LOVELORN

42|Reunions & picnics

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THE FOLLOWING day we drove to the airport to pick up Adya. My dad was sitting behind the wheel, with my mom in the passenger seat and Avi and I in the back. I shut my eyes, tempted to fall asleep. It took about an hour to get to the airport and I hated being stuck in an enclosed space with my family. I wanted to be there to greet Adya right after she'd landed, though, so I needed to make the sacrifice.

"Did you clean the guest room like we asked you to?" My ma asked me and Avi, looking over her shoulder.

"We did," Avi reassured her.

"And your own rooms?" She sent me a pointed look as she said that. My room was often a mess because I lacked the energy to clean it. It wasn't like my ma cared about the reason I didn't clean it, she just cared that it was 'not presentable for a guest' and that I was a 'good for nothing sloppy mess.' Well, she hadn't straight-up said the latter, but she'd implied it.

"Yes, Ma," I answered because it was obvious she was mainly talking to me. It was the truth, I had cleaned it, regardless, she looked dubious.

"I'll confirm that later."

I anxiously hoped it was up to her standards and that she wouldn't intentionally seek out flaws in my cleaning. You never knew with her.

As we neared the airport, Adya sent me a message saying that she'd landed. I told my parents as much, feeling the anticipation rise inside me. The airport parking was relatively packed, but we eventually managed to find a decent place to park.

After shooting Adya a text that we were there, I followed my family inside. It took some searching, but we spotted my cousin eventually. She brightened when her eyes landed on me, excitedly waving and hurrying over, crushing me in a hug.

"I've missed you so much!" She squealed, tightening her grip on me and then releasing me.

Politely, she greeted my parents with a bow and a 'thank you for having me.' After that, she hugged Avi as well. Adya was probably my only family member that genuinely liked me and didn't praise Avi like their life depended on it. The last time I'd seen her was when we'd visited family in India during the summer, so it had been a while.

"Let me take your suitcase," my dad offered and she thanked him, but insisted it was fine. After some back-and-forth of 'I insist', he eventually got the suitcase. I handled her bag, not letting her get a word of refusal in.

We made our way to the parking lot, with mainly Adya and I chatting on the way. Dad hoisted her suitcase into the trunk and I put her bag down as well, then we drove off.

"I heard you got into Brown," my ma said.

Adya beamed. "I did! I'm very excited and incredibly grateful. It's been my dream for years. I'm still in disbelief, to be honest."

"That's understandable. It's a fantastic accomplishment. Both you and Avi are exceptional students, it's what you deserve," my dad praised, pride lacing his voice.

I tuned out the conversation, keeping my gaze fixed on the road. I was quite pointedly not part of their talk, anyway. A considerable part of the rest of the drive was them discussing college. It was a topic I'd wanted to avoid, but it was impossible to. As long as they didn't say anything to me, I could pretend like I wasn't there. It wasn't like they wanted me there. They never did.