What a Desi Girl Wants by Sabina Khan

Author:Sabina Khan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

I’m not sure when I finally fell asleep, but I wake up feeling horrible. I have a crick in my neck and my arm is numb. I drag myself downstairs, and to my relief the dining room is empty. I don’t have the bandwidth to deal with any other surprises Dad or Dadi might have in store.

I’m taking my last sip of coffee, trying not to move my neck and generally bemoaning my current state.

“Good morning.”

I whip my head around at the sound of Sufiya’s voice. “Owwww.” My eyes tear up from the pain in my neck.

Sufiya hurries to my side, looking alarmed. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“I slept funny, that’s all,” I say while simultaneously rubbing my neck.

“Here, let me.” Sufiya digs around in her purse and produces a tiny container. She takes off the lid and dips her finger in the contents. “Tiger balm,” she announces, placing her hands gently on my neck. As she begins to massage it, I let out a groan because it feels incredible.

“Wow, you’re very good at this,” I say. My cheeks are burning as I suppress another groan because I’m pretty sure this whole scenario is quickly becoming extremely awkward. And the last thing I want is to make her uncomfortable.

“I do this for Dadima all the time,” she says, really digging in.

Awesome. Now she thinks I’m just like my seventy-five-year-old grandmother.

“I think I’m good, thank you. It feels so much better now.”

She stops and looks at me closely. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, thank you so much.”

“I’m just going to wash my hands and then I’ll be right back.”

“No, that’s okay,” I say quickly. “I’m sure you have work to do.”

She looks at me and I can tell she’s confused by my abrupt tone. I didn’t mean for the words to come out the way they did, but it’s done now.

“I don’t mind …” She starts to leave, then seems to change her mind. “Why did you text me last night?

“Oh, I’m sorry about that.” I study my toes intently. “I shouldn’t have bothered you.”

“Please stop saying that,” she says. “You’re not bothering me.”

I look up at her, debating whether I should speak my mind or just let this go. But then again, I’ve never been good at letting things go.

“I, um … I was just thinking that maybe you’ve only been hanging out with me because Dadi asked you to.” There. I said it, and now I’m watching her expression closely to see if I’m right.

But she’s smiling at me. That’s a good sign. Or maybe she’s going to tell me that she was only doing her job. For the love of god, say something.

“You’re funny,” she says, coming back toward me. “I have been hanging around because Dadima asked me to.”

I knew it. My cheeks are on fire again because now she knows I’ve been thinking about her and she probably feels sorry for me.

“Well, I—”

“But that’s not the only reason.” She has this look in her eyes that I can’t describe, but it makes me all warm inside.

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