‘We’ll get something to eat and then go and check it out, okay?’ he said, sipping on his coffee. I could hear the music filtering through the grounds, the sound of people screaming in appreciation of their music heroes.

‘Sounds like fun,’ I said.

My stomach grumbled and Rishi burst out laughing. ‘Sounds like you need to eat. Here,’ he handed me a bottle of water. ‘There are no showers here; you will need to use this to wash your face. Then put your shoes on, and we can find something to eat.’

I took the bottle outside the tent and, carefully pouring water into my scooped hand, I washed off the remaining sleep. I patted my wet hand on the back of my neck. Re-entering the tent, I handed Rishi the bottle and grabbed my sneakers.

‘Where’s that money,’ Rishi asked. I tapped my pocket to indicate it was with me. ‘Good,’ he said. ‘Come, let’s find something to eat.

Together, we browsed the food stalls; I had never seen such a variety of foods—there was something from every culture. Rishi insisted we have Mexican Molletes; he said he lived on them when he went to visit his parents a year ago. To me, they looked like regular sandwiches, but once I bit into one, I understood why he wanted them so badly. With our food, he bought two cans of soda. We looked for an empty spot to sit and eat our lunch without being bumped around. The red clay was hot from being baked in the sun; it left dark red smudges on my jeans and sneakers. I bent to dust them off before realising it was futile while we still sat eating.

‘And all these women in their best outfits,’ he said, eyeing me trying to dust my jeans. ‘Seems pointless, don’t you think?’ I nodded, chewing on my torta. ‘It’s nice to look at though,’ he said, laughing, and I almost choked at his brazenness. ‘No, seriously, Ashray, look at this one coming from behind you. She is wearing a full-length skirt and a crop top. Very nice,’ he said. I couldn’t bring myself to turn around and look; I didn’t know how to do it without making it seem obvious. ‘Don’t worry, she’ll walk past us soon, but I wish you could see her face. She is quite pretty.’ I sat dead still, hoping the woman couldn’t hear Rishi openly gushing about her. As she walked past, Rishi stood up. My mouth dropped open; how did this man have so much confidence?

‘Hi, I’m Rishi,’ he said and held out his hand. The woman stopped; I kept my head down, sure she was getting ready to tell him off. ‘This is my friend, Ashray. We’ve come to the music festival as a last-minute getaway. What about you?’ I took a bite of my torta, waiting for the backlash.

‘We’ve also come for a getaway,’ she replied, shaking Rishi’s hand. She turned to me, hand outstretched.