Of Curses and Kisses

by Sandhya Menon

  Jaya irritably pulled the arrow up to her mouth, smiling a slightly rictus smile. “Like this?”

  “No,” he said brusquely. “Pull it under your chin. Remember?”

  He wasn’t being condescending in the least. Still, she’d easily been the best archer at her last few schools. And now, to pretend like she had no clue what she was doing? It really, really stuck in her craw. If she were being completely honest, Grey’s square stance wasn’t even that good. She should be teaching him.

  “No,” Jaya said now, doing her best damsel-in-distress move. She tried to laugh helplessly, but there was an edge to it that she hurriedly tried to round out. “Could you show me? Please?”

  Grey stepped behind her (he was positively looming. God, was there any reason for anyone to be that tall and broad?) and guided her arms. “Like… this,” he said, positioning her the right way.

  She relaxed against him and smiled. “Thanks, Grey.”

  He said nothing.

  Grey

  Jaya was resting her body lightly against his, and it… it felt strange. Good strange, but still strange. It was like she was just finding reasons to touch him. The thought wasn’t completely unpleasant. But it also didn’t make sense. Sure, they’d built up an acquaintanceship over the last week and a half. It was kind of impossible not to—she was in all of his classes, she sat with his group of friends for all of their meals. Her story and emotions about her sister’s scandal had seemed real enough. But she was a Rao. Her pendant was still a big question mark hanging around her neck. If he knew what was good for him, he’d stay away from her. Completely away. And yet…

  “Time to wrap up!” Ms. Bayer called from down the line of students. “Put your gear away!”

  Grey stepped back from her quickly, muscling past the slight but alarming reluctance he felt.

  Jaya turned and smiled up at him. “Until next time, then.” She sashayed off to her station, which was right next to his, and looked over at him as she put her gear away. “So, I was wondering, are you going to the back-to-school mixer next Saturday?”

  Grey dropped his arrow into the quiver. He hated school-sanctioned “fun” activities like these. “Yes,” he said tightly. “It’s mandatory.” Because Dr. Waverly thought if they didn’t go, they’d all turn into hermits.

  Jaya studied his expression. “Is it quite that awful? We get to dress up and mingle on the rooftop, don’t we? I’ve heard it’s really beautiful.” Jaya put the rest of her gear away and then walked back over to Grey’s station.

  “Dressing up and mingling on rooftops? Not my thing.”

  She laughed, the breeze tugging on a strand of her hair that had come loose from her ponytail. “So if I come talk to you, you’ll walk away?”

  Grey watched her for a moment, hesitating. Then he turned away without answering.

  Jaya

  Later that evening, Jaya and Isha were meeting downstairs by the fireplace in the lobby to go off campus for dinner. But when Jaya finally made it downstairs (she’d been reading the latest young adult rom-com in her room and had completely lost track of time), she almost didn’t recognize her baby sister. Isha was wearing a sweatshirt so baggy it slipped off one shoulder, her lacy halter bra strap on display.

  “Isha,” Jaya whispered, hurrying to her side. She yanked on the neckline of Isha’s sweatshirt, but it didn’t help; the thing just slid back down again. “What on earth are you wearing? Where did you get this?”

  Isha pulled on it and smiled. “I got it at the airport store in Denver. Cool, huh?”

  “The day we flew in? Where was I?” Jaya asked, frowning at it.

  “In the bathroom.” Isha batted her palm frond–like eyelashes.

  Sighing, Jaya said, “You better hope Appa never finds out.”

  “How would he?” Isha retorted. “You’re not going to tell him, are you? You wouldn’t do that to your baby sister.”

  Jaya rolled her eyes and put her arm around Isha’s shoulders, mostly to cover up her bra strap. “I suppose not. Anyway, where do you want to go to eat?”

  “Ooh, Elliot told me about this really delicious sushi restaurant downtown. He says it’s pretty good for being a thousand miles away from the ocean and eight thousand feet above sea level.” She laughed uproariously, as if Elliot were the most hilarious person she’d ever encountered.

  “Elliot.” Jaya’s eyebrows knitted together without her permission. Isha had been spending a lot of time with that boy. Just yesterday she said Elliot and she had lain on the hilly green by the astronomy building and just watched the clouds float by. The clouds. Float by. Like Isha had ever cared about floating clouds before.

  “Yeah,” Isha said, fiddling with the gold ring on her finger. Amma had given them matching ones when each of them turned thirteen. “He’s my friend. I asked him if he wanted to come tonight, but he’d already made plans with Carlos.”

  Oh, he was her friend. Of course. Just like Romeo was Juliet’s friend. “The sushi restaurant’s downtown?” Jaya said, instead of the million and twenty things she really wanted to say about Elliot. “I don’t know. It’s getting dark out and that’s ten miles away.”

  Isha laughed. She actually laughed at Jaya. Her older sister. “ ‘It’s getting dark.’ You sound like you’re fifty, Jaya. Come on. We’re young.”

  “Our age has nothing to do with it,” Jaya said serenely, even though her blood pressure was rising. Why was Isha always so quick to flout the rules? To do whatever she wanted? “It’s not safe to go traipsing around a town that you don’t know. We’re still getting acclimated. We don’t have an escort.”

  “St. Rosetta’s has a car service!” Isha said, sighing. “The driver will literally drop us off right at the door; we can set it up right now. You know the office is open 24/7. It’s not that hard.”

  “I could be your escort.”

  Isha looked over Jaya’s shoulder at the bearer of that deep, rather growly voice and smiled hesitantly. Even though Jaya had managed, in the interceding days, to convince Isha that Grey knew nothing of the scandal (there was no reason for both of them to constantly be on high alert. Also, if Isha believed Grey knew nothing of the scandal, Jaya could socialize with him without Isha getting suspicious), it was understandable that she was a little unsure of him.

  Jaya took a breath and turned around with the sweetest smile on her face. “Grey!” she said, in a hearty so-nice-to-see-you voice. “We couldn’t trouble you that way.” Like she was going to let him anywhere near her little sister.

  He was dressed in his after-school outfit—ratty long-sleeved T-shirt with some obscure-but-certain-to-be-cool band logo on the front, his big feet clad in boots that looked like they’d been run over by several buses, his jeans hanging just so from his hips. His hair was unbrushed and mussed. Annoyingly enough, it gave him a certain savage charm.

  Sticking his gigantic hands in his pockets, Grey shrugged, broad shoulders moving easily under his shirt. “No trouble,” he said. “Sushi sounds good. I’m hungry.” It struck Jaya that he spoke like a Neanderthal in a cartoon, in stunted sentences and abrupt monosyllables, a good bit of the time. Rather strange for a nobleman.

  Isha glanced at Jaya. “Okay. Let’s do it, then.” That she was willing to give him a chance wasn’t entirely surprising to Jaya. That was Isha, never prejudging people for where they came from. And maybe she’d decided Grey Emerson would be unable to mastermind a vicious scandal. He could barely manage to string two sentences together. She had a point, but Jaya wasn’t yet ready to arrive at the same conclusion. Grey Emerson might just be an extremely good saboteur.

  Grey raised his eyebrows, asking Jaya for permission to come, and Jaya bowed her head, giving it. Besides, if he, the most committed recluse Jaya had ever come across, wanted to come to sushi with them, that was a sign her plan was working, wasn’t it? Even though she was tired of all the flirting, perhaps she was nearer the finish line than she’d thought. The idea filled her with a burst of renewed energy. “Excellent. T
hank you, Grey.”

  Grey

  He tried not to stare at her—or at the pendant, minus one ruby—as they rode in the Escalade. Sure, Jaya Rao had seemed truthful when she told him about the scandal with Isha and why they’d come here to St. Rosetta’s. But that didn’t mean his guard was down. She still wore the pendant. And the fact that both Rao sisters were here, at St. R’s, in the middle of their high school careers? More than a little unsettling.

  He clenched his fists on his thighs. Was that the only reason he’d volunteered himself as their escort? Grey wasn’t one to lie to himself. Somewhere in some dusty corner of his mind that was beginning to light and spark as it hadn’t ever done before, he knew the whole truth was a lot more complicated. He stole a glance at Jaya Rao, her smooth brown skin, her laugh that was both confident and sexy, her obvious protective love for her little sister. Yeah, the truth was a lot more complicated.

  It felt strange, going out to dinner with them when he barely knew them. He rarely went out to get food with DE, Leo, and Rahul, and then only when they begged and pleaded and wouldn’t take no for an answer. He felt his social muscles, stiff from lack of use, creaking and snapping every time he tried to make conversation. Jaya and Isha carried most of the conversation seamlessly; they were probably used to it from all their training.

  Grey sat back against the seat and let their inane chatter wash over him as the car hurtled toward the restaurant. Whatever Jaya Rao was here for, he’d get to the bottom of it.

  Jaya

  So Sushi Me was dimly lit and somewhat grimy, tucked away on a shop-lined avenue in downtown St. Rosetta. Grey insisted on tipping the driver himself and wouldn’t let Jaya reimburse him, which she found both irritating and strangely charming. The waitress led them to a table by the window (that overlooked the parking lot) and left them with their menus.

  “It’s not much to look at,” Grey said. He was seated across from Jaya, alone in his ripped vinyl bench. Which was probably wise; he took up the entire thing on his own. “But the food is good.”

  “That’s what my friend Elliot said,” Isha put in, because evidently, she couldn’t go more than fifteen minutes without mentioning Elliot.

  A flicker of recognition crossed Grey’s face at Elliot’s name, but then he nodded seriously. “Then Elliot has good taste.”

  Don’t encourage her, Jaya wanted to sigh. Instead, she leaned in and smiled. “So. What do you recommend here, Grey?”

  “The masago is my favorite,” he said. “But I think the seaweed salad is their most popular one.”

  “Mm. I think I’ll go with your favorite.”

  “I’ll get the unagi,” Isha added.

  Grey signaled to the waitress that they were ready, and then they all placed their orders.

  It was kind of… interesting how he just took charge. Some women might find that attractive, but Jaya herself merely noted it as a student of social patterns. He was still the enemy, no matter how chivalrous or confident or how much of a sushi expert he was.

  “So, Isha,” Jaya said, because she was the elder sister and it was her duty. “How are your studies coming along?”

  “Great! I checked this book out of the library, and it’s all about how to weld parts together to build a robot. It’s fascinating!”

  “Oh dear.” Jaya tried not to let her face show how horrifying she really found the thought of Isha building robots.

  “Have you read about the origami method?” Grey asked, looking interested in spite of himself.

  “Oh, you mean where you practice with paper before you do it on metal? To get the basics of building the body down?” Isha replied. “Yeah, I have. I have this great book by David Cook.”

  “Robot Building for Beginners,” they both said at the same time. Isha smiled at him across the table. Jaya could see that Isha was beginning to warm to Grey, simply because he showed an interest in her completely inappropriate hobby. And speaking of completely inappropriate hobbies, did she have to talk about it to the very person who’d brought her down in flames for another one of her inappropriate hobbies? (Well, two others, if you counted “boys” as a hobby.) Not that Isha knew about Grey’s involvement in her scandal, but still.

  Still, this wasn’t unsalvageable. So far, Isha hadn’t divulged anything tremendously harmful that Grey could use. Jaya just needed to step in and manage the conversation. Maybe pivot it to draw Grey out more.

  She scrunched up the paper her straw had been encased in with rather more force than was strictly necessary. “Oh, I didn’t know you were into robotics too, Grey.”

  He grunted without saying anything further, but Isha pressed on. “Have you taken the robotics elective?”

  “Robotics I, last year.”

  Isha waited for more details. Ha, Jaya wanted to say. Don’t hold your breath. The boy hoards his words like they’re air and he’s in outer space without a helmet.

  Grey shifted in his seat, as if he were gearing himself up for what he was about to say next. Jaya watched, fascinated. “I didn’t take Robotics II, but an engineer from MIT comes in to teach the second half of that class. You get to set up a think tank and lab and brainstorm some of the most pressing problems plaguing robotics.” He sat back, as if exhausted from the effort of saying all those words.

  “Wow,” Isha said, her eyes shining. She obviously hadn’t noticed how bizarre their dinner companion was. “That’s so cool.”

  Jaya laughed politely. The last thing Isha needed to do was join robotic think tanks. Forget building robots, she should be focused on rebuilding her reputation.

  “Thanks for telling me about it, Grey,” Isha continued.

  “Sure,” he said. After a pause, he added, “Have you heard of Next?”

  Isha shook her head. Jaya wanted to reach across the table and stuff her paper napkin into Grey’s mouth. Was he just baiting Isha into divulging information that showed her interests were completely unsuitable for a young royal woman? You’ve already shown everyone in Mysuru that, Jaya thought, gritting her teeth.

  “They’re a nonprofit based out of Denver, and their mission is to get more women into STEM fields—”

  Thankfully, the waitress interrupted them by bringing out their plates of food. When she was gone, Jaya said, “Ooh, all of this looks so yummy.” She beamed a little savagely at Isha. “Eat!”

  Isha rolled her eyes and tucked into her unagi. “Mm, this is good,” she said. “How’s yours, Grey?”

  He grunted and shoved a masago roll into his mouth.

  “I’m going to look into Next,” Isha said after swallowing a mouthful of unagi.

  “No, you’re not,” Jaya found herself snapping.

  Grey looked from her to Isha and back again. “They have a good website.”

  Jaya tried not to snarl at him. “That’s not the point, is it? Our family has certain expectations of us. It’s important we adhere to them.” Jaya drank a sip of water and waited for Isha’s repartee, but amazingly enough, she was quiet. Good. Maybe Grey would think she agreed with Jaya.

  They ate in silence for a minute, and then Grey said, “Familial expectations aren’t always the only way or even the right way.” He said it like he was biting off each word, like it caused him physical pain.

  Jaya couldn’t help the venom that tinged her words. “That’s strange for a British nobleman to say. Aren’t you governed by rules and etiquette?”

  Grey held her eyes. “Doesn’t mean I believe in them.”

  Jaya sat up straighter. He was making her angry, even though she knew she should hide it for the sake of the bigger goal. “Well, we believe in ours. Our family is everything to us.” She could feel Isha’s eyes on the two of them.

  “Family shouldn’t be everything to anyone,” Grey said shortly, stabbing another roll into his mouth and chewing violently. His eyes never left hers. “Family can be unreliable. Family can hurt you.”

  Jaya narrowed her eyes. What did he mean by that? But before she could ask him, he threw his napkin dow
n and stood. “Excuse me,” he said, then walked abruptly toward the bathroom.

  “What was that about?” Isha asked after they’d watched him disappear into the far side of the restaurant.

  “I don’t know,” Jaya said thoughtfully, drumming her fingers on the table. But I intend to find out.

  Jaya

  Not half bad. Saturday, the night of the mixer, Jaya leaned in close to the mirror and studied her reflection. She’d artfully arranged her curly hair in a half bun, and she wore a Wendell Rodricks dress in wispy pink-and-gold layers that exposed half her back. Pairing the dress with high-heeled gold glitter Manolo Blahnik pumps had been a great idea too. She’d worked hard on this look and it said, in a very casually flirty tone, “Hey, Grey. I’m gorgeous and funny and interesting and into you. You’d be crazy to not go out with me.” She was getting better at this.

  And maybe she was imagining things, but she could swear he was beginning to respond to her a little. Granted, it was a bit hard to tell with him. He spent so much of his time in silence. She got the feeling he was completely comfortable being quiet, just watching the world.

  It was all right, though. If she could handle elephants in musth, she could handle one antisocial son of a duke.

  Smiling, Jaya straightened her ruby necklace.

  Her phone rang with the video-chat tone, and before answering, Jaya shrugged into the shimmery bolero that went with her dress. Her parents’ faces smiled at her from the screen.

  “Hi, Appa, Amma!” she said, pressing “answer.” A twinge of homesickness prodded at her when she saw their loving, comfortably familiar faces.

  There was a knock on her door and Isha entered, wearing a black dress with lime-green bows along the back, her hair straightened so it hung to her waist. She bounded up to the phone and waved at their parents.

  “You both look so pretty!” Amma said. “Is the mixer tonight?”

  “Yes,” Jaya answered. “It should be fun!”