I grinned and pulled him tighter. “Not if I have anything to say about it. You and I are friends ... plus more. But we should probably go before Cass gets scared and runs or Dad comes upstairs.” I pulled his arm and guided him to the door.
“Be good, kids,” Tahira said, handing me my coat and purse. “Don’t do anything Iwoulddo.”
The dance was being held in a banquet hall near an industrial area on the edge of town—the same place it was last year. As expected, we were late. We had to park at the far end of the lot.
“Samaya?” said a voice the second Cass, Owen, Daniel, and I walked into the lobby of the building. Damn it. Devin.
I turned. “Devin.” Daniel helped me take off my coat.
He was standing alone near the entrance. And he was staring at me. “You’re wearing the lehenga I bought you,” he said.
“Don’t read anything into that,” I said. “You gave it to me, and I like it. I’m here with Daniel. Daniel, you remember Devin.”
Daniel grinned and nodded. “Nice to see you again. Love the suit.”
Devin looked confused to see Daniel. “I’m surprised you’re here.”
“Why are you hovering near the door, Devin?” I asked.
“Everyone was gossiping about me.” Devin stepped closer. “Can we talk for a second?”
I rolled my eyes, but I considered it. I hadn’t forgiven him, but to be honest, since Devin confessed he was LostAxis, I’d started to sympathize with him more. The pressure his parents put on him had to be hard. I knew they thought he was perfect—a real golden son. And he’d been raised to obey like a good Indian child. I wasn’t surprised he snapped and did something ridiculous. And if I stripped it all back ... LostAxishadhelped me. My summer would have been so, so much worse without LostAxis.
So Devin didn’t deserve me to hear him out, but maybe LostAxis did.
“Fine. Talk,” I said.
“We can wait inside,” Cass said. “We’ll get a table.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be there in a second.”
Daniel looked at me, concerned. “You sure? I can stay.”
I smiled at him. “Nah, go ahead. I’m fine. Save me a seat.”
Once Daniel, Cass, and Owen were inside the banquet hall, Devin guided me to a bench near the door.
“Okay, what do you want?”
He sat, then ran his hand through his hair. He motioned for me to sit next to him, but I stayed standing.
“I ... uh ...,” he stuttered. “How are you?”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “Really?”
“I ... I just ... Can you sit, Samaya? You’re looming over me.”
“I’m barely five feet tall. I’ve neverloomedover anyone in my life.”
“You figuratively loom all the time.”
Still chuckling, I sat next to him. “Okay, so what did you want to say?”
He sighed. “It’s just, we’re both getting awards tonight.”
“Yeah, I know.” We were the top two kids in our grade. We always had been.
He ran his hand through his hair again. He was going to have to wash it after the dance. “It’ll feel weird if we don’t clear the air first, don’t you think?”
