My So-Called Bollywood Life by Nisha Sharma

Author:Nisha Sharma
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2018-05-15T04:00:00+00:00

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Right after she finished handing out the prasad, Winnie headed upstairs. She was going into hiding, and she didn’t care if that insulted her family or her parents’ guests. There was a small space between her bed and the wall, the perfect spot for curling into the fetal position, and that was where she intended to stay until she had to drag her butt to school on Monday. Did her mother really have to open her mouth in front of the Indian kids that went to her school? Did she have to talk in front of Dev?

Bridget followed her to her room and tried to coax Winnie back, but Winnie refused. When Bridget mentioned Dev, Winnie felt a twinge of guilt for sure, but she still couldn’t face him.

A little after Bridget returned downstairs, Winnie heard her bedroom door squeak open, and she hunched her shoulders, hoping that no one would see her.

“Hey,” Dev said.

Winnie popped up from her hiding spot. “What are you doing up here? You can’t be in my room.”

He rolled his eyes and closed the door behind him. “What, because your virtue will be ruined and your family’s name will be tarnished if we’re alone together? Come on, it’s the twenty-first century, Winnie. Besides, both of us are used to people talking about us, right?”

It was her turn to roll her eyes. “Not like this. My mother makes me sound so desperate. Ugh, I hate it. Everyone is whispering about how sorry my situation is.”

If she hadn’t been watching him, she would’ve missed his jaw clenching and his eyes going cold at her words. “I’m used to people talking about me exactly like this,” he said.

Then he glanced at the far wall and did a double take. “Holy shit.” He was across the room, reaching for her movies, before she could straighten her chuni.

“This is unreal,” he said as he scanned the titles from top to bottom. His voice was low, almost reverential, looking at the size of her collection. “Is this all yours? This is so sick. You have the largest Bollywood collection I’ve ever seen!”

Winnie was grateful for the distraction as she checked out the room to make sure she didn’t have anything embarrassing lying around.

“They’re my pride and joy,” she said after tucking a discarded bra under her blanket.

He stopped reading the spines when she reached his side. “Indian clothes look good on you,” he said, brushing the edge of her sleeve.

Winnie felt that weird flutter in her stomach. “Thanks. And thanks for coming. I know it’s all a little awkward.”

He grinned. “My mom doesn’t get out as much as she used to, and it was cool to see her excited to get dressed up and all.” His fingers skimmed over the titles and landed on a copy of the movie Dil To Pagal Hai. He murmured “aha” before pulling the movie off the shelf and holding it up against his chest.

She looked at the cover, and an image of it lying in the dirt flashed in her mind: she’d buried it with Raj’s collection.

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