Hold My Hand

Chapter-3 (I Need a Boyfriend)

Stella got all the good genes from my mother, though I do pride myself on my hair—thick, dark, rich, and
long. I have never been noticed otherwise, but whenever I decide to cut my hair short, some people, without fail, come up to me and tell me how they liked my long hair better. Other than that, I have a face which gets lost in the crowd. No one would come forward to gather my things if I dropped my bag and spilled my things on a crowded
road. I’ve been given eyes so I can see. Nose so I can breathe. Lips so I can … well, not kiss, for sure. Who
would want to kiss me?
But then, there are a few things that I can thank God for. Like, I don’t have a pimples issue. My teeth are straight. And my breath doesn’t stink. Neither does my body. I’m not like one of those really hairy girls. I do get a wax done on a regular basis, but I am not really a pain for whoever decides to wax me.
I have put on some weight recently, but that is a good thing, as people used to say that I was too thin before. I have never had the propensity to gain weight. It’s a part of God’s plan for me. No matter how much I eat, I never gain enough weight. Just like it’s God’s plan to make me go unnoticed on this planet.
All in all, at five feet five, a decent body type and not-so-good but not-so-bad either facial features, teamed
with lustrous, long hair, I think I look okay. My mother says she can see the world in my big brown eyes. But she
is my mother and she thinks that I’m a princess without a tiara and treats me so. All said, I believe that not every girl has to be good-looking, anyway. I will do fine, I tell myself.
I just hope I don’t embarrass my sister in LA .

As soon as I reach Stella's apartment , I’m greeted by a hurricane of words. At least five different fragrances waft their way into my nose.
Hey, Ana.
It’s so nice to finally see you.
Stella talks about you all the time.
You look … uh, nice …
Stella’s sister? Umm … okay.
You’ve got such nice hair.
I smile at them. The reactions are more positive than negative. I let out a sigh of relief, as I look at the bunch of girls surrounding me. There are seven of them, all looking at me very curiously. Or maybe it is just my active imagination. Stella introduces me to all of them, and I instantly forget who is who. I can hardly tell them apart. Pink pyjamas, floppy slippers, straight hair and long eye-
lashes—they look exactly the same.
I decide to take the trouble of remembering only two of the girls, Rachel and Christna. I’ve heard a lot about them from Stella before, and they seem really nice too. They were the ones who had said—It’s so nice to finally see you. And—Stella talks about you all the time. Unlike the other girls, their eyes look kind behind the eyeliners
and mascaras.

It takes me about half an hour to find an empty cubicle in the washroom. And it isn’t like I’ve been lazy or sleeping too long. I went to bed early last night, while my sister stayed up and watched repeats of ‘How I Met Your Mother’. That’s what everyone seemed to be doing in the hostel. Movies. English sitcoms. A few girls were drinking. I wonder if this is what my college life will be all about too.I woke up early, as Stella had asked me to, gathered my clothes and ran here. Still, I have not been able to find an empty cubicle in an hour. So now, when I see this girl in the green robe come out of a cubicle, I run to it.After the shower, I go back to Stella’s room to find out that she has already left for her class. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do all day. There’s no one around. Not that I mind. I pick up Stella’s laptop and I am almost shocked at her movie collection. It has every movie I have ever seen or heard of. And more. I jam my earphones deep inside my ears and start watching a movie. I wonder where Stella is, and what she is doing. I somehow doubt that she is attending her class.
Suddenly, I find my phone buzzing again. It is getting kind of creepy now, almost telepathic. Every time I
think of Stella, I get a call from her.
‘Hello?’
‘What the hell do you think you are doing? Why can’t you pick up your phone when I call you?’ her shout
greets me.
‘What? I was watching a movie!’ I defend myself.
‘I asked you to meet me outside the campus in fifteen minutes. Where the hell are you?’
‘You did not. When did you?’
‘I left a note on the bed and I texted you too,’ she says. And sure enough, there is a piece of paper—a large,
A4 size sheet—lying in the middle of the bed. God only knows how I could have possibly missed it. You have to
be blind to do so.
‘Oh. Yeah,’ I say.
‘Now do you need me to send you a jet? Come quick. We are all waiting for you.’
‘Okay.’
When I get there, I see that she has company. It is just the kind of a day when I don’t want to meet anyone. But
it’s not like I have a choice. There are three people who flank her, two of those faces I am already familiar with.
Rachel, Christina and a guy. I have never seen the guy before, but the way Stella’s arm is wrapped around his gives me some idea about the kind of relationship they share. I feel a little strange in my stomach because she hasn’t told me about a possible … boyfriend.
‘There she is,’ Stla says, looks my way and smiles weirdly. It looks like she is going to tell me something.
‘Uh, hi,’ I say, looking around, awkward as always.
‘Ana,’ Stella holds my hand and pulls me into the group, ‘this is Daniel. My boyfriend.’
Then she turns to the guy and her eyes twinkle for a bit as she says, ‘Daniel, this is Ana, my sister.’ I no-tice that she is blushing all the while. I have never seen her like this before.
‘Hi, Ana,’ Daniel says, and thrusts his hand out. He smiles at me and there is a lot of warmth in that smile.
‘Hey,’ I say.
‘How are you?’
‘I’m good.’
‘I heard you’re leaving in just three days? You should have stayed here at least for a week. We had so many
plans for you,’ he says and smiles at me disarmingly.
‘Really?’
‘Obviously. We have been waiting to see you. Stella talks about you all time and quite frankly, I feel like I
already know you.’
‘Oh shut up, Daniel,’ Stella says. ‘You don’t have to try so hard to impress my sister. I love you anyway.’
We share a laugh, after which we all fall silent. Everyone looks around at everyone else, but no one says any-
thing. I am not to blame for the silence, though. I just got to know that my sister has a boyfriend. I have never heard any mention of him, so it is justified for me to be shocked. I don’t even know for how long they have been
dating.
‘Daniel—’ I start meekly, but am cut off by a louder voice.
‘We should probably leave now. We are already getting late,’ Rachel says.
‘Shit, yeah,’ Stella says, ‘we should get going.’ She looks at Daniel.
‘Right,’ he says. ‘It was nice to see you, Anna. See you tonight.’
‘Tonight?’ I ask.
‘Sure,’ Stella says and ushers me away.
‘Where are we going tonight?’ I ask her.
‘You’ll see.’