Chapter -5:
...Winter Break...
“OK, ok, I’ll start talking.” He says. I roll my eyes. “Well, you know Jennie Stacy?” I nod. I do know Jennie, she’s in my class, a popular but really nice girl. I talked to her once and she’s pretty sweet. “well, don’t mind that I didn’t tell you this earlier but I asked her out a few days ago.” I cough. I’m in utter shock. Theo just asked out one of the most popular girls in my class! “First, just to point out, I don’t mind that you didn’t tell me this any sooner and secondly, what did she say?” Theo looks at me with a look of disappointment and says, “Well, what did you expect? She said no.” My excitement immediately turns into empathy, “I’m sorry,” I tell him and stroke his shoulder. He falls onto his back and looks forward, “Don’t be, I wasn’t really all that into her anyway. She was nice though but she just wasn’t my type.”
I turn towards him and ask, “Then
what is your type?” He makes a humming sound from his throat. He always makes
that sound while he’s thinking. He looks out his window and says, “I don’t
know. Someone quiet and not popular. Someone who isn’t afraid to speak her mind
and is willing to stand up for what she believes is right. Someone very clear
with her words, even if she’s being rude and knows exactly who she is. I guess
that’s my type.” I laugh, which makes him look at me with disapproval, “what
made you laugh?” he asks.
“Well, you have quite a few demands,
don’t you? And weird ones too.” I say. He laughs slightly and asks, “Are
you saying that a girl like that isn’t worth falling for?” I tilt my head, “I
don’t know, I’ve never met a girl like that.” Theo smiles, “well, I have.” I
lean forward and say, “Oh! That’s interesting. Who is she?” He grins and says,
“I’m not telling you that.” I hit his shoulder, “why? Am I not your best
friend?” He just laughs and says, “You are but you’d kill me right here if I
told you,”
“Well, then don’t. I don’t want to
kill you before my birthday, I want to know what you and my brother are up to.”
I say. We both laugh and he tells me that I’ll find out pretty soon.
It was eleven when the taxi dropped
us at Theo’s house. “It’s pretty late, should I walk you home?” Theo asks me. I
shake my head and tell him that I called my father and he’s on his way back
from work and that he’ll pick me up. He nods and waves goodbye.
My father arrives in about five
minutes, I get into the front seat of the car and my father asks me how was the
party even before I can put my seat belt on. “It was fine, I made a new friend
and ran into an old one and this new friend of mine spilt an entire glass of
something on my dress,” I tell him. He laughs and I narrate the entire night to
him on the way home. My father reaches for his phone to call Mum to open the
door but I stop him before he can do that. I showed him the keys which I had
bought along because I knew it would be late by the time I was home. I turn the
lock and we get in. I make chai for my father, but I don’t have any because I want
to sleep. I change out of my dress and throw it into the laundry. I lay down on
my bed and think of what Theo told me in the taxi, “well, I have.” The
reason I’m sceptical about the description he gave is because that's exactly how I describe myself.
The thought of that makes me a little self-conscious. But I brush it off and
fall asleep.
. . .
It’s 20th December, a day
right before my birthday. I walk into the local café, it’s pretty routine actually.
I take my usual seat by the window which Sawyer just so happens to save for me
every day. Sometimes, I don’t even have to order since Sawyer already knows
what I want. He’s been doing that a lot since I ran into him at Twyla’s party.
He would even take a twenty-minute break when I came and sat down to have some
coffee with me. It’s been really nice. Sawyer is good company. Sawyer is in the
second year of his degree in Information Technology. He says that after
graduating he’ll join some tech giant and his life would be set. He’s from Cambridge
and one of the only British people I’ve made friends with so far. I mean, I’ve
made friends with two Spanish people and a Russian.
As usual, Sawyer comes and sits down across
from me with two cups of coffee in his hands. “Hey, Akshi! Right on schedule.
You’re really punctual I must say.” He hands me my coffee and smiles. “Thanks,
and by the way, it’s my birthday tomorrow and my father said that I could
invite a few friends over to dinner, so, you want to come?” I ask. I take a sip
of my coffee and he tells me yes. I smile and he reaches his arm out to wipe
the coffee foam from the corner of my lip. I wipe it off myself and he just
smiles at me. We talk for the rest of his twenty-minute break and after he gets
called back to work, I get up and reach for my wallet to pay when Sawyer stops
me, “On the house, consider it a part of your birthday gift.” I look at him and
smile. I grab my scarf and walk towards the gate. I wave at him before walking
out and wrapping the scarf around my neck. Though, talking to him gives me more
warmth than this scarf can.
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