MIDSUMMER CRUSH

Chapter 12

Derek came in and pulled me out of my thoughts.  “let’s get back!” he said and snapped his fingers when a lady peeped in.

“Hey James, I mailed the pictures you needed! Remember you owe me big time,” she said and stood in the doorway.

“Thanks ,babe ! I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he replied and winked at her while I smelled something weird.

“James? You’re name is Derek, right ?”  I raised a quizzical brow and stared at him.

Derek shifted in his seat and showed slight discomfort, while the lady moved her gaze  over me. “Of course he’s not, he’s James,”  she said and startled me.

“Na na na….you got it all mixed up, I am Derek….The Derek,” he sprung off his seat and stood beside her.

“No you’re not…you…,” she was about to say something when Derek covered her mouth and laughed hysterically.

“You see we RJ’s have this option of concealing our identities. It’s like authors have pen name, we have fake names….right, Sasha?” he pulled back his hand from her mouth and smiled.

“Sasha’s name on air is, Brinda….remember RJ Brinda who plays the late night party mixes?” he said and sounded convincing.

“Oh you’re Rj Brinda? I used to listen to your show once upon a time,” I said and felt excited  on seeing her in person.

“Once upon a time, wow, guess my show ratings are falling drastically. By the way, it’s true we RJ’s have different names here, but James’s on air name is no…” she was about to say something when he pushed her out the door.

“Not rhyming! She meant not rhyming at all. Hers goes like Sa-sha & Brin-Da whereas mine makes no sense though  Thames would rhyme better with James, don’t you think so?” he explained and freaked me.

“Uhm…whatever, shall we continue with the narration?” I suggested and wondered how Derek turned out to be such a dope.

“And we’re on in 3…2..1…” he signalled me to start where I had left.

 “Aariz….Aariz Haddad, from U. A.E?” Giselle raised her brows and pointed at him.

“Yes, I’m Aariz….but how do you know me?” He was taken aback.

“Uhm…Sorry for startling you like that. I’m Giselle, your International  Student Counsellor…” her voice trailed off as she admired his height and physique. “Have we met before…?” she enquired suspiciously while he continued staring at her.

“Erm…nope ma’am, this is my first visit to New Jersey,” he smiled and revealed his dimples before Giselle felt butterflies in her stomach.

“He looks hotter in person…but I’m sure we’ve met before,” she thought and played with her hair.

“Well then welcome to St. George…oh wait what was that….yup, Maasa el kheer and marHaban!” she greeted him in what little broken Arabic she had memorised on the Internet.

“Maasa el Kheer! Hal tatakallamu alloghah  alarabiah?” he replied and confused her.

“Ya I know, the weather in New Jersey is awesome,” Giselle smiled and rolled her eyes hoping that she had answered him correctly.

“No, I meant do you speak Arabic?” he smirked after realising she had just memorised a phrase.

“Oh that….Erm nope, I speak pure English, but you can always turn to me for help and guidance. By the way you do understand English, right?” Giselle asked and looked at him suspiciously.

“Nope, I’m afraid I come from a land where citizens don’t communicate in English so technically I’m alien to the universally spoken language,” he said in one breath and startled her.

“Erm…you said that in English…” she cringed and realised that he was teasing her.

“Caught you!” he chuckled and embarrassed her.

“Well, you had me there for a moment though,” she adjusted her glasses and gestured him to follow her as she briefed him about the institute and its students.

“Right now we’re on a winter break so you may not see many students loitering in and around campus, but you may find some in your dorm. Any questions?” she asked as they reached the boys’ dorm.

“Yup, aren’t you a bit too young for an ISC?” he enquired and noticed her cringe.

“Uh…ya I’m just a year younger than you, but you can trust me,” she answered casually, and avoided eye contact.

“You found that in my enrolment form?” he asked while she continued darting her eyes. For some reason she found it hard to keep eyes contact with him. “How much do you know about me?” he added and looked at her suspiciously.

“Uh…How  much you revealed in your form…” she answered and wondered what was going on in his mind.

“Anything else?” she enquired and studied his expression when he wasn’t looking.

“Where are your Greek  letter organizations?” he asked and caught her checking him out.

“Oh, you  mean you want to join the Honour’s society?” Giselle hurriedly looked elsewhere and blushed.

“Nope, I’m planning to join the Alpha Epsilon Fraternity,” he said and stunned her. Joining a frat meant he was a legacy,  because the frat brothers only accepted students who had a legacy, and as far as Giselle had read, Aariz’s father was a mere trader and was nowhere close to being a  part of any Greek organization at St. George before , so was the same with his mother.

 “You sure you meant the Alpha Epsilon?  There are many non Greek  organizations too, maybe you’re confusing them with Alpha Epsilon,” she tried to explain but he had made up his mind.

“No, I’m aware of all the organizations and chose to join the Frat brothers,” he crossed his hands and looked at his watch to see the time.

Giselle noticed his expensive watch and doubted his financial status. “Is he a legacy? If he really is, why didn’t he mention it in the enrolment form? Oh my God, if a frat brother sees him talking to a nobody like me, his chances of joining them will look slim,” She got paranoid.

“Are you with me? You look spaced out,” Aariz stated and snapped her out of her thoughts.

“Erm…nope, I just realized I had other commitments. The Greek registration office is behind the community hall in the west, see you later,” She said hurriedly and turned to leave.

“Hey wait!” he caught her wrist and stopped her.

Giselle felt the strength of his hand over hers and quivered, before he let go. “Sorry about that,” he apologised like a gentleman for grabbing her hand while her heart skipped a beat. “Will we meet again? Uh I mean….you’re a sorority sister, right? So if I need your help I can find you in the Kappa Sigma's house?” he paused while Giselle wondered how to respond to that.

The Kappa Sigma sisters were legacies too and had no room for simpletons like Giselle and her friends. They were the privileged and creamy layer of St. George. “Can’t he see me wearing glasses? A sorority pledge has enough money to get a Lasik done,” Giselle muttered and wondered what he would think of her once he realized she wasn’t a sorority girl.

“Erm…I’m not from Kappa Sigma…” she gulped and darted her eyes.

“Then you’re from the Honour’s society?” he raised his brows.

“Nope, neither one! I’m just a student and a temporary  ISC, but don’t worry, you’ll get a Frat brother  to guide you further,” she cringed in embarrassment and replied.

“Meaning we won’t meet again?” he crunched his brows and sounded low.

“Uhm…yup kind of…but we’re in the same class, so  I’ll see you around soon, I guess,” with that said, she fled from there without turning back.

Amazed that she interacted with a potential Alpha Epsilon member, she mused over why all the hot guys ended up in a elite fraternity. St. George was known for three things that made it the most sought after college, they were the Greek letter organizations, the Annual festival and the straight A’s students. Giselle was counted amongst the straight A’s, but wasn’t a member of any Greek letter organizations., though she did get an invitation to join the honour’s society, but declined at the start of her freshman year.

 The fraternities and sororities had strict rules and code of conduct, on account of which Gisellle wondered if she would ever get a chance to see him again, because everyone knew once a student joined a Greek Letter organization he/she hardly attended class.

Two weeks passed, Giselle balanced her studies and ISC role side by side. Prof. Bean had set the re-examination papers for the ones who had failed earlier and had already announced the  dates that weren’t far  away.

Sitting in the garden next to the tennis lawn, Giselle wrecked her brain calculating balance sheets and budgets. She had forgotten all about Aariz until they happened to meet again. “Hey What’s up?” Aariz approached her in his tennis shorts and his Alpha Epsilon jersey.

Giselle glanced up and squint her eyes as the sunrays blinded her vision. She recoiled when she recognized him and looked around to see if any Frat brother was nearby. “Is something bothering you?” he felt awkward and stared at her.

“Nothing, so I see they accepted you…I mean you got recruited by the Alpha Epsilon,” she broke  her silence.

“Yes, I did! The Frat brothers are quite welcoming I must say, they made me feel at home the moment I registered,” he exclaimed in enthusiasm, while she looked on.

“Neat…so now that rush week is over  your brothers started briefing you with the do’s and don’ts of being a member?”  she enquired suspiciously.

“Nope, but I hope they’re easy to follow,” he smiled and bent down. “So what are you doing here? Isn’t there a whole week  left before classes  begin?”he asked after noticing her books and calculator.

“I’m preparing for my exam…Oops!” she blurted and realised what she had revealed.

“Exams? During winter break?” he gave an absentminded look.

“Uh..This isn’t an academic exam…it’s erm…an entrance exam for…for the post of ISC!” she made up something stupid and prayed Aariz would buy it.

“Oh wow so you’re planning to be a permanent ISC? We need to celebrate!” he winked and made her blush.

“Uhm…that’s if I pass…” Giselle faked a laugh and darted her eyes, for some apparent reason she  couldn’t seem to look into his eyes. Every time he made eye contact with her she would look at random things around.

 “Hmm…Giselle…my eyes are here, why do you keep looking around when I’m talking to you?” he said and caught her off guard.  “You’re an ISC, you should be knowing its bad manners in my country to avoid eye contact,” he sounded serious and made her nervous.

“Oh…I..I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you…I just…I didn’t know…” Giselle stammered  and felt jittery as she spoke. She tried meeting his eyes, but his piercing gaze was too intimidating for her.

It wasn’t long before he broke into laughter and confused her, “Relax I made that up, I was just having some fun,” he chuckled and twirled his tennis racquet, while Gisele turned red in  embarrassment.

“So would you mind joining me for a game of tennis?” he smiled and brought forward his hand.

Giselle was too tongue tied to react. “Well, I’ll take that as a yes then,” he smirked and took her breath away when he gently  held her hand and helped her stand up.

“I’m not sure about this, I guess I should study for now,” she recoiled and withdrew her hand.

“Oh come on, studies can wait, I bet  you’ll pass it anyway,” he winked and insisted on her playing at least one game on the court.

Giselle was reminded about  her ex the moment he said that. Following him into the tennis court, she compared her ex flame with Aariz and wondered if he were the same.

“You ready?” he enquired from across the net, before serving the ball.

Being an amateur, she played well and impressed him on the court until her mind wandered and she got hit by the ball on her head.

“Aasef!” he apologised and rushed towards her. "You okay?" he asked worrieldy.

Unable to conjure what hit her, she struggled to snap out of her daze and looked up. She couldn’t see anything clearly until Aariz picked up her fallen glasses and helped her put it on. “Shall I take you to the nurse?” he asked worriedly while she touched her temples and adjusted her glasses.

“No, I’m alright! It was my mistake I didn’t see the ball,” she smiled sheepishly and composed herself when all of a sudden someone called out to him.

“Aariz!”  Zehara, the popular pledge from the Kappa Sigma came running into his arms.

“You enrolled two weeks ago and didn’t even bother informing me?” she complained and pressed her body against him while embracing.

Aariz felt uncomfortable with her public display of affection and pulled away from her embrace. “Zehara, behave! We’re on campus,” he warned her softly.

“Sigh! You left your home, but not your conservative mentality, eh?” she grumbled and said it out loud. “You should learn how to be liberal like me,” she ran her fingers through her hair and smirked.

“Well, I’m not surprised,” he commented after noticing that she wasn’t wearing her hijab.

Giselle looked at the two and guessed that they knew each other since long. While both began conversing  in Arabic, Giselle felt ignored and realised it was best to leave without interrupting them.

Leaving the spare racquet he had offered, she left the court when he suddenly called out to her. “Hey, sorry about that! Zehara came out of nowhere and I forgot about the game,” he explained while  she sighed.

“It’s alright, I need to get back to my books anyway! Thanks for the game though, it was fun,”  she smiled and walked away but not before overhearing Zehara cautioning him about talking to random students who were  not members of any Greek Organization.

“Whoa, b***h alert!” Derek interrupted and broke the flow yet again.

“Derek, don’t say such things on air!” I cringed in my seat and looked for the button to stop  broadcasting live.

“What are you afraid that she’ll come charging at you?”Derek laughed and teased me while we were still live on air.

I signalled him to off the whole thing or just break for a commercial with hand gestures, but the dork embarrassed me further. “Aha,  so you’re saying to shut this thing coz you’re chickening out! Relax, the b***h has no clue where you stay even if she’s listening to this,” he said and aggravated me.

Without thinking much, I lunged forward and caught is neck, before he felt suffocated and switched over to the commercials.

“Women relax, you could have just told me to stop it!” he complained and ran his fingers over his sprained neck.

“I did, but you weren’t listening! It’s my story, I call the shots here, not you,” I warned him and wrinkled my nose.

“Jeez! She’s showing star tantrums already…” he muttered and made a face.

“Yes Mister, and it doesn’t end here. You know what, I’ve got a better plan to share my store,” I gave him a nasty stare and stormed out  of the studio.

Derek followed me out and kept begging to return. “Don’t tell me you’re going to leave us again!” he panicked, but I had other plans.

“Not literally! The deal is still on, just the mode is changed,” I said and confused him. “Meaning, I’ll not do it live but instead give you a pre recorded version of my story. That way I can have control over what to edit when,” I said and assured him that I would hand over the tape to his studio soon.

“Well, that makes sense since you can’t spend the whole night in our studio, but how am I to trust you?” he frowned and looked at me suspiciously.

“Just the way I trust you’re really Derek,” I replied and noticed him giving up.

Having said enough, I left their studio and headed back home.

Aariz’s POV (From here on some chapters will have Aariz’s narration too)

“Hey man I’ve got two bad news for you,” James called and irked me on the phone.

“I’m guessing the first one is about she walking out of the studio, isn’t it?” I frowned and answered.

“Yea,  but how did you guess? Anyway, the other bad news is that…erm…I have a feeling she knows I’m not you,” he said while I controlled my temper.

“I gave you one simple job to do and you ruined it! James , I chose you for the job coz your voice matches mine, but no! With your dumb antics, you made me sound lame and gave her reasons to doubt your identity,” I complained and felt like banging the phone.

“Whoa, I agreed to this only for you and mind you she got pissed because I called that chick a b***h and not because of my antics,” James justified while I calmed down.

“Well, James, the one you called a b***h was my ex- wife…” I said and noticed the line go silent on the other end.

“Hello, you there james?” I asked and wondered what happened.

“Erm…I …Uhmm…I’m getting another call, talk to you latter,” he said and hung  up on me.

Great   I was so close to hearing her side of the story and James ruined it. I cursed my luck and  turned off the radio. I never really got to know whether Giselle liked me or not. The day she unknowingly revealed about having a crush on me, it left me wanting to for more. Why didn’t she ever say it then? What had stopped her from approaching me? Though I had tried hard to drop hint’s it seemed from her version of the story that she never really understood that I liked her too.

Though I know she still likes me even after all these years, I’d rather wait and hear her full confession. But now that James ruined it, I’d have to find other ways into letting her spill the beans.

While Naman tried hard to sleep, I kept thinking about ways to get her into sharing her story when all of a sudden I heard some weird noises coming from out.

I opened the door cautiously and found Giselle struggling to open her door. It looked like she was worked out after all that confession on air. “Darn it, stupid door!” she cussed and kicked the door before she caught me  watching her.

“Oh, sorry did I wake you up?” she cringed and ran her fingers through her hair.

“No, I was awake when I heard loud noises from out. Do you need any help?” I enquired and knew she would say no.

“No, I’ll manage! I guess my keys got misplaced, so I was trying to open it with the old one, but…” she made a face that stated she needed help but was too shy to ask for it.

“Let me try,” I offered to help and stepped out.

Her old keys wouldn’t work no matter how much I tried. “Shall I get the spares from Mrs. Partridge?” I suggested after giving up.

“No use, once she sleeps only her alarm can wake her up. This isn’t the first time it has happened,” she sighed and lowered her gaze.

“What do you do then?”I asked feeling curious.

“Nothing, I sleep on the stairs till dawn,” she casually said and surprised me.

“Well, you need not do that tonight. You can spend the night at my place,” I said and noticed her blush.

“No it’s fine, I do that every time. It’s really safe out here, don’t worry about me,” she refused and darted her eyes.

“My concise won’t let me sleep knowing a woman is sitting outside her house the whole night. I insist you come in and sleep in Naman’s room, he won’t mind, please,” I requested and swore I would pull her in if she refused any further.

“Alright….” She whispered knowing that she had no other option but to listen to me.

“Good!” I turned and reached for the doorknob before realizing I had locked myself out. Giselle noticed me searching for the keys in my pocket. “Is everything alright?” she enquired and pursed her lips.

“All’s cool. I’ve got this!” I assured her and rang the doorbell.

“Naman open the door, it’s dad here!” I called out to him but he didn’t respond.

“Here, take my phone,” Giselle passed on her phone to me.

I heaved a sigh of relief when he answered my call. “Naman, it’s dad here, please open the door and let us in,” I said and prayed he would obey, but whom was I kidding anyway.

“Why did you go out?” he questioned.

“That’s not the point, just come over and open the door, I locked myself out accidentally,” I said and felt frustrated.

“I can’t,” he answered and startled me.

“What do you mean you can’t?” I asked.

“I’m watching Dora, she needs my help to explore,” he said.

“You aren’t supposed to watch cartoons at night, switch off the T.V and open the door,” I yelled.

“No…” he replied and hung up on me.

Knowing how adamant my son was, I sighed and returned the phone to her. “I guess I’ll be having company on the stairs tonight,” Giselle let out a soft laugh and sat on the stairs that ran up.

“I’m sorry, my son has his own ways at times. It’s hard to handle him as a single parent,” I sat beside her and apologised.

“I completely understand, but I’m sure he will listen to you some day. I guess it’s all because he misses Zehara,” she said and began playing subway surfer on her phone.

“Maybe, but he’s never seen his mother,” I said while she continued playing. There was silence between us for the next twenty minutes, neither she nor I spoke. While I stared at my shoes in boredom, Giselle kept herself busy with that annoying game.