an anchor in her morning sea of nerves. A small, steady smile touched her lips, brightening the tense atmosphere of her room. She buried herself in her Financial Accounting notes one last time, the formulas and principles feeling less intimidating with his faith warming her chest.
The exam hall was a landscape of focused silence. For four hours, there was only the scratch of pens and the rustle of paper. When it was over, a collective exhale filled the room. Ariana walked out feeling lighter; it had been challenging, but navigable. She had done well.
Her first instinct was to check her phone, to share the small victory with the person who had wished her well. The screen was blank, save for his morning message. She pictured him in his own exam;History and Theory of Architecture,likely still hunched over a blueprint or essay, his brow furrowed in concentration. The silence from him was not an absence, but a shared experience of endurance.
Hunger, delayed by adrenaline, finally announced itself. She made her way to the bustling cafeteria, the air thick with the post-mortem of exams. Clusters of students dissected questions and debated answers, their voices a cacophony of relief and anxiety.
Ariana wove through the noise, finding an empty table by the window. She ate her meal,a solitary brunch that felt like a quiet celebration. The cacophony around her was a testament to a hurdle cleared. And in the quiet of her corner, she waited, not just for results, but for a connection to resume, for the shared silence between them to once again be filled with words. 😇