Come What May

15. barrier

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

BARRIER

—

• tuesday, april 6th •

"Shut up, oh my fuck," Radhika wheezes out, shoving me in my shoulder and nearly shoving me off the bed in the process. "You're so fucking annoying!"

"What?" I ask, feigning a tone of innocence and giving her a devious smile as I rack my brain for more lewd statements to make. "You said that the guy you're talking to is being mean to you even though he said he likes you! All I'm saying is... He has a boner to pick with you."

Radhika just huffs, visibly trying to hold back her laughs, if the shining tears in her eyes and the small giggles that keep escaping her mouth are anything to go by.

"I strongly dislike you," she asserts, taking a swig of her water and shaking her head. "Very strongly dislike you."

Grinning, I shrug. "I mean... Every relationship has its ups and downs. Turns out, so do—"

"Asif!" she shrieks, actually shoving me off the bed this time, instantly clamping a hand over her mouth so that she doesn't spew water all over the bed. "God, I despise you. So much."

Of course, I know that she isn't serious, so I just give her a toothy grin and pull myself up onto the bed again. "I get it, I get it! My jokes can be a little... hard to digest sometimes. Hard to swallow, even. They can be—"

Clamping her hands over her ears, Radhika just squeezes her eyes shut and begins to sing as loud as possible, the words to some Tamil song that she's always liked getting drowned out by my laughs that won't stop coming.

It's hard to believe that it's only been three days since I was at one of my lowest points— physically, sure, but emotionally, too.

Three days since I was forced into taking those pictures, three days since I heard Storm threaten the photographer with words like, "Hey, so, I was wondering... How d'you think the agency would react to you sleeping with your cousin? And the other cousin, too?"

Frankly, I still have no idea how they even had that information, but I didn't want to ask them then, and I definitely don't want to ask them now, so I just let it slide and let them and Rafael take me out to dinner because as Rafael had said, I looked "like pure fucking shit".

It's scary to know that my mood has taken a complete turn since then, but at the same time, it's appreciated, because that day, and the day that followed it were some of the worst days of my life, with the constant sensation of ants crawling all over my body and snakes slithering their way into my pores.

"Are you done?" Radhika asks, taking one hand off her ears and cracking a single eye open. "Done with your repulsive jokes?"

"Maybe," I muse, but when she clamps the hand over her ears again, I laugh and nod, flopping into bed so that I'm facing the ceiling. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry! I won't make those jokes."

Radhika frowns, looking down at me on the bed. "Promise?"

"Mhm."

Smiling, she moves her hands away from her ears and lays down next to me, brown eyes glimmering as she says, "You should take all your dick jokes to the bedroom. At least there, someone will appreciate them."

In an instant, my fingers curl into fists, shoulders tensing up involuntarily.

She doesn't know. She could know if I just tell her right now, but she doesn't know.