fifteen
2144 Words
The day before the exams was a Sunday. Appie asked Bee to come over. The two were in her room, studying. And Appie’s parents were enjoying their weekend in the living room. When Appie and Bee walked out for lunch, this was the scene they saw - Artie was sitting on one end of the three seater couch; Patty was lying on her side, using her husband’s thigh as a pillow; and the couple was watching TV.
“Are you done studying?” Artie asked. He saw the children first.
“No,” Appie said. “We’re taking a break for lunch.”
“Oh,” Artie said.
“Lunch isn’t ready,” Patty said, without changing her posture.
“Do you see the time?” Appie asked.
“I forgot how,” Patty said.
“The clocks aren’t working,” Artie said. “I’ll change the batteries later.”
Appie looked up at the clock on the wall in the living room. It was working just fine. Another day, she would have laughed and joined her parents.
“You’re crazy,” Appie said.
“You’re scared,” Artie said. There wasn’t a hint of hesitation as he exposed his daughter.
Appie glared. But she was helpless. “I’m hungry.”
“Wait,” Artie said.
“He’s hungry too,” Appie said.
“Ten minutes,” Patty said. She was looking at her phone.
“You ordered?” Appie asked. “What if I fall sick? We never order before the exams.”
“You won’t,” Patty said. “We ordered from a safe restaurant. The food is safe. You will be fine.”
“Why?” Appie asked.
“We have guests,” Patty said.
“And we were feeling too lazy to cook a feast,” Artie continued.
“And we cannot have an esteemed guest eat anything less,” Patty finished.
“So you ordered a feast?” Appie asked.
“Absolutely,” Patty said.
“If only your head was as good at studies,” Artie said with a sad sigh.
Bee laughed.
As if they were waiting for just that, Patty and Artie burst out laughing too.
Appie was the only one not amused. She wore a frown as she sat on the ground, leaning against the couch her parents were on. She leaned against her father’s leg. And slid down as her mother pushed her head so the TV wasn’t blocked.
Bee sat in a free chair.
They were watching an old movie, a classic released forty years ago. It was a movie that featured in pretty much every list of the best movies ever made in the country. And it was a movie that was a favourite of every one of the family of three.
“The first time Appie saw this movie, she was three,” Patty said. She spoke over the advertisements. And the story in her voice was definitely much more interesting than the advertisements. At least, Bee, who was the intended audience, felt so. “All through the final act of the movie, she was laughing so hard, she was hiccuping. And still she wouldn’t stop. Do you like this movie too?”
“Yes,” Bee admitted. “Not as much as Appie. I don’t think I laughed that hard.”
“Not anyone can laugh that hard,” Artie said. “It’s a gift. Yours is obviously your smarts. Our sweet Appie makes up for what she lacks in smarts with the laughs.”
“Can you be any more shameless,” Appie grumbled.
Thankfully, the conversation was cut short by the delivery. Lunch had arrived.
There was far too much food for the four of them.
“It’s fine,” Artie said. “Eat until we’re stuffed. We’ll have leftovers for dinner. All meals for the day are covered.”
“Yeah, we’re that miserly,” Appie said.
“We’re that good, we don’t waste food,” Patty said.
“How come I never knew that?” Appie asked.
“Of course you wouldn’t,” Artie said. “What do you think happens to all the food you leave behind after every meal?”
“I didn’t know our garbage bin was a member of the family,” Appie said.
“That’s the trouble with identical twins,” Patty said. “You sometimes get confused between seeing yourself in a mirror and looking at your twin.”
And then, there was laughter. Very loud. A lot of it. Made the food tastier.
They all ate until they were stuffed. The tummies were bulged. They couldn’t move. The best they could do was make it to the living room. And there, they lay sprawled on the ground. The family of three was on the floor. Artie offered his two arms as pillows to the two women of his family.
“You can take the couch,” Patty said to Bee.
And Bee was happy to accept the offer. He didn’t want to disturb the beautiful portrait of the family.
“So what’s your story?” Patty asked.
The TV was still on. A different movie had started. The volume was high enough so they could hear the movie and low enough so the conversation wasn’t interrupted.
“Well,” Bee started.
Appie cut in. And took over. “You know the story,” she said.
“We don’t, actually,” Artie said. “You can tell us now.”
“Is this what you wanted to tell us?” Patty asked.
“No,” Appie said. “Yes, this is a part of it. There’s also more.”
“Let’s start with that,” Patty said.
“I want to study further,” Appie said. “After college. Bee is applying for Masters. In Fyne University. He’ll get accepted. Obviously. I want to go too.”
“Okay,” Patty said. “I’m happy Bee will be there to look after you.”
“It’s not always him looking after me, you know,” Appie said. “I take care of him too.”
“She does,” Bee said.
“I can imagine that,” Patty said.
“I’m curious,” Artie said. “I trust Patty. She’s smarter than me. Has better eyes. So, I’m sure you’re great. But I want to see too. How do you have these two so enamoured?”
The women were silent. Bee was hoping for one of them to help him. But with none coming, he had to take up the question.
“I don’t know. Really. Maybe I’m just charming.”
“That you are,” Appie agreed.
“Definitely,” Patty said. “Very charming.”
“We need to get back to studying,” Appie said. “My grades need to go up significantly. I’ve got to get accepted to the same program. So, I need to be as good as Bee. We need to study for the exams.”
And without waiting for her parents’ reply, Appie got up. And dragged Bee to her room.
“I guess the story is for another day,” Artie grumbled.
-
The exams took up a week. This time was a novel experience for Appie. She had never been so comfortable during exams. She was all nerves before the start of the first exam on Monday. But when she realised she could answer most questions, the fear and the anxiety left her. And the rest of the exams went by like a breeze.
She was in the same room as Bee. Her seat a row behind, and two columns to the left. She could see him by turning her head. And every time she did, every time she saw him writing with the whole of his concentration, she found herself smiling. She felt comfortable. She felt warm.
After the last exam, as she walked out, she was grinning. Along with everyone. And she rushed over to Bee’s side. She grabbed his arm. Hugged it. And gushed.
“That was the best exams ever. It’s all you.”
Bee smiled at her. “It’s all you.”
“Fine. It’s us. All us. Happy?”
“Yeah.”
It was like the two were in a bubble, separated from the rest of the world. And no one could enter. No one could interrupt.
Until Nina came over.
As always, they were going out to celebrate the end of the exams and the end of the semester. Appie was excited. She didn’t let go of Bee. He was coming along. And she wasn’t taking no for an answer. It would be his first time coming with them to the celebratory meal. The last four times, he left after saying goodbye. Not this time.
Appie had Bee glued to her side throughout. They went to a new restaurant, picked by one of the boys. They had already made a reservation. Adding one chair wasn’t difficult. Appie took up one corner. And with Bee next to her, the corner was just theirs.
They were loud, without disturbing the other patrons. It was truly a celebratory meal. They talked about everything under the sun, except for the exams. They weren’t all on the same conversation all the time. Smaller groups sprung up, with different topics of conversation. Then died down. A while later, other small groups sprung up. If anyone tried, they wouldn’t be able to keep up with every minute of every conversation. And so, nobody tried.
In the end, however, the conversation inevitably arrived at the trip. They would be leaving in two days. Everyone at the table was coming. And everyone was making plans.
“We’ll see you at the train station,” Appie said, pointing at Bee and herself. “We’ll be in time for the train. No worries.”
Not everyone was pleased. But no one spoke about it. And everyone acted blind to the frowns showing blatantly on their faces.
The plans were set when everyone got up to leave.
They were going to the cinemas from the restaurant. A movie was a must after the long, gruelling week.
“We aren’t coming,” Appie said. She grabbed Bee’s hand, and pulled him aside, and showed him her phone. “Other plans.”
“Other plans?” Nina asked.
“Not mine,” Appie said, throwing up her arms. “Mom and dad. They’ve made plans. A surprise for me, supposedly. I need to go.” She looked at Bee, and said, “Drop me home?”
“Okay,” Bee said. “Let’s go.”
“Yeah,” Appie said. “Can’t be late.”
Once Appie brought up her parents, there was nothing anyone could say. They had questions, obviously. What was on her phone? What did she show Bee? Why couldn’t she show the rest of them? Why did her parents prepare a surprise this time? What was going on?
No one could voice the questions. Frankly, they didn’t have the opportunity. Appie and Bee were gone too quick. They could only sigh in defeat, and continue with the plan without Appie.
Appie couldn’t care about anyone else right now. Her mother messaged her about the plan for the night. A family dinner. With Bee’s family. Reservations were made. The two families had already spoken. Everything was taken care of. Appie and Bee had to only attend. And enjoy dinner. How could Appie be in the mood to care about anything and anyone else after that?
“How are you so calm?” She asked Bee in the bus.
Bee shrugged. “It’ll be fine,” he said.
Appie shook her head. Leaned against him. Rested her head on his shoulder. They were sitting together on the bus. And by now, this was how they sat. Appie liked it. And Bee had gotten used to it. It felt natural now.
“I hope you are right,” Appie said. Then, a moment later, continued, much more excitedly. “Actually, no. It shouldn’t be fine. It should be something. Why am I worried? It should be you who’s worried.” She sat up, and turned toward him. She held his face with her hands, and leaned in, so their faces were inches apart. “Our families are meeting for dinner. We will be a topic of discussion. Our relationship. I hope they say we should get engaged. And married after the last day of college. So, we’ll do Masters as husband and wife. How amazing would that be?”
“Stop dreaming,” he said.
“I refuse. I will dream. I will pray for my dream to come true.”
He had no answer.
Appie was grinning the rest of the way. And Bee looked the same calm. Who knew how calm he actually was inside?
- Writer
