“What do you mean?! I said no such thing!”
Over the next hour, rounds blurred together. Team 2 never recovered. And when the last grain of sand fell, Team 1 had won by a mile.
“Losers have to clean up,” Mom declared.
Kian immediately shook his head. “I’ll help, too.”
That left Riya with no excuse but to help as well.
As they gathered cards, chip bags, and half-empty cans of soda, Riya kept glancing at him. He looked happy. Not the kind of spell-addled, frantic joy she’d seen in the hallways at school, the jittery brightness he wore whenever he was near her. This was different. Quiet, uncomplicated. He laughed at her dad’s awful jokes. Rinsed cups without being asked. Thanked her mom like he meant it.
And Riya—watching from the edges of the room as she cleaned—felt something unexpected bloom in her chest. Longing. For the noise, the teasing, the ordinary closeness she’d been pushing away since the Incident. She’d spent so long keeping her family at a careful distance, but now, withKian folded so naturally into the center of things, she saw the soft, remarkable warmth of it all.
She looked down at the cards she’d gathered in her hand.
Her dad was picking up scattered throw pillows when he paused, looking up at Kian as if something had just occurred to him. “Hey, Kian, you sure you haven’t been over before? You look... familiar. Doesn’t he look familiar?”
He glanced around for confirmation.
“I had that same thought earlier....” their mom added, her brow furrowed.
Kian hesitated. “I don’t think so?”
Nyra, still half buried in a nest of chip bags, didn’t look up. “Well, wasn’t there that one boy, when—”
“Nyra.” Their mom’s voice turned sharp.
Riya blinked.What boy?
Nyra froze. “I—I mean, maybe I’m thinking of someone else.”
“I think he’d remember if he’d been here before, Dad,” said Riya. Why was her family acting so suspicious tonight?
“Oh, Riya, now that we’re done playing, you should show him your telescope!” Mom suggested with sudden enthusiasm. “When was the last time you used it? It should be a good night for stargazing!”
Riya reeled at the mention of her telescope. She hadn’t touched it in weeks.
And yet...
“Actually... maybe you’d like it,” she heard herself say.
Kian got to his feet, grinning. “I know I’ll love it.”
Riya felt something stir—subtle but undeniable. Like a thread she’d been holding taut had finally loosened in her hands.
She shook the thought away and motioned toward the back door. “Come on.”
Riya’s mom waved as they stepped outside. “Have fun!”
After Riya grabbed the telescope from the garage, they stepped into the backyard, the air crisp and full of leaf-rustle and cricket-song.
She set the telescope down in the grass while Kian tipped his face to the stars.
“Your dad’s thoughts on vacuum cleaners are gonna haunt me forever,” he said.
“You’re lucky you missed out on the one time we tried Taboo Uncensored,” Riya said drily, adjusting the lens. “We learned things about our parents we canneverunlearn.”
He laughed—but there was a delay. Something in his shoulders tightened.
