Endless Road (Wattys 2015)

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

19th June, 2010

      When I woke up, I was disgruntled and groggy. My eyes felt swollen; there was a dull, throbbing ache pounding on my skull. I pushed myself up, squinting even in the dim light of the overcast morning, and checked the time. It was ten am. Holy shit, I thought, jumping out of bed, which only resulted in the throbbing to get worse. I'd overslept. I was generally an early riser, and religious about my morning walk. Seemed like I'd skipped it today. Then my eyes fell on my phone, and I remembered last night.

       Dropping Ajay at his place... taking off his shoes, leaving him Advil and a glass of water. I grabbed my phone, unlocking it impatiently, and stared at the screen. There were no new messages, no missed calls. I frowned.

      Had he woken up? Had he seen my message yet? I'd sent him one as soon as I'd gotten home last night. After leaving him at his place, I hadn't slept for another two hours.

      Yawning, I kept my phone down and decided to check it later. Ajay was probably still sleeping. After last night, I doubted  he would be in the state to do anything else.

      My footsteps were heavy as I trudged downstairs to the kitchen. I could hear mom humming to herself, probably finishing yesterday's leftover dishes. When I went in, however, I saw Surya sitting on the island counter, dressed in a formal, pressed shirt and trousers, his hair immaculately combed. I raised my  eyebrows.

       "What's going on?" I demanded, making them turn.

      "Ah, finally she's here," Surya said, pointing at me with his cup. I made a face at him.

      "What are you drinking? And why the hell are you dressed in a shirt?"

      "I'm going for an interview," he said proudly.

      I couldn't act anymore surprised. "What?"

       "Yes," mom chimed in, a faint smile on her lips. "He's interviewing to be a Math tutor at Xavier high school."

       "Oh my god," I said, staring at my brother. "Are you serious?"

      "What do you think?"

       "I don't know what to think," I muttered. "Oh god, I need some coffee."

      "And what's going on with you, sleepyhead?" mom asked, as she turned to look at me. I avoided her gaze, lest she should see the bags under my  eyes.

      "Well, I slept a little late last night, that's all."

       "Uh-huh."

       "Yeah."

       Just to steer the conversation away from me, I began asking my brother about his tutoring job, and we talked about his future plans of being a successful, well known professor. And even though I laughed and talked to them, inside I was still thinking about Ajay, wondering if he was fine. After last night, I wasn't sure he would be. His face kept coming back to my memory; haggard, pale, bleached of all colour.

      After I'd finished breakfast and announced that I was going to take a shower, I went up to my room and checked my phone once again.

      No message from Ajay. I sat down on my bed, dialing his number, and waited for him to answer.

      He didn't.

      I tried to call him after lunch time, but he didn't answer then, either. Worried and really pissed, I typed him a message.