Shanti’s face would have made me laugh out loud if I didn’t feel so close to disintegrating into embarrassment. Her lips had fallen ever-so-slightly open, and her raised eyebrows clearly conveyed her astonishment.

Priam and Vicki whooshed us into the kitchen like we were two dust bunnies and they were two especially obnoxious brooms.

“What’s your name again, darling?” Vicki asked as she guided Shanti into a seat at the kitchen table.

“Shanti.” Her face still hadn’t changed, but she attempted a smile now.

“Lovely! I’m Daya’s aunt Vicki and this is her uncle Priam. It’s so exciting to see Daya having friends over. She never has friends over. Have you two been friends for long?” All this was said as Vicki and Priam flitted from the kitchen island to the table, bringing with them food and condiments each time.

I hadn’t sat down yet. Part of me couldn’t quite accept that this was happening. But when Shanti looked to me for help, I forced myself into my seat and jumped in. “We just met skateboarding.”

Vicki paused mid-flit and Shanti shot me a look. What’d I say?

“Oh—I thought you were school friends. What were you studying for last night, then?”

Shit. That’s right. Shanti told her we were studying late. “We were going over… tricks. For skateboarding. Shanti’s new to it, so I… showed her some things.” Not my best lie.

“Oh?” Priam said, and looked to Vicki. “Who knew skateboarding was so complicated!” He was smiling, but Vicki’s pursed lips communicated that she wasn’t buying it.

“You were up late, studying skateboarding?” she asked, placing the Dorothy and Toto salt and pepper shakers in front of me rather pointedly.

“Yeah…,” I replied, keeping my eyes on Toto. My gut was churning. I could feel my carefully constructed boundaries slowing falling apart, whether I wanted them to or not.

Both Shanti and I just sat there for a few moments, staring at the table. I could practically feel her blushing from her chair next to me. I suspected my own face conveyed all kinds of things I didn’t want it to. My suspicions were confirmed in the next moment.

“Ohhhhhhhhh!” Both Priam and Vicki let loose this animated expression of their mutual recognition and I had to fight the urge to grab Shanti’s hand and flee the scene. Glancing up, I could see them exchange a gleeful look as Vicki reached out and clutched Priam’s arm. The next moment, they’d slid into their chairs and were both leaning their chins into their hands, beaming at me and Shanti.

Good God.

“Now, girls, I know I speak for Priam when I say this. You have nothing to be ashamed of—Priam and I have oodles of ‘Friends of You-Know-Who’ ”—Vicki picked Dorothy up from the table by the head and swung her back and forth—“and we simply adore them!”