OVER MY HEAD

OVER MY HEAD, Chapter 1

There's a shuffle and voices on the other end of the line. "Sangeet. This is your father. Get home now. No fuss." 

"But-" The line goes dead. I close the phone and bite my lip. 

Something's up at home. Something has been for some time. There have been lots of phone calls from relatives in India. A number of times I've seen the light under my parents' bedroom door late at night, and heard them talking in worried tones. Last week when I asked my parents if anything was wrong, Dad said, "Nothing, why?" Then he gave me this horrible fake smile, showing more teeth than necessary. 

Part of me wants to race back to see what's going on. Most of me wants to stay put. But, as usual, Dad didn't exactly give me a choice. 

So much for karma. I hand Megan her phone. "I have to go." 

"And I gotta work." Megan pulls a Planet Smoothie cap from her bag. 

"Leaving me. Again," David says dramatically. "Forever departing." He spreads his arms like a Shakespearean actor. Despite the 85-degree weather, brainiac David is wearing his usual long corduroy pants and T-shirt. Today the shirt, which is sweat-stained, says "Happy Days" in script. Still, Megan looks at him adoringly. 

"It's just a few hours, my little David Duckie," she says. She ties her shiny shoulder-length black hair into a bun and puts on her cap. 

"Hours and hours, my dearest Mrs. Tiggy-winkle," he says. 

I try not to gag. 

David turns to me. "Sang, you are the witness to our forced separation. 'Tis all a plot of her parents to keep young lovers apart." 

This sounds paranoid but he's actually right. Megan's parents-Drs. Chung and Chung, licensed psychologists-are brilliant masters of manipulation. First they present their daughter with a ticket to a two-week teen group trip to Europe in August. Then they ask her to pay for a portion of it by working, to which she eagerly agrees. So now, instead of being with David all the time, she's going to be spending every waking hour crushing ice and fruit in a blender to make money. Clever. Clever indeed. 

"Adieu," David says. He kisses Megan on the cheek. 

As soon as he wanders away, I say, "So? Did you tell David yet?" 

"No, but I can't blurt out 'I love you' just anywhere." 

"Megan Chung in love," I say and sigh. 

"Oh, Sang, didn't Gary ask you out yet?" She's staring at me with her large harp seal eyes. "What is with this guy? You two have been flirting for forever." 

"He's just shy about taking that first step. Anyway, he's really close to asking me. I can feel it." 

"Well if he waits any longer, you're going to end up feeling what it's like to go dateless to that party." 

"Bite your tongue." Anna Kaprowski's seventeenth birthday party is in a few weeks, it's going to be elegant, and practically everyone is going with a date. 

Including me. Right after Gary asks me out. And if he does it fast, I'll have time to run home before my dad gets too annoyed. Then everyone will be happy. Especially me. 

Megan says, "Why don't you just tell Gary you're crazy about him? Guys like that. Remember, I asked David out." 

Megan's idea of asking David out was to say, 'Would you kiss a girl who just ate cheese?' Still, the answer was yes. 

"No, I couldn't," I say and sneak a peek at Gary, who is now leaning back with his elbows on the table. 

"You have to talk to him," Megan says. "We're technically seniors now, right? So stop being so passive."