Austin meets Sairah

.

‘Auditions for the musical will be held at the auditorium after school today.Interested students are to report to Mrs.Rinu for details.’ As Sairah read the call for auditions on the notice board,she started planning what she will do when she gets the role.Any role was fine.But when she gets the role,the undecided role.She would start being noticed.Her entry to the life of fame.Maybe the start to a successful career at Broadway.Her delusional and surreal thoughts were interrupted by her friend,Nisha.”Hey,did you do your science homework ?”  “Yes I did.” Sairah replied,coming back to reality. “Ok,quickly give it to me.I will copy it down in first period.”  “Alright.But do not get caught! Or I will be in trouble too,for letting you copy my homework.” Sairah said,while taking out her notebook.The bell rang.And they all rushed to their classes.

It was a normal day at Comet High.Until it was four o’clock.The time for the auditions.

Sairah waited impatiently for the teacher to arrive,so that the auditions could begin.She decided she was going to read an epilogue from As you like it,written by Shakespeare.And sing the song Fireworks,by Katy Perry,for her audition.She thought about acting instead of singing or reading,before.But wasn’t confident about it,and went to back to her previous choice.

“Ok.Let’s do this. You first.” Mrs.Rinu was already here,and she was pointing at Sairah.”Hmm..Me?Ok.”Sairah said trying to smile.

She did her bit,but the teacher didn’t look impressed. “Thank you for coming.” She told Sairah,with an encouraging smile.Sensing rejection,Sairah left.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Austin and his friends had  come straight to auditions,after practice.They were all looking forward to be a part of the musical.Yes,the Jocks were also Drama geeks.Or maybe they were neither,just students making the most of their time in high school.

Austin saw the ‘weird girl from the tree’ again.She was auditioning too.He heard her introduce herself.”Sairah Parker,Eighth grade.” She said,in a low tone.He saw what she had prepared.But he wasn’t impressed.And went back to rehearsing his scene from The sound of music.He didn’t find the particular topic interesting anymore.The mysterious tree girl,was not that cool after all.At least that’s what he gathered after seeing her sad attempt to audition for the play.

.

With two weeks in after school started,things went back to their normal dim self.It was 4 p.m and it was beautiful outside.What made the evening more beautiful was the holiday due to Bakrid.It was a muslim tradition where they sacrificed goats or sheep in the name of God.And the flesh obtained from the goats was  packed and sent out to relatives,and the poor.It was a beautiful festival,from what Sairah had learned from google.One of their Prophets was tested by God,by asking to sacrifice his own son.Respecting God’s will.The father and son duo decided to do it.Just when the father was going to slay the son,the son was replaced by a goat.And Allah was happy that they had passed this test,and had went along with his will.And did not let anything happen to the Prophet’s son.It was about faith,she understood that.

Her family being non veg lovers were having a small get together on this particular occasion.All her cousins had come.

And once the feast was over,the elders of the family sat down to talk about the disputes in the society,politics,and the Bandh happening the following day.

Least interested about the conversation her supposed role models were having,Sairah turned to her peers,her cousins.They were making plans about going out,as things were getting boring around here.Sairah was happy with the thought of it,and jumped right in.They decided to watch a movie,but nothing good was on.So one of her cousins suggested going to this place called,’Rocha’.

“We should go to the lake,and then go to Rocha’s,it’s close by from the lake”,subtly suggested Regina.”If you want to go to Rocha’s,we can just go to the one near the park.No need to drive out to the lake!”,said Josh,noticing what regina was suggesting.”Hmm,yeah we can do that.”,Regina said smiling.

Maybe it’s a coffee cafe Sairah thought to herself,as she had never heard of the place before.

They all arrived at Rocha,and it was beautiful inside.Umbrellas hanging from the ceiling.Red and blue couches,colorful walls.The whole place was just so hippy! Sairah loved it.Then when they sat down,the waiter came to take their order.Sairah thought about having  a cappuccino.But her cousin jumped in and ordered a ‘Brain freeze and kiwi flavored’ Hookah. ‘”Hookah?!”,Sairah exclaimed to herself.

Hookah is a tobacco pipe with a long tube,which draws smoke from a bowl containing water.It didn’t get you high or anything,and was somewhat like smoking.And that’s all Sairah knew about it.She freaked out!What if they get caught? What if her mom finds out? What if she gets high on it? Or addicted to it? Is that a possibility?

Even though having a breakdown inside,she sat there quietly trying to hide it from her cousins.Didn’t want them to start calling her ‘Sairah wet pants’ again.One accident when she was seven,and they wouldn’t let it go.She got scared! Ghostbusters was scary to watch.

Then what she dreaded the most happened.The Hookah arrived.It was so beautiful,so elegant.Like it was taken from the kings courtroom from the movies,and brought here.And they were all pretty ecstatic to see it arrive.Sairah didn’t feel the same.

They all took puffs,and finally it was her turn.She pulled it in,like they taught her to.But unlike the smoke that came out of their mouths,she choked and coughed.They assured her she would get better! And she tried it a few more times.And started enjoying it.She could taste the flavours in her mouth,and the smoke going down her throat.She loved it.But she started feeling dizzy.Her cousins said it was normal for first timers to feel that way.She simply smiled and put her head down.

It was late when they reached home,and she was scared about the questions they might be asked.What would she say.Not lie of course! But her cousins were calm like nothing had happened.And her parents didn’t ask her anything.

“So this is what it was to be part of the cool group.To enjoy life,but still come out as innocent angels.No questions asked!”, She thought to herself.

Even though it was a lot of fun.Sairah didn’t enjoy all the experimenting.For the first time,she felt happy about not being part of ‘The Group’.And it was a great feeling!

———————————————————————————————————————————————–

Austin was just out with his friends,in the mood for some Hookah.When he saw ‘The weird girl from the tree.’

He smiled at her,but she didn’t smile back.She looked tense and confused.Whatever was happening with her.He didn’t pay much attention to it,and joined his friends singing Happy Birthday to their friend.

.

Lunch at high school,Sairah was both excited and nervous.Where was she going to sit? Did she make the right choice with her food? Where were her friends?Why are people looking at her? She started panicking.Both her eyebrows were touching each other,forming weird lines on her forehead.And she wasn’t even sure why she was so scared.Her emotions sometimes made no sense to her.Then suddenly,it felt like there was a major pile up inside her head.She could feel herself shaking.Unable to handle all the eyes staring at her,as she stood at the cafeteria door,blocking the way.The whispers,they probably weren’t even talking about her.But she took the milk carton and burger from her food tray,and quickly walked out of the horrid scene at the cafeteria.

As she stepped out of the building,and the warm breeze went through her hair,she started to calm down.She took deep breathes.And when she felt in control of herself again. She thought to herself,”What had just happened in there?” . She went to an empty spot near a tree,and sat down to eat her lunch.Giving her some alone time to compose herself.

Halfway through her burger,she heard some noise from behind the tree.She crawled to the other side to see what it was.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Austin wasn’t having a great day,So lunch time felt really needed.He would have had lunch with his friends from the basketball team,that way he could make a good impression on the girls.’The new jock’.But he had spent enough time with those guys at practice,And now wanted some time to himself.So he stepped out of school.Ans saw an empty space a little away from all the tables,and all the noise.He went and sat there,leaning on the gallant old tree.Which might have been there,before the school was made.But was still the strongest tree around.

Austin had heard the first ten songs on his ipod, was just opening his packet of chips,when a girl crawled to him.He looked at her with a confused look.Then with a smirk,he said,”Is that something new people do these days?What walking is overrated?…..Let me guess….My crawl’s on fleek?”

“What?No!”,Sairah exclaimed.”I thought I heard something and was just looking.” Embarrassed she started crawling back to her side of the tree,then realizing what she was doing,quickly picked herself up and, walked the last  few steps,back to her spot.Picked up her things and left.Still feeling embarrassed.

He went back to listening to his music,and eating his chips.Still smiling about what had just happened.

And that is how they  met.

.

“Sairah Noel Parker”, called out  Mrs.george,in a blunt tone.”Here”,replied a pale brunette .She had dark brown eyes,and a long complimenting nose.She was  wasn’t very tall.But not short either.She was wearing a quaint dress. Sairah always had  a different way of dressing.She was laughed at by her siblings,but that was okay.But today she wasn’t feeling very confident.Now that she was in high school,she was scared that the sibling taunts were nothing compared to what she might hear here.

She almost asked her sister for fashion advice this morning.We all know where that would lead.She would end up looking like a blond high school cheer-leader.On this thought,she reminded herself that a blonde high school cheer-leader is not  something to be made fun off.It was rude to labelize people like that.

Sairah was going through her mental notes to deal with high school.On the other side of Comet Hills,Austin was still in bed.

“Austin…Austin!!!!,Austin William James!,Get out of bed right now!”,Yelled a chubby petite blond woman.

“Mom,I am getting late”,called out a little boy from the kitchen downstairs, of the duplex house.”Austin,you are making your brother late too,get out of bed and get ready for school right now!”,said Mrs.George,with irritation.

“Okay”,moaned  Austin, rubbing his eyes,as he got out of bed.Austin had brown eyes,with a hint of green.His hair were blonde.And he was in pretty good shape for a teenager.He looked like a giant when he stood in front of his mom,who looked at him impatiently.”Faster,Austin!We are already late”,she said.

A few minutes later they were all in the car,leaving for school.

As the car went out the same route it did everyday,Austin looked out of the window looking at people rushing to work.Many of them waved at his mom.Comet Hills was a small town in South India,where nobody was a stranger.Many years ago, a small group of immigrants from Iran had made Comet Hills their home.

Austin’s dad Mr.James was the owner of a small motel in town,The Ridge.And the motel was quite successful,making Austin’s dad one of the rich guys in town.It was Austin’s first day of high school,but he wasn’t that excited about it.”A few more years,and I am out of here”,he thought to himself.

And the car slowly drove to,Comet High.