Backstage was buzzing. Naina and Rohan were arguing about who forgot the snacks, but Aziza's eyes weren't on them. They were on Ayaan.

He sat on the edge of a chair, guitar balanced on his lap, fingers tracing the strings nervously but never pressing down. His lips moved like he wanted to hum but swallowed it back before the sound came.

Aziza stepped closer, soft but steady.
"Tum gaoge na?" she asked.

Ayaan glanced up, startled, then shook his head.
"Nahi. Sab hasenge mujhpe. I don't-"

Aziza cut in, sitting opposite him. Her voice was low but firm.
"Sab hasse bhi gaye, toh kya? Main toh ro dungi."

"heinnn" Ayaan looked confused

"Haan itnaa badiya gaoge ki roona hi aajyega, come onnn i know you can sing!"

His chest tightened. He looked away, gripping the neck of his guitar.
"Aziza, mujhe darr lagta hai. Jitni awaaz andar hai... bahar nikalne se sab badal jaata hai."

Aziza leaned in, whispering, "Toh badalne do. Main hoon na. I mean hum sab hai, we are all right here dar lage toh hume yaad krlena Rohan ke voh 2 rupees jokes yaad aajyeege phir hassi ayegi

"Just sing your heart out, express your feelings. Baaki duniya jaaye bhaad mein," she added

'express your feelings', something that contrasted what his father alwasy told him, "emotions and feelings make you weak"

For a moment, silence. Just the hum of stage lights, muffled chatter from the crowd outside. Then Ayaan finally breathed in deep, nodded once.

"Just sing your heart out, express your feelings. Baaki duniya jaaye bhaad mein," he muttered, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

For a moment, silence. Just the hum of stage lights, muffled chatter from the crowd outside. Then Ayaan finally breathed in deep, nodded once.

"Bas tu khud sun na. Baaki duniya jaaye bhaad mein," he muttered, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

When he walked on stage, his palms were trembling. He adjusted the mic twice, cleared his throat once, and for a heartbeat, almost left. But then he saw Aziza standing at the wings, eyes locked on him, nodding slowly.

And something in him cracked open.

Fingers pressed to strings, and the first chords slipped out - shaky at first, but honest.

"Hai dil ye meraa..."

"mujhe har daam ye puchta..."

"kyu hai mujhe tujhse itnii wafaa" 

"Kyun teri hasrat,"

"Hai har khwahish se badhkar, Mujhe"

"Kyun naam tera hi leti zubaan..."

The song ended and claps erupted from the audience, everyone was either cheering or hooting but Aziza froze, because to her this became a surreal experience. His eyes locked at her... for the first time she felt so seen in such a big crowd yet there was something stopping her, something she did not want to name yet.   

"Ayaannnn!!! you were amazingggg!" Naina screamed as ayaan entered the backstage. 

" Haan itnaaa sara talent chupa kar rakha hai tune bhaii kabhi bataya bhi nahi!!!" rohan added. 

"You were actuallyy sooo good" aziza exclamied. 

"AB TERI BAARI MERI UNDERCONFIDENT MOST TALENTED PERSON EVER" Naina said almost jumping. 

The stage calls upon Aziza's name and the crowd cheers, the lights flash her face and she's right in the middle of the stage. 

"Hey... um everyone I'm Aziza , who to be very honest is shaking right now. But well, keeping that stupid nervous me outside all of this, let me take you into a world of a girl with a creepy house. Is it a horror story? I don't know i guess we will find out...." 

Laughter echoes in the hallway as I bid goodbye to my friends. My cheeks aching from smiling too hard. The house greets me with a silence that feels intentional, like it's holding its breath. The lights flicker as I step inside, casting long, crooked shadows across the walls.  Every floorboard groans beneath my feet. 

The clock in the living room ticks too loudly, I can see someone waiting for me. But I live alone... 

She stands in front of me messy hair, eyes swollen and red, like she's cried herself empty and still found more tears. I want to look away. I really do... But i keep my gaze fixated  at her.

Because what's a horror movie if the main lead doesn't go and ask the ghost who they are?

"Who are you?" I whisper. 

The girl staring back doesn't laugh, her eyes glisten with unshed tears. "You fool them so well," she says.

 "You hide your scars behind the mask of lies laugh it off like they don't mean anything." She continues, Then she starts naming things. Moments. Feelings. Nights I never spoke about. Thoughts I buried so deep I convinced myself they never existed. Things I never even trusted the walls to hear. 

"No one would love this," she says, her voice cracking as she gestures toward herself. "This mess. This truth."

My chest tightens. I open my mouth to deny it, to laugh it off like always, but the words don't come.

I whisper instead, finally understanding.

She isn't someone I can run from.

In the mirror, her expression softens. Mine does too.
"You can't hide forever," she says gently.

And for the first time, I don't try to.

My smile slips. The mask cracks. The tears I've been holding back for so long spill over, quiet and uncontested. I don't wipe them away. I don't apologize for them.

I just stand there, shaking, vulnerable

and finally, truly, meet myself.

and the curtains close.

"Well well miss always makes us cryyyy" all three of them said in unison the moment aziza came backstage. 

"haan han bas ab teri bari hai naina be ready!" 

"yes, yes ofc I am ready" Naina said, a little hesitant.

Rohan meanwhile was just loitering here and there when he stumbled upon a journal, it was Naina's.

First page- intense aggressive scribbling, (uh well)

'arey yaar mujhe uski jorunal nhi kholni chahiye pagal hu kya'. Rohan thought.

'maybe thoda sa ek page ek page me kya hi ho jayega na... I mean dost hi to hai hum bas ekk.'

He flipped the page and started reading... once he finished he was in utter shock so he ran out to meet Naina before her performance. BUT

Aziza and Ayaan were already panicking looking for naina because she was not found anywhere. 

"Rohan tumne Naina ko dekha hai??? vo kahi nahi mil rahi aur eske baad uska performance hai. kaha chali gayi ye ladki, call bhi nhi utha rahi hai!"  Aziza said in one breath. 

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