Never Have I Ever Season 3: an alternative theory

Chapter 7: Part 3

Kamala jerks her head up from where she had been locking up her car, hearing her name being called. Her gaze drifts to see Devi pacing toward her quickly, looking slightly flustered, and it catches her a little off guard.
"Devi." Kamala gasps in suprise, her eyes darting up and down, curiously and yet quickly on her. "Shouldnt you be in school?"
Kamala's eyes drifts slower over Devi then, quickly assessing her as she nears. She hadnt expected to see Devi, as she had assumed she would have started her first class of the day already.
Yet she hadn't noticed Devi's tense shoulders or her tight outter appearance, her eyes more glued to what she had been wearing... Kamala hadn't realised Devi had been leaving home dressed like a hot Indian Karadasian. But as her gaze lifts up and Devi is just about practically standing infront of her, Kamala realises there is so much more whirling on in her eyes... the whites of her eyes slightly reddened as though she had or could be about to cry. "Devi, are you ok?"
"I need you to take me home, Kamala."
"W-why? What happened?"
"Alot Kamala!" Devi suddenly snaps, and Kamala flinches a little with suprise. "Alot!"
Kamala can only return a hard stare, hoping Devi would get the point that she hadn't needed to snap. Devi gazes back at her, ducks her head, giving her an apologetic look.
"S-sorry." She replies, her eyes slightly flickering away.
But Kamala watches her... Devi's face contorted, masked with a mix of differing emotions, mainly hurt it seemed, and Devi's face seemed to fluster even more.
Kamala could tell she needed this... and changing her plans would become, now, a must.
She stifles a groan, her eyes drifting to the cafe and then back. She hangs her head for a few seconds, thinking, then lifts it up to Devi again.
"Ok." She concedes. "You are supposed to be in school... and I was supposed to meet up with someone this morning... but I can cancel, and make this an exception. I think whatever your going through seems far more important and so I can reschedule."
A little heartfelt smile of appreciation tugs to Devi's face as she watches her cousin take out her keys again.
"Geez, Kamala, I didn't know you had a social life." Devi softly tries to quip, playfully having a go at her cousin, knowing exactly how to always get under her cousin's skin. But Kamala can sense the heaviness that laced behind Devi's smile and lies behind the witty remark.
Devi may have been under a lot of strain but seeing her cousin's face brought her some sort of comfort, and some sort of sense of normality, and so her lips do the best to twist into a little teasing smile.
Kamala inhales deeply, composing herself... Devi really had always known how to get her heart racing- in a bad kind of way- she doesnt like to admit, but it were something basically true.
"Get in Devi." She groans, opening the door for her.
As Devi hops in, Kamala can sense as she tenses up again, hands fidgeting, rubbing them against each other infront of her, in her lap, pensively. Kamala's eyes flitter away as she thinks, wondering if there were a way she could get Devi to start talking... somewhere they could go she would feel comfort to let everything out, and not feel like she had to hold anything back.
"Hey... what do you think... did you want to try that new gelato shop up the road? I heard they make a good salted caramel gelato."
Devi's gaze is brought back to her with a small smile. Her shoulders shrug lightly.
"Yeah. I guess so." She hums, with not a speck of enthusiasm but she tries to look grateful either way, then looks back out the window. "As long as its far from school, I dont want anyone dragging me back there again today."
Kamala glimpses at her with a small worried smile.
"Is everything ok at school?"
Devi moans.
"When have I ever had some kind of normal day at school, Kamala?" She drawls, quoting her finger on 'normal'. "Is anyone giving me a hard time... I'd say yes... Just about everyone." she grumbles quietly, slouching back and further down her seat.
Kamala doesn't say anything, just waits for her to continue...
"My friends aren't talking to me, the cool kids think Im not cool... like them, and... and," she wraps her arms around herself angrily. "And boys are such jerks." her face crease with hurt and pain.
"Are we talking about Paxton here..." she lingers at the question, drawing it out to hint for an elaboration to her response.
"Y-yeah." Devi replies with saddened eyes. Her eyes cast down to her hands as she plays with them as she thinks. "I mean... not just Paxton."
Kamala inhails a deep breath as she begins to park the car right outside the front of the gelato shop she had mentioned, working herself up to gain more responses from Devi, knowing how difficult it could some times be to draw more answers from a very emotional Devi. She sits there for a little while, hands loosely on her seat beat, wondering if it's best to sit in her car and talk or, if going into the shop would be better for Devi.
But she knows she needs to drive more momentum to let Devi out of whatever was enclosing her... and maybe the perfect way was to show her how the two of them could somehow relate.
"So... we are going through very similar things, Devi."
Devi's face scrunches up to her remark and pouts as she considers what Kamala had just said and is reminded of how right Kamala may actually be. Then a sudden thought comes to her mind as quick as a flash.
"Hang on... were you meeting up Prashant or Mr. K back there at the cafe?"
Kamala freezes up, gazes back at Devi blankly, before blinking several times to have her question answered. She rolls her eyes at Devi's typical mischevious curiosity.
"If you really must know, Devi... Prashant. But not for reasons you may think! He really insists we must talk things over-"
"Shit! Are you two timing Mr. K?!"
"No!"
"Oh my god... your just like me! Your exactly like me, Kamala!"
Kamala drops back into her seat, sitting there uncomfortably, crossing her arms infront of her... ready but hesitant to refute it... and she thought a little nervous chuckle would help her case... but it doesn't, only making Devi's smirk grow wider and more firmer. Kamala clearly does not agree with her statement, but she felt a little trapped, only wanting Devi to divulge more of her own story.
"Ok..." she gestures for Devi to settle, seeing all the excitement starting to glitter in her eyes with curiousity. "Slow down there, Devi... I'm not two timing anyone. I'm one hundred percent committed to Manish. I am only trying to close things off with Prashant."
Devi gives her a menacing smile.
"At a cafe... like a date?-"
"Devi no!" She grunts, annoyed, loosing control of her ability to keep her cool. She calms herself before continuing. "It was his idea- ok? I see why you would think that but Prashant and I were just going to end things on good terms-" she grunts again, watching Devi watch her back blankly with widened eyes as though she had already made her mind. Kamala takes a huge deep breath again, composing herself again. "Let's go... lets get some ice cream and we can walk and talk more while we roam around the plaza."
They both step out of Kamala's car, Kamala locks her car before they both head in into the brand new Gelato shop.
Within a few minutes they have walked out, gelato's in hand, Devi's already melting, having had to wait on Kamala as she furiously types away on her phone then makes a decision on what flavour she had wanted... Devi guesses her texts had been to Prashant. Devi notices a cringe that comes to her face as she reads the message back. She shakes her head and continues on.
"Prashant was not impressed or something?" Devi questions, licking at her ice cream as they slowly pace through the plaza.
"Urgh. He can sometimes... infuriate me."
She pauses as they slow down and stop at a bench, gently taking a seat.
Devi watches her, hinting for her to go on. Kamala's eyes flicker away, preparing herself to tell Devi what she hasn't really told anyone one else. Her gaze comes back to Devi, meeting them with a vulnerable softness to them... but even then Devi could see the strong fiercesness that held behind them too. Sometimes that fierceness reminded Devi of a tiger... determined and strong and alive.
"Apart from the engagement thing..." Kamala continues. "...there were other things that just didn't sit well... didnt sit right." She looks down at her hands, her gelato idle, but the cold drawing out a comfort... having something to hold onto as she spoke. "I don't know, Devi, it just felt like I wasn't there... like I wasnt listened to... it was always about what everyone else wanted for me... of me."
"Yeah I think I can relate-"
Kamala sharply cuts her off, turning to her, suprising Devi.
"But that's what you dont understand... I wasnt just made out to feel like this little girl that couldnt do things for herself... I was basically becoming a doormat. I have a career, I'm a strong independent woman... but yet I felt nobody else got that... saw that? I needed to subdue myself to become what others must see of me... what seemed expected of me... what everyone else wanted of me... It was constraining... its like being a woman... your automatically assumed to take on a different role... to quieten ourselves and not be seen in the way we ought-to be seen... to let everyone else make all the decisions for us... to be pressured and then not listened to. I was nothing more than someone whose life, I felt, was being highjacked... because apparently my opinion or what I wanted didnt seem to mean as much. Im not someone who needs to be taken care of... and my thoughts and opinion dont mean any less. And what made me the most cross was when I was made to feel I wasnt strong enough to stand up for myself... or be listened to."
"Ok, but when did that ha-"
"Remember when I was working for Dr. Evans... how he had not included my name on those research papers that I had practically made the whole discovery of what the research papers were based on? It took endless hours of work to discover what I had, only to find that my name wasn't going to be included on those research papers. It made me furious! I felt like I had been exploited... like I had been basically been stolen from... basically Prashant made me feel like I should just suck it up and do nothing... Like what Dr. Even's had done was somehow ok? I felt like he minimised my feelings... I didn't feel supported when I told him about my work problems... like my feelings were invalid?... like what happened could be so easily disregarded or replaced and what happened was something I should just get over and leave in the past. Like not including my name on those papers was something easy to dismiss?... that I should do nothing and just keep quiet... not fight for how I felt or how Dr. Evans wronged me..." she takes a moment to heavily breathe out her frustration and grief away, then start again. "I guess I wasn't prepared to be with someone who couldnt see that... to commit to someone who couldn't see how wrong it all were. I was the only woman working there... and somehow I couldn't help but feel targeted."
Devi lowers her head, her brows knitted together.
"Wow. Sorry Kamala."
"Infact, I learnt alot from you Devi. Not to let people make you feel like a doormat... I'm proud I have a little cousin with such feist in her she can manage to keep two boys constantly on their toes." Kamala laughs.
Devi cracks her a grin.
"Yeah I do pretty much have that affect on them dont I-" she starts smuggly, but then feels she can't complete that sentence, because she knows it weren't entirely the truth. She had been much harder on Ben than Paxton... sometimes she felt a little bit like a doormat to Paxton... did every thing he wanted... she lowers her head away and Kamala lets out a faint knowing sigh.
"Ok, come on, your turn... what is happening between you an Paxton?"
"More like what is happening between Ben and I." Devi scoffs. Kamala's eyes widen in suprise.
"Ben?" Kamala questions, licking her gelato.
"Yes." She says, biting down on her molars, attempting to keep her emotions at bay... feeling as they wanted sweep to over her already and way to quickly... to uncontrollably. "He... he kind of kissed me-"
Kamala gapes, clapping a hand to her mouth.
"Three times!" Devi exclaims, putting up and showing her three fingers. "And the worst part..."
"Worst part?" Kamala echoes, hoping Devi werent going to say what she had been thinking... knowing Ben and Devi's history... knowing how she had two timed the boys and here it seems history were maybe repeating itself.
"I kissed him back." She says, barely above a whisper, as she struggles to get the words out, and feeling her heart pound.
"Oh Devi... oh yeah... that's pretty screwed up. You did learn from your first time making this mistake, right?."
Devi purses her lips at her cousin, hoping she would have been more supportive, but here she were and she believes that maybe she did deserved the criticism... she braced to hear more...
"I know. " Devi groans, annoyed, rolling her eyes.
"You obviously have feelings for Ben. It's obvious."
"Kamala... I have feelings for Paxton too." She scoffs.
"Not when your kissing Ben." Kamala states a little critically, and Devi wonders why she had seemed more slightly annoyed then Devi had assumed she would.
"It's complicated Kamala."
"It's not... and you know it Devi. You cant keep stringing two people along... you either stay with Paxton and never kiss Ben again... or you leave Paxton... for Ben... but Paxton doesn't deserve this."
Devi growls, defensively.
"I know that! But I thought you would be a little bit more helpful... supportive or whatever, Kamala-"
"I do understand... your trying to figure this out... but I don't want you to get hurt all over again... you will need to make a wise decision Devi... and quick-"
"I know I know I know." Devi whines, her words quickened. "Plus... I told Paxton today, so he knows."
"And?"
"He... I think he doesn't know if he wants to be with me?"
"Do you want to be with him?"
"I... I don't know... my mind is just so screwed up..." her eyes beginning to well and burn with tears... they well at the rim of her eyes. Her voice breaks, becoming emotionly thick and she feels the knot that tightens at her throat as she tries to get her next words out. "Ben... I don't know if I could handle... if I were to loose him."
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Hey Guys! I hope I did this ok, I will re-read it later and make any corrections later, but please point out if you see any! I hope I did ok, my writing might be a little messy but I will fix it, and hope I did ok with the whole Kamala and Prashant thing but I rewatched the show and just felt maybe Kamala hadnt felt she were ready or pressured to settle with Prashant mainly because she just wasn't ready but also because of what happened with her work? But guys let me know if you think otherwise, Im open to changing things if needed! Anyway, thank you guys all for reading! Always!♡♡♡ xxxx y'all!