"Hey, Darian," Arya greeted me at the door in a red, daylight dress. She wore makeup and had her hair curled in ringlets.

Her appearance made me grateful I had chosen to force myself into another button-down shirt.

        "What's up?" She stepped aside, and I walked in before she close the door behind me. I promptly removed my shoes and placed it within the line of footwear decorating the entrance.

I took in the large house littered in portraits and plagued with vinyl windows that were covered by elegant curtains of various colors. Everything was in order, from the furniture to the decorations, and the strong scent of spices filled my nostrils.

Ah.

No bland food for this guy tonight.

I stood speechless in the foyer at the front of the swirling stairway that led upstairs. I hadn't been here in years. "Come on." Arya grabbed my arm and led the way.

This was déjà vu.

I just hoped it was going to be better than the dinner with my family.

While we made it to the dining room, Arya didn't bother re-familiarizing me with the place. I didn't expect it, so I did that myself. I was mostly captivated by the portraits hung up on the wall. They mostly consisted of a younger Arya and a younger Aarav with some family pictures scattered her and there. What really caught my attention was a portrait of Arya and her birth mother, Alpita Gupta.

Arya sat grinning on her mother's lap as the original Mrs. Gupta held her tightly with a smile of her own. There was a gleam in Arya's eyes and a relaxation in her features I hadn't seen in years.

Mrs. Gupta was a great woman, and I remembered her being really nice to all of us. She always called us "the crew," and she had the friendliest smile and the warmest voice.

        She died of ovarian cancer when Arya was ten. Arya took her mother's death really hard, despite all of us trying to be there for her. Mr. Gupta remarrying when she was twelve only seemed to make things worse, and that was the beginning of their relationship deteriorating.

My attention shifted to a portrait of Arya in dance attire for this dance class she'd been taking since she was ten. I tapped her shoulder to get her attention, and I pointed to the picture. "You still dance..." I snapped my fingers, attempting to recall the name of the dance.

It was some Indian name.

Gosh, I sounded ignorant.

Arya snickered. "Bharatanatyam?"

"Yeah, that."

"I do," she said. "I still take classes actually. I took classes while I stayed with my auntie, and I take classes now."

"That's cool," I said. "Good for you." 

She started taking Bharatanatyam dance classes after her mother's death, and she'd loved it since. Just like Alissa was a hardcore basketball player, Arya was a hardcore Bharatanatyam dancer.

We approached the wooden doors that separated us from the dining area, and Arya glanced my way. "It's been a while since we've had a gora over for dinner."

"Gora?" Since this was her house, I waited for her to push the doors open. "What does that mean?"

She smiled, but there was a glint in her eye. "It means 'wonderful' person." She pushed the doors apart.

She was bullshitting me. I didn't know what gora meant, but there was no way it stood for "wonderful" person.

Before I could call her out on her shit, a woman squealed, "Darian!" Arya's stepmother, Tejal, pulled me into a crushing hug and planted a stained kiss on my cheek.

Déjà vu indeed, except now, I couldn't wipe the stain off my face without coming across as rude.

When we pulled back, I smiled at her awkwardly.

Tejal was as skinny as ever in a black pencil dress that exposed her arms. Her hair was in a high up-do, and she stood confidently with her posture as straight as an arrow.

"It's great seeing you, Darian. I haven't seen you two together in years!" Tejal peeked in Mr. Gupta's direction, who stood back with Aarav beside him.

"It has," Mr. Gupta agreed, flashing me a white smile.

Tejal returned her attention to me. "What has it been?" She looked to Arya, furrowing her brows in thought. Then her gaze shifted to me. "Three years?"

"Four," Arya corrected before I could, and I nodded in agreement.

Tejal touched her heart. "Either way, it's great to see you." She wagged a finger at Arya. "You should bring your other friends over as well." Arya's facial features tensed. "I'll love to see them again."

I quirked a brow at Arya. She didn't tell her family she wanted nothing to do with the others?

"Can we eat now?" Arya said, changing the subject.

"Of course!" Tejal scurried to the dining table, and Arya and I followed suit.

Mr. Gupta left his spot beside Aarav to make his way over to me, and I met him halfway. "Good evening, sir," I greeted while shaking his hand.

I kept my grip firm. Mr. Gupta always preferred firm handshakes.

"We're glad to have you over, Darian," he replied. "We're honored to have you in our home again. Take a seat." He motioned for me to sit.

"Thank you, sir." I took a seat besides Arya while Mr. Gupta sat at the head of the table, and Aarav and his mother sat together. Aarav was seated opposite of us, and I forced a smile his way. "Hello, Aarav."

He only sent me a sharp nod, and Arya rolled her eyes.

"Don't be so cold, beta," Tejal scolded her son. "You were the one so eager to have Darian over."

         What?

"Hello, Darian," he finally said while peering up at me.

I watched him carefully. Why did he want me around all of a sudden? I wasn't getting a good feeling from this.

While I contemplated Aarav's motives, he, Tejal, and Arya left to retrieve the food from the kitchen. I offered to help, but I was the "guest," so they refused.

        Once they returned, they laid all of the food out onto the table in large bowls and plates with utensils to distribute. Our individual plates and silverware were already in front of us.

There were strips of meat on one plate, some spicy-looking shrimp in another, stuffed bread cut into triangular pieces on the other plate, cumin rice in one bowl and some type of mashed vegetable or stew in another bowl. This was a lot of food, and they actually had water.

"We're having sattu ka paratha—or stuffed bread—with mashed eggplants and jeera rice with kakori kebab and jhinga masala," Tejal said with a proud smile. "These are all some of my personal favorites, and I'm sure you'll like them. You can still handle spices, right?"

When all seven of us used to come over, we could all handle the spice, except for Clay. He was such a wimp.

"Yes, I can," I told her.

"Good." Her gaze flickered between everyone at the table. "Aarav's father, Rakesh, hated eating too much spices." I didn't miss Aarav's brows knitting together. "His siblings always mocked him for it." Tejal started cracking up, but Aarav looked anything but amused. He grasped his fork in a hard grip instead. "It's kind of funny. What Indian man can't handle spices?" She laughed harder, and I joined in just for her sake. "Usually, you expect people of color to be better at handling spicy foods. Am I right?"

"Right," I agreed, even though I knew plenty of people of color who hated spicy foods.

Tejal's laughter died down, but Aarav narrowed his eyes at her. "Ma." He got her attention and muttered something in Hindi, I supposed, to her. Tejal's joyful expression diminished, and Mr. Gupta cleared his throat before reaching for his glass of water. I mirrored his actions.

Rakesh Patil was imprisoned when Aarav was eleven-years-old.

Everyone was curious as to why he went to prison, but the Guptas and Aarav refused to talk. We couldn't even get it out of Arya because she was a private person—about her own affairs and her family's.

        Aarav dropping his last name, Patil, when he turned sixteen and being known legally as only Aarav Gaurav didn't make the rumors go away either. If anything, it made people talk more. Some people thought Rakesh Patil was a drug lord. Others thought he murdered someone. The rumors were endless.

It was a family secret we were all itching to find out.

The silence got awkward real quick.

"Well," I started, gathering all attention at the table, "I didn't have homemade, cultural food all of high school."

"Really?" Tejal's eyes went round.

I nodded. "I was reunited with it when I had dinner at Honoka's and Kenji's new place. I could handle the spice then, so I must still have it."

Mr. Gupta and Tejal laughed. "That's good to hear," Mr. Gupta said. "Let's eat then." He motioned to the food.

"Don't mind if I do," I said, and we started eating.

It was delicious, even with the prominent spices and tangy taste. I actually preferred ethnic food over regular American food. When Americans cooked and when people of other ethnicities and nationalities cooked, there was a difference. There were generally more flavor and spices, and I liked that.

The table was filled with small talk, mostly led by Tejal while I laughed and tried to add in every now and then. Arya and Aarav were extremely quiet the whole time. Arya had a bored expression and mostly played with her food while Aarav barely touched his. He stared down at the table instead, almost lost in his thoughts.

"So how are you, Darian?" Tejal asked once we were almost finished with our meal. "How's everything going with you?"

Aarav looked up.

"I'm good," I said. "I got a new job. Thanks to Arya."

Aarav's jaw tensed. "Why did you get fired from your old job, again?"

Arya's head snapped up at him, and I gripped my fork harder, containing the urge to fling it at his jugular.

Tejal gasped softly. "You got fired?" she asked me.

"That's none of our business, now is it?" Arya said. She moved around the last of her kebab.

"It's okay." I squeezed her hand.

"No, she's right," Mr. Gupta jumped in, watching his wife. "It's none of our business, Tejal."

"Of course." Tejal adjusted her napkin on her lap. "You're right, Varun." She peeked up at me. "I'm sorry for prying, Darian."

"It's fine." I waved it off, not at all fazed.

"What college do you go to, Darian?" Aarav asked, looking me dead in the eye.

I chuckled, knowing exactly what was going on.

        Did he only invite me here to humiliate me in front of his family?

"Aarav!" Arya hollered, but he stayed focused on me. He knew I didn't go to college, but he was trying to call me out. "Once again," Arya continued, "that's not any of our business, and it certainly isn't yours."

"Arya, calm down," Mr. Gupta said with a tired sigh.

Arya's glare moved to her father. "Of course you'll defend Aarav, Papa."

"I'm not defending Aarav," Mr. Gupta said, focusing on his daughter. "I'm just telling you to calm down because you need to calm down."

I didn't want them fighting. Not while I was here.

"Arya, it's fine." I patted her hand to keep her calm while trying to keep my cool. I sent Aarav a smug smile. "I'm not going to college. I'm focusing on work and myself, as of now."

I kept my voice leveled, and I challenged him, with one look, to test me again.

To test me one more time.

He didn't.

        Thought so.

I refused to allow this punk to make me feel ashamed of the choices I had made. I chose to not go to college, and I wasn't going to let this asshole make me feel like scum on the bottom of his shoe just because he was getting a degree when I wasn't.

Hell no.

"That's fine, too," Tejal said. "Everyone has a different path in life."

Aarav slit his eyes at me.

"Aarav?" Mr. Gupta said, which shifted Aarav's attention to his stepfather.

"Ji?" he answered.

"Can you and Arya prepare the dessert?" 

"Ji, haan," Aarav said, rising to his feet like an obedient, little boy.

That was one thing that amazed me. Mr. Gupta seemed to be the only one who could get through to Aarav. He listened to Mr. Gupta and respected him almost, even if he didn't give the same luxury to anyone else.

"The dessert!" Tejal's eyes lit up. "How could I forget?" She leaned closer to me. "Tonight we're having bebinca and ice-cream for dessert. Bebinca looks like cake, but it's a type of layered pudding. I think you'll like it."

"Can't wait." My face split into a grin.

"Why would you ask Aarav instead of me, Papa?" Arya pointed out.

"Not now, Arya," Mr. Gupta said. "Go get the dessert with your brother. I don't have time for this." They stared at each other—Arya in apathy and her father in authority.

"Come with me," Aarav said. It sounded more like a demand than a request.

Arya's gaze shifted to him, and they held eye contact for a few seconds before she sighed heavily. "Fine."

She stood up and followed him into the kitchen, and I stayed behind and listened to Mr. Gupta and Tejal talk back and forth for a couple minutes. I wasn't too invested in their conversation because I was more interested in giving Aarav a piece of my mind for his little stunt.

Calling me out like that?

I only bit my tongue because Mr. Gupta and Tejal were around, but I wouldn't  sleep well tonight if I didn't put that fucker in his place.

"Excuse me for a second." The couple's gaze moved to me as I rose out of my seat. "I'm going to go help Aarav and Arya with the dessert."

"Darian, you're our guest," Tejal reminded. "All you have to do is sit back and enjoy."

"No, I want to help out," I assured her. "Trust me."   

"He wants to be with the young kids," Mr. Gupta said, winking at me. "We, old folks, are boring him." I chuckled.

"You two? A bore? Never." The three of us laughed.

"Let the boy go," Mr. Gupta told his wife.

"All right." Tejal held her hands up. "You're our guest, Darian. Whatever you want."

"Thank you," I said while I maneuvered around the chairs. "I'll be back."

They resumed their small talk, and I headed for the kitchen. My face dropped into a frown as soon as I turned my back to Mr. Gupta and Tejal. No more Mr. Nice Guy.

        That dumbass was going to get what was coming to—

I halted in my steps as soon as I entered the kitchen, gaping at the sight before me.

In front of the sink were Arya and Aarav.

Kissing.

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* What do you guys think about that ending there? Did you see that coming? What do you think is going to happen? What do you think of the Guptas and Aarav?

* I was going to update this yesterday, but I felt like complete crap. Emotionally. Mentally. Physically. Everything. It was just bad. I plan on posting the last part of this chapter soon, so hopefully, I don't feel that bad again, because I don't want anything to hinder my updating plans. Until then! 😊