Forgetting Billions | ✓

07 | Forgetting Blame

AFTER A boring day, at last, Jasmine made her way up the steps to her house, smiling to herself. There were no notes, threats, or boy drama and even with Selena's absence, Jasmine felt at ease for the first time in years.

When she finally arrived at her house, expecting to be alone, she opened the door to see her entire family sitting in the living room. Her parents were frowning and Bianca sat across from them, speaking in a hushed whisper.

Jasmine's heart jumped out of her chest as if it had concluded that Bianca told her parents about Shayan. She knew her aunt could never understand what would happen if her parents caught her with a boyfriend, much less a boyfriend with the last name of Khan. No matter how much Jasmine begged, pleaded to say how he was only a friend, nothing would change their minds.

They would make sure she'd never see him again.

An auto-tuned pop anthem floated out from upstairs and Bianca offered her a small smile. "I hope you don't mind, but Karina and Aditya are playing with the Wii up in your room."

"It's fine," she muttered and took a seat next to her aunt, facing her parents from across the living room. "What's going on?"

Her mom spoke and Jasmine silently thanked whatever guiding force was currently acting in her life. If her dad had opened his mouth, she'd wither into the ground. "We heard you got detention. And then we heard you skipped it."

Jasmine tried her hardest not to let out a breath of relief. She averted her gaze to the marble flooring. "Who told you?"

"Are you forgetting that your aunt is the Vice Principal?" her dad replied with an easy snark, crossing his arms over his chest as if to put up yet another wall between him and his daughter.

Jasmine looked at her parents, feeling a flurry of irritation rise within her. "It was just one mistake. When have I ever done wrong otherwise?" she reminded them, straightening her spine as if the action itself would bolster her fleeting courage.

Her dad glowered at her, "Watch your tone, Jasmine," Varun seemed to have lost his resolve for a fight when he continued to speak, this time accompanied by an exasperated sigh, "This isn't about your previously spotless track record. We just want our child to lay low when they have so much on the line."

Her mom, the epitome of calm, gently placed a hand on her husband's shoulder as she often did. "All we mean, beta, is that now is not the time to be messing up. Harvard still hasn't sent out their admissions verdict and we wouldn't want you to ruin your chances over a silly detention."

Bianca, who had previously been nothing more than a silent spectator, glanced at her knowingly. "I don't care about what some snotty school thinks of you, Jasmine. All I want to know is who was with you."

"What?" Jasmine asked, her voice shaking.

"Who was with you?" Bianca repeated, her lips drawn into a thin line.

"No one. I skipped on my own. I didn't like the teacher I had detention with," Jasmine lied through her teeth. "Is that all?"

They nodded and she got up, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. Her parents watched her wearily and Bianca just shook her head, as if she was disappointed that her niece would lie straight to her face.

Ever the optimist, Jasmine decided to ignore them all in favor of celebrating her most recent personal victory. She finally stood up to her parents, after years of silence and tears. She was finally getting stronger and she wouldn't let Bianca, or anyone else, ruin that for her.

She climbed up the stairs to her room, where her twelve-year-old twin cousins played Just Dance on her Wii. She smiled at the sight, despite what had occured with her family just moments earlier. "Having fun, guys?"