As Leo Alvarez's grades begin to slip, so does his facade as the school's golden boy. Much to his surprise, he ends up finding solace in the last place he'd expect, in his tutor― Maya Chopra.
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A BRIGHT SOURCE OF light suddenly awoke her from her sleep.
The reunion downstairs had proven to be a lengthy one.
Hands were filled with white, ceramic cups of tea and brown biscuits were administrated around; her Pa was nowhere to be seen, he was working late again. It was something he often did, particularly lately, the wedding costs were adding up and it was becoming harder to make ends meet.
The conversation had drifted quickly from clothing to jewelry to decor to gossip that circulated around her distant cousin Ajay. Maya tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she discreetly gazed upon her Ma's facial expression; she was disapproving of the entire situation. It was hard to miss with the narrowing of her coffee brown eyes, the way she brushed her long, black and white peppered braid off her shoulder as her lips curled into a despairing expression.
He was marrying outside of the community, something that was not essentially frowned upon publicly but in private, was a catastrophe. It was rare, mostly the thought of marrying someone that was not similar to you as undesirable. It was the fear of the unknown that drove the negative attitude rather than the actual situation.
As the conversation became more political in terms of religion and culture, how he was going to raise his children, Maya began to look away and her eyes faded onto the subtle stain on their navy blue, Keshan rug.
The thought of the conversation drifting towards her and her future marital prospects gnawed at the back of Maya's head and made her uncomfortable. She was still young, only seventeen compared to her sister but, she knew the conversation would drift into her household one day.
When are you going to find a nice, suitable, Indian boy for Maya?
She knew her Ma's eyes would spark with interest as possible choices would filter through her mind but her Pa would remain silent, shaking his head, knowing that the topic is still too early to actually discuss.
As the heated conversation continued, a simple excuse fumbled out of Maya's lips as she began her retreat to her room; she did not want to be there anymore. She pushed away the thoughts that had previously circulated of her own marriage and swallowed hard.
Maya closed the door behind her and felt her palms touch the cool, white wood- she was tired, physically and from many other things as well. She crawled into bed, dressed in flannel pants and a loose-fitting t-shirt, sifting underneath the covers and gazed sparingly at the slate, grey wall. Her lids lay heavy the second her head touched the soft, beige pillow and she was gone; dreaming of perhaps an escape to Paris one day.
However, that hadn't lasted long.
She began by groggily opening her left eye. Her room was pitch black, her eggshell, white curtains had been shut tightly and the hallway light that was usually left on, due to the fact that Maya was slightly afraid of the dark, was not.
