Free The Rearranged Life by Annika Sharma Page B

emergency that we wouldn’t be able to get back for.
    Now, eighteen years later, I find the thought of living across the world from my parents for years at a time completely unimaginable. My parents claim they did it because it was necessary, but I can’t fathom such distance. Nowadays, however, things are different. If I went far away, I would take a cell phone or figure out with my parents when to Skype. The experience has completely changed from when they first moved to this country, but I still carry a sense of guilt that my parents had to suffer to raise us. And a feeling of awe at their unfailing faith in the universe that it would all work out.
    “Do you want another drink?” James asks.
    I check my phone, and it is almost ten. The staff packs away the baked goods in the display case, the start of their closing routine. A barista walks by with huge trash bags. A quick glance around the room confirms it: with the exception of a girl in the corner, who looks so engrossed in her book that the world could end and she wouldn’t notice, we are the only customers left.
    “I’m pretty sure they’re going to kick us out in a few minutes, actually.”
    James scans the café and sighs. “Well, in that case, let me walk you home.”
    We dodge the chairs being upturned onto tables, and avoid a collision with a Starbucks worker precariously balancing a condiments tray. As I nearly bump into a table trying to sidestep her, James steers me in the right direction with a hand on the small of my back. My breath catches in my throat at the contact. When he moves his hand away, my lower back tingles.
    On nights like this, downtown State College is full of students and laughter. But James and I are in our own bubble of quiet; observing the lights, the people, the buzz.
    “I can’t believe we hung out for three hours.” James smiles.
    “I know. It flew by!”
    “I kind of wish it didn’t,” James says so quietly, I’m not sure if I imagined it.
    I agree, whether he said it or not. The last three hours have been the happiest I’ve been in a long time. I hadn’t even realized I was feeling remotely melancholy. Being around James opens up the realm of possibility beyond books, school, my family obligations, and Sophia. Suddenly, I can see this kind of happiness on a regular basis. I can make decisions without any hesitation or fear, and the sudden independence is oh-so-liberating.
    “How did you two meet?” I ask, just to say something. “You and Luca?”
    “We lived on the same floor freshman year in Tener Hall.” He vaguely gestures in, presumably, the dorm’s direction. “Luca was a little bit of a party animal.”
    “No way. Did you guys get in trouble a lot?” I imagine they did. James’ constant grin and Luca’s mischievous personality can mask a lot of stories.
    “We avoided it pretty well.” He smirks. “Actually, I didn’t drink until I was about twenty. I was too scared of getting in trouble… doesn’t exactly look good on law school applications.”
    “Soph and I met freshman year, too. We were roommates.”
    “It’s cool you girls ended up being best friends, too.”
    “It’s fun our best friends are dating. She really likes him.”
    His silence is suspicious so I glance over. The expression on his face is sly.
    “What?” I give him a strange look.
    “You were right. You’re a real 007,” he says sarcastically.
    I give a delighted laugh. I’ve been caught. “Shut up!”
    I briefly wonder what kinds of things Luca and James talk about. To be a fly on the wall in that apartment… Do they share details about their conversations the way Sophia and I do? Guys are different than girls, but I still wonder what James knows about me through Sophia and Luca. Does he ask about me? I cross my fingers in my coat pocket that he hasn’t heard anything bad. Reputations can change people’s opinions, and if James catches on that I’m a little Type-A, safe and neurotic, he might run. Okay, maybe