[ɪˈmadʒɪn] || ^©•°𝑨 𝑴𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊-𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 °•©^

{III}|•SHORT STORIES•|{III}

Zhanaye never once wanted her family to discover her sexual orientation and Avinash was the same, both found it impossible to ever dream of their conservative, religious relatives uncovering the lid of their untold stories. Strangely they never thought that their fear would make their paths connect. Avinash Ramlalsingh, a self-conscious seventeen year old Hindu boy, living so close to temple you would think it’s his second residence. He often helped the pundit prepared for services, gathering the flowers and passing around the aarti for the members to receive blessings. He almost knew all the lyrics to ever bhajan they had ever sang and in school, nobody could ever top Avinash, academics, extra-curricular activities and student leadership positions along with any other possible school related activity, when it came to being on top, Avinash wanted to be that. It masked the pain he felt when he saw that one boy, the feeling of not being worthy of family, of being a failure no matter how hard it was that he tried. Zhanaye De Silva, however, was a fifteen year old Christian girl, who like Avinash, felt the need to over-achieve but instead, the wrong friends misrepresented who she wanted to be. Every success watered down by the next scandal her friends were involved in. She, herself, never actually got in trouble but because their families were so close knit, her parents always found out and lectured her as if she was the ring leader. In those moments, when her heart became swollen after seeing her pretty face, she felt complete, but resented herself after. She felt dirty, she felt like she should punished by a hail of fire and brimstone or rot in hell. Then came the math competition, they lined up side by side in a straight line facing each other, she caught a glimpse of him and noticed his mannerisms, she knew. She knew only because she did the same thing, self-conscious of the way she represented her femininity and she realized he made sure his collar was always popped and his hair a bit disheveled but not to the extent of where it appeared untidy. He saw her looking at him and his palms became sweaty, what was he supposed to say if he came up to her? was he supposed to pretend?
Round after round, the time they had left quickly disappeared, and they saw each other again while boarding the maxi. “Hi” she said, “I’m Zhanaye”
“Avinash” he responded, she slightly nodded her head in response.
Weeks passed and after the encounter, they became closer and they knew each other, they truly knew each other and for once they both had someone who understood. They shared conversations of their secret love interests, reenacted their parents action in viewing other people like them and laughed at jokes about the people their parents expected them with.