Aria rushed across the street toward him, not wanting to give Omkar’s father time to notice that he had arrived. Omkar was oblivious to her until she was standing right next to him. He jumped back, startled, and almost dropped the books he was precariously balancing in his forearms. In a fluster, he put them on the roof of the car and turned to face her. His cheeks flushed and he could hardly breathe. “Um, are you into me?” Aria asked, cutting straight to the point.
Omkar took a deep breath and put his hand against his temple, his mind stuttering over what answers he could give her, and finding none.
“Well, I saw you leaving stuff for me and I wanna know why,” Aria said, pleading with him to answer.
Omkar was seared with embarrassment at having been caught. For a minute he teetered on the precipice of manhood before deciding to take charge of the whole situation and play it as cool as he could. It was his best shot at getting her to like him back.
“My name’s Omkar,” he said, redirecting the conversation and extending his hand for her to shake. Aria was confused by the sudden topic change. But she took his lead and placed her hand against his palm. Her hand inherited the warmth of his hand. Its strength carried her for the briefest of moments.
“I’m Aria,” she said.
Omkar loved the ladylike intonation of her name. For whatever reason, it reminded him of a bird’s wing. He realized he wouldn’t be able to avoid her questions, so he decided to confess. “You must be wondering what is this, what am I doing or whatever. But I just want to express this …
“Ever since I saw you, I couldn’t get you out of my mind. Don’t take me wrong. I never meant to chase you or stalk you or whatever. I’m not a creep or something. I’m not the guy who is going to do anything bad or wrong. I just think I must be in love with you or something. And I was curious about you. When I found out where you live, I just wanted to show you I love you. That’s why I left you those things, I swear.”
Having conceded so much, Omkar stood over her, waiting for her response. Part of him was relieved to no longer have to hold the pressure of keeping the feelings he had for her secret.
Aria couldn’t believe her ears. Despite suspecting that he might have feelings for her, she had expected him to tell some story about leaving the things because he felt sorry for her. She stood there as if she had been put on pause. Discomfort etched a half-smile across her lips. She didn’t know what to say.
Again, Omkar took charge of the ungainliness of their conversation. “Look, will you go on a date with me? I swear I’m not the guy who is going to do anything bad.”
“OK, yeah. I guess I’d like that,” Aria said. She had spoken without thinking, as if some unknown part within her had answered on her behalf.
Excitement coursed through his veins. “OK, well, can you go out tomorrow?”
Aria smiled at his urgency. “Yeah,” she said.
“Do you want to meet here or should I come pick you up?” Omkar asked, careful to maintain a respectful distance.
“Ah … I can meet you here. What time do you want me to be here?” she asked.
“How about five o’clock? Is that too early or …?” Omkar said, ready to adjust himself to any time she specified.
“Nah, five is good,” Aria said.
Omkar and Aria stood there on the pavement of the street, neither of them wanting to be the one to rupture their proximity. Eventually, Aria gained the strength to step out from beneath the reassurance of his shadow. “OK, I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” she said, shyly moving her body away from him while still looking him in the eye.
“OK, see you tomorrow, then,” he said, standing motionless and watching her start to walk down the street. “OK, five o’clock. Thank you!” he yelled out after her, suddenly feeling the need to remind her of the time they had agreed upon as if she had already forgotten.
Omkar turned and placed his arms and forehead against the cold steel of the top of his car. No longer trying to act collected because of her presence, he let out a sigh of relief.
When he opened the door to the store, carrying his heavy load of textbooks and papers, Neeraj criticized him for not using a backpack to carry his things, and Omkar realized his father hadn’t seen Aria and him talking. He had probably been too busy looking through the spreadsheets, which he insisted on printing out instead of reading on a computer.
Omkar went straight upstairs. Without taking his shoes off, he lay down on his carefully made bed and stared at the ceiling. His heartbeat hammered against the walls of his chest. With his mind, he traced the lines of her. He memorized the music of her voice. He knew the hours between now and five o’clock tomorrow would be
