His mother looked up at him. Dark shadows had made permanent circles under her weary eyes. “Yes, Beta?”
His father tore himself away from the TV to look at him. His mouth was set in a permanent frown.
“Yeah. So I graduated second in the class,” Roshan said with a smile.
Silence greeted him.
“Who graduated first?” His father broke the silence.
“Nimita Chaudhary.”
“That girl who is tutoring you?” his mother asked.
“Yes.”
“So she is the top, the best in the class,” his father said. “She does the speech.”
“Yes,” Roshan answered, the pit in his stomach finding a permanent place. “She’s the top.” It was impressive.
“Good for her.” His father’s voice was flat, without emotion of any kind. But Roshan felt the disappointment heavy in the air, nonetheless. “Though I wonder, how did she get extra points? Maybe she argued with her teachers?” His father shrugged.
Was that even a thing?
“We are proud of you, anyway,” his mother said with a smile and squeeze of his hand. “Second is also good.”
Message received.Be the absolute best or don’t bother.He had known it for a long time. Didn’t change the fact that he was crushed.
And he took it out on Nimita the next day.
* * *
“I’m so sorry that happened,” Nimi said.
Wait. He had been an ass to her, and she was sorry? “It wasn’t your fault.”
“No. But it explains why you were so pissed at me. We were just kids.”
“I’m still sorry I was cruel to you.” His voice was gravelly from emotion. It had eaten at him for years.
She nodded. “I know. I forgive you.”
“You do?”
She nodded. “To be honest, while I was angry, I didn’t exactly live my life around that moment. We were kids. You were going through a lot. I know you feel bad about what you said. I forgive you.” She smiled at him. “Let it go.”
Roshan hadn’t realized the heft of the weight he had been carrying around until Nimi lifted it from him. She truly was incredible. His heart was light and free.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Maybe there isn’t really anything to say.” Her gaze shifted to his mouth.
That was all he needed. He leaned to claim the kiss he had been dreaming of. She tilted her chin to him. She smelled of sea water and sunscreen. He was millimeters from heaven.
“Roshan! Roshan! Nimita! Are you out here?”
Nimi jumped back, and he caught her to steady her. He saw the flush on her face in the moonlight. “We’re here,” she called out.
He shook his head at her. “He never would have seen us,” he whispered.
