CHAPTER I- Rey
"Play house, put my favorite record on. Get down,
get your Crystal Method on. You were like, tall,
tan, drivin' 'round the city, firtin' with the girls
like, 'you're so pretty,'" her wispy pale lips sang.
Her fingers drifted into her hair as she continued
to dance on Lana Del Rey's American, her mind in
oblivion.
Her black hair was hanging around her Lowe back in lazy curls, bouncing along to every beat. She wore a simple white polka-dotted blue dress, paired with a thin red belt that matched her flats.
Her smile danced across her lips, her moves
hypnotizing me even further under her spell. As
the song finished, her grin grew five times larger. Without realizing it, a smile pasted its way
onto my lips, almost mimicking hers.
Sticking her tongue and biting down on it gently,
the dancer looked up at the ceiling, obviously
thinking of a way to excuse herself from the
stage. "I have a question for y'all." She waited
patiently for the audience to answer 'what.'
"What did one cell say to his sister cell when it
stepped on his toe?" She must've been over
anticipating this joke, even though she knew the
answer to the joke, which was cute in an
awkward way. "It's science, guys."
A young girl a table away from me said, "Mommy,
am I allowed to go see Nova Star after we eat?"
The girl was only five-years-old tops. The mother
answered yes, focusing our attention back up to
this Nova Character.
"Okay, I was hoping one of you guys would get it,
but- the cell said to its sister when it stepped on
its toe, and I quoted," Nova said, making a
dramatic face, matched with a over excitied body
language, "mitosis. Okay, I need to eat some
dinner." The sentence was simple, but eloquent
coming from her mouth.
Nova sat at the table across from mine, the diner
of Little Cheerful crowding around to see her. No
one even noticed me here, covered up by a plain
gray hoodie, a plate of eggs and spinach.
Nova began to eat her food, sipping diligently on
a straw. Mustering up the courage to pick a
conversation with her, I took my plate of eggs
and spinach to her table, sitting in the seat
across from her table, telling her: "Pretty inventive
joke." Mentally, I shook my head.
She looked up, the glow of her phone bouncing off
her face. The humming I heard earlier was gone.
Her eyes had dark circles that were covered with
makeup that was beginning to come off. "It's
tearful comedy," She said, pushing a piece of
jet black hair from in front of her face to
behind her ear, putting the spoon full soup into
her mouth.
"You're a great dancer ."
She laughed nervously. "I'm just a delusion of
greatness, megalomania if you will." I wanted to
be like: 'big word, please explain,' but I know she
wouldn't appreciate. Plus, I know what delusion
of greatness means.
"Why?" My forehead creased, my full attention on
her. She was obviously thinking lowly of herself.
She had a wonderful choreography-unless it wasn't hers.
She sighed. "It's my choreography . It's just that it's only defined as greatness because I dance the way people want to see me dance . People wouldn't care to see to me if I were singing original songs." She
looked into my eyes, the colors of her eyes just
popping out to me. One colour was blue and the other
was green. It was beautiful. "Living in the
shadow of a great name." It was barely audible.
"Well, I think I would. Your dance was capturing."
Nova looked to her hands, which were scrunching
up a maroon napkin. Her fingers rubbed the tip of
her temples, closing her eyes, then wincing in
pain. "Sorry, just a headache," she mumbled,
trying to shake it off. "Well, thank you. This place
is closing in ten minutes, so I really should get
going. I'm Kriya Ghai ."
"Reyaansh Singhania ." I stuck my hand out to shake hers.
She smiled at me. "And I'll walk you home." I
could by her face that she didn't want me to
accompany her home, but she obliged, putting on
her black coat, walking out the front doors that
had in royal gold handwriting Little Cheerful.
She bit down on her lips as walked, her hair
bouncing against her coat. "Reyaansh, are you from
India ? The name sounds like it's from there,"
KRITA asked, glancing at me sideways. "It
means ray of light or part of the preserver . It's
origins are sanskrit , too."
"Yeah, I'm Indian , born and raised," I said, a grin on
my lips. "I would say your name means this, but
all I can think of is a the verb, and I sure that's
not it."
kriya pursed her lips. "Close. It's sanskrit derived
from 'kriya shakti ,' the name of a beautiful immortal
godess which appears in Hindu mythology. It means the power that resides in one to perform an action or the physical manifestation of something ." Her
eyes trailed off. "Holy simplicity," her voice rang in
amazement.
My eyes glanced across the lake to wear a
gazebo was, lite up by yellow Christmas lights. A
man was on his knees, his hand pulling out a
velvet boxes. I didn't see what was so simple
about it, but Nova has had a funny way of
speaking to me, with her high-tech words and
stuff.
Kriya looked over to them, saying a few words,
before crossing her heart. "Pax vobiscum." She
smiled, walking out. "It means may peace be with
you. It's just a thing my mother said before she
married my step-father. I always say it when I
see a marriage proposal, just one of those things.
"You think I'm an overwhelming mystery, don't
you? Walking down the New York streets,
speaking with a strange new tongue. I get that a
lot."
"It's nice from the regular sorta speech. It's
unique."
"You're always faithful, or at least you seem, very
cheerful and supportive. Your mother raised you
well. My mother was always working back home,
so she never had very much time to shame me
for misbehaving or forms of childish play that
were simply for too old for me."
We continued walking, Kriya more gracefully
than I. The silence seemed to drift in the air, but
it was a comfortable silence, one people hope to
have. The click of her flats sounded on the
pavement with every step.
I wondered were kriya was from, definitely not
from New York. She spoke in a deep tone with
chopped up sentence.
"Well, this is my house. I better be going," She
said, pulling a curl from her face. "Thank you for
walking me home, Rey. She planted a surprise
kiss on my cheek, walking into her house.
It took me a second from shock to react.
"Kriya, can I get your phone number?" I walked
up to the door as she tore a paper from the
notebook beside her door with number clearly
scribbled on it.
"I knew that notebook and pen by the door would
come in handy one day." She smirked, clearly
impressed by her wittiness. "Thank you for
accompanying me home."
With that the door shut, and I was walking back
to my hotel, but not before stealing a second
glance at her house. It was small and cute. It
was more old-fashion, but that was something
she seemed like she'd like.
"Kriya Ghai , you are a beautiful person," I
whispered, the wind whistling a response in my
ears. "Tell we meet again," and I saluted her
home, walking off into the New York air.
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confused? I'm counting on it. a lot of things may seem peculiar to you: kriya referring to herself as Nova to give the dance (which was impromptu by the way), her eyes colour and even her way of speaking. all I'll say is what you perceive might be starkly different from reality, so wait for the next chapter, it might give you a hint to what is happening, and again it may not. I'm not sending PMs as its impossible for me to do so through my phone and do not have access to my laptop for the next few days. what do you think? did you like it? do share your views and hit that like button
Edited by medha_is_me - 12 years ago
Cricket
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