"Listen, I want you to think, really think realistically. You know yourself better than anyone-even me." Mr. Anand Kalra stated as he kept his eyes on the oncoming traffic. "And I want you to be honest with yourself. Forget what your mother thinks, she keeps worrying about you and scolding you. So, tell me honestly Nika, will you pass your physics exam?"

Nika Kalra stared out her window silently listening to her father, wishing the traffic would ease and they would reach home quickly. "I will pass the physics exam" she said, looking at her dad.

"Really?" Anand looked at her for a moment and laughed. "Good, good. I'm glad to hear that. At least now we can be sure you'll be going to college." Nika slumped further in her seat, knowing what was about to come next.

"Say, if you can barely pass your school exams, what are you going to do in the competitive ones? At least here you are competing against your classmates but those are national rankings, you know that right? Tell me, am I wasting my money registering you to these exams?"

"No" Nika muttered, "I'm studying hard and I'll get good marks."

Anand laughed condescendingly, "Ok. Ok then let's see."

Nika grit her teeth and looked out the window, 'Please shut up.' She knew she wasn't as smart as her parents hoped she would be but she didn't need to be reminded of that fact every 2 minutes.

"This is why we can't trust you anymore," her mother had said, while returning from a parent-teacher meeting.

'Not like I ever had your trust' the ends of her lips quirked at the thought.

"We're here" her father's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Nika quickly exited the car adamant on not making eye-contact with her father but just as she was about to make a quick dash towards the front door, she felt her father's arm wrap around her shoulders.

"Nika , you know I love you and will always support you, right? You are my only daughter, and nothing matters more."

It was really hard, so hard for her to not roll her eyes. How many times had he said this before? "Yeah," she replied, still not looking at her father.

"Oh ho, look who's here?" Nika saw her mother open the door before they could even reach the front porch. "How was the exam?" she asked her daughter excitedly. "Good," Nika replied as she slid past her mother into the house.

"Don't forget to change your clothes and wash your face!"

"Come on Meera, is she a kid? Why are you telling her what to do?" her father's angry voice spread across the living room. Nika shut the door to her room and leaned against it. 'Just one more week. One more week and that dude will be out of here.' She sighed. But a week is too long, especially with her father here.

Nika flopped face down on her bed, not bothering to change yet. She hated the fact her dad had to pick her up from the exams, she hated that he kept criticizing her for her 'own good'. She hated his low expectations of her and she especially hated the fact that he was right.

She changed clothes quickly not wanting her father to barge in and scold her...again. Her stomach grumbled as she wore her shirt. She hadn't had anything to eat in the morning, having learnt her lesson on the day of her physics exam; who knew

Stress + Bangalore roads = nausea?

That night, after dinner, Nika went up to her parents' room to say goodnight. As she reached the door frame, she heard them talking.

"What about Christ?" her mother asked.

"No...colleges like Christ are too high level, let's please be realistic, this is our daughter we are talking about" her father replied scrolling through his laptop. "I was thinking about Jain or MIT. They are perfect for computer science." He said wearing his glasses "Those are also good colleges," Meera said, opening her phone. "But does she need to do only computer science what about biolog-"

"Meera."

She heard her mother sigh. "What about Thapar?" "I'm thinking about it."

"What about NEET?" Nika suddenly asked, startling both her parents. "Haan haan, you are giving that also but are you studying for it?" her mother asked, while her father scoffed and retired to the computer screen. "Yes, but how can I when you are putting me in so many non-bio entrance exams?" Nika meekly asked, slightly glancing at her father, expecting him to scold her at any moment. "Do you not want to study computer science? Then why are we doing this?" her mother asked.

"Meera!" her father said harshly and Nika flinched.

"Can you stop this?" Her father glared at her, "Nika, do you not want this? Then why am I wasting my time and money to put you in these entrance exams?" he spat. "No, I will give them," Nika countered.

"Then go and study," her father said, matter-of-factly.

"!-" the words got stuck in her throat. Why was she even trying? She wasn't a good student or good at anything extracurricular. She was pathetic. What right did she have to talk about colleges?

Looking down to fight the tears threatening to flow out. She felt her throat tighten and blood rush to her ears. She felt lightheaded and so, so angry. At herself, at her parents and at the world.

She turned around and did the one thing she always wanted, she ran out the room and out the front door, unbolting it. She ran onto the complex street and passed the security office.

Unsurprisingly, even at 12:17 am, Bangalore was loud and lively. Nike came to a stop near a Paan stall and took a deep breath in. She was so fucking fucked the second she returned home but did she care? No.

She continued walking down the familiar streets, evading drunk groups of friends and auto-drivers that would follow her, asking if she needed to be dropped somewhere.

It was getting too late and it was definitely not safe for her to stay out longer so she decided to head back. Ot at least she tried too.

Nika stood in front of a deserted street, confused. She could've sworn she didn't take any wrong turns. She had walked these roads a million times and the worst of all there was no data. The lack of cars on the road, people on the sidewalk or costermongers made her uneasy.

Turning around, she began to walk back from the way she came, which was relatively straight.

She began to walk for a good amount of time but the road did not seem to end and she began to hyperventilate.

'Holy shit. Holy shit. Did I no-clip or something? God, don't tell me this is the fucking backrooms!'

Nika gradually sped up until she was borderline running.

'Jai Hanuman Gyan Guna Sagar, Jai Kapis Tihun Lok Ujagar' Nika chanted, never having felt more religious in her life. She kept running until she collapsed onto the road, out of breath.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck" she muttered as she looked down at the ground. She then saw a flash of blue light coming from her side. She looked toward the light, it seemed preternatural but so was the situation she was in. The light seemed to get closer and closer until she could see a ball of light at the opposite end of the road.

'Ok, Nika....What the actual fuck-'

The ball of light started to grow bigger until it seemed to form a portal. Nika stood up as she watched the blue portal grow and then proceeded to walk in the opposite direction. She quickly put some distance between her and the portal. She had read enough fantasy books to know what could happen if she went through it.

'Hah, there is no way I'm going to transmigrate into a novel or some shit today'

She stopped as she saw the portal a few meters in front of her- she walked a full circle. She turned around, ready to continue her attempt to go home but something caught on her leg. She jumped and looked at a wispy blue tendril curled on her ankle. "Oh, fuck no!" she screamed as she jumped forward but it just yanked her back; dragging her into the portal. "Let me go!" she screamed, clawing at the cement, trying to hold anything after she tried and failed to lift her body up.

"Help!"