My So-Called Bollywood Life(46)

    Mr. Reece smiled, the first genuine smile she’d seen from him since he became the film-club faculty advisor. “And the master-class status?”

Since Mr. Reece was looking at her and not Raj, Winnie answered. “I’ve coordinated with the Princeton film club. As long as Gurinder Chadha shows up, we’ll be good to go.”

He headed for the door. “Good job, Ms. Mehta. Maybe you deserve a co-chair position after all,” he said over his shoulder.

When Winnie couldn’t hear his footsteps anymore, she gave in to the temptation to squeal and started jumping up and down.

“See? I knew you could do it,” Raj said. “Sorry I haven’t been as helpful.”

She shook her head. “You’ve done a lot, and I get why you can’t push Reece too hard. You have to get into your Boston school and need the film festival on your application. You technically don’t have to help your ex, so I appreciate it.”

“Appreciate it enough to come with me for a quick side trip to the auditorium?” he said.

“What for?”

    “Come and see.”

“I have plans tonight,” she said to Raj. “It has to be quick.”

He grinned. “As quick or as long as you want.”

“Fine,” she said with a sigh. “Why not? For old times’ sake.”

She noticed the flash of sadness in his eyes, but didn’t comment as he led her to the auditorium. When he opened the double doors, Winnie saw the huge white screen that spanned the stage.

Raj stepped aside and motioned toward it with a bow. “After you.”

“What are you up to?” she asked as she headed down the aisle.

“I arranged it before you met me in the art room. I was hoping you could watch something with me before you left.”

A small projector was placed in front of the stage, pointing at the screen. Next to it was Raj’s laptop. She moved to sit in the front row, but he stopped her.

“The world may sit in the front row—”

“But Indians sit in the back,” she said with a laugh. “Or people who know that’s how you get the whole picture.” She grabbed the center seat in the center row. Raj set something up on his laptop, and when a movie started playing, Winnie’s palms grew damp. This felt…wrong.

Raj sat next to her as the opening scene started rolling.

“Dil To Pagal Hai?” she said as her uneasiness grew.

“Yeah. It’s been a while since we’ve seen this.”

    “For good reason. I’m sorry—I can’t stay, Raj. I have to go.”

“Why?” he asked, standing when she did.

“Because you’re doing this to remind me of my destiny, and I don’t like it. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that the prophecy is mine to believe in. I get to decide if I want to be with someone who fits Pandit Ohmi’s prediction.”

“Winnie,” he said with a laugh. “It’s just a movie. Our favorite movie, in fact. And maybe it was because it reminded you so much about the prophecy, but we still had fun watching it over the years. It’s the only exception to my rule about never rewatching a movie if I don’t have to.”

“But that’s in the past,” she said. “I know you’ve been calling me so we can spend more time together, but this is too much.”

Raj ran his hands through his hair and frowned. “I’m trying here, Winnie. I haven’t even mentioned that I think you should still come to Boston with me instead of New York—”

“Yeah, well, you just did. I can’t believe you and I dated for all these years and you never thought I’d make it as a film critic.” She could feel herself getting worked up, and her anger mixed with hurt.

“Having a blog doesn’t make you a film critic,” he snapped.

“That’s it. I’m done.” She grabbed her bag and headed for the door.

Raj called out after her. “Wait. I’m sorry. Winnie, I’m sorry. I’m frustrated that you’re dragging your heels, that’s all. I’ll make it up to you. Next weekend when we go to the fund-raiser dance—”

    She stopped and turned on her heel in the aisle. “?‘We’? What do you mean by ‘we’?”

“Well, I figured I’d pick you up, we’d go to the dance early to make sure everything is set up, and then we could eat and drink for the rest of the night. That’s how we always planned it.”

“But we’re not together.”

“I know, but we’re going to the dance as friends, right? We’ve gone to every school dance together. The fund-raiser shouldn’t be an exception.”

“Raj. I’m going with Dev.”

“Come on. You can’t be serious. We have three years together. What do you even see in Dev? He’s such a smug prick, thinking he’s better than everyone.”

“Hey!” Winnie yelled. “Don’t talk about him like that. You don’t know him. You’re the one who saw he liked me freshman year and went behind your friend’s back to date me. If I’d known…”

Holy baby Shah Rukh Khan. She hadn’t meant to say that.

Raj stood, stone-faced. When he didn’t deny the claim, she knew more than ever that nothing was going to be the same.