optional soundtrack: “Dead of Winter” by Katie Pederson
Jyoti watched her daughter look at herself in the mirror. The way Devika kept pinning and spraying her hair, her hands shaky--it made Jyoti nervous, too.
“Ugh!” Devika let out a long, loud groan. “I hate my hair!”
Jyoti was helpless in this situation as well. Devika’s hair was different from Jyoti’s family’s back in India. Her hair was closer to Oliver’s, coarser and curlier. Jyoti had grown up braiding her sisters’ hair and considered herself an expert at it, at least until Devika was a toddler. She still remembered the morning of her sister-in-law’s wedding, the one where Devika was the flower girl and ring bearer. She had called her older sister back home, interrupting the family dinner with frantic, frustrated cries.
“Calm down, love,” her older sister had said. “Be patient. Everything will work out in the end.”
And here it was, falling apart in the littlest ways.
“You look lovely, Devika,” she said, putting a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “You have such pretty hair.”
“It’d be prettier if it could cooperate,” her daughter mumbled, stomping off to her room. “This dress doesn’t even match my shoes.”
Jyoti turned to watch her go, but caught a glimpse of Oliver out the corner of her eye. He was standing there, like always, a beer in one hand. She blinked and he was gone, lost behind the slamming bedroom door.
He hadn’t always been this way. Or had he?
--- --- ---
Another dress later and they were at Bettina and Seth McPherson’s house.
"Hello there, Mr. Kim!" Aunt Daria said. "My, aren't you looking dapper today? My niece is one lucky girl, getting smooches from you!"
Devika wanted to crawl underneath the stairs from secondhand embarrassment.
"How do you even tolerate your mom?" Maura said to her cousin.
"I don't." Cassandra grimaced and turned away from the living room.
“Besides, that’s not even true,” Maura sighed. “He still hasn’t kissed me yet.”
“Haven’t you been together for like, four months?” Cassandra whispered, pushing Maura towards the living room. "Go out there and get him!"
"Oh, Maura, you look lovely," Jyoti said.
"Absolutely stunning, dear," Aunt Bettina echoed.
Justin didn't even look up at her.
"Oh, thanks."
It was like talking to a brick wall.
"Hey, Maura?" Devika tapped her cousin's shoulder. "Sorry, but Mason still isn't here yet, and we're about to go eat..."
"It's okay, Dev! I'm sure he's just stuck in traffic or something. He can meet us at the restaurant. No biggie!"
Devika took a deep breath and nodded, ignoring the pit in her stomach.
--- --- ---
Despite the plates of delicious food in front of her, Devika had no appetite. Mason was late. They had been at the restaurant for almost an hour now, and still, no sign of him. Not even a call or text.
Absentmindedly, she listened to her cousins' conversation, but she couldn't bring herself back down from her thoughts. The dance hadn’t even started yet and Devika found herself wondering how she’d make it through the night if she were stood up. She tried to shove the thought to the back of her mind, but she would have been lying if she said it wasn’t bothering her.
But all those attempts failed when she walked through the door and into the decorated gym.
Mason had stood her up.
She cried.
--- --- ---
"Just wait til you start getting hot flashes," Bettina laughed. "Let me tell you, aging is not fun."
It got quiet for a moment, and her sister-in-law Daria turned towards her slowly.
“Jyoti,” Daria said, a bit pensive and a bit knowing. “Something’s wrong.”
Daria had always intimidated her. Her bluntness, her intuition--Jyoti couldn't deny that she found it both frightening and admirable. There was no point in trying to deny anything to her.
“I'm just a bit worried, that's all,” Jyoti said quietly, ending her sentence with a soft smile.
“Whatever it is, you can tell us,” Bettina said, her younger sister nodding along. "He's our brother."
Jyoti took a deep breath.
“He's...” Jyoti said slowly, staring down at the empty plate in front of her. "He's drinking again."
“I thought so,” Daria sighed.
"I don't know what to do!" Jyoti cried, and Bettina came to her side.
“I’m so sorry, dear,” Bettina said, wrapping her in a hug. “I had no idea it’s gotten this bad.”
Jyoti's voice quivered. "I just don't know what to do."
Daria clasped her hands together and took a deep breath.
“Oliver is my brother and I love him,” she said, closing her sharp green eyes. “But Jyoti, you all need to get out of this before it gets worse. And believe me, it’s going to get much worse.”
Those were not the words Jyoti wanted to hear.
--- --- ---
The music was so loud, Devika could literally feel it in her ribcage, even in the hallway.
He’s not going to stand you up. He’s just late. He’s just late.
She repeated it in her head, like a mantra, like a motto.
Devika peered into the door window, and there was her cousin and her boyfriend, finally sharing a kiss.
"Hey, Dev, come on," Cassandra motioned for Devika to follow her. "I know what will cheer you up."
Devika fiddled anxiously with her bracelet. "This better not be illegal," she said.
Cassandra swung open the door to the music room. "Come on, you haven't played bass since middle school! Let's jam!"
And against her better judgement, Devika decided to jam.
Half an hour passed, and Cassandra took her phone out of her pocket.
"Oh, shit, Maura's been blowing up my phone."
They ran to the gym, where Maura was crying alone.
"He just left! He kissed me, dumped me, and left!" Maura yelled over the music. "Who the hell does that!" Cassandra tried to give her a reassuring pat on the back, but it wasn't doing much.
“I mean, I was going to dump him, too," Maura cried out. "But not at the freaking dance!"
"See, this is why I went by myself," Cassandra sighed. "No one to disappoint me but me."
"Cass, you're the only one of us with any sense," Maura sighed.
"Hey, at least you'll be single during spring break! Maybe you'll meet a cute guy at the beach," Cassandra said.
As her cousins laughed over their relationship fumbles, Devika walked out of the loud gym once again, trying not to cry. It wasn't the same, and neither of them seemed to understand. Mason was one of her best friends, and he left her here, high and dry, without a single text or call.
Devika wiped her nose and called her mom. It was time that this night came to an end.
--- --- ---
“I'm sorry, honey,” Jyoti hugged her daughter in a failed attempt towards consolation. Devika had stopped crying, but her eyes were still puffy.
They said goodnight, but just a few minutes later, her mother called her downstairs for some "fun". She felt silly, still in her dress, but she hadn't even had time to change into her pajamas.
"I'll be right back," Jyoti said. "I'm just getting some food."
And Devika turned the corner.
She stopped dead in her path. She swore she was hallucinating.
"Hey, Devika."
"Oh my god, Mason?"
"I'm so, so sorry Dev," he said. "My car broke down halfway between here and school, and my phone died. I had to walk half a mile to a Sandwich Queen, use the manager's phone to call a tow truck, and also my sister's fiancé to come get me, and traffic was absolutely horrific on the Kimball Station bypass, and Cooper left his phone at his apartment so I couldn't call you. I could have walked faster, but Cooper wouldn't let me get out of the car."
Devika was frozen.
"But I'm here now, aren't I?" Mason flashed her a big, toothy smile. "And I brought you these. It's not much, but I hope you like it."
He handed her a small bouquet of yellow roses, and she felt tears prick in her eyes.
Devika reached out and hugged him again.
"I don't even know what to say," she said through tears. "I thought you stood me up. I was so... distraught. I couldn't even imagine you doing that."
"I'd never leave you hanging like that, Dev," Mason said. "Not after you asked me to be here."
They broke apart, and Devika smiled for the first time that evening.
"You look really nice, by the way," Mason said, and she could already feel the heat on her face.
"You do, too," Devika said, staring at the red blush creeping up his cheeks. "So, uh, do you want to dance?"
"Of course!"
"Yeah, just like middle school."
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notesOh my lord this post took me FOREVER. It took me legit a year to finish building Pollard High School, only for it to be used in like, maybe six shots here, lol. C'est la vie. But despite that (and the crashing, and the group outing system fumbles, and the formal outfits not working, etc...) here it is: The Post That Took Forever! I may never write another dance because this was just a debacle behind the scenes.
And yes, Maura kissed Justin and he literally left. I was like, dude, what? lmao. They were so cute!! But they only had like, half a bolt anyway, so I guess it's for the best.
Also, the next day, Jyoti got a promotion! But I couldn't work it into the story, unfortunately. But yay, Jyoti! Kicking corporate butt!
"Why must you torment me, Sim God?"
I already took about two-thirds of the pictures for the next update, so *crosses fingers* hopefully soon! I'm ready to get this Reyerstown train a-rolling again!
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