One Night Only ✓

14 / collision course

"That's your body telling you to stay," she said. "I can't believe it's been a month, nearly. I don't want you to go. You're supposed to rest when you'll ill. Maybe you'll have to rest for, oh, I don't know ... another few weeks? Your body is telling you not to leave. " She wore a wicked grin and Ishaana chuckled weakly.

"Sorry, Pri," Ishaana said. "If anything, I think my body's telling me not to be a vegan. I'm not cut out for this life. I need meat." She pursed her lips, eyebrows raised. The change in diet was still something of a shock to her system, which had yet to get used to the lack of every food she had shovelled into her body for the past couple of years. It had been a long time since she had relied so heavily on someone else's cooking, not since her father had died.

Priya shrugged off her bag and her blazer in a pool on the floor before she joined her sister on the bed, crossing her legs and holding onto her feet. "Actually, I could sleep right now. Why is school so draining? And then they want me to do homework too?" An expression of utmost disgust crossed her face and Ishaana chuckled. She gathered up the fruitless revision notes that she had fallen asleep amongst, shoving them into a file that went under her bed.

"Screw homework," she said, pulling a face, and Priya nodded.

"Screw homework. Except I can't, because then I fail and if I fail, then Suni gets that disappointed look in her eyes that she tries to hide, but she's not very good at hiding it. And that really sucks. Plus, my teachers actually like me," Priya said, happily rambling away as she lay down beside her sister, her arms behind her head. "It's quite useful, so I reckon I'll keep doing the work and they'll keep liking me, and it'll pay off in the future."

"It will," Ishaana confirmed with a nod. "I did that, to be honest. Worked like a charm. Build up a relationship and then exploit it for all its worth." She grinned at her memories of secondary school, when she had managed to balance the reputation as something of a teachers' pet while simultaneously being a cheeky child who could get away with murder. Somehow, she had gained her teachers' trust and respect and that had proved to be an invaluable asset.

"Sounds like a plan," Priya said, and she let out a sigh as though the day had defeated her.

"You ok?" Ishaana asked, looking over at her little sister. It was easy to forget how young she was sometimes, only two years into the seven that made up high school, when she was so mature. Tragedy could do that to a person, she thoughts. While she had internalised every emotion she had felt, festering on rage and grief and despair, her sister had turned those feelings into energy that she seemed to exert all the time.

"Mmhmm. Just tired. Is uni this exhausting?"

"Nope," Ishaana said, "though sometimes I get tired of lying in front of the TV for, like, four hours in a row every evening." She laughed and added, "I've developed a horrible habit for trash TV. It's all Mel's fault. She's a terrible influence."

"Sounds good to me," Priya said. "I already watch trashy TV. Just not when Suni's in the room. She hates that kind of thing."

"Me too," Ishaana said, chuckling. She had always criticised the kind of television that had now become her nightly staple, idly melting her brain away as she watched reality shows and competitions that required very little attention and provided a perfect getaway from the intensity of her lectures and seminars.

Priya sighed. "I can't wait to go to uni," she mused, letting out a slow breath as she stared up at the ceiling, following her sister's gaze.

"Don't wish your life away.

"You sound like Mum."

Ishaana caught herself, hearing what she had said. Priya was right: their mother had uttered those words a million times, whenever either of them had wished to be older, pining after the future with no idea that it would be one without their parents. The expression had only proved to be more and more true as Ishaana had grown older. She regretted every time that, as a child, she had wished the time away. Now it was gone, and she ached to be young again.