Don't Get Me Wrong (Middle of Revamping)

Chapter 29: Follow My Lead

One month later...

"Okay, guys. Did all of you put your bags in the overhead compartments?" Manish uncle stands up in the aisle and asks us that question, and we all give him a thumbs up with giant smiles plastered on our faces.

"Good job, guys. We're getting more responsible by day," he jokes before we all go back to our own thing.

"Can you believe we're going back to Orlando for the second time since last year?" Deepa gets out of her seat to talk to Neil and he looks so excited right now.

"I know! And it's for an entire week," he bubbles and we start cheering to ourselves as we put on our seatbelts.

It's only been a day since school went out for Spring Break, but all of us are already in vacation mood! Why? Because Neil, Deepa, Arjun, Vinnie, and I were all invited to a big fat Indian wedding!

The wedding is for Meera, my older cousin. Unlike Sam and Amulya, she's not from my mom's side of my family. She's my dad's older sister's daughter. I'm super excited about this wedding because I get to be a bridesmaid this time! 

Neil's dad and my dad grew up together, so Manish uncle knows my dad and his three siblings!

Meera and her two siblings grew up in Miami, so it was great to have relatives that didn't have a 10 hour time difference whenever we talked to them. But after high school, she went straight to Columbia for college and law school.

But even then, we're thick as thieves.

Her fiance's name is Adrien, and he's a Christian Indian. So because of that, they're having a traditional Tamil and Christian ceremony. I've met him so many times, and I can confidently say that those two are meant to be together. He's so adorable! But most importantly, no one makes her smile more than he does.

It's also pretty special for another reason: My birthday is on Tuesday! That's right, your girl is turning 17.

I didn't get to have a Sweet 16 last year because I had my arangetram for Bharatanatyam on the same day. An arangetram is like dance graduation, and it's also your debut as a legit performer. So, I spent my birthday with 15 pounds of makeup and jewelry while dancing for 5 hours with burning lights in my face.

Don't worry, though. I still enjoyed it! And now, I have this entire week to make up for it!

"Do you know what we're doing today?" Vinnie asks me as he gets out some water to drink.

"Take your best guess," I smirk at her and he starts thinking of anything that comes at the top of his head.

"Does it involve water?" she guesses and I waver my hands.

"Kinda."

"Ooh, is it something to do with the hotel?" Vinnie enters the conversation and soon enough, everyone is looking at me in excitement.

"Okay, you're pretty close so I'll just tell you guys," I start getting excited myself as I take off my backpack and undo the zipper. After I do that, I quickly take out 3 fast-pass tickets.

"Wait, what is that?" Arjun tries to see what I'm holding in my hands and all of a sudden, Vinnie widens her eyes and covers her mouth.

"You're kidding. No, seriously. You're kidding," she denies and I start giggling as I show the tickets to Vinnie and her brother Vikas, who are sitting in the same aisle as me.

"Are those TICKETS? To ALL 3 PARKS?!" Deepa freaks out as I pull more out.

"Yup! Meera and Adrien gave customary fast-pass tickets to all the wedding guests for all 3 theme parks. And get this: They last for this entire week!" I chirp as I give the rest of the tickets to everyone.