10 Things I Hate About Pinky - Sandhya Menon Page 0,116

sorry too. I should never have said those awful, mean things about you. I was trying to hurt you because I was so mad—” She gave a wrenching sob, and Samir pulled her to him, cradling the back of her head.

“Shh. It’s okay. I know you were angry. But you know what?” He pulled back and she looked at him. “You were right,” he said, almost wonderingly. “You were right about why I’ve been so rigid, so controlled, for so long. It was fear. That’s all it was. Fear. And another thing? I don’t care if we make absolutely no sense on paper. I’m beginning to realize the best things in life rarely do.”

Pinky felt her heart begin to race. “So… so what does that mean?”

He gave her a gentle smile. “That means that I told my mom I want to be mainstream schooled this year, and she agreed. And she also agreed to the both of us getting some counseling.”

Pinky clapped her hands to her mouth. “I’m so happy for you,” she said, infusing her words with the love she felt. “Samir, you’re easily the bravest person I know.”

He smiled at her, his eyes twinkling. “Really?” he asked, his voice just a breath.

“Really,” she whispered back.

He took a deep, steadying breath and looked her right in the eye. “So here’s something I want to know, then. I’m hoping to introduce my friends back in Atherton to my new girlfriend, Pinky Kumar. If she’ll still have me.”

Pinky felt a smile spreading on her face, slow and warm and steady. Two swallowtail butterflies circled them, as if listening in. “She’ll have you,” Pinky said, bringing her mouth to his. They kissed like they’d never stopped kissing, like the fight had never happened. With each touching and parting of their lips, Pinky showed Samir how sorry she was for all the things she’d said that she hadn’t meant, how truly, deeply glad she was that they were working things out, how joyful he made her, how full her world was when he was in it. When they pulled apart, Pinky added breathlessly, “I’m so happy for you.”

Samir cupped her cheek in one hand. “I’m happy for me too. And I’m happy for you.” He looked around at the crowd. “I mean, just look at this.”

They took in the happy, energetic crowd until someone yelled, “The crew’s coming! Everyone lock arms!”

And then she and Samir were racing forward, determined to stop the inevitable.

Samir

They made a human chain of protesters, all of them arm in arm, so the guy in the excavator couldn’t get past them. Dolly met Samir’s eye and grinned, and he grinned back, knowing he’d been forgiven.

“Save our habitat!” they chanted, their voices rising in a cloud. The guy in the excavator looked confused for a moment and then alarmed. Samir saw him pull a cell phone from his pocket and dial.

Samir looked over at Pinky. Her rainbow-hued ponytail was blowing in the breeze; her eyes were scintillating and fiery. She was always a part of something bigger than herself, a selfless force. He wondered how he could ever have seen anything different when he looked at her.

A tidal wave of gratitude crashed over him when he thought of how she’d agreed to be his again, wholeheartedly. Samir knew how his life needed to change, and now he could do it with Pinky at his side. Not leading him, not making his decisions for him, but simply there to support him. And he would support her, in every way he knew how.

Speaking of… Samir scanned the main road past the habitat, looking for a familiar car. He hadn’t said anything to Pinky, just in case it didn’t pan out, but he hoped it would.

He really, really hoped it would.

Pinky

“Oh, great,” Pinky muttered, seeing the shiny Range Rover with the DR Developments logo on the side come screaming up the road and into the gravel parking lot. Even with Dolly on her left and Samir on her right, she felt a surge of nerves at the thought of the oncoming unpleasantness.

Di Ria got out of her car and stamped over the gravel and the grass, past the excavator, to where the line of protesters began. “Just what do you people think you’re doing?” she said, in what Pinky knew she hoped was an imperious voice. Really, it just came across angry and petulant.

The protesters all looked at Gloria, so she spoke. “We don’t want you to raze the butterfly habitat.” As if