Ashish swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing slowly. He looked down at her. “That just makes it worse,” he said, and walked out just as Evan picked up Celia with one arm and she began squealing.
Dimple walked back to Rishi and handed him one of the bottles. “That sucks,” she said, sighing. “I think he really likes her.”
Rishi hadn’t opened the bottle. He was looking out toward the hallway where Ashish had disappeared. “Yeah,” he said, sort of wonderingly. “I think he really does.”
“What?” Dimple asked. “Why do you have that look?”
Rishi turned to her after a long pause, as if just realizing she’d asked a question. He shook his head, like he was trying to clear it. “I need to go talk to Ashish for a second.”
CHAPTER 50
Rishi found Ashish sitting by a huge stack of folding chairs in a dark, dusty corner of the backstage area. He had his hands between his knees, fingers laced together, and was staring out into the middle distance. Rishi cleared his throat softly, and Ashish looked up at him. It struck Rishi how soft and vulnerable and hurt his little brother looked in the instant before his defensiveness came back. I did that, Rishi thought, and the idea stung like nettle. I’ve made him defensive by constantly judging his choices because they aren’t the ones I’d make.
He pulled out a folding chair from the pile and sat next to Ashish. “You really like her.”
“Yep.” Ashish shifted. “And I don’t need a lecture about how she’s not ‘suitable’ or whatever.”
Rishi raised a hand. “I wasn’t going to say that.”
“Well, that’s a change,” Ashish mumbled sarcastically.
They were quiet for a moment, watching a small group of guys talk excitedly about their chances. The guys didn’t seem to notice them, sitting in the dark about ten feet away. When they disappeared into the dressing room, Rishi turned to Ashish. “I’m sorry.”
Ashish’s eyebrows shot up. “For?”
“You’ve been really supportive with this whole talent show thing. You’ve really helped Dimple—and me—a lot. And I appreciate it. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything before.”
Ashish nodded and looked away. “Yeah, no problem.”
“But also . . .” Rishi looked down at his hands and then up again, waiting till Ashish met his eye. “I’m sorry I haven’t always supported you. I’ve judged you instead of just being there for you. You’re different from the rest of us, and I was always trying to get you to change to be more like us. That wasn’t fair.” Rishi paused and looked out into the dark before continuing. “The truth is . . . I’ve always been slightly envious of you. You’ve always been so sure of yourself, of what you want, even if it wasn’t anything Ma or Pappa ever encouraged. Even when they—or I—actively discouraged you from doing something you really wanted to do, you did it anyway. I’ve always envied that courage.” He smiled. “I see it in Dimple, too. That’s probably why you guys get along so well.”
Ashish stared at him and rubbed his jaw. “Wow. I, uh, don’t know what to say.”
Rishi shrugged. “You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted to tell you that. And this girl? Celia? If you really like her, you should fight for her. Because I don’t think she and Evan are going to last. I don’t think she even really likes him.”
“Yeah, but I’m not sure she even likes me.”
“So what are you going to do?” Rishi asked. “Just sit back and do nothing? That doesn’t sound like you.” He waited a few seconds and, when Ashish didn’t say anything else, stood. “I guess I’ll get back to Dimple.”
“Rishi?”
He turned.
“Thanks.” Ashish smiled a little, and for the first time since he’d come to SFSU, his jaw was relaxed. “For what it’s worth, I really like Dimple. I was wrong about her.”
Rishi grinned. “I know.” And then he walked back to the dressing room.
Max looked concerned. Even his beard and mustache were aquiver. “You guys can’t perform like this.”
Dimple was sipping her water, trying not to look like she was eavesdropping, but it was hard to do when the conversation was taking place literally two feet from where she sat.
“We’re fine,” Evan said, looking right at him. “There’s nothing wrong.”
Max leveled a look at Isabelle, who was trying hard not to laugh. She had both hands pressed up to her mouth. Beside her, Celia was grinning loosely, like her jaw muscles had all liquefied. “Really.”
“Really.” Hari crossed his arms and waited till Max looked at him. “We’re cool. I mean, I could get my parents on the phone, but I don’t think that’s necessary, do you?”
There was a tense moment when Dimple didn’t know which way this would go. Who were Hari’s parents? It was clear he’d just pulled rank with Max, but Dimple had no idea what it really meant.
Finally, Max let out a slow breath. “Fine,” he said, in that übercalm voice older adults used when they were trying not to lose their cool. “I’m going to announce your teams, then.”
Evan and Hari fist-bumped, and Evan said, “Bro, that was epic. That wing your parents donated to the computer science department must be something else.”
Oh. Max’s reaction made more sense now.
Hari shrugged nonchalantly at Evan’s comment, but his chest was puffed out, like being rich was something he’d built with his own two manicured hands. The Aberzombies began to make their way out of the dressing room. At the last minute Dimple pulled Celia aside, which wasn’t hard to do because she was trailing behind the three of them. Her skin had taken on an unhealthy pale green cast.
“You don’t have to do this,” Dimple said quickly. She could hear Max introducing them onstage. “You can still back out.”
Celia’s bloodshot hazel eyes met hers. For a second she looked like she might cry or throw her arms around Dimple’s neck or ask to be taken home. But then she wrenched her arm out of Dimple’s hand and stalked out behind the others.
Rishi walked in, looking over his shoulder at the group. “They smell like armpits and rubbing alcohol.” Then, catching her expression, he said, “You okay?”
Dimple nodded. “I want to go out where we can watch their performance.”
“Yeah, sure.”
They walked out together to the wings. Ashish was there too. The stage was dark, but the four of them had already gone out to take their places.
The spotlights came on, and the guys in the crowd began cheering Celia and Isabelle, both of whom were at center stage, their arms around each other, gyrating to “Sexy Heat.” There were some hoots from the women in the crowd too, especially when Evan and Hari began their bit, slapping the girl’s butts and mouthing the lyrics.
“This is awful,” Rishi said. Dimple noticed that, like her, he was having trouble looking away from the unfolding train wreck.
She glanced at Ashish, who looked pale. The corners of his mouth were tight, and a muscle jumped in his jaw when Evan pretended to yank on Celia’s hair.
“Maybe you shouldn’t watch this,” Rishi said, looking at his little brother in concern.
“No,” Ashish said, taking a deep breath. “I want to see.”
Celia and Isabelle were getting closer and closer onstage, and Dimple knew the part where they were supposed to dance close together must be coming up. But when Isabelle put her arms around Celia’s neck and pulled her close—to the thunderous applause of most of the guys in the audience—Celia stepped back.
Dimple’s heart stuttered. A look of confusion passed over Isabelle’s face. She stopped and blinked, as if she were wondering how she’d ended up on that stage. Evan jogged forward and whispered something to her and Celia, his face tight and furious. Hari crossed his arms. The crowd fell silent, watching.
And then—Celia pushed Evan.
He barely moved, but she stumbled with the effort. Ashish moved forward, like he wanted to run onstage. Then Celia was yelling, “Screw you!” and running offstage, right toward them.
>
The song stopped. After an intense moment of silence, the audience began to boo.
Celia came bursting through the wings just as Dimple moved out of the way. When she saw Dimple, she began to cry harder. Without thinking, Dimple wrapped her arms around Celia and pulled her close. Even though Celia was wearing six inch heels, she managed to fold herself down and put her face in the hollow of Dimple’s neck.
Dimple patted her back. “It’s okay,” she said. “You did the right thing. I’m proud of you.”
The Aberzombies burst through then. Hari hollered, “You totally screwed it up, Celia!”
Isabelle said, quietly, “Don’t yell at her.”
“Back off!” Dimple said, glaring at Hari.
“Or what?” Evan crossed his arms and stepped forward so he loomed over Dimple and Celia. “How about you stay out of this?”
Rishi put himself between Evan and Dimple. “How about you step back?”
Evan glared at Rishi, and then Hari said, “Is there a problem?”
Suddenly, Ashish was by Rishi’s side. Dimple pulled Celia farther back, away from the crowd. Isabelle followed them.
Celia said, her voice tiny, “They’re not going to fight are they?” just as Evan said, “It’s not my fault the bitch couldn’t follow through.”
And then Ashish punched him.
CHAPTER 51
It was chaos for a few minutes as Hari lunged at Rishi, and Evan and Ashish went at it. Dimple looked around, her throat tight, her heart racing. She waved to Max, who was walking toward them, his eyes widening at the sight. He and a couple of the bigger Insomnia Con students pulled the guys apart. “Break it up!” he yelled. “Right now!”
When the four guys separated, Dimple noted with horror that Rishi’s nose was bleeding. Celia whimpered when she saw Ashish’s lip was cut, the front of his T-shirt splattered with blood.
“I can’t believe this,” Isabelle said from beside them where she’d been standing. She turned toward Celia, her cheeks red. “You were right to stop. I didn’t want to do this either, but they . . .” She swallowed, the blush in her cheeks deepening.
Dimple looked from Isabelle to Celia. It had always been clear that Isabelle wasn’t completely on board with Evan and Hari. But this open admission was more than Dimple had expected.
Celia swiped at her eyes and nodded. “It’s okay. I almost went along with it too. I guess sometimes it’s just hard to find that line and stick to it, even when something feels totally wrong to you.”
Isabelle let out a breath. “Yeah. I’m sorry, Celia.” Then, turning to Dimple, she said, “I’m sorry . . . for everything.” And then she walked off to the dressing room without looking back at any of them.
“Get out of here right now,” Max said, glaring around at them. “All of you. Just go.”
Rishi and Ashish walked toward Dimple and Celia. “Let’s go,” Rishi said, his voice low and tight.
And they did.
The women set up a makeshift clinic in Dimple and Celia’s room, with Rishi sitting on Dimple’s bed and Ashish on Celia’s. Rishi’s nose wasn’t bleeding anymore, but Dimple kept insisting he put an ice pack on it. (She’d gotten one for each of them from the first aid kit at the front desk.) Rishi wasn’t even sure an ice pack was how you treated a bloody nose, but he was enjoying the attention too much to tell her.
Across the tiny room Ashish grinned at him. Celia was hovering near him, dabbing at his cut lip with a wet washcloth. She’d scrubbed her face free of the thick makeup, changed into shorts and a T-shirt, and pulled her voluminous hair back into a ponytail. She looked much more like herself, and Rishi was glad.
“Totally worth it,” Ashish said.
Rishi laughed. “Yep.”
Celia groaned. “No, it wasn’t.” She dabbed at Ashish’s lip with an increased vigor, pulling back when Ashish winced. “Sorry. But seriously, you guys could’ve gotten really hurt.”
“Fighting’s never the answer; hasn’t anyone ever told you dorks that?” Dimple sighed and took a seat next to Rishi. “Even if those jerks totally did deserve it.”
Celia bit her lip, balling the washcloth in one fist. “Guys, I’m . . . I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have gone off with them. I’m not even sure what I was trying to prove. They were terrible friends—not really friends at all—and I was just sacrificing everything I was to be a part of their group. I guess I wanted a high school do-over or something.” She shook her head and stepped toward Dimple, and, smiling, Dimple stood and wrapped her up in a big hug. “You’ve been such a good friend to me,” Celia said, her voice high and shaky. “And you were right. I was uncomfortable, and I hated that whole thing, so I shouldn’t have done it.”
“Eh.” Dimple pulled back and tugged gently on Celia’s ponytail. “I’m proud of you for having the guts to just walk off the stage like that. Right in the middle of the performance.” She grinned, a twinkle in her eye. “Plus, you pretty much decimated their chances of winning, so, you know. Thank you.”
Celia laughed a watery laugh and pressed a finger to the corner of her eye. “You’re welcome.” She turned to Ashish next, and they looked at each other silently. There were so many unspoken words in the space between them that Rishi had to look away.
“Want to go for a walk?” Ashish said softly.
“Please,” Celia replied, and they walked off together, the door closing behind them.
Dimple sighed into the silence. “They make a cute couple.” She wrapped an arm around Rishi’s waist and rested her head on his shoulder.
“Not as cute as you and me.”
There was a smile in her voice. “Obviously.”
Rishi lay down on Dimple’s pillow and pulled her against his chest. “Take a nap with me?”
She snuggled in, her hair tickling his nose, flooding him with the scent of coconuts and jasmine. “Okay,” she said, yawning. “We’ve earned it.”
The jangling of Dimple’s phone woke them. Rishi sat up and rubbed his face. “Who is it?”
“I’m not sure.” It was a number she didn’t recognize. She cleared her throat and slid to answer. “Hello?”
“Dimple, hi. This is Max, your instructor.”
“Oh. Hi.” She sat up straighter in bed and looked over at Celia and Ashish, who had obviously come back at some point during Rishi’s and her nap and were now lying together on Celia’s bed. She grasped Rishi’s hand, her eyes wide, her heart hammering in her chest. Max wouldn’t kick her out, would he? She hadn’t even been involved in the fight, not directly. . . .
“I know you left early, and I wanted to tell you in case you haven’t heard already—you and Rishi won first place.”
The words landed in the shells of her ears, but didn’t really hit her brain. “We . . . what now?”
There was a smile in his voice. “You guys won first place. Congratulations. You’ve got a thousand dollars to put toward the development of your app. It’s a step in the right direction.”
“Oh my gods.” She clapped a hand over her mouth, feeling like the smile was going to explode off her face. Ashish and Celia were making did you win? faces across the room, and Rishi was staring at her. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome. And . . . you can tell Rishi he isn’t going to be kicked out. I’m willing to look the other way so long as this doesn’t happen again.”
“Great. That’s great.” Her ribcage expanded, as if she’d suddenly acquired the ability to hold more air. “Thank you. Again.”
“You’re welcome again. I expect great things from you guys now.”
Dimple laughed, feeling like she might float off the bed. “Got it.” She hung up and looked around at her friends. “We did it,” she said softly. “We won.”
• • •
Another three weeks passed way, way quicker than Dimple would’ve liked. She would’ve wanted another thousand, give or take, to tinker with the wireframe prototype. Still, she knew it was more polished than she’d hoped it would
be at this point, thanks to the talent show money. The designers had taken Rishi’s sketches to the next level and made the whole thing come alive.
And now . . . now it was time to let it go. The judges would be in to look at all the prototypes. There was nothing more to do. They were supposed to just go by the lecture hall later for the big announcement.
“Two more hours,” Dimple said, leaning back in her chair. They were at You Gelato Be Kidding!, a sketchy little shop that had somehow become their favorite place to get dessert in the intensity of the last three weeks. Dimple had a giant bowl of cherry gelato she had had exactly two bites of so far.
“You really must be feeling sick.” Rishi raised an eyebrow. He was tucking into his second bowl of gelato like he hadn’t eaten in four days.
Celia giggled. They both looked at her, and she looked up from her phone and blushed when she saw they were watching her.
“Ashish?” Dimple asked, waggling her eyebrows.
“He just said the funniest thing about peanut butter gelato. . . .” Celia trailed off when she saw the looks on their faces. “Never mind.” She put her phone down and sighed. “I’m so ready for this all to be over. Three more days.”
“So they really don’t care that you’ve dropped out?” Rishi asked, licking his spoon.
“No.” Celia shrugged. “I guess there really isn’t anything they can do about it if I want to waste my money like that. I’m glad they’re letting me stay in the dorms till after the Last Hoorah party.”
The Last Hoorah party was their chance to celebrate and let off some steam after the intensity of the last six weeks. After that it was good-bye, San Francisco. Dimple wondered if Rishi was dreading it as much as she was. They were pretty much avoiding talking about it.
“Too bad they let Evan join Hari and Isabelle’s team though,” Celia continued. “I was sort of hoping they’d make him drop too. Instead, they’re combining their ideas or something. Whatever. Like they can do that in three weeks.”
When Dimple Met Rishi Page 25
