Khushi's POV

I had just gotten home from school and was starting my homework when my mother came into my room.

"Khushi, you need to start packing. Your plane leaves at 8:00 am. We need to leave here at 5:45 am. Pack tonight and get in bed early. I don't want you tired during orientation."

"I'll get started right away." I said.

"Hurry." She said, leaving my room.

I dragged my luggage set out from underneath my bed and set it on my bed.

I unzipped it and started picking through my closet, looking for clothes.

"Khushi, Anvi is here to see you!" My mother called up to me.

I heard Anvi walking up the stairs and my heart beat quickened. She opened the door to my room, came in, then shut it again.

"You're really going?" She said, looking sadly at my luggage.

"I have to go."

"No you don't. You can go to the airport then once they leave you get a cab and come back to my house."

"Vi, you know I can't do that."

"I know. I'm just going to miss you a lot."

"Oh, Vi, come here. It's only a year. We can     make it a year." I said, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her close.

"It'll be ok, I promise. We can text and FaceTime and you'll never leave my thoughts." I said, looking into her eyes.

She leaned forward and kissed me. I kissed her back, passionately, until I heard my mothers footsteps on the stairs.

I pulled away from our kiss, and pushed Anvi away.

"Stop, I hear my mother coming."

As predicted, my mother walked into my room.

"Anvi, would you like to eat with us?" She asked.

"I would if that's alright with you, Mrs. Patel."

"It's perfectly fine. We're having butter chicken and will be eating at 7:30 pm. Be done packing by then, Khushi." She said to Anvi, then to me.

She left the room and Anvi turned to me.

"It's 5:00 pm. What do you say we start packing at 5:15?" She said, a smirk on her face.

"Let's make that 5:30." I said, pulling her into me.

I kissed her not knowing when I would get to kiss her again.

Her hands ran along the bottom of my shirt, urging me to take it off. I pulled my shirt off and pulled hers off too. We laid down in bed, Anvi on top of me.

"Anvi, we've got to stop. Do you know what our parents would do to us if they found out?" I asked her, sitting up.

She sat on top of me in her jeans and bra, giving me a pouty face.

"I don't care what they think, Khushi. Screw them. I want you and only you." She said, sucking on my neck.

"Vi, stop, you're gonna give me a hickey." I said, in a playful whiny voice.

"Good. Now everyone will know you're mine." She said, smirking.

As she kissed me my mind wandered and I ended up thinking about our relationship after I left. Would we still be together? Would we break-?

KNOCK KNOCK.

Shit! I pushed Anvi off of me and threw her shirt to her. She pulled it on as I tossed my shirt on and smoothed my hair back. I took a deep breath, then opened the door.

"Kiaan! What are you doing here? I thought you and Navya were still in Miami?" I asked, surprised to see my brother.

"We cut our vacation short so we could say goodbye to you. Mom wanted to throw you a big going away party but Dad wouldn't let her so it's Navya, me, Mom, Dad, and Anvi." He said, staring at my neck.

Fuck. I forgot to cover up my hickey.

"By the way, that's a nice hickey. Might want to cover it up before you come down for dinner though."

I glared at him and shut my door.

"Who was it?" Anvi asked me.

"Kiaan. He saw my hickey." I told her.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. He knows not to tell right? Sibling code and all that?" She asked.

"I hope so. But even if he does, I don't care. You're my girlfriend and I shouldn't have to hide that." I said, grabbing her and kissing her.

"Now, let's get these clothes packed."

I rummaged through my closet, tossing clothes to Anvi and she folded them then put them in my suitcase. I had all my clothes packed by 6:45 pm. I gave Anvi a plastic basket to hold while I went around my bathroom, picking out the toiletries I would need. When the basket was full, Anvi sat it on my bed and I put everything into my toiletries bag. When I was done packing it was 7:15 pm.

"What do we do now?" I asked Anvi, smirking.

She leaned in close, her forehead touching mine.

"We could pick out your plane outfit." She said, laughing.

"Tease." I mumbled.

"Oh, poor Khushi. Did you have something else in mind? Something like this?" She said kissing me.

I nodded and she smirked.

"We'll get your plane outfit ready and then if we have time left, we'll do that."

Anvi searched through what was left of my closet. She pulled out a pair of grey sweatpants and a Rolling Stones tank top.

"Here. Wear these with your black converse and braid your hair. Now, let's cover up that hickey. She said, pulling out my makeup bag.

As soon as she finished putting makeup on my neck, we were called down to dinner.

"DINNER!" My mother said, calling us from the dining room.

We hurried downstairs, ready to eat. Once we were all at the table, my mother started serving us.

She put heaping portions of butter chicken, rice, and naan bread on our plates.

As we ate, Kiaan stood up and said he had an announcement.

"As you all know, Navya and I have been trying for a baby for a while. Well, I'm pleased to announce baby Patel will be arriving in April!" He said.

"Kiaan! I'm going to be a grandmother! Aarav! We're going to be grandparents!" My mother said, excitedly.

Anvi and I shared a look.

"Should we tell them?" I mouthed to her.

"No, it'll look like you're trying to steal Kiaan's attention." She mouthed back.

My mother and Navya discussed baby names, while my dad congratulated my brother.

When we were done eating, I said goodbye to Anvi. I went back upstairs to my room to get ready for bed. I started the shower and hopped in.

Once I was done in the shower, I towel dried my hair and braided it into two French braids.

I had just gotten my pajamas on when I heard a knock on my door.

KNOCK KNOCK.

I opened my door and saw Kiaan.

"Who gave you that hickey?" He asked me, smirking. "Anvi?"

"Shhhhhhh! Mom might hear you." I whispered pulling him into my room.

"Yes, Anvi gave me a hickey. Happy now?" I said, glaring at him.

"Nope. I couldn't care less about what gender you choose to date but I want to know how long you've hid it." He said, actually sounding concerned.

"Anvi and I have been dating for about 6 months. If you're asking how long I've been gay, the answer is my whole life. Now get out of my room and please please don't tell mom or dad. I'll tell them when I'm ready."

"I swear on my baby that I won't tell them." Kiaan said, crossing his heart.

"Thanks. Now get out so I can go to sleep." I said, pushing him out the door.

I laid down in bed, thinking about what I had told Kiaan. Would he tell our parents? Would he tell Navya? What had I done? Why didn't I keep it a secret?

I drifted off to sleep, worried about what I had said.

I was woken up by my mom shaking me.

"Khushi? Khushi! It's 5:30. Get up and get dressed. We have to leave in 15 minutes." She said, shaking my shoulder.

I sat up and yawned. I looked at my phone. 5:30.  I jumped out of my bed when I realized I had slept through my alarms. I pulled on my clothes that Anvi had laid out for me last night. I smoothed out my hair and left it in its braids. I made sure that my hickey was covered up then I grabbed my luggage and ran downstairs.

I loaded my luggage in the car, then went back into the house.

"Bye Kiaan, Bye Navya." I said, hugging them.

Once I had said my goodbyes, I ran back out to the car and hopped in the backseat.

My dad backed the car out of the garage while my mother and I waved goodbye to my brother and his wife.

We got to the airport quickly since it was so early. My flight didn't leave for hour and a half so I wandered over to Starbucks for breakfast.

"Can I please get a venti strawberry acai refresher with coconut milk and a cheese croissant?" I asked the barista.

"Name?" The barista asked me.

"Khushi."

"That'll be $9.84, cash or credit?"

"Cash." I handed the barista a $10 bill and dropped my change into the tip jar.

The barista wrote my name on the cup and passed it over to the girl working the machines, while he heated up my croissant.

"Order for Khushi!" The girl making drinks called out.

I took my food and when back over to the waiting room and sat by my parents.

When it was 7:30 I grabbed my luggage and went to go through security. I gave my luggage to the TSA agents to be checked. I turned around and hugged my parents.

"Bye mom, Bye dad."

"Call me Khushi. Everyday. I need to know that you're safe." My mother said.

"Riya, she'll be fine."

My parents watched me go through security then left the airport.

I headed over to Terminal B where my plane was boarding and gave my ticket to the lady sitting at the desk.

I was taken down a hallway and a flight attendant helped me into the plane.

I sat in my seat and waited for the plane to take off.

When we finally took off it was 8:15 am. I slept for most of the flight, waking up right before we landed.

I looked out the window as the plane touched down on the runway.

San Francisco was so beautiful. The sun was glowing high in the sky and people bustled around the city, all having place to be and things to do.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We have landed in sunny San Francisco, California. When we are down on the ground, you may get your luggage out of the overhead bins and exit through the door at the front of the plane. Thank you for flying with us today, and have a great day." The captain said over a loudspeaker.

I grabbed my bag out of the overhead bin and headed towards the door. The same flight attendant that helped me into helped me out of the plane.

When I was out of the plane, I went to the baggage terminal to claim my luggage. After the belt circled around two or three times, my luggage finally appeared. I grabbed it, then headed to the airport bathroom.

Inside the bathroom, I pulled out my makeup bag. I put on fresh foundation over my hickey. When it was fully hidden again, I dropped my foundation back into my makeup bag and put it back onto my luggage.

I left the bathroom, and headed outside to flag down a taxi.

I had my taxi driver take me to Miss Katrina's School of Driving. When I pulled up to the front entrance, I grabbed my luggage and walked up to the security guards shack.

"Name?" A bored guard asked me.

"Khushi Patel." I answered, trying to sound cheerful.

He grunted, flipping through pages in his check in book.

"Go in the front door and turn to the left. Someone will greet you there."

I grabbed my luggage and walked up to the doors. I opened them and headed inside.

After walking down a long hall I was greeted by a peppy girl, who couldn't be much older than me.

"Hello! I'm Ashley. Is it your first year here?" She asked.

"Yes. I'm a new student."

"Okay! Go down the hall to the left and you'll get all information you need there."

I walked down they hallway and saw a table with a few girls gathered around it.
I walked up to a nice older looking lady.

"Hello darling. Can I have your name?" She asked me.

"Khushi Patel."

She handed me a map and a bunch of papers, then handed me a slip with a key attached to it.

"You'll be in Room 26. You can take the elevator and go on up and get settled in. It's 2:15 pm right now and orientation starts at 3:00pm. Be in the auditorium by 2:50pm." She said.

I had just started towards the elevator when a girl with a worried look on her face came up to me.

"Hi I'm Indie. What's your name?" She asked me, nervously.

"Khushi."

"Ok so Khushi I have a really strange favor to ask but can we switch rooms? I got room 22 and 22 is not a good number for me."

"Sure. I'm in room 26 so we'll be roomies." I said, hoping I had just made a friend.

We walked back over to the older lady to get her to switch our rooms. She filed some paperwork, then told us we were free to go.

Indie and I switched keys and maps, then walked to the elevator together.

"Khushi thank you so much for switching rooms with me. I'd tell you why I hate the number 22 but that is a story for a different day." She said, looking relieved.

"Oh it was no problem. I just hope whoever is in room 24 is nice." I said, stepping off the elevator and heading towards our room.

"We'll probably meet them soon enough. Would you want to walk down to orientation together?"

"Yes! Text me when you're ready and I'll meet you by the elevators."

We exchanged numbers then I walked down to my room. I opened the door and looked it over.

It was a nice room for a boarding school. It had a single bed, a closet, a bathroom with a shower, a dresser, a desk, and a couple of chairs.

I set my luggage down and took my hair out of my braids. I put some dry shampoo in my hair then ran my hands through it to brush out my curls.

I went into the bathroom and decided against a shower since I didn't have much time. I got a washcloth and washed off, then put on deodorant so I wouldn't smell.

I opened my luggage to get out clothes when I saw a flag and a note from Kiaan lying on top of my clothes.

Dear Khushi,

Hang this up in your dorm room. Let your pride shine through. Just remember to take it down before Mom and Dad stop by for a visit.

Love,
Kiaan

I opened up the flag and saw that it was a pride flag. I smiled, happy that my brother supported me. I made a mental note to text him and thank him later.

After I set the flag down, I slipped on a red cami top and high waisted shorts. I put on white espadrilles flats and sat down at the desk to fix my makeup.

I touched up my eyeliner and put on new lipstick. I put new foundation on my hickey, then grabbed my phone and headed to the elevators.

To: Indie
From: Khushi

I'm waiting by the elevators. Are you almost ready?

To: Khushi
From: Indie

I'm walking out of my room now

We got in the elevator and went down to the check in table. We turned left and headed towards the auditorium.

When we got to the auditorium we took seats towards the back left. As soon as we sat down, the lights dimmed and orientation began.

*****

Hey everyone! I hoped you liked Chapter Four! I'm so sorry it's late but school has been crazy. I'm going to try and update every Monday and Friday but no promises. Come back on Friday (hopefully) for Chapter 5!

QOTD: Are you part of the LGBT+ community?
AOTD: Yes, I'm lesbian.

Picture at the top: Khushi's parents and  her brother, her train outfit, and her orientation outfit

Next Update: Friday (9/8/17)

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