Before I can protest he walks to the counter and buys something small wrapped in bright pink paper.
When he comes back he drops it onto the table in front of me.
Cotton candy.
I stare at it.
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope.”
“That is pure sugar.”
“Exactly.” He tears off a piece and hands it to me.
“Step one of recovering your teenage years.” I laugh despite myself.
“You are unbelievable.”
“Try it.” I do. The sugar dissolves instantly on my tongue and suddenly I’m laughing harder than I have in weeks.
Aditya watches me like he’s accomplished something important.
Satisfied.
We leave the shop a little later, stepping back into the cooler night air. The street is quieter now.
Shops closing. Lights dimming. We walk slowly toward home again. At one point Aditya stops beneath a streetlight and looks up.
“Wait,” he says.
“What?”
“Close your eyes.”
I stare at him.
“No.”
“Trust me.”
“That sentence has never worked on me.”
He sighs dramatically. “Just try it.”
Reluctantly, I close my eyes. “Okay,” he says softly. “Make a wish.”
I open one eye. “This is extremely suspicious.”
“Just do it.”
I close my eyes again. For a second I think about something practical. More money for the shop. Neel’s future. Thensomething else slips quietly into my mind instead. Something softer.
I want to be happy.
When I open my eyes again, Aditya is watching me carefully. “Don’t tell me what it was,” he says.
“Why not?”
