In which Akshara Zim, the owner of too many heartbreaks, finds her soulmate only to realize his name could ruin her final chance at love.
~ [extended description inside]
~ a novella [25,000 - 30,000 words]
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HEARTBREAK #1:
HEARTBREAK TYPE: The kind that makes you hate your family.
SUITABLE AGE: 11-13
THREAT: Your Indian mother who believes love isn't for girls younger than 20.
STORY OF ORIGIN: Akshara was very proud of her Indian lineage. She loved the loud sister of her mother, her Periamma, and her mother's parents, her Paati and Thatha. She looked forward to their yearly trip to Tamilnadu, especially sketching the temple architecture in her tiny notebook and eating hot Vadas and Bajjis for tea. But that was all until her mother forced her to break up with Everest, her best friend, her third crush (the first two were celebrities and yes, they definitely count) and eventually her first boyfriend.
It started like this: Akshara didn't exactly know how Everest's pencil rolled from the other corner of the room to her desk in their Science class. Their Science teacher was the snappiest teacher in their school and she didn't like it when there was disturbance in the classroom. Good thing Akshara was the Science representative and when she was asked to distribute the worksheets, she quietly slipped him back his pencil with her signature smile. He smiled back and mouthed a thank you.
Soon enough, they became best friends.
Grade 6 flew by and Akshara couldn't get enough of staring at Everest's perfectly round face and the birth mark on his neck (which looked like a triangle). He had a crooked canine that peekaboo-ed whenever he smiled for a picture.
Grade 7 was when Akshara established to herself that she had a crush on him equal to the size of the sun. She was constantly afraid her lovesickness would flash across her face and he would pick up on it. But he didn't. Either Everest was too dumb or Akshara did a better job of hiding it than she thought – it remained a mystery. Akshara continued to be her shining personality, assuring him that he looked cute in braces and the people who bullied him were trash.
In Grade 8, Akshara couldn't keep her feelings in a box because everytime she looked at him, the feelings intensified a bit more. It was becoming too big to push back into her little heart. So, she casually put out the possibility of them dating and Akshara almost died of relief when he played along with the idea. The next day she dragged him into the sports room and told him everything. It turned out that Everest liked her from the beginning but was scared to take a step forward.
With a peck on his cheek, Akshara skipped out of the room, smiling to herself with a hand on her heart. They became a couple.
Everest was adorable. He winked at her when the teacher turned their back to them, passed cute little notes like you look beautiful today and teal really suits you and I wish I could hold your hand now. He raced to class to sit next to her. They held hands under the table and hid overwhelming smiles. They shared their first kiss in the sports room. It was beautiful, their relationship.
Then her mother had to come and ruin it. She caught her texting him.
"Why are you smiling at your phone like that? Who are you texting?" She had begun to ask the questions too many times. Akshara said it was just Everest, since her mother knew of their friendship. She let it slide until one day when she peeked over and caught them exchanging red hearts. She read her texts.
"I like him," Akshara admitted after succumbing to her mother's nosy questions, her eyes staring into hers. "More than a best friend. In fact, we like each other."
"Nothing doing. Is this what I taught you all these years? To fall in love with boys when you should be aiming for a bright future? And don't you say that he is your bright future. That's nonsense and you know that."
"Amma, just understand! I really like him. Even love him," she repeated but her mother shook her head firmly.
"It's a No even if you cry for days and throw tantrums. Stop talking to him, break up with him or whatever. This isn't going to work. Not at this age." Her mother was the sweetest, most soft-spoken person she'd ever known and that was why whenever she slightly raised her voice, Akshara's eyes would start leaking like a loose tap. This time her mother was yelling at her.
"Ma!" Akshara cried — begged.
"Don't make me confiscate your phone," her mother warned.
She hated her so much at that moment. She wanted to run away from her. Anywhere but near her mother. Akshara glared at her one last time and bolted out the door. She cycled to her father's office and burst into his room without knocking, crying rivers of tears.
"Dad!" she sobbed against his suit, holding his muscular frame and shaking beneath his concerned hug. He'd immediately driven home with his daughter, ensuring that he'd talk to her mother. And he did.
It ended up in an argument. And her mother won.
Akshara didn't talk to her mother for two months. That was the longest she held a grudge.
The two months began with breaking up with Everest, begging for his forgiveness and fighting for their friendship simultaneously in teary speeches. Everest really loved her. And so he told her to never talk to him again because it would be too hard for both of them.
Two months rolled by in a sequence. Wake up on wet, tear-stained pillows. Obsessively wish she had a mother like Stephanie's who allowed her to date Finn and even invited him over for dinner. Fake smiles for her Dad and her friends (not Everest). Ignore her mother. Repeat. Two months turned to five and she ended up finishing middle school.
Akshara didn't know that it was just the beginning of all the heartbreaks to come.
COST: Your last year of middle school. Tissues and Ice cream*. Subscription of Netflix. Awkward patching up of relationship with your mother.
*Buy the combo packs. You save a lot.
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