Never have I ever missed home (Chapter 1)
A young teenage girl looked out of the airplane window. The clouds moved constantly, flowing as sheets hundreds of feet apart, yet giving the appearance of one layer below. As she looked at the clouds moving, she suddenly felt someone's head on her shoulder.
The girl groaned quietly as she looked at her sister, who fell asleep once again. She was going to end up arriving in America with a painful left shoulder.
Now you may be wondering who this girl with her hair in a messy bun and Fries before Guys t-shirt is. This is Devi Vishwakumar. A 15 year old girl who used to live in Chennai, India but is now moving to the place of her birthplace...Sherman Oaks, California. The other girl who is sleeping on Devi's shoulder is her older sister, Kamala Vishwakumar and the other woman who is also sleeping is the mother of these two girls...Nalini Vishwakumar.
And I am legendary tennis player, John McEnroe. Now, you may be asking yourself - why is sports icon John McEnroe narrating this tale? I promise it will all make sense later.
You might also be asking yourself, why is this small family moving from India to California? Well...one Nalini got offered to work with famous dermatologist Dr Jackson. Two, Kamala got offered a scholarship to complete her PhD at Caltech. Three, for a fresh new start especially for Devi who lost the parent she loved the most almost a year ago.
Several long painful hours later, they had arrived at the California airport where they awaited for the arrival of Devi's uncle, Aravind who was escorting them to their home abode. Devi is sitting in the airport and takes a snap of her and posts it to her story with the caption 'We finally landed after an excruciating 15 hour flight'.
There's a cheerful yell from behind Devi and she turns to see her uncle running towards Devi, Nalini, and Kamala. "Ah you're here you're here! I'm so happy to see you all safe and sound. How was the security levels on the plane? Did they run through all the procedures? Was the flight as smoothly as possible?" Aravind rambles.
"The flight was fine, apart from someone drooling on my shoulder" Nalini glares at Devi.
"I'm sorry that the staff on the plane were looking like the doppelgänger of Adam Samberg, you know when I fangirl I end up looking like a goat looking at cream cheese" Devi states. Aravind begins ranting about options for security measures we should take to keep our house secure as Devi receives 99+ text messages from a group chain with her two ex best friends, Eleanor and Fabiola. Devi puts the group chain on mute and shoves her phone back into her pocket and catches up to her family as they walk outside the California airport.
Eleanor and Fabiola are from Sherman Oaks, and have been her best friends for as long as she could remember...Well best friends until the storm hit that destroyed their friendship. Eleanor is a drama major in school, taking after her mother who left her as a child for Broadway while Fabiola is the leader of the Robotics club. Man did Devi miss them. And soon enough she would see them, on the first day of school on Monday.
Devi found out about the move from India to California only two months ago. Even though it had been two months, she was still feeling very uneasy about the move. I mean imagine leaving the home that you've known for years. All your friends, family etc. Devi had earlier lived in Sherman Oaks, California but when she was 10, she moved to India. It felt weird being back in Sherman Oaks.
Aravind dropped the family of three to their home and helped bring out their suitcases from his car. Devi looked at the mustardy yellow house in front of her, then she looked around the street, remembering how she used to play street cricket with her friends and her dad back in India. She remembered how happy her dad would get when he won a game of cricket and would enjoy bragging like a child would. If Mohan ever won a cricket game, he'd be so happy, he would buy Devi and all her friends ice cream or Gol Gappa from the street stands.
"Devi?"
Devi stopped zoning out, and looked at her older sister who said her name.
"Yes Kamala?" Devi replied, letting out a little yawn.
"Take your bag and come inside," Kamala said before going inside the house. Devi took her backpack and suitcase, before going inside the house. The house was filled with boxes and some furniture, since Aravind and his two sons sorted out the furniture before their arrival.
"I claim the biggest room!" Devi declared as she walked quickly upstairs. Kamala groaned and went after her little sister.
"I should get the biggest room!" Kamala said as she made it upstairs. Nalini chuckled at her two daughters as Aravind gave her a cup of tea, and started to talk more about home security.
Devi and Kamala were arguing about who should get the biggest room, when they noticed two of the bedroom doors had their name signs.
"At least we don't have to continue fighting," Kamala said with a smile to Devi, as she walked into her room. Devi rolled her eyes and went into her room. She looked around the big room that only had a bed and study desk and some of her old dolls. Her room looked really childish, to be fair, she could Devi it all up in a couple of weeks. All she needed was to go to Home Depot and buy a few essentials like paint and wallpaper.
As she was thinking about all the amazing things she could do to her old bedroom, Devi suddenly remembered that she had to call someone. She took out her iPad from her backpack and her phone out of her pocket, and yelled out "Aravind Uncle, what's the Wi-Fi password?!"
"VeryMuchSheKnows the V, M, S and K are in caps, no space and there's a 1 and 2 at the end!" Uravind yelled back. Devi typed the password into her devices and she was connected to the Wi-Fi. Once she was connected to the Wi-Fi, she pressed FaceTime on the iPad and within minutes.
"Hey Devi!" the voice from the iPad exclaimed excitedly.
"Hey Ishita!" Devi replied back with the same energy.
"Omg are you in Cali now?"
"Yeah, in Cali in a big pink room with just a bed and study desk. Oh and my old Monster High dolls .."
"On the bright side, you can decorate the room however you like. Maybe a splash of purple here and there. Oohhh it would look so nice!" Ishita said with a big smile. Devi chuckled as she started
Now you may be wondering who this other Indian girl on the other side of this Facetime call is. This is Ishita Verma. Devi's best friend back in Chennai, India. These two have been the best of friends since Devi moved to India when she was 10. Ishita has been there for Devi during the lowest point of her life, and Devi has always been so grateful for her.
Devi sighed as she said during their conversation, "it kind of sucks that I have to live here now. I want to be back in India right now."
"And I want you back" pouted Ishita as she took a bite of ice cream. "I want you back so we can eat ice cream on the terrace like we always do."
"Omg and then we make our blanket tent up there!"
"Please come back, I beg you!" Ishita once again pouted with her big puppy eyes.
"I want to, but my mum thinks it's better to stay in California till high school graduation," Devi sighed.
"Well, at least you will see Fab and Eleanor again."
"Yeah I guess that's a good thing."
"Oh and your childhood crush...what's his name? He had a very sexy one!" she exclaimed.
"Ishita!" Devi said with bright pink cheeks.
"Well he did for an American boy," Ishita teased.
"Really? How are you and Rithik?" Devi teased back. Ishita blushed brightly and told Devi to shut up in a teasing tone.
If it's not clear, these girls definitely focused more on boys than on books back in India. You might be wondering who this American boy Ishita mentioned is...well, I can't spoil everything right now. We got to save up some of the suspense for later.
Devi soon finished talking to Ishita and hung up. She looked around her room and remembered how she used to hide behind the cupboard when she, Mohan and Kamala would play hide and seek in the house. Mohan would easily find her and then tickle her till she was out of breath.
Devi picked up a Monster High doll that stood on her study desk. She was a big fan of Monster High, growing up and her dad was fully aware of it. So whenever Mohan got his salary at the end of the month, the first thing he would do was buy a new Monster High doll for his littlest princess. That and a new book for Kamala, and a bracelet for Nalini. Yes Mohan was the biggest fan of spoiling his girls.
Devi was about to dwell on an old memory when Nalini called her and Kamala to come downstairs for some food. Devi kept the doll to a side and went back downstairs to eat some pizza that Nalini must have ordered, during her call with Ishita.
"So have you spoken to Fabiola and Eleanor? They must be gushing at the thought of seeing you again after all these years" Nalini asked with curiosity.
Devi looked up at Nalini who looked back at her with concern as she saw that she had not touched her pizza or garlic bread yet. "No I haven't, they know I'm back but I am feeling too jet lagged for socializing. But I will meet with them Monday morning before school".
Devi stood up and put her cold food back in the pizza box and went up to her room. "I will check on her. The food was great. I almost forgot how good American food is" Kamala got up and ran up the stairs, leaving the adults alone.
"I'm worried about her, Aravind. She has been so quiet ever since Mohan's passing. I try talking to her but she just blows up at me and then goes back to her room. I feel like I'm failing at parenting her. Mohan was always better with this sort of stuff, and now that he's gone I'm at a lost" Nalini sighed and kept her face in her hands.
"She's just going through a hard time, we all deal with grief differently. But maybe she hasn't confronted or dealt with his passing as of yet so these outbursts and moments of silence could be her way of evading the inedible grief she needs to face in order to move on". He kept a hand on Nalini's back and rubbed her back softly, comforting her. She broke down and cried on his shoulder as he embraced her in a hug.
This is one of those moments where I leave, crying makes me extremely uncomfortable. Plus it seems too personal for me to watch. It's like when Peter Parker was holding onto Tony Stark for a hot minute as he dusted into nothingness. It's an emotional rollercoaster I would rather not be a part of as crying isn't in my resume. Also yes I, John McEnroe, am a marvel fan. Anyways, enough about me, let's go see what Devi is up to.
Devi was in her room hiding her head under her pillow when there was a knock at the door. She lifted the pillow up to see Kamala at the door "Can I come in?" Devi nodded and she walked in the room, closing the door behind her.
"Are you okay?" Kamala sat down at the end of Devi's bed.
"No I'm not"
"Wanna talk about it?"
"No I really don't" Devi sat up and looked at Kamala, who was looking at her with extreme empathy and concern. "I don't think I'm ready to see them. Like who am I kidding they are one of the reasons I was happy to leave Sherman Oaks. What they did was so not cool. They absolutely humiliated me and made me lose all my trust and respect for them."
"I understand that. People can be really sucky sometimes. I know that because I have had friends like that and I myself have been a bad friend once or twice before in my life. But Devi you can't live your life holding grudges and not letting go of anger, especially when someone does the most minor or worst possible thing ever like when Jughead pretended to be dead for 6 months all to expose a group of stuck up rich kids for doing something just as bad."
Devi tilted her head to the side judging Kamala's example she used. "I'm not sure how that would relate to this situation but I understand where you're coming from but I don't know how to stop being angry at them. You know I'm not the best at controlling my anger especially when people hurt me."
"You just gotta take one step at a time, maybe the first is to confront the issue and talk to the girls?"
"Maybe, I will think about it. But thanks for talking to me and putting my mind at ease for a bit. I don't know what I would do without you, Kamala." She pulled her in for a quick comforting hug and then Kamala walked out of her room, taking one last look at Devi with a smile before closing the bedroom door.
Devi decided to unpack some of her stuff so she got off her bed and went to a box that had the label 'Memories' and with caution, opened the box. She found some clutter items like old stuffed bears, drawings, awards until she came across an old polaroid of her, Eleanor, Fabiola and her dad.
Flashback to 7 years ago...
"Dad, wait up! I can't walk as fast as you" yelled a young Devi as she ran behind Mohan, trying to catch up to him.
Mohan stopped and turned around to Devi with a smile "Well one day you will be able to. But I guess for now I can give you a hand" He gleamed as he picked Devi up and put her on his back and together, they continued down the path. They reached the entrance to the 'Movie World' amusement park. At the entrance, waited a young Eleanor and Fabiola with her mother, Elise.
"Come on, come on, let's go inside already. I wanna see all the actors walking around in action!" says a joyful Eleanor as she starts to walk in with Devi, Fab and Mohan.
"Before we go in, let's take a picture to commemorate this day" Mohan stated as he grabs out a polaroid camera and passes it to Elise so she can take the picture.
"3….2…..1 Cheese!"
The girls pull a silly face while Mohan simply smiles.
"Now this picture here is a keeper, always have it close to your heart my perfect girl" said Mohan as he passes the photo to Devi.
That was a day Devi could never forget. Not only was it full of laughs and joy, but it was also one of the best memories she made with Fab and Eleanor before their friendship went from pure and happy, to broken and aggravating.
Devi kept the polaroid on her study desk and decided to do more unpacking tomorrow, after school. She picked up the first set of pyjamas she saw, and changed into them before turning off her bedroom's light and laying down on the bed.
Devi hadn't really slept on the plane. She was too busy having a Harry Potter movie marathon, bickering with Kamala over using her as a human sized pillow, looking outside the window watching the clouds float by and even reading a page out of some rom com book she found at the Chennai airport gift shop.
Devi kept the flowery duvet over her and looked up at the ceiling. She looked at the ceiling for a little bit, until she tossed to her left. After a couple of minutes, she turned to her right.
As you could clearly see, Devi was struggling to sleep, like me whenever I have an interview the next day or a tennis match. Devi had a lot on her mind - her father, her old life back in India, her life before India and the fact that she was going to be the new kid tomorrow.
And who liked being the new kid? Not me, that's for sure. As the night lingered on, Devi still couldn't sleep. Man, this is painful. I'm gonna get a drink and we can all hope that Devi eventually falls asleep. She has to unless she wants to get in trouble from accidentally falling asleep in the middle of some boring class to the extent of insomnia.
This was John McEnroe and I will catch you all tomorrow on Devi's first day of school.