2|| Whispers in the Wind

5|| that one time you got possessed

Kalyani

Kalyani stood very still, awaiting her parents and steeling herself for one of the many tirades she'd heard before. Only, this time it would be her and not her sister on the receiving end. That one thought still circled her mind: What have I done?

What had she done? What was it that urged her? Protecting your siblings is always the right thing to do, but violence is the very last option. For anything. At least in Kalyani's book. So, she stood in front of the new office, waiting, waiting.

The door handle twisted, revealing the raven-black hair and slightly gray eyes belonging to her mother. Her grandfather on her mom's side was actually of non-Asian origin, and mom ended up with the best features from both grandma and grandpa. There were many times Kalyani had wished she'd looked something even close to how elegant her mother always looked.

Now was not one of those times.

Because damn, moms could look scary as fuck.

"Come on in," she said in a tone of forced jolliness, which, to be honest, was way more disconcerting that if she had yelled.

To the far corner of the office, Kalyani's dad clicked away, blissfully unaware of anything. Or so it seemed. Mrs. Chopra crossed her arms. "Care to explain?"

"I-"

"Care to explain why I've heard that you ended up seriously injuring a student. And on purpose? I thought you knew better than that. We've raised you to make your own decisions, but also to know what's right and wrong. I had complete faith in you to be a role model to your sister, but now it's just encouraging her behavior. What you did was reckless and irresponsible, and things will be much worse if it ever happens again. Let me be honest, I'm not impressed. Go ahead. Lets hear your excuse."

It was surprising that Kalyani's mom hadn't started screaming yet and only raised her voice once.

But, Kalyani would explain what she had done. "Well, she's a girl called Arlo Daye. She was being totally horrible to Aria and kept insulting her, but not in that stupid spoiled brat way that the other kids do- she was saying things that are bound to hit hard, such as comparing her to her twin, which would definitely be terrible for her since we all know which one of the two of us is your favorite! It wasn't- and isn't- fair to her. She's a lot more than a shadow. So, I ended up slightly messing up my aim for my serve and the ball hit Arlo in the eye. I'm sorry."

But she wasn't sorry. Not at all.

Mrs. Chopra raised an eyebrow. "I don't appreciate the last raise of voice right there Kalyani. And I don't have favorites. Don't bother replying to that- don't want to end up saying something I'll regret later."

During this exchange, Kalyani's dad had crept up behind them. "What's that I hear?"

Kalyani opened her mouth, only to hear her mother reply for her. "Kalyani hit a girl in the eye with a tennis ball because she showed signs of aggression to Aria. Before you-"

Her dad looked up eagerly. "Did she? That's my girl- I mean- that was truly wrong. Riya, leave her punishment to me, don't worry about that. Go back to your work."

Mom narrowed her eyes for a moment, then seemed to think better of it and nodded. "Okay. Thank you."

Once she was out of earshot, Kalyani found herself being led out by her dad into the hall, where he whispered, "You know, I don't happen to think what you did was wrong. More details?"

Kalyani grinned. This was slightly expected- yet unexpected at the same time. "Well, I happened to hit the tennis ball in Arlo Daye's eye because my serve aim missed. You know? It was an accident..." her grin faded, "but I also felt like it wasn't me doing it. Like there was someone else changing my mind. If it were up to me, I would have beaten Arlo fairly. I think I know I'm better at the sport than her."