Girls Like Girls

Chapter 1

I woke up to a buzzing phone. I pick it up and check the screen, waiting for my eyes to adjust. With a groan I answer, "Harrison Rajesh Punjabi, it's six AM. This better be good."

Harry stays quiet on the other end.

"Thought not. What's up."

"Can you come over?"

"Half an hour," I say and roll out of bed, hitting the floor with a dull thud. I've never been the graceful one.

Harry hangs up the phone and I shuffle out of my room rubbing my eyes. On the way I press play on my stereo, Fall Out Boy flooding the air.

My little brother races out of his room wearing his sheet as a cape and his flying goggles, "KOTA!" Next thing I know, I have a five-year-old climbing up me and perching on my hip.

"Joshuaaa it's too early for this," I grumble, smiling.

"But I'm a pilot!" he shouts.

"Yeah, yeah you're a pilot. Yesterday you were a builder and before that, a doctor. You've got big dreams, kid," I ruffle his hair fondly and put him down just for him to race off down the stairs.

I follow him, clutching the railing. Being sleepy doesn't compliment these steep stairs. In the kitchen I set out three cups: one for hot chocolate, two for coffee. After I made the drinks, I set the hot chocolate down on the kitchen table, "Josh, come get your choccy."

Rubbing my eyes again, I walk into the sitting room with the coffees.

"Good morning nan," I smile at my grandmother and give her a cup. She was looking out the window at the early morning rain.

Looking back to me she smiles and says, "Morning, love. You're up early today."

"Harry called me, I need to go over. Will you be okay watching Josh alone?"
"Yes of course, what's the worst he could do?" She chuckles, "Don't answer. You go to your friend's house now, Cheri."

I plant a kiss on her cheek and sip my coffee, making my way up the stairs again. Ten minutes later I'm dressed and looking less like a zombie.

When I reach the door, someone opens it from the other side. I'm relieved to see it's my dad.

"Hey, Sport! Where are you off to?"

"Harry's. Can I steal your pickup?" I ask sweetly.

My dad laughs and tosses me the keys, "License?"

"Soon," I race out the door. My dad's probably going back to sleep now, he must have been called up to fix something again. Sometimes I wish he wasn't a building manager, people call him at ungodly hours for the worst reasons. Once he had to drive back all the way from Nashville to change a lightbulb. To be fair, the woman who called him does fancy him and he can never leave her apartment before sitting down to tea.

In the truck I slide the keys into the ignition, listening to it grumble to life. 'My' license is chilling on the dash. I shouldn't be driving without a real one, but for now Amanda Reuben's is doing just fine, whoever she is. Harry knows a guy.

As usual, there's nothing on the radio. Talk shows and pop, that's all. The thing is, I don't necessarily have a problem with pop; I just think it's shit.

I drum on the wheel, stuck in traffic. It's weird to see this many cars this time of day on a Sunday morning. Harry's house is relatively nearby, so I'm there pretty soon. I jump over the fence and through his bedroom window.

"Hey Dweeb."

"Ms Congeniality, always a pleasure. You're only seven minutes late, it's a record," Harry chuckles.

"Traffic on the N4 was a bitch. Maybe there's some kind of Dentist Convention I don't know about."

"They're going to church, Kota. Remember church? That place full of the nice people and hypocrites?"

"War flashbacks. Anyway, what was so important that you had to summon me here at fucking six AM?" I climb up his bunk bed ladder and flop down on the top one.

Harry swivelled around in his office chair, stopping to face me again dramatically, "I had an epiphany."

"Please explain," my head is propped up on a pillow now; I'm lying on my stomach.

"So I was up all night binging Orange Is the New Black wondering why you were so salty, and it dawned on me. You aren't getting any," he said, convinced he was right.

I laughed and waited for him to continue.

He tapped his fingertips against each other in front of his chest in an attempt to look profoundly intelligent. "You see, Dakota Grace, you need a girlfriend. You've been single for far too long."

I roll my eyes, "Really, Harry? This again?" Harry tries to set me up with someone every two weeks. I've never dated before and I have no intention of doing so, I'm not exactly the most desirable specimen.

"Come on, you know I'm right," his eyebrow quirked up.

"And what if you were? What could I possibly do about it?"

"Get a girlfriend, it's simple. Pick a girl and flirt her panties off. Well, not literally. That's not physically possible."

"I'm not going to 'get any', I don't want to."

"Fine, just get a girlfriend. You can kiss and take long walks on the beach and watch romcoms," Serial Monogamist Harry said.

"I'll consider it," I sighed.

"Great," he took out a clipboard. Oh god, he has a clipboard. He's serious. "It's school tomorrow. I suggest you pick a girl from there. And don't tell me you can't find a gay one, we live in Orlando. Every girl is a lil bit gay. Wear flannel, it accentuates your gayness."

"I would, but I don't have any left. You stole them all," I roll my eyes playfully. He really does steal my flannels. To be fair, I steal his hoodies. 

"Let's not point any fingers, but I'm sure your flannels will mysteriously show up in your pickup right before you leave..." He smiles innocently.

"Sure. Is your mom up yet?" I ask and slip in under his duvet.

"Yeah, I think," he sniffed the air, "I smell curry, she's definitely awake."

"She's already cooking?"

"Yeah, she's cooking something my Pita used to make. It takes three days," he groaned, "Why does she have to be so Indian?"

"Because she is Indian? And so are you," I shake my head and jump off the bed, suddenly blessed with a rush of energy, "I'm going to say hi."

"Send her my love," Harry added jokingly.

Smells of masala and cumin fill the hallway. The kitchen smells even more divine. 

"Hey Mrs P."

Harry's mom laughed lightly and turned around from where she was stirring a pot at the oven, "Hello Darling, what a pleasant surprise to see you here."

"Harry called me over to lecture me about having to get a girlfriend again," I said, earning a little chuckle from Priya.

"That boy sometimes. He's had enough boyfriends for the entire city!"

"Ah well, there's still hope. I'd better go, you know how impatient he is," I walk back to Harry's room. "So what now?" I ask him once I'm back on his top bunk.

He looks at me and smirks, "Movie day?"

I smirk back and wiggle my eyebrows, "Movie day."