My So-Called Bollywood Life(53)

    Dev was with her every step of the night, as Winnie moshed, bhangra-ed, and joined the conga line. When some of the students cleared off tables, Winnie found herself hoisted on top of one and pushed toward the center of the dance floor.

She heard people chanting her name over the pounding music and she scanned the crowd, illuminated in brief bursts of light. The only face she was able to see clearly was Dev’s. He grinned up at her.

As every cell of her body danced in sync, she felt her heart pounding in her chest, and without regret, she gave it to Dev. She closed her eyes and fell into his waiting arms. Her life couldn’t be any more perfect than this.





18





KHAMOSHI / SILENCED





No matter how many movies I watch, I always forget that things have to get a LOT worse before they can get better.





Winnie collapsed at a lunch table on Monday morning and dropped her brown paper bag in front of her. She was exhausted, both from responding to the messages everyone was sending and from the cleanup after the fund-raiser, which had taken all of Sunday.

She folded her arms on the table and rested her head against them with a groan. She’d forgotten that she had to work tonight, too. When the film festival ended, she’d have a lot more time to focus on things like homework, work, movie reviews, and the new guy in her life. Right now she just had to get through the next seven weeks.

“Hey, superstar,” Bridget said from next to her. Winnie felt the bench shift and the brush of her best friend’s hand against her shoulder.

    “I’m not a superstar,” she said into the crook of her elbow. “Don’t jinx it. I’m happy. A little stressed, but that’s it.”

“Dev’s giving you a workout, huh?”

Winnie’s head shot up, and she glared at Bridget, who wiggled her eyebrows. “I could say the same thing about Henry. You guys disappeared early from the dance. We didn’t get your text messages until Dev and I took the limo home by ourselves.”

Bridget’s cheeks reddened. “I don’t make out in the backseat of a car for two hours and tell. My AV nerd has some moves.”

Winnie laughed and hugged her friend. “I’m happy you’re happy.”

“I’m happy you’re happy,” Bridget replied. “This is the first time you’ve really let loose since Raj and you started going south.”

“And the funny thing is, I feel better than I did before we broke up. Like even the good times with him, as distant a memory as they may be, don’t compare to how…I don’t know, grounded I am right now.”

“Well, there are probably other reasons for that.”

They were still laughing when Jessica came up to the table. Her face was white as a sheet, and instead of the happy glow she’d had when she attended the dance over the weekend, her lips were drawn, and her eyes were bloodshot.

“Hey,” Winnie said. “What’s up?”

    “Winnie, Mr. Reece needs to see you in his office right now.” She handed her a pass.

Winnie looked down at the pass and then back at Jessica. Reece only gave passes if the matter was a big deal and if it might make her miss her next class.

“Girl, what happened?” Bridget said, waving to the seat across from her. “You look like you were forced to watch the Disney Channel for fifteen hours in a row.”

Jessica looked left and right before she sat down. “The fund-raiser money from yesterday is missing, and Jenny Dickens is telling everyone Dev took it.”

“What?” Bridget and Winnie said in unison.

“What do you mean it’s missing?” Winnie asked.

Jessica tilted her head toward the other side of the room and cupped a hand over her mouth. “You know how Laura was in charge of ticket sales at the door, right? Well, Jenny took over for the rest of the night, and she was supposed to give the money to Mr. Reece. Except she told Mr. Reece after the dance that she gave it to Dev because he said he was in charge of the money.”

“That’s impossible! Dev was with me,” Winnie said. “We went home after the last song, and came back to school the next morning to clean up.”

“You guys shouldn’t have allowed Jenny anywhere near the fund-raiser,” Bridget said.

“It wasn’t me.”

    “I know you guys didn’t do it,” Jessica said. “I saw both of you. But Jenny is saying that Dev took the money and promised to give it to Mr. Reece. Dev is denying it, obviously.”

“This is such bullshit,” Winnie said, crumpling the pass in her fist.

Jessica shrugged. “I know. It’s her word against Dev’s.”

Winnie reached down for her backpack and, after a few tries, managed to unzip the front pocket. When she checked her phone, she saw three texts from Dev, and her stomach twisted with fresh nausea.

“I’ve gotta go,” she said, and grabbed her things before bolting.

She ran down the halls and tried to think what Raj and Jenny had done with the money and the proof they’d shown to Reece to make him believe that Dev was the culprit. Despite Jenny’s antics, Winnie had never thought she would end up doing anything really extreme. Like Gabbar Singh, the most notorious villain in Bollywood cinematic history, Jenny was surprising everyone.