My So-Called Bollywood Life(3)

“Forget about the prophecy and how much it sucks that you believed it,” Bridget said. “Eat ice cream and pizza, and watch your favorite movies. We’ll get frappes and binge on some new show. You know, the normal coping things.”

    Winnie stood and brushed the dirt off the seat of her pants. “I’ve never been dumped before. This blows.”

“Welcome to my life.”

Winnie should’ve never ignored Bridget’s calls. She needed her bestie more than she needed revenge. “Thanks for being my best freaking friend for life, Bridge.”

“You know I’m here. Ugh, I hate that you don’t get all red and blotchy-eyed. I can’t even tell that you’ve been crying.”

Winnie laughed for the first time all day and squeezed Bridget in a death grip. “I hate that your hair doesn’t get frizzy in the humidity.”

“Touché,” Bridget said. “Come on, let’s get these back to Raj.”

“Um, no.” Winnie pulled away and circled the hole she’d started. “I dug my grave. I now have to live with it. Besides, it’s not really his stuff. It’s just whatever I bought for him during the time we were together. I never realized how many movies I gave him until I was taking them out of his house.”

Bridget picked up one of the external hard drives. She waved it in front of Winnie’s face. “You did not buy him this.”

“No, that’s actually mine that he was borrowing. It’s been tainted by his cheating hands, so I’m burying it, too.”

“Wow, you actually mean that. Okay, I know where you’re coming from, but you’re going to end up screwing yourself over. Can’t you put this in a post online and delete it later? You have to face facts. Everyone at school loves Raj, even if he’s the one who broke up with you.”

    “I don’t get how I could possibly be the bad guy,” Winnie grumbled.

“Duh. He’s the film nerd who became captain of the tennis team and won a mathlete competition on the same day he worked the film festival. He’s the golden boy who’s taking the STEM track and the arts track. He’s one of the few double-track students in our history that everyone loves.”

“I don’t care. I have to do this,” Winnie said. “It’s like I’m burying the hatchet or something. I don’t even know what a hatchet is, but it applies here.”

“You gave this stuff to him. It belongs to Raj now. If people found out you broke into his house and took his things after you were the one who asked for space, it makes you look like the guilty person, not him.”

“If you don’t like what I’m doing, then you can leave. Or you can stay and help me with all of this.” She motioned to the mounds of dirt she’d already displaced. “But I’m warning you, I may bury my copy of Pride and Prejudice that I loaned to Raj last summer.”

Bridget froze. “Which version?”

“BBC.”

She went ashen. “You’d bury Colin? You’ve lost your mind! This is blackmail.”

“And it works. Listen, I’m not exactly enjoying this new criminal lifestyle. I know taking Raj’s movies wasn’t my best moment, but doing this matters to me. I’ll have to deal with the consequences later, but right now, I’m going to dig.”

    Bridget’s face morphed from anger to panic and finally resolve. Winnie felt a shining silver lining appear on her rain cloud.

“Fine. You win.” She waited a beat before pointing to Winnie’s bare wrist. “On one condition. Did you get rid of the bracelet?”

Winnie ignored the feel of the jewelry in her pocket. She knew it wasn’t right to keep it, but she needed some more time before she buried that final piece of her past. If she told Bridget her reasoning, her best friend wouldn’t understand. So she kept both the truth and the bracelet tucked away. “Yeah, it’s gone already.”

“Good. I didn’t say it when he gave it to you, but I never really liked that thing. Totally not your style.” Bridget sighed before she gestured. “But that still leaves this stuff to deal with. How did you get it all?”

“Raj gave me the code to the garage a year ago or so. His family was at temple, so the timing was great. Their schedule is always the same on weekends.”

“What about Raj?”

Winnie pulled up his profile on her phone. Bridget leaned in, eyes squinting.

“?‘With my girl to get ice cream. Jenny is as sweet as her favorite kind: strawberries and cream.’ Ugh, barf!”

    “I know, right? That has to be the most disgusting flavor ever.”

“I’m surprised she could taste anything with all that lipstick getting in the way,” Bridget said. “Who would’ve thought Raj would date someone like Jenny after you? Especially since he looks like the poster boy for an Ivy League these days. All old money.”

Winnie’s stomach twisted when she read the post again. “Who cares? His sappy update was definitely useful. I was in and out of the house in five minutes.”

“Winnie!”

“What? I told you. Not one of my best moments.”

“Fine. If I’m blackmailed into doing this, let’s get it over with. Best friends help each other bury the body, right?”