Blending Out by Priyanka Bagrodia

Author:Priyanka Bagrodia [Bagrodia, Priyanka]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: novel
ISBN: 978-1-63730-276-7
Publisher: Priyanka Bagrodia
Published: 2021-04-21T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

NOVEMBER 2018

Ryley’s phone screen lit up with a text from Cassidy, letting her know which study room they were in, as Ryley made a beeline for the cafeteria even though she was already running late. All the treadmills had been taken once again so she had had to dither around on a mat. By the time a treadmill finally freed up, she was running so late that the stress of keeping Cassidy waiting effectively canceled out any endorphins she could have hoped to gain.

Ryley made it to the cafeteria in record time, making a game of weaving through the bodies without cutting pace. She gave muttered, canned excuse mes and sorrys even as she continued squeezing between people and cutting around them. She wasn’t shaving more than a couple of seconds off her tardiness, but at least she was moving faster than everyone else. Going straight to the Grab-N-Go section, she grabbed a power bar and a Gatorade, a too-frequent meal choice of hers. She strode over to Jenny to check out. She liked Jenny even though she had taken to offering Ryley her advice each day because Ryley came to the cafeteria every day. Her mom had made sure she knew how to make some basic Indian dishes—gobi aloo, bhindi and tofu matar—before she left for college, but Ryley had a pathological aversion to cooking, so here she was for the umpteenth time.

Jenny rang up the four white people before her without comment, but of course, gave her a “Honey, you’ve got to put some more meat on those bones,” and then Ryley was through the crowd. She liked how all the cafeteria workers had adopted her, giving her free food when she realized too late that she’d left her credit card at home one day, or giving her a “you look so pretty!” on the days she had taken special care with her presentation, throwing on a wool dress with tights because she’d needed to break up the monotony of skinny jeans, sweater, and thick overcoat.

Just last week, Leo had said, “It’s so good to see you here, working hard. We need more of us here.” He wasn’t Indian, just someone else who was non-white. She’d given him an instinctive nod of thanks and a smile as he had handed her a helping of pasta, even as Cassidy, standing next to her, had shot her a confused look, silently urging her to correct him. Ryley had not explained the incident later, even as Cassidy had let the silence rest between them on their walk back to the classroom. Ryley hadn’t even known where to begin, instead talking about a story from her prep school days. Cassidy had immediately relaxed and hooked an arm through hers.

Ryley looked down at her phone now to see another text from Cassidy. I’ve relocated to room 1057 if you ever arrive.

As she rounded the corner and skipped down her preferred choice of side stairwell, she ran abruptly into Mark at the bottom.

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