Midnight Ocean 》P. Lahote

c. 4

 'What's it like to be in love?' Sumati blurted out later that night at dinner. She watched her parents straighten their posture immediately, giving each other a side glance as her father put down his fork.

'Uh-uh-uh...' Her father began, stuttering his words. Her mother wrapped her hand around her father's, Sumati staring at their hands intertwined on the table as her mother spoke.

'What your father means to ask is where this question is coming from.' Her mother spoke, as Sumati stared at their hands. 'Have you met someone?' Sumati broke eye contact, looking from her mother to father, back to their hands, then back at her mother.

'What? No, no! I just-' She frowned, as she nervously began shaking her left leg underneath the table. 'There's a girl at school, she transferred just a few months ago to Forks. She was in a relationship with a boy named Edward for a short time before he left- right before we moved actually. And-- oh mummi! Poppa! She looks so empty, sits alone and just stares outside the window!' Sumati cried out, her parents frowning at her sudden change of tone. 'Only for a few months! Less! And now she doesn't even speak to any of her friends!'

'Oh mon cher.' Her father gave her a soft smile, reaching over to squeeze her hand.

'I just don't understand Poppa- why does she act like she lost the love of her life?' Her father frowned, before giving her hand another squeeze.

'Mon cher, you don't know, she just might have.' Sumati bit the inside of her cheek, surprised at her father's explanation. 'From what you tell us, she seemed to have deeply cared for Edward.'

'And now he's gone, leaving her heartbroken.'

'Oh, Suma.' Her mother frowned. 'Pareshaan mat karo Suma, this is teenage love. Your friend will be okay soon enough, with enough time and space.' Her father watched Sumati nod, a frown wedged on her face, indicating just how worried his daughter was for the girl.

'Maybe you can speak to her.' Her father offered, Sumati's posture suddenly straightening. 'Do you have any classes with her?'

'Economics.'

'You can ask her a question regarding something the teacher might've taught or ask something simple that may get her to open up to you.' Sumati nodded, secretly taking notes of her father's advice.

'Haan haan! Merci poppa!' Her father smiled, before giving his daughter one last advice before she left for her daily drive.

'Don't scare the girl-- you need to be careful. She needs her space too.'

As per routine, Sumati found herself sitting at the edge of the ocean at exactly 10:15 P.M., her parents' sound advice replaying over and over in her head. The fact that her mother had even thought her only daughter and child had met someone left Sumati blushing, reminding her of the strange boy from the previous night. She wondered whether he would show up and feared he'd once more run away from her.

She didn't want him to run away, for some strange reason.

She wanted to sit with him right here and talk, in front of the samudr.

Staring out at the ocean, Sumati found herself dreaming of a world where her grandfather would be sitting to her left, his deep laugh being heard for miles on this beach as he listened to her name the stars one by one, mispronouncing 'Aldebaran' and 'Albireo' and for always forgetting 'Castor' the star. She smiled staring out to sea, remembering her grandfather's laugh.

'Oh, mere priy- aap kaise bhool sakate hain? Aldebaran is a giant orange star, Albireo is the double star, and Castor is one of the brightest stars in the night sky!' She would giggle every time before going down the list once more of all the stars in the galaxy, remembering to correctly pronounce 'Aldebaran' and 'Albireo' and to include Castor, the brightest star in the night sky.

'What's so funny?' Sumati whipped her head to the right, eyes widening at the sight of the brown-eyed boy from yesterday. He wore a blank tank top, paired with grey cargo shorts and slides. He had his hands in his pockets, his eyes burning into Sumati's as a rose color slowly appeared on both their cheeks. Sumati looked out at the sea, spotting some of the stars her grandfather had told her about.

'My grandfather and his astrology lessons. He had a knack for teaching me the most outrageous facts.' She smiled, a small smile appearing on the boy's face as well.

'Had?' Her smile softened as she nodded.

'He passed away.'

'I'm sorry.' Sumati smiled as she looked the brown eye boy in the eyes.

'Please don't be. He's in Heaven now telling everyone that the reason bananas are curved is because they grow towards the sun.' At this, the boy laughed, a smile dancing on Sumati's lips.

'Do you mind if I join you?' He nodded towards the empty space to Sumati, she blushing before nodding. The boy sat down next to her, leaving just enough space between the two that Sumati could feel the heat radiating off his body. He looked down at her, before raising his hand in between them. 'Paul Lahote, the idiot that ran away from you last night.' She smiled, before taking a hold of his hand. The sudden touch sent a shock to the two, who looked from their hands to the person in front, back to their hands before pulling away.

'Sumati.' She greeted, as he blushed softly. Sumati's heart fluttered at the sight of Paul's blush, reminding her of the roses that grew in her grandfather's garden.

'Sumati.' He tested out, she nodding as he grinned. 'I really am sorry for running off on you. I really hope I didn't freak you out.'

'It's okay. I understand, things happen.' She didn't want to mention to Paul that she had stayed up until the wee hours of the morning trying to understand why he had run off, trying to see how she could've prevented him from running away.

Each situation she came up with still didn't explain why he'd run off in the first place.

'Do you know you're on Native American land?' She looked at him surprised, before slowly nodded.

'Quileute, right?' He smiled, nodding.

'Right. How'd you know?'

'Poppa is a Historian, it's his job to know this. And as his only child, it's my duty to listen to him for hours on end telling me all about the history of the town next over.' They both laughed, Sumati looking out to the sea.

'Last night, you were talking in a different language. What language was that?'

'French.' Paul had risen his eyebrow, surprised at the language she spoke. Sumati smiled, expecting such a response. 'My father is French, my mother is Indian. I can speak both Hindi and French as well as English.'

'Nice.' She blushed, shrugging.

'I was born in France and lived there until I was eight before moving to Massachusetts.'

'When did you move to Forks?'

'A few weeks ago actually. My mom got an awesome job at the hospital and dad managed to get a really good job as a History professor at the community college at La Push Community College.' She frowned, blushing. 'I'm sorry, I feel like I'm talking too much.' She looked at Paul, who had his back pressed against the sand, his eyes closed as he pressed his hands behind his head.

'I like hearing you talk. It's calming.' She blushed, as he continued. 'You have an accent, it's very hard to notice unless you're really listening.'

'And, you're paying close attention.' She watched a grin form on his face as he opened his eyes, brown eyes meeting.

'Always.'

-

[ pareshaan mat karo - don't fret

haan haan, merci - yes yes, thank you

samudr - sea

oh, mere priy- aap kaise bhool sakate hain?-  oh my dear, how can you forget? ]

thank you for stopping by - i hope you have a nice day xo