His expression softens. “Both. I can’t help missing them. They won’t stop emailing and calling me.” He pulls out his phone. “Yup,two more emails and a couple of pictures since I checked last.”
“Wow.”
“It’s mostly my siblings.” He pulls up a photo. It’s a selfie of him, a younger boy, and two little girls. “This is Anaya and Riya,” he says, pointing to the two girls. They’re both ridiculously cute—the youngest has her dark hair in ringlet pigtails. “And this is Sahil. He’s a freshman this year. He’s pretty bummed that I’m gone now that we’re finally in the same building again.”
“Why’d you decide to come, then? Our high school has plenty of good AP options.”
I assume. I haven’t really looked into those.
He pushes the pizza around his plate. “My parents and I thought this would strengthen my applications. Everyone takes AP classes nowadays, but not everyone takes college classes in a foreign country. I haven’t done a lot of extracurriculars since I’ve been so focused on school, but between the advanced content, small class sizes, and one-on-one contact with professors here, I’m hoping this will make me stand out a little more.”
“I’m sure your applications are going to stand out no matter what. You’re a straight A student, aren’t you?”
“Every little bit helps. And I need to get a good scholarship. Afullscholarship. It’s going to be nearly impossible for my parents to send all four of us to college without help. And as they’ve told me many times, they’re relying on me to set the example for my brother and sisters. I can’t disappoint them.”
“That makes sense.”
He sits back and regards me. “You know, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m glad you found me tonight.”
I raise my Tango. “To Quidditch, cricket, and getting what we want in life.”
We clink glasses.
“And to tutoring.” His smile turns sly. “You know, I tutor my siblings sometimes.”
“Yeah?”
“I’mverythorough. They hate it.”
Chapter
15
“Okay, what’s ‘leg before wicket’?”
I groan and lean back in my chair. “I don’t know.”
Dev sighs and exchanges a glance with Sage.
“It’s not that hard, Ellie,” Sage tells me. “Just use common sense.”
True to his word, Dev has come to our dorm at seven p.m. sharp every night this week. In fact, I’ve spent more time with him since finding him on the Quidditch pitch than I had in the previous four weeks combined. At first Sage didn’t seem too happy about the extra company and noise, but I think she’s starting to secretly like it. In fact, Dev should be pretty damn grateful that I’m useless at this stuff because that’s the only reason he and Sage have been bonding: mutual exasperation over how slowly I’m learning these terms.
“Ugh.” I rub my eyes. “I guess, um, he puts his leg in front of the cricket and—”
“You have to use the right word. The wooden stumps are called the wicket, not the cricket.”
“Fine. He puts his leg in front of the wicket instead of using his bat to block the ball.”
Dev nods. “Okay, good enough. Now tell me what the creases are.”
“We’ve already been over this!”
“Uh-huh. And you haven’t gotten it right yet.”
“Hey! That’s not entirely true. I knew about the different types of cricket games! Though I still can’t believe there’s a type that lasts for five days. That’s just insane.”
“Actually, there’s a fun fact about that. Did you know the longest cricket game lasted over a week?”
