“There was also the other thing from when they were 14. That’s another story.”

“Another crush?” said Aarush, eagerly.

“Yes!” said Karthik. “This is what Rani told had happened.”

*******

Rani Shivaram stood outside the computer lab. She was fidgety, and her heart was racing. A short, fair-skinned boy was standing next to her.

“I’m so nervous,” said Rani. “Ali, this is insane! George said this was a bad idea… ”

Ali rolled his eyes.

“Look, as your love-butler I’m telling you this will work, trust me. And come on, if you could catch Cresselia with a Great Ball within five minutes then this should be a piece of cake.”

Rani took a deep breath.

“You good?” asked Ali. Rani nodded.

“Alright, I’m gonna go watch the game. Go get ‘em, queen.”

Ali patted her shoulder, then headed off. Rani took another deep breath, and started walking towards the amphitheater. The final of the inter-school football tournament was happening out in the sports field right now, so most of the school was deserted. That’s why she’d arranged this meeting for now: no disturbances, no dumb rumors.

Rani turned a corner and saw her standing there.

Mariam.

Just like she’d planned.

Rani walked up to her and slowly waved her hand, making an awkward sort of smile. Mariam took one look at her, and her eyes went wide with shock.

“You… ?”

Rani turned her head down. She couldn’t bring herself to look at her, she’s so cute…

“That was you?” asked Mariam. Rani nodded, a bit sheepishly.

“You stole my French notebook,” said Mariam, raising an eyebrow. “Then returned it with a note inside. After that you contacted me with a fake Facebook account and asked me to meet you here. All of that... was you??”

“Y-yeah,” said Rani. “Sorry.”

Mariam crossed her arms.

“Are you a lesbian or something?”

Rani started fidgeting with one of the pleats of her skirt.

“Oh, no, I-I don’t think so, I um… I-I like, er, liked boys too…”

“Well, you’re pretty but this is never gonna happen,” said Mariam. “I’m, uh, straight or whatever.”

“I-I know. But–”

Rani’s heart was pounding.

“But I just wanted you to know that I liked you.”

“Oh.”

Mariam smiled.

“Thank you for telling me, Rani.”

Rani watched as Mariam walked off, disappointed but definitely feeling lighter.


Meanwhile at the sports field, the football final had just entered half-time. The home team were winning 1-0, and spirits were high.

Ravi, one of the strikers, jogged over to the sidelines with his other teammates. A tall, thin but muscular boy who played defense slapped him on the back.

“Hey Ravi, nice goal!”

Ravi didn’t think it was that impressive, but it was nice to be appreciated.

“Um, thanks man.”

He looked at the defender again. His name was Vijay, Ravi recalled. He was a couple years older. Ravi watched as Vijay poured water over his head. He noticed the water drops glistening over his skin, trickling down his thin, muscular arms…

Wait, no, snap out of it! What would Mom think if she knew he was staring at a boy like that?

Ravi shook his head. No, he thought. He knew better than to develop “feelings” or whatever for other classmates, teammates, etc. Especially if they were boys. He didn't want to get yelled at like Rani did.

The referee blew his whistle, signalling the end of half-time. Ravi ran back into the pitch with his other teammates.

Focus on the game, he thought. Vijay and his arms aren’t important.

*******

Aarush just sat there, stunned.

“... what?”

“Yes,” said Karthik. “Your Dad is also bisexual. Same as Rani.”

“But– he never told—”

“There’s a lot of things he never said,” said Arun. “Some of that is my fault, yes, but mostly I blame your grandmother.”

Aarush’s face fell.

“No wonder he’s always angry.”

Karthik and Arun glanced at each other.

“And Avva never found out about this one?” asked Aarush.

“No,” said Arun. “I mean, this is the first time I'm hearing this story itself, so I doubt your grandmother knew about any of this.”

“Correct Arun Uncle,” said Karthik. “After that love-note incident Rani was much more careful with these things. She made sure Sandhya-pinni didn’t come to know about any of the others.”