Hani considers the application for a long moment before quickly slipping it into her bag.
“I’ll think about it,” she says.
After we’ve eaten, and ordered baklava and coffee for dessert, I slide over to Hani’s side again so we can decide which pictures to put on Instagram and with what captions. This is going to be our declaration to the school: Hani and Ishu are a couple. So it has to be good.
We actually do sort of look like a couple in the photos. We both look happy, and we’re sitting close enough to be a couple, but …
“We need to be more obvious,” Hani says, as she clicks through the pictures. “We just look like good friends.”
“Well, that’s a step above enemies, at least,” I mumble.
Hani turns to me with a smile. “You think we’re enemies?”
“No …” I trail off, avoiding her gaze. “I just mean … we’re not exactly friends, so—”
“So we must be enemies?” She actually looks more amused than annoyed. Like she’s taking the piss out of me.
I give her shoulder a bump so she leans to the edge of our seat. “Shut up. Can we just take a picture?”
“I don’t know. Can you look like you aren’t my enemy?” she asks, positioning her camera up again.
“Shut up, Hani.” I roll my eyes, but I can’t help the smile that slips on. Hani huddles so close to me that I can hear her breathing, and strands of her long, black hair brush against my face.
“Hani.” I push some of the hair out of my face, trying not to choke on the strands.
“Sorry.” She brushes it back to one side, away from me, sending a whiff of her shampoo my way. I try to ignore the strong coconut smell. So Bengali.
She looks back at me and bites her lip.
“What?”
“Can I, um, hold your hand?” she says. “For the picture,” she rushes to add. Like I would have imagined it was for any other reason.
I reach up my hand and link our fingers together. “There.”
She shoots me a smile and takes the picture, ensuring our linked hands are front and center.
“Much better!” She taps filters onto the picture. “Okay … caption time.” She looks up at me expectantly, like captions are my specialty or something.
“Uh … with bae?”
She tilts her head to the side, taking me in like this is the first time she’s seen me. “Are you sure you’re seventeen?”
“I’m not,” I say. “I don’t turn seventeen until August, actually.”
“How are you younger than me, and think using the word ‘bae’ is still appropriate?” She shakes her head and taps her phone a few more times. Then, she edges closer to me on the seat—almost uncomfortably close—and shows me the picture. “See?”
We do look like a couple in this picture. Hani has even added a couple of hearts all around the photo just to be safe. It’s cheesy, but it gets the message across. The caption just has lyrics from a song I don’t know but that sound corny enough to work, and multiple kissy faces.
“Are you sure people will know?” I ask. “I mean—”
“They’ll know,” Hani assures me. “Trust me.”
I know that I had already told Hani we would be paying for our own meals, but all things considered it seems a little unfair to make her pay when she’s the one handling all the Instagram stuff. I mean, it’s not like I could considering I have three followers, and one of them is Hani.
When we get the bill, I’m quick to hand over my debit card. Hani settles me with a glare, though I can tell that it’s harmless. It has more humor in it than anything else.
It’s raining outside by the time we leave the restaurant and, though it’s still supposed to be daylight, the awful weather has led to the sky appearing gloomy and dark.
“Maybe … we should get more coffee?” I suggest, looking at the pouring rain from the little porch outside the restaurant.
“This doesn’t look like rain that’s going to stop anytime soon.” Hani sighs, slipping an umbrella out from her bag. It’s so flimsy-looking that I’d be surprised if she even manages to get it open.
I’m about to tell her as much, when a bigger, sturdier umbrella appears overhead, as if ordained by God.
And when I turn around, I find myself face-to-face with my sister.
chapter thirteen
hani
“NIK?” THE SURPRISE IN ISHU’S VOICE MAKES ME LOOK behind me. She’s staring at a couple—a girl who looks strikingly similar to Ishu, and a boy who is a few shades darker than all of us and is looking a little out of place. His eyes flicker from Ishu to the girl beside him, like he’s not really sure what’s going on.