Stag Tales Moon Talk

Broken Glass: part 9

These Sweet Dreams

"So, Shubhadra is the talk of the whole college."

"Really?"

"Oh, after Krish fought Surya, it's all anybody could be talking about. I heard he spent the night in jail."

"Krish?"

"No, Surya. Apparently her uncle got him thrown there."

"Ugh. Why her, man? She's not even that pretty!"

"She's not even fun to be with!"

"And Krish is a babe. I mean, fuck, I'd be doing the world a favour by killing Shubhadra right now."

"And Surya, too? Dude, that's voodoo."

"Forget voodoo. I heard Krish proposed to her."

"He did? When?"

"Surya was seen dragging the guy off."

"Which one do you think she's slept with?"

Scoff. Brush. "Please. She's slept with them all!"

"Really? She seems to be so..."

"Virginal? Yeah. I know their type." Pause. "They're the sluts. Sluttiest of the lot."

"Come on. That's a bit much."

"That she whores around for attention is a bit much? I just call it like I see it." Pause. "I mean, look at her over there laughing, flirting with Krish like it doesn't mean a thing."

Long pause. "I guess I see what you mean."

"There's only one reason a guy would even want to be with a girl like her, and that's if she's doing it with him. That, or he's gay."

Laugh. "Krish is definitely not gay."

"Can't say about Surya, but he's got a load of girls waiting for him to jump off the Shubhadra train."

"You're looking at one of them."

Her

He didn't sit next to me at the canteen to begin with, but somehow between doing homework and listening to S.P.B, I lost track of how he ended up there.

"So, we friends?"

I blink. "Huh?"

"Friends," he repeated. "Things that you bum cookies from."

"Bum?"

"Share. Like a cigarette."

I nodded. "Sure," I shrug, trying to make it look nonchalant, not confessing some very important facts here, wondering when friends became things. "We're friends."

He looked behind me, his eyes searching. "No goons to beat me up?"

I laugh. "Do you want to get beat up?"

"Hey, I know Taekwondo. It would be impossible to beat me up."

My insides fill with interest. "Really?"

He laughs. "Well, if Taekwondo were a real person, and he could do Taekwondo, then sure, really."

I laugh, unable to contain the laugh, unable to help myself, not even with the world watching. "How are you so funny?"

"Girls have called me a lot of things: cute, amazing... sexy, even." His eyebrows wiggle, dark eyes steady on my own. "Never funny."

"I guess," I spurt between laughs. "I guess I can understand that."

"Nah, don't." He waves a hand. "Those things are impersonal. That's every guy in college, potentially. Including your precious Surya. Speaking of which,"

"Don't." My eyes turn hard. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Why not? It's quite the scandal."

"It's what gets good guys thrown in jail. From the beginning I warned him to keep his distance. One day, out of nowhere, I hear he told a bunch of seniors that we're dating. I told him not to make up stories about us. Essentially, there was never an us to talk about!" I pause, my breath racing. "I told Surya and now I'm telling you," I lean away, my eyes steady on the gravel beneath the table. "I don't have time for a love story."

Krish says nothing for a good ten seconds. Well, it feels like ten seconds, anyway, who knows how long it was? Tick, a thought passes, but I don't register it. Nothing registers until he speaks. "Good thing I don't have the time to tell one, then."