“Oh.” Kevin’s face fell. Then he frowned. “MIT? But I thought you were into comic art.”
“I am.” Rishi paused. “I was. It was more a passing hobby in middle school and high school. But I’m not going to have time for all that. I have a real career to focus on, you know?”
Something passed over Kevin’s face. More coolly, he said, “So what are you going to be studying at MIT?” The way he said it, Dimple could tell he thought Rishi was a pretentious douche nozzle. But he’s not! She wanted to yell. I have no idea who this weird, serious zombie is!
“Computer science and engineering,” Rishi said.
Kevin nodded. His eyes flickered over Rishi’s kurta and gada. “So you didn’t go into details before, when I saw you. Who are you dressed as?”
Rishi looked down. For a moment, he seemed like he wanted to tell Kevin about Aditya. There was a look, almost like longing, that passed over his features like a soft cloud. Then his expression cleared. “No one. Just an obscure Indian comic from when I was a kid.”
CHAPTER 24
Kevin looked over at Dimple. Clearly, he’d dismissed Rishi. “So.” He smiled. “Are you into comics or any kind of art? I don’t recognize your costume.”
“This is Daria, the ’90s cartoon. You should check it out if you get a chance. But as far as creativity goes . . .” Dimple made a face. “I think I was out sick when the artsy genes were being doled out. The extent of my creativity is app development and some website design. Coding is sort of like telling a story, I guess, but nothing other than that. Seriously though, I think what you’ve got going on here is pretty sweet.” She gestured around at the building. “I love all the color! And everyone’s costumes are just amazing.” A girl in a gorgeous gold retro dress, blue braids, and makeup that looked airbrushed on walked by, proving her point.
Kevin beamed, clearly pleased that at least one of them was in their right mind. “Well, do you have any major plans tonight after this?”
Dimple shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. Why?”
“The art department students always put on an awesome after party. You should check it out. It usually gets started around nineish.” He scribbled an address on a paper in his sketch pad. Ripping it out, he handed it to Dimple. Reluctantly, he turned to Rishi, who was watching the whole exchange impassively. “You can come too.”
“Thanks,” Rishi said, “but I don’t—”
“We would love to,” Dimple said firmly, ignoring Rishi’s glare.
? ? ?
Outside, the air felt cool and revitalizing after the mugginess of Little Comic Con. Dimple inhaled deeply as they walked away, leaving the noise and the heat and the laughter behind. The world was dark and cold, the stars still obscured by fog. They walked in silence for a few minutes, the breeze rustling the leaves overhead and playing with Dimple’s hair. She pulled it up into a bun. “So,” she said lightly, “what’d you think?”
“I’m a little hungry. You up for some of that gelato we’d talked about?”
Dimple nodded slowly. “Yeah. But, um, are you going to tell me what happened in there?” She glanced at Rishi; she couldn’t read his expression. “I mean, if you want to.”
For a moment his expression stayed like that—stonelike and unyielding. But then he took a deep breath. It seemed to begin at the soles of his feet and travel up to his mouth, like he was carrying a weight he was glad to set down for a moment. But when he spoke, his voice was temperate and controlled, mild. “I just don’t see the point in wasting time—mine and other people’s—on something that’s never going to happen.” Rishi looked at her and said, almost defiantly, “I am never going to be a comic artist.”
Dimple wondered whose benefit he was stating it aloud like that for. “So what if it’s not going to be your career? You still love it, right? Why can’t you just do it as a hobby?”
“It’s too time-consuming,” Rishi said, but even he didn’t sound convinced. “And it all snowballs. You saw that—Kevin wanted me to apply there. Leo Tilden wanted to see my sketches. Much ado about nothing.”
“They’re excited for you,” Dimple said, shaking her head. “I think it’s great that there are people who want to see you succeed. You keep saying you’re not going to be a comic artist, but I think the point is that if you wanted to be, you could.”
Rishi laughed, but there was no joy in it. “It’s not that simple. I mean, it’s great for Kevin Keo that he just knows he wants to be a comic artist and feels free to pursue it. But I’m not like that. Do you know the odds of someone becoming the next Leo Tilden or Stan Lee? A million to one. I know what’s important to me—I want a life. I want to get married and have a family. I can’t support a family working as a waiter and hoping to break out as a comic book artist.”
“You’re eighteen.” Dimple looked at him, wondering if this were some weird universe where Rishi would turn out to be a two-thousand-year-old vampire instead. “You don’t have to worry about all of that yet.”
Rishi sighed and kicked a small rock in his path, sending it skittering off into the night. It lay glittering under a tree. “I know I don’t have to, but I want to. I’m never going to be that crazy eighteen-year-old party animal, you know? It’s just not my scene.”
Dimple smiled. She loved a challenge. “Really? Have you ever been to a party? Like, in high school?”
“Sure I have.”
Dimple raised an eyebrow. “Like, a legit party. One a parent didn’t organize.”
There was silence. She laughed. “You were thinking of Diwali parties, weren’t you?”
“Hey, they’re legit parties!” Rishi said, but he was laughing too.
“Okay, we’re totally going to this party.” Dimple held up the piece of paper on which Kevin had scribbled the address.
Rishi made a face. “Really?”
“Really. You don’t have to be a ‘party animal’ to go to a party and have a good time. I’ve been to a few small ones with friends in high school, and I swear they weren’t so bad. It’s a chance to hang out, that’s all.” Seeing him open his mouth to argue, Dimple rushed on. “Besides, just look at it as a social experiment. You have to go to at least one college party, right? It’s like a rite of passage. You can just get it out of the way now, with me as your guide.”
After a moment, he shut his mouth. “Oh, fine.”
Dimple jostled him with her shoulder. “Good. You might even have some fun.”