Under The Mango Trees

Chapter Twelve : In Between Paneer Tikka And Dry Okra

"What? Why are you here?" My voice was thick from sleep as I sat up, warily shifting away from Lila. Her damp hair hung in coils and the shoulder pads of her yellow, short jumpsuit was soaked with water. She had directly visited me from her swimming date with Raul and I hated to see how her cheeks were flushed in rapture.

"Good she came or else you'll sleep all day. You're your father's daughter. That's who you are," my mother said reproachfully with a pile of folded clothes in her arms. I recalled how I became 'her daughter' whenever I performed well academically. Otherwise, I was my father's daughter. "Stay as long as you like, Lila. Will you have dinner with us tonight?"

"Aai, I don't think she---"

"Yeah, I would love to!" Lila shamelessly plopped on my bed and I had to bring my legs close to my knees, my clammy hands clutching the thin blanket.

"I hope you like okra and paneer," my mother added dotingly, exiting the room. Paneer was for special occasions which meant that Lila was special. I threw the blanket off me, unheedingly striding towards the bathroom.

"I came here directly from Raul's---" I slammed the door shut at Lila's words, flounced inside and stared hard at myself in the oval mirror of the cabinet which was cluttered with Pavitra and my beauty products. There was a long, bright red pillow mark across my cheek and I rubbed hard at it with water, hoping that it would fade away. I knew that mark would have mentally made her giggle. That thought made me scrub harder. Why was she here anyway? To tell me all the fun she had swimming half-naked with that questionable creature? Why wouldn't she simply listen to my warnings? I knew he would have kissed her, that must have been his plan all along, to lure her with his daddy's pool and kiss her. That was why Anthony and I were never invited.

I tied my hair into a tight ponytail which made my scalp hurt (but made me look fresh) and emerged out, to find Lila's face light up. "I came here directly from Raul's house---"

"I know. I saw your video."

"Why didn't you reply?" She blinked in bewilderment and I scoffed.

"I didn't reply? I might have forgotten. I don't know." I didn't care either.

"You won't ask me how it was?"

"I don't know. Don't you always go there since you were a child or something?"

"But this time it was different!" She twirled a coil of her hair around her finger and flirtatiously raised her eyebrows, insinuating at how different it was.

My heart was throbbing loudly in my chest as I prepared myself for the difference. "What happened?"

"He kissed me." She smugly smiled, letting go of that coil which wildly spiralled and a lump formed in my throat.

I knew it. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! However, the knowledge of what was to come didn't soften the blow. All because of Hope. That odd creature Hope which was always hanging upon one's back like Betaal. I wanted to shrug away that Hope, that obstinate, vile Hope which made a fool out of a sane person. "I-I told you Raul's not right!"

"But it wasn't like that. It was nice," she defended him and I peevishly bit the inside of my lower lip. There was no use protecting her from him when she liked it. Alright then, it was her choice. However stupid it was since he would twist her heart into his desired shapes and eventually break it. That was the only way she would learn her lesson. There was no saving her when she didn't want to be saved.

"Good for you then." I sat on my bed, leaning against the wall. I could taste the blood from biting the inside of my lower lip and I could hear the ticking of the old fan which irked me further. "Can you sit on Pavitra's bed? I want some space. I can't sit with you hogging all the space here."