ANNIKA
ANNIKAWOKETOthe buzzing of her phone. She lunged at it, thinking it might be Daniel stopping by after his overnight shift, and all different parts of her body came suddenly alive with the anticipation of seeing him. Not the least of which was the rapid firing of her heart.
A pit formed in her belly when she saw it was her father. Ugh. She hadn’t really spoken to her parents since she’d hung up on her dad. But there was no point to putting it off.
“Hi, Papa.” She put the phone to her ear and lay back in her bed.
“Annika.” He spoke her name with the same clipped tone he had used when she was a child and had broken one of the strict rules he’d had for her. The pit in her stomach grew. “Your mother and I are on our way. We need to talk to you.”
Annika bolted up in her bed. This was new. They had always invited her to come home when they wanted to “talk.” She took a moment to be grateful that Daniel had not spent the night. She glanced at the clock. Five after eight. Her parents would be here in half an hour. She quickly freshened up in the bathroom, being careful to put away Daniel’s toothbrush.Oh, crap.What else of his was still here? She glanced around her small bedroom. Blue T-shirt thrown on the chair. Definitely a man’s. She shoved it into a drawer. She pulled on leggings and a sweatshirt and gathered her hair into a ponytail. She spent the next fifteen minutes tidying up and hiding any piece of Daniel evidence she could find.
Defiance or no, she just wasn’t ready to tell them about him yet.
Coward.
At the last minute, she knocked on Naya’s door. Better make sure Ravi hadn’t slept over.
“Mmm?” came the groan from the depths of Naya’s room.
“My parents will be here in ten minutes. You don’t have any company, do you?” Annika heard the sound of rustling and footsteps and Naya opened the door, looking every bit the hungover party girl, with tousled hair, black smears under her puffy eyes.
“What happened to you? I thought you had a quiet night in with Ravi last night?”
“In, yes. Quiet, not so much. His parents don’t like me.” Tears welled in her already red-rimmed swollen eyes.
“That’s ridiculous! His parents helped set you up.”
“They found out I want to join the Peace Corps when I graduate.”
“So?”
“That’s not what they expected from their daughter-in-law.” Her eyes became alert for a nanosecond. “Wait, did you say your parents were coming? Here?”
Annika had momentarily forgotten her immediate freak-out, but now the panic returned. “My dad knows I flubbed parent visitation a few days ago.” She stared at Naya. “They’re coming to try to get me to go back to med school. I know it. And they’re probably going to insist I date Sajan.”
Naya rolled her eyes. “It’s like your parents never learn.” She shook her head.
“Wait, what do you mean?”
Naya’s eyes widened. “Nothing. I mean nothing.”
Annika narrowed her eyes. “Spit it out, Naya.”
Just then, the buzzer sounded. Both girls started at it. Annika pointed at her cousin. “Well?”
“Later! Take care of this first.” Naya nearly pushed Annika toward the buzzer before retreating to her room.
With a final glare at Naya’s door, Annika hit the intercom button. “Hello?”
“We are here.” Her father’s voice was terse and to the point.
“Okay.” Annika clicked the door open for them and turned on her Keurig. She placed a pot of water on the stove for her parents’ chai. She had no idea what Naya was talking about, and right now, she was sure her parents were going to use her failure as a teacher to get her to agree to get together with Sajan. He was a nice enough guy, handsome, funny, but the thought of not being with Daniel nauseated her. Annika was so lost in thought she didn’t hear the knocking at her door until her father’s voice boomed from the other side.
“Hello? Annika?”
She started again and went to open the door, butterflies taking up all the space in her empty belly.
“Papa, Mummy.” She smiled and hugged them as they came in. “I just putpanion for your chai.”
