Ashish nodded and looked away. “Yeah, no problem.”
“But also . . .” Rishi looked down at his hands and then up again, waiting till Ashish met his eye. “I’m sorry I haven’t always supported you. I’ve judged you instead of just being there for you. You’re different from the rest of us, and I was always trying to get you to change to be more like us. That wasn’t fair.” Rishi paused and looked out into the dark before continuing. “The truth is . . . I’ve always been slightly envious of you. You’ve always been so sure of yourself, of what you want, even if it wasn’t anything Ma or Pappa ever encouraged. Even when they—or I—actively discouraged you from doing something you really wanted to do, you did it anyway. I’ve always envied that courage.” He smiled. “I see it in Dimple, too. That’s probably why you guys get along so well.”
Ashish stared at him and rubbed his jaw. “Wow. I, uh, don’t know what to say.”
Rishi shrugged. “You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted to tell you that. And this girl? Celia? If you really like her, you should fight for her. Because I don’t think she and Evan are going to last. I don’t think she even really likes him.”
“Yeah, but I’m not sure she even likes me.”
“So what are you going to do?” Rishi asked. “Just sit back and do nothing? That doesn’t sound like you.” He waited a few seconds and, when Ashish didn’t say anything else, stood. “I guess I’ll get back to Dimple.”
“Rishi?”
He turned.
“Thanks.” Ashish smiled a little, and for the first time since he’d come to SFSU, his jaw was relaxed. “For what it’s worth, I really like Dimple. I was wrong about her.”
Rishi grinned. “I know.” And then he walked back to the dressing room.
Max looked concerned. Even his beard and mustache were aquiver. “You guys can’t perform like this.”
Dimple was sipping her water, trying not to look like she was eavesdropping, but it was hard to do when the conversation was taking place literally two feet from where she sat.
“We’re fine,” Evan said, looking right at him. “There’s nothing wrong.”
Max leveled a look at Isabelle, who was trying hard not to laugh. She had both hands pressed up to her mouth. Beside her, Celia was grinning loosely, like her jaw muscles had all liquefied. “Really.”
“Really.” Hari crossed his arms and waited till Max looked at him. “We’re cool. I mean, I could get my parents on the phone, but I don’t think that’s necessary, do you?”
There was a tense moment when Dimple didn’t know which way this would go. Who were Hari’s parents? It was clear he’d just pulled rank with Max, but Dimple had no idea what it really meant.
Finally, Max let out a slow breath. “Fine,” he said, in that übercalm voice older adults used when they were trying not to lose their cool. “I’m going to announce your teams, then.”
Evan and Hari fist-bumped, and Evan said, “Bro, that was epic. That wing your parents donated to the computer science department must be something else.”
Oh. Max’s reaction made more sense now.
Hari shrugged nonchalantly at Evan’s comment, but his chest was puffed out, like being rich was something he’d built with his own two manicured hands. The Aberzombies began to make their way out of the dressing room. At the last minute Dimple pulled Celia aside, which wasn’t hard to do because she was trailing behind the three of them. Her skin had taken on an unhealthy pale green cast.
“You don’t have to do this,” Dimple said quickly. She could hear Max introducing them onstage. “You can still back out.”
Celia’s bloodshot hazel eyes met hers. For a second she looked like she might cry or throw her arms around Dimple’s neck or ask to be taken home. But then she wrenched her arm out of Dimple’s hand and stalked out behind the others.
Rishi walked in, looking over his shoulder at the group. “They smell like armpits and rubbing alcohol.” Then, catching her expression, he said, “You okay?”
Dimple nodded. “I want to go out where we can watch their performance.”
“Yeah, sure.”
They walked out together to the wings. Ashish was there too. The stage was dark, but the four of them had already gone out to take their places.
The spotlights came on, and the guys in the crowd began cheering Celia and Isabelle, both of whom were at center stage, their arms around each other, gyrating to “Sexy Heat.” There were some hoots from the women in the crowd too, especially when Evan and Hari began their bit, slapping the girl’s butts and mouthing the lyrics.
“This is awful,” Rishi said. Dimple noticed that, like her, he was having trouble looking away from the unfolding train wreck.
She glanced at Ashish, who looked pale. The corners of his mouth were tight, and a muscle jumped in his jaw when Evan pretended to yank on Celia’s hair.
“Maybe you shouldn’t watch this,” Rishi said, looking at his little brother in concern.
“No,” Ashish said, taking a deep breath. “I want to see.”
Celia and Isabelle were getting closer and closer onstage, and Dimple knew the part where they were supposed to dance close together must be coming up. But when Isabelle put her arms around Celia’s neck and pulled her close—to the thunderous applause of most of the guys in the audience—Celia stepped back.
Dimple’s heart stuttered. A look of confusion passed over Isabelle’s face. She stopped and blinked, as if she were wondering how she’d ended up on that stage. Evan jogged forward and whispered something to her and Celia, his face tight and furious. Hari crossed his arms. The crowd fell silent, watching.
And then—Celia pushed Evan.
He barely moved, but she stumbled with the effort. Ashish moved forward, like he wanted to run onstage. Then Celia was yelling, “Screw you!” and running offstage, right toward them.
The song stopped. After an intense moment of silence, the audience began to boo.
Celia came bursting through the wings just as Dimple moved out of the way. When she saw Dimple, she began to cry harder. Without thinking, Dimple wrapped her arms around Celia and pulled her close. Even though Celia was wearing six inch heels, she managed to fold herself down and put her face in the hollow of Dimple’s neck.
Dimple patted her back. “It’s okay,” she said. “You did the right thing. I’m proud of you.”
The Aberzombies burst through then. Hari hollered, “You totally screwed it up, Celia!”
Isabelle said, quietly, “Don’t yell at her.”
“Back off!” Dimple said, glaring at Hari.
“Or what?” Evan crossed his arms and stepped forward so he loomed over Dimple and Celia. “How about you stay out of this?”
Rishi put himself between Evan and Dimple. “How about you step back?”
Evan glared at Rishi, and then Hari said, “Is there a problem?”