‘Just, y’know, stuff. It’s cool if you want to open it.’

‘No, it’s okay.’ But she was already moving towards the cupboard.

Inside, thrown together in a way that didn’t seem very monk-like to Gehna, was all the stuff you’d expect to find in a regular boy’s room. Tangles of anonymous cords from discarded electronic devices, movie posters, tennis balls, a camera, graphic novels and dog-eared manga comics, an old school uniform, a Bluetooth-enabled speaker, a few board games and a fibreglass Jedi lightsabre.

There was also a shoebox.

‘Whazzis,’ Gehna said, pulling it out. She gave the box a shake. ‘Porno mags?’

‘Yeah. Because it’s 1950 and the Internet hasn’t been invented yet. That’s my piggy bank.’

Gehna wasn’t the type of person to wait for permission. Her philosophy was that if somebody had a problem with the way she did things then they should speak up, or else she could pretty much do as she pleased. She took the cover off the box. Her eyes were wide when she looked up at Eram. ‘Holy shit. You didn’t say you were Pablo Escobar. I’ve never seen this much cash in one place. How much is it? Like, hundreds of thousands of millions of billion—’

‘Three lakhs. But it may as well be air for all the good it’ll do me.’ He started bitching about how two months was just not enough time to save the rest of the money that he needed to enter The Big Drop. Gehna tried to pay attention but mostly she was watching his lips move. She liked kissing and felt she hadn’t done enough of it in life.

Maybe it’s the hormones. I read somewhere that pregnancy makes you outta-control horny. But this doesn’t feel like it’s about sex. He’s interesting and funny and I feel safe around him. Whatever. I wish he’d shut up about poker and kiss me.

‘Hey, did you hear a word I said? You’re staring like a fish.’

‘What? Sure. I heard,’ Gehna nodded vigorously. ‘Two months, two lakhs. How come you put all that stuff away?’

‘The stuff in the cupboard? It’s kid stuff. I grew up.’

‘It’s not kid stuff, it’s fun stuff. It’s like you were normal up to a point and then you woke up one day and you were all like “Ooh, look at me, I’m very busy and important Mr Texas Hold ’Em, I don’t have time to play or dance or kiss girls because I’m filling shoeboxes with cash like a drug dealer”.’ Gehna stuck her elbows out, puffed up her cheeks and strutted around the room. ‘You didn’t grow up, Eram, you just got boring.’

Eram had been a social outcast his whole life. He had always been too intense and geeky for the other kids. So, in his mind, what Gehna was saying was that she didn’t want to hang out with him. It hurt and he lashed out. ‘I’m sorry I’m boring. I’m sorry I’m not fun enough for you. Because some of us have sick fathers to look after and, and things to achieve. Some of us don’t have the luxury of going around drinking and having sex all the time.’