Vows of Misfortune

33.

"Hmm," said Romir, after chewing as if he was contemplating what to say.

"That's it?" I grabbed a fork and took a bite from my own plate before grimacing. I swallowed. "The spaghetti's hard."

"You undercooked it."

And to think this was a way to cheer myself up. I only succeeded in making myself feel like shit.

I bet Claudia knows how to cook.

I took a big bite, trying to focus on the food filling in both my cheeks as chipmunks did with their nuts, so I wouldn't focus on the tears that wanted to come out.

"It's not bad," said Romir. "It's not unedible." His fork was still in his hand but it had stopped moving; he was peering at me.

"I didn't say anything," I said, my voice muffled as I spoke around the food in my mouth.

"You didn't have to." A few seconds later, he grabbed his phone and casually lifted it into the air. "FaceTime?"

"Huh?"

"Back home."

Why was he telling me this? I swallowed my food and shrugged. "Cool."

"...He'd probably want to see you as well."

He wanted me to join? "If it's okay with you."

"I wouldn't have mentioned it otherwise."

We waited for the call to go through and while waiting, I took another sad bite of the spaghetti. Maybe I should have just baked instead. At least with the cake mix, there was no way I could mess that up.

"Romir! I thought you forgot about me as soon as you left." Jose uncle's voice perked me up. I rushed over to the other side, forgetting about my plate, and snatched the phone from Romir's hand.

"Seems like you forgot about me too," I said, smiling and waving to the camera.

"Arshia!" Jose uncle beamed, his face in full screen with half of Tamara aunty's face in view. "Are you not eating over there? It looks like you've lost a lot of weight."

"If you saw what we were eating, you wouldn't be saying that."

"She made spaghetti," added Romir and I shifted the camera so that it included him and the plate in front of him. He gestured to it with the fork. "You're glad you're not here."

"Hey!" I protested, but I was laughing. Talking to Jose uncle made me feel like I was in India again. Somehow, despite not even doing much there, that place found a way into my heart. "Weren't you the one that said it was edible?" I turned to the phone, seeing the way Jose uncle's eyes lit up. "Don't listen to him, he said it was edible."

"At least no one's dying," agreed Jose uncle.

"And to think I missed you," I teased. "How is he, Tamara aunty? Causing you any problems?"

"Not as much as I'd like him to."

I scrunched my face up as a pang hit me in full force. They were cute but I guess I just wished I had something like that for myself. Feeling something on the side of my head I turned on instinct. In my excitement of talking to Jose uncle again, I had moved closer to Romir, our shoulders pretty much touching.

And even worse? His bright eyes were oddly dark as they caught mine.

I jerked away as if I had gotten burnt. "Sorry," I mouthed.

The rest of the phone call was a blur, my mind fuzzy.

***

On the weekend my parents invited Romir and I to their house for dinner. Well, to go out to dinner together.