4

We've slyly avoided all confrontations with our grandmother, even Amara, except when it comes to food. The house is more or less empty without Amba and mum in it. Teddy came for dinner on Monday, Tuesday and all the other days but as I look across the street to his house, I see the shadows of boys-and some girls- illuminating the street. A small party indeed.

I sigh and head back to my bed. He said he was inviting his friends so why didn't he invite me? I already know the answer.

I grab my console and start my FIFA game drowning my anger in the match.

_____________

It's like a blur recalling all the things that have happened this week. So quickly it's the end of another week and I'm in Teddy's car, dying to get gist about the party last night but he's singing (off beat) to SOS. So, just to annoy him a bit, I say:

"What would you think if I got a boyfriend?" I try to hide my grin anticipating his response.

He almost hits a car.

"Dammit you scared the shit out of me!" He yells and I say 'Ha' with no enthusiasm but when I see his furrowed brows I murmur,

"How was I supposed to know asking you about dating would kill me?"

"I would be surprised Ravi." He says in a rush.

"Why?"

"You've never shown interest in any boy before, I guess"

I have actually but Teddy doesn't know that, because you don't tell your boy best friend you know a boy you wish was your boyfriend, no space between the words. That's what female best friends are there for.

"What if I do?" That will likely not happen anytime soon. Ever since my brother died I lost interest in many things and these days not even Nora Robert's mills&boons can make me daydream about a boy.

He stays silent for a while.

"What do you want me to say? If you like a boy it doesn't really matter what I think, does it?"

I nod to myself and then to him.

"No. It really doesn't matter."

On my way to the cafeteria for lunch I bump into a face I've been looking for since I started here.

"RONNIE!" I scream. Veronica wraps her hands around me, engulfing me into a bear hug. Her wild crimson is all I can see when I open my eyes and I inhale the sweet scent of her trademark lemon perfume.

"Oh my God Ravi I am so ecstatic!" Ronnie screams again and I laugh.

"Me too," I say.

"We've got a lot to catch up on girl, you went MIA after last year," Ronnie says casually. I love her for her ability to make reference to my brother's death without making it look like it's a sad thing. Everyone else would make a face at me, or pause but Ronnie just kinda walks over it.

"Where should we go? Garden or bench?" She asks and I raise my brow.

"Does the garden have a bench?"

She nods eagerly. "Garden it is."

We sit down on the top bench, where we can see the ground like we were in heaven. Our food is between us.

"It's been so long, how do you like my branch? Better than yours right?" She grins. She was a top ambassador of Legacy, this branch only though. Wherever she went she spread the gospel that there is no school, or branch, that is better.

"Yes, it's been very nice," I admit.

"Do you like my hair?" She twirls her hair around her finger. It's just like her usual crimson hair, just shinier, and longer. So I say:

"Shiny."

"I know right?" This was Ronnie's other side. The side many people see first, the side I saw first. This side makes you think that she's materialistic and shallow but Ronnie thinks too much about little things and everything matters to her. Every single detail.

"How come I didn't see you throughout the week?"

"I fell ill. I've been trying to call you. I remember you saying something about your uncle coming over."

"Yeah. I changed my number recently. My uncle and his wife and kids and Grandma are living with us now."

Her eyes look like they are about to pop out of their sockets.

"Oh my God, that's..that's terrible. Talk about invasion of privacy."

I frown. "I won't exactly say it's terrible but yeah, it's pretty much invasion of privacy. For me at least."

"How have you been coping?"

I sip the last bit of my juice box.

"It's hard. Grandma's been trying to get us to become Hindus ever since. She even brought an idol of goddess Lakshmi and placed it by the kitchen."

"The kitchen?"

"Yup, she and my mum had a fall out yesterday. Argued for a bit but dad managed to remove the idol,"

"Wow. That's..." She shakes her head before taking a bite of her salad. She looks up at me expectantly before starting.

"Is Kendall here?"

"No dummy, don't your remember Ken's already graduated? She's taking a gap year, doing this six months course on makeup,"

"Interesting, I might do the same. And are you managing?"

Placing my plate on my lap, I scoot closer to her and dramatically rest my head on her shoulder.

"It's been so lonely," I fake a cry and she laughs.

"Fear no more for Ronnie's out the door and here to save the day!" She tries a superhero accent and fails woefully.

"You lost me at door," I say when I'm done laughing.

She beams at me and feeds me a sandwich.

"Liar, eat up cause we're gonna talk all day."

******

Teddy has math lessons after school so he couldn't drive me home. Ronnie has cheer practice so she can't either. I am walking alone, creating a world in my head at 2:12 in the afternoon.

According to Google maps, I'm only ten minutes from home when a gray Audi pulls up in front of me. I stop, already saying my last prayers at the same time thinking of the fastest way out of here when the driver lowers the tinted window.

"Luca?" My voice is slightly hoarse and cracked but I'm sure he heard me because he raised his eyes to look at me clearly.

"Want a ride?" He asks and I debate with my other head but I still end up in the car.

"I didn't know your house was towards this direction." I say, looking outside like I haven't passed here before.

"It's not." Luca says simply and I turn to face him.

"I wanna talk to you." he adds and I straighten up, what could he possibly want to talk about?

"There was a bet. The guys made a bet-" pause "-about you."

The sounds of broken glass fill my head.

"What? Who?"

"Yes, there's a bet about you. The first one to date you til Summer Formal and gets you to kiss him in front of the whole school wins two hundred box."

I stare at him once he finishes his ranting.

"A bet." Is the only word that I form. But then I snap, my eyes narrowing.

"So what exactly is it that you want from me?"

He sucks in a breath.

"Let's fake date."

"For the money."

"No. Some of the guys involved in it can be a little bit competitive, and I heard a lot of things too, if you agree to this you won't have to go through it all."

We are in front of my house now and he parks.

"When you say extra mile what exactly do you mean? Rape? Sex? Forced habits? And who exactly are the 'The boys'?"

He sighs and looks straight at me.

"I know it's hard for you to understand this but it's in your best interest if you did this-"

"And yours?"

He pauses. "Maybe if I date you, fake. Fake date you the tension around Kim would be released."

I sit straighter. "I've got a lot of questions like what tension exactly and if it's released from Kim does it come to me? If so I can assure you you're talking to the wrong person because I can't handle pressure-" my breath brakes and I quickly open the door.

"-like now." I say just before I race down the lawn.

"Ravi!" He yells but I'm already inside and resting on the door. Literally sucking my inhaler.

*****

Dad drops his phone and smiles widely.

"Your mum has the lab tests running now. The results will be out in five days. She might come earlier."

Mara jubilates with a grin and rushes her food with joy. Grandma's face, though, is grim as she says:

"Why did she leave in the first place?"

Dad chokes on his food. Uncle Jeevan quickly rushes to give him water and dad calms down.

"It's her job." He says softly but grandma does not reply.

Mara shifts in her chair, sending me a worried look.

"I don't think it's good for the girls that their mother is away for so long," Grandma continues. Kendall is trying not say anything but I can see her type her messages faster.

Aunt San J drops her fork and takes a sip of water, as if to lubricate her throat before speaking.

"Mother she's working."

"A woman shouldn't be working so much. Besides, her job is in the kitchen."

I hide my scoff, my grandmother would probably not survive if she said that outside.

"My mum works harder than you think," Kendall abruptly interjects and I see dad's eyes widen. Grandma stares in utter shock and if the table was tense, it's only tenser. In her defense, my sister is older than she looks. Graduating a year later than she actually should have, Kendall is now 20 years old.

"The thing is Grandma, her work is not a burden, it's helped dad a whole lot to keep this house afloat. What? Do you think it's so easy to feed a house of 11 people?" Ken asks. Her tone is accusatory, reminding them all that we weren't always 11.

"Kendall that's enough," Dad cuts in. He gives her a warning look she doesn't meet head on. Instead she pushes her plate and stands up.

"It doesn't taste so good anymore, mum didn't cook it," she murmurs before going upstairs. I see Aunt SanJ look crestfallen and I feel sorry for her but she should understand that Ken didn't mean that at all.

"Your kids are disrespectful," grandma says immediately after the door to Ken's room closes.

"Mother, my kids are perfectly fine. You need to stop pointing out errors so easily, you're not perfect either," dad rushes out, losing his cool for once.

"You don't see Raman or Simmi talking back at me," she continues as if dad never said anything but this time it's Uncle Jeevan who speaks.

"Raman and Simmi are too scared to talk. You need to realize that there's a difference between fear and respect mother," he glances at us, "you kids should go to your room." It's not a suggestion, it's a low key order that I'm eager to follow.

********

We are seated in a circle, the light from Kendall's LED torch illuminating the room. Our books are in front of us but we aren't reading. We're staring at each other, aware of what is running through our mind.

When it becomes too much to bear Mara speaks.

"This is the first Night Meeting we're holding without them." Her words are rushed, like she wishes someone would stop her and say no. But it was true.

The Night Meeting happened every Friday but sometimes whenever something came up we'd have and emergency meeting. It used to be fun; Amba, Ken, Amara, Rohan and me. But then Rohan passed away and we hadn't done it since then. I wish Amba was here to participate in the re cooperation of the Night Meeting but she isn't. Kendall takes a biscuit from the box and takes a small bite.

"I know Mara, but we have to do this, for ourselves. It's sad to say but this house is a mess. You saw what happened at dinner." She says this after swallowing the biscuit down. I close my eyes and imagine Amba talking, it didn't seem right-- Kendall taking the lead.

"You aren't gonna go scot-free for that," I tell her and she snorts.

"She can do whatever she wants, I'm not gonna sit still and listen to a 19th century lady talk trash bout my mum,"

"I don't think grandma meant what she said." I say after a minute.

"How can you even say that?" Mara questions, narrowing her eyes at me.

"Even if she did mean what she sais, she didn't want to hurt us. Grandma and mum have never actually gotten along." Kendall reasons and Mara scowls.

"What sort of excuse is that? You don't need to be a brainiac to know that the kids get hurt when you insult their parents."

I almost nod to that.

"We have to do something, for dad's sake. He's caught in the middle of this whole mess, the woman we're so easily discussing about is his mum," I remind them.

"I think we need to put her in her place. I barely know this woman and she just comes in here trying to change my world?"

I stare at Mara.

"Amara you had better not talk like that outside, whether you like it or not she's our grandma, and also more than thrice your age," Ken reprimands her.

"What if she stays like this forever," Mara asks and Kendall and I exchange glances.

"Then we're doomed until mum's back. For now though, just avoid her. We don't need trouble,"

We finally concentrate on our books, it's a perfect silence until the notification rings from my phone.

"Check it." Mara orders and I scowl as I switch it on.

Several Instagram posts from Teddy's page pop up.

"Teddy's posting on Insta." I say simply, already dropping the phone but Mara reaches out and grabs it before I can.

"Oooh. Check out this hottie." She says, showing it to Kendall.

"Ravi who's this?" She asks and I take my phone.

"Teddy. Obviously."

"No the other guy in the third picture."

I scroll on and suck in my breath when I see a grinning Luca.

"That's Luca McQueen."

Mars's jaw opens.

"The Luca McQueen?"

"No. The Lighting McQueen." I say sarcastically and she flattens her nose. It annoys me that even Mara, who doesn't attend Legacy, has heard of Luca. He's got good skills though. The mention of Luca reminds me of his offer.

"I have a friend who got an offer for a fake boyfriend." I blurted before I can change my mind.

Kendall's eyes widen.

"Seriously? Why?" She asks

"There's a bet about her. This guy knows about it and wants to help her."

"What exactly are you driving at?" Mara asks but she doesn't look at me, she's drooling over Luca.

"She accepted. I'm not sure she should have."

"Well, if the guy is decent and doesn't have any interior motive I would say it's cool. Plus those bet stuff can go haywire." Kendall says.

"But he was in on the bet too." I object. She just shrugs

"At least he came straight to the point."

" I think he only has to be as hot as this Luca guy. That's all." Mara says and I smirk. She's too young to get it, and yet, her words wrap around my head.

"You know for a moment there I thought it was you who got the offer," Ken admits and Mara snickers.

"That'll take a lifetime,"

"And why is that?" I frown.

"It's just your kinda person I guess," Mara gives me a once-over.

"How nice," I roll my eyes with irritation. So easily my sisters manage to turn my mind upside down, I can't get a boyfriend right?

We'll see about that.