Everyone thinks they know Tejasswi Prakash, but no one's taken the time to look past her weight to get to know who she really is. Following her mom's death, she's been picking up the pieces in the privacy of her home, dealing with her heartbroken fa...
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Karan's POV:
I'm lying on the cafeteria floor, and the girl is standing over me. My jaw feels knocked loose, like it's over somewhere in Ohio. I give it a rub to make sure it's still attached, and my hand comes away covered in blood.
I say, "What the hell?" My words are garbled. Jesus, I think she broke my voice box. "Why did you punch me?"
"WHY DID YOU GRAB ME?"
My eyes go to her backpack, to the letter sticking out of the pocket I just managed to shove it into. I want to say You'll understand later, but I can't speak because I'm wiping the blood from my mouth.
I may not know who anyone is, but every face in that cafeteria is turned toward us, eyes staring, mouths hanging open or gums flapping. The girl is still standing there, and from the floor I say, "I'm getting up. In case you're thinking of punching me again."
A hand comes toward me, and it's attached to a tall white guy wearing a stupid black beanie. I hate hats because sometimes the only identifier is someone's hair, and a hat erases that, which erases them. I'm not sure whether I should take the hand, but no one else is offering one, so I let him pull me up. As he does, the son of a bitch starts laughing.
The girl turns on him. "You're a jackass."
He holds his hands up like she's pulled a gun. "Hey, I'm not the one that grabbed you."
"Maybe not, but I'm sure you had something to do with it." Which tells me this might be Derek.
Then another girl is there, dark and angry, with a mole by one eye, and she gets right up in the face of the girl I grabbed. "YOU HIT HIM? YOU STUPID COW! HE WASN'T HURTING YOU!" And only Tara Sangtani can get her voice that high and loud.
I say, "I deserved it. I shouldn't have grabbed her." And suddenly I'm defending my attacker.
"She did this to you?" A kid appears, pointy chin, shaggy hair. I'm searching his face for signs of who he is, but everyone is coming at me all at once, and this is my nightmare because I don't know who anyone is. People are pulling at me, and wanting to know What happened, am I okay, it's going to be okay, don't you worry, Karan. I want them to get off me and go away because I'm supposed to know them and I don't, and I might as well have amnesia. They are freaking me out and I want to tell them to fuck off. She's the one who deserves the attention, not me. It's my fault, not hers.
"What the hell happened, Kar?" The pointy-chinned guy is my own brother, because this is what he used to call me when we were kids.
But I can't be sure, can I? Even babies recognize the people they know. Even dogs.
One of the security guys appears, pushing people away. And also a teacher who tries to restore order in the crowd. As he's telling them there's nothing to see here, go back to your business, another girl comes walking up, fast.
