Chapter 5
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Chapter 6- Anti-Relationship.
Niharika walked into the camp, swarming with under-age, puberty-plagued, angst-ridden girls. They bunched together like cliques in a school and Nihu didn't feel like socializing. A tall dude came to the make shift podium in the front. He was fair and tall, and his voice had a commanding quality to his voice.
"Ahem." He cleared his throat loudly. He didn't need a mike, from his voice he sounded 17. "Welcome to All-Stars Sports Camp. Soccer people to the left, Volleyball people to the right."
Without thinking Niharika yells, "What about me?!?!"
"What about you?!" He yells impatiently from the ghetto podium.
"I'm volleyball and soccer." She says calmer since he is walking towards her.
"Oh. I didn't know we had any of those this year. Ummm…One second." He said unsurely.
He scurried back to his podium and asked out loud. "Are there any other volleyball/soccer doublers? If so, follow me." About five more girls followed him.
He took them outside into separate field.
"Well you guys." Had he not noticed he was the only guy? And he was standing in front of a bunch of teenage girls that wouldn't think twice before jumping him. They all drooled over him except Niharika, she didn't play that gig.
"Well continue. I'm sure you're not talking for your health." Niharika said sassily.
"Yes. Umm, Well we usually don't have this many doublers. I expect you all to be the best of the best." Was this guy a coach or something? Best of the best, there was only six girls standing before him.
"Do we have a REAL coach?" Niharika asked rudely again. She was in quite a mood again.
"I am your coach. And I am a pretty real coach. There is only six of you, therefore I expect you to act like a real team."
"Two teams." A voice called from behind him. She looked like a real coach. She was in her mid thirties. She wore a Harvard sweatshirt and shorts. Odd combination but nonetheless, she looked like a coach.
"Yeah, yeah. TWO teams…" He sighed. She ruffled his hair.
"Why is that? C'mon let's hear it." The lady smiled knowingly.
"Because you are the master and you call the shots." He recited as if somebody had just asked him what 2-squared was.
"Yes, yes. I do, don't I?" She replied happily.
"Mom." He groaned. .
"Okay, okay. This is Vedant. And he will be coaching. He has for four years now. He will handle you three." She pointed at Niharika, and two girls apparently named Guddi and Keke. Who names their kids that?
"And I'll be coaching Tanisha, Naaz, and Shweta." The girls nodded. God, she was stuck with this…boy as her coach. Four years, he can't be that bad. And that's his mom. Wow.
"C'mon now! We're going running. Who's up for it?" Vedant yelled. Niharika always could use a good challenge. Naaz, Shweta, and Niharika jogged after Vedant. Naaz and Shweta lagged behind but Niharika was a naturally good runner. She ran beside Vedant.
"Hi. You're my coach." That was a dumb thing to say she concluded after saying it.
"I know. You're a good runner."
"I know."
"So how old are you?"
"Nineteen." He smiled. It was a smile of someone who had just had their birthday recently and loved boasting about their age.
"Good for you. And you're a coach?" She lagged behind a little, she was pacing herself. He slowed down for her. She smiled.
"Yeah, when I was fourteen I started volunteering here for my mom and I got set up coaching instead."
"You seem pretty good at it." He laughed. She didn't know why.
"Like a real coach?" She nodded.
"So…what's your life like?" Niharika was always direct. Wow, I actually just said that?
"Good. Sort of. Boring. Stressful. I'm the man of the family. It's kinda got its own pressures." He sighed.
"I know what you mean. I'm the woman in my family. I play mom around my house. It's kind of…funny really."
"How so?" They had stopped running long ago. Now they sat on the field.
"Well, all my life I've heard how I wasn't mature enough to handle anything on my own and I literally run my house." She laughed but it came out sounding a little sad.
"Wow. Yeah, my dad was a little weird about that. He was always lecturing about how the male has responsibilities to his house and how he's supposed to keep the home together. And lo and behold, we wake up one morning and he leaves for work and never comes home." He laughed at his own situation, but it was a cold laugh.
"Is he…" She didn't know how to ask the question.
"Dead? To me he is."
"Wow. I wish my mom was around still. You ever try and talk to him…your dad, I mean." She muttered quietly. She knew she was loud enough for him to hear.
"Yeah, but he's found himself a new, better family." He spat bitterly.
"Well there's nothing wrong with you guys…" She said defensively.
"What?" He asked confused.
"When my mom died for the longest time I thought that there was something wrong with me, my dad, my brother…I couldn't understand why she chose to leave us," Her eyes brimmed, she swallowed them back. She was too old to cry about this.
"Chose to leave you? Didn't she…" Die. Yes, she died.
"She died. She was killed." She looked down, "She killed herself." She looked up confidently, "But it's not our fault." She recited as if she had memorized it. She had, at nights when she couldn't sleep; she had repeated it to herself so many times. It was a reflex now.
"And you know what?" Niharika said confidently. "It's not your fault either. No matter what people may say, no matter what anybody thinks. No body MAKES anybody leave. It's their choice."
"Yeah." He sighed with what sounded like relief. "Not my fault." He said to himself as Niharika had so many nights, it was the chanting reassurance.
"What's your mom like?" She sounded cheery, she wasn't.
"Crazy. Makes me feel like she's my older sister. Like it's not bad enough, she's only 17 years older than me." She laughed. He did too.
"What's your dad like?" He asked.
"I don't know…" her voice trailed. "He's very…" She sighed. "He's very there…" She concluded. Her dad was anything but there.
"Well there is good. Better than mine. My mom's not very momly…was yours?" He asked without thinking. Upon hearing himself, "I'm sorry. That's personal."
"No. She was really fun. She cared a lot. But she was really sad all the time. I never did find out why." She swallowed another lump in her throat, "Me and my brother were always first on her list of priorities. She was the perfect mom. She…um…when I was 6. I don't remember her much. It's kind of scary. I can't remember her face. I remember her voice, her smell, her touch. But not her face. It's not fair."
"I know." He hugged her. It was comforting. Strangely enough, it was comforting.
"Hey Vedant."
"Yeah?" She pulled away from him.
"Thanks." She smiled, she had managed to let only one tear drop. It was a talent, because tears were like dominoes; if one manages to drop, then a whole mess of them seem to follow.
"No problem." He leaned in and lightly pressed his lips to hers.
"I gotta get back." Niharika said quickly, she ran back to her cabin. She shut the door shut behind her, had he meant to do that? Surely, he did it as a friendly gesture. Right? Her brain was in a million places at once. Slowly she sunk into her bunk bed and did what she thought was trying to sleep. It didn't work but it was surely worth trying.
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Niharika walked into the camp, swarming with under-age, puberty-plagued, angst-ridden girls. They bunched together like cliques in a school and Nihu didn't feel like socializing. A tall dude came to the make shift podium in the front. He was fair and tall, and his voice had a commanding quality to his voice.
"Ahem." He cleared his throat loudly. He didn't need a mike, from his voice he sounded 17. "Welcome to All-Stars Sports Camp. Soccer people to the left, Volleyball people to the right."
Without thinking Niharika yells, "What about me?!?!"
"What about you?!" He yells impatiently from the ghetto podium.
"I'm volleyball and soccer." She says calmer since he is walking towards her.
"Oh. I didn't know we had any of those this year. Ummm…One second." He said unsurely.
He scurried back to his podium and asked out loud. "Are there any other volleyball/soccer doublers? If so, follow me." About five more girls followed him.
He took them outside into separate field.
"Well you guys." Had he not noticed he was the only guy? And he was standing in front of a bunch of teenage girls that wouldn't think twice before jumping him. They all drooled over him except Niharika, she didn't play that gig.
"Well continue. I'm sure you're not talking for your health." Niharika said sassily.
"Yes. Umm, Well we usually don't have this many doublers. I expect you all to be the best of the best." Was this guy a coach or something? Best of the best, there was only six girls standing before him.
"Do we have a REAL coach?" Niharika asked rudely again. She was in quite a mood again.
"I am your coach. And I am a pretty real coach. There is only six of you, therefore I expect you to act like a real team."
"Two teams." A voice called from behind him. She looked like a real coach. She was in her mid thirties. She wore a Harvard sweatshirt and shorts. Odd combination but nonetheless, she looked like a coach.
"Yeah, yeah. TWO teams…" He sighed. She ruffled his hair.
"Why is that? C'mon let's hear it." The lady smiled knowingly.
"Because you are the master and you call the shots." He recited as if somebody had just asked him what 2-squared was.
"Yes, yes. I do, don't I?" She replied happily.
"Mom." He groaned. .
"Okay, okay. This is Vedant. And he will be coaching. He has for four years now. He will handle you three." She pointed at Niharika, and two girls apparently named Guddi and Keke. Who names their kids that?
"And I'll be coaching Tanisha, Naaz, and Shweta." The girls nodded. God, she was stuck with this…boy as her coach. Four years, he can't be that bad. And that's his mom. Wow.
"C'mon now! We're going running. Who's up for it?" Vedant yelled. Niharika always could use a good challenge. Naaz, Shweta, and Niharika jogged after Vedant. Naaz and Shweta lagged behind but Niharika was a naturally good runner. She ran beside Vedant.
"Hi. You're my coach." That was a dumb thing to say she concluded after saying it.
"I know. You're a good runner."
"I know."
"So how old are you?"
"Nineteen." He smiled. It was a smile of someone who had just had their birthday recently and loved boasting about their age.
"Good for you. And you're a coach?" She lagged behind a little, she was pacing herself. He slowed down for her. She smiled.
"Yeah, when I was fourteen I started volunteering here for my mom and I got set up coaching instead."
"You seem pretty good at it." He laughed. She didn't know why.
"Like a real coach?" She nodded.
"So…what's your life like?" Niharika was always direct. Wow, I actually just said that?
"Good. Sort of. Boring. Stressful. I'm the man of the family. It's kinda got its own pressures." He sighed.
"I know what you mean. I'm the woman in my family. I play mom around my house. It's kind of…funny really."
"How so?" They had stopped running long ago. Now they sat on the field.
"Well, all my life I've heard how I wasn't mature enough to handle anything on my own and I literally run my house." She laughed but it came out sounding a little sad.
"Wow. Yeah, my dad was a little weird about that. He was always lecturing about how the male has responsibilities to his house and how he's supposed to keep the home together. And lo and behold, we wake up one morning and he leaves for work and never comes home." He laughed at his own situation, but it was a cold laugh.
"Is he…" She didn't know how to ask the question.
"Dead? To me he is."
"Wow. I wish my mom was around still. You ever try and talk to him…your dad, I mean." She muttered quietly. She knew she was loud enough for him to hear.
"Yeah, but he's found himself a new, better family." He spat bitterly.
"Well there's nothing wrong with you guys…" She said defensively.
"What?" He asked confused.
"When my mom died for the longest time I thought that there was something wrong with me, my dad, my brother…I couldn't understand why she chose to leave us," Her eyes brimmed, she swallowed them back. She was too old to cry about this.
"Chose to leave you? Didn't she…" Die. Yes, she died.
"She died. She was killed." She looked down, "She killed herself." She looked up confidently, "But it's not our fault." She recited as if she had memorized it. She had, at nights when she couldn't sleep; she had repeated it to herself so many times. It was a reflex now.
"And you know what?" Niharika said confidently. "It's not your fault either. No matter what people may say, no matter what anybody thinks. No body MAKES anybody leave. It's their choice."
"Yeah." He sighed with what sounded like relief. "Not my fault." He said to himself as Niharika had so many nights, it was the chanting reassurance.
"What's your mom like?" She sounded cheery, she wasn't.
"Crazy. Makes me feel like she's my older sister. Like it's not bad enough, she's only 17 years older than me." She laughed. He did too.
"What's your dad like?" He asked.
"I don't know…" her voice trailed. "He's very…" She sighed. "He's very there…" She concluded. Her dad was anything but there.
"Well there is good. Better than mine. My mom's not very momly…was yours?" He asked without thinking. Upon hearing himself, "I'm sorry. That's personal."
"No. She was really fun. She cared a lot. But she was really sad all the time. I never did find out why." She swallowed another lump in her throat, "Me and my brother were always first on her list of priorities. She was the perfect mom. She…um…when I was 6. I don't remember her much. It's kind of scary. I can't remember her face. I remember her voice, her smell, her touch. But not her face. It's not fair."
"I know." He hugged her. It was comforting. Strangely enough, it was comforting.
"Hey Vedant."
"Yeah?" She pulled away from him.
"Thanks." She smiled, she had managed to let only one tear drop. It was a talent, because tears were like dominoes; if one manages to drop, then a whole mess of them seem to follow.
"No problem." He leaned in and lightly pressed his lips to hers.
"I gotta get back." Niharika said quickly, she ran back to her cabin. She shut the door shut behind her, had he meant to do that? Surely, he did it as a friendly gesture. Right? Her brain was in a million places at once. Slowly she sunk into her bunk bed and did what she thought was trying to sleep. It didn't work but it was surely worth trying.
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