Thread: Culture Clash (DaddyIsHere and TerraFirma)

I was ready to melt into the ground. Faces swam before us after Max opened the door to his room to walk me out after our fun. Faces of most of the people on the floor. I muttered a string of Urdu curses under my breath before sinking my face into my hands so I wouldn't have to make eye contact with them. And then I began scuttling back to my room with Max in tow. It got worse though, somehow. People began to whoop and cheer. I swear my head was about to explode from how hard I was blushing. In my mortification I abruptly told Max to leave me alone. Of course, I regretted it right after he left. It wasn't his fault, I'd been the loud one. Sighing, I shut my room door behind me. I had maybe, five minutes to make myself look human and get to class. Today was shaping up to be really great, it was. It just seemed to get worse from there. I flipped open my phone it was old but stalwart, and did what phones need to do, to find a text from my little brother. Baaji , this is weird. Baba's looking at these applications sent from guys who wanna marry u. I sighed heavily and plopped down on my bed. Of course this would happen the night after I lost my virginity. It was a heavy reminder of my fate. My mouth pursed into a thin line and I tossed the phone to the other side of my bed. Screw it, I could miss one class, my attendance was impeccable anyway. Max had been wonderful in bed, as good as the stuff I've read and watched. But I felt like maybe he wanted more. The way he sort of beamed at me...and his kisses...they were passionate but tender too...not something you'd share with somebody who was just a friend with benefits. Maybe he liked me. The thought made my stomach flip. It wasn't entirely unpleasant. Maybe I liked him too. I knew that I wanted to tell him to call me Riya from now on. It was what Americans would call my petname. In Pakistani culture it's the name people who are close to you call you by. And Max and I were closer now than ever before. My phone seemed to stare at me accusingly. Yeah, I get it, inanimate object. I have duties to my family, need to preserve their honor, can't do it by being with a white dude, blah blah blah. The thought made me sad, deeply so. But family was big for us brown folk. You couldn't just estrange yourself. I mean, you could but it would be heart-wrenching and bad. And then there were honor killings to worry about. My father was a stern man, and had his moments of kindness, but I wasn't entirely sure he'd be above something so brutal. This was too much stuff to process right now. I sighed, put my hair up so I wouldn't have to deal with it right then, and turned on my Xbox to play Mass Effect. It's my form of stress relief, alright? Don't judge. My RR time was interrupted by a rapid knock on my door. I paused a moment before I opened it, and inhaled deeply, knowing it was probably Max on the other side. He kissed me. I didn't respond. He pulled away, and his face fell. Umm, what's up? Max, I-... for some reason my heart was racing and my stomach was sinking all at once. I...well see, this morning was really fun. Like, reeeally fun. But I did just want to hook up, and not really take it any further than that. But...uh...I want to focus on college because that is my top priority, and, well...it would probably be too distracting to keep...seeing you. Not that I don't want to still be friends! I still definitely want to um...do that. I finished lamely then sighed. He left quickly. That happened earlier today. After my conscience guilted me into attending my last class, I went to the dining hall to meet up with Max like we always did. I hadn't washed my hair during my shower, and it still carried hints of Max's scent. The clean boy smell. It took a bit of effort to keep myself from just blatantly sniffing at my locks. And then...well...Max rejected me. I can't really put it any other way. You know, I'm going to eat with Colleen today. he said within seconds of approaching me. Before I could get a word out he had walked off. And it wasn't long before I saw him flirting the blonde. When they walked away their fingers were entwined. It hurt. Like somebody stabbed my chest with much enthusiasm. I don't think it's because of romantic feelings either. Maybe it was, who knows. But it was just extremely painful for him to just brush me off so callously after we shared such an intimate experience, and had been friends for so long. I swallowed hard and blinked back tears, suddenly not hungry any more. When I returned to face my roommates, Kayla and Alice, they were adamant in their declarations of He's not good enough for you anyway! His loss. and Forget about him girl, plenty of other fish in the sea. Somehow none of that made me feel much better. About a week passed. I didn't bother contacting Max, and he didn't seem to want to get in touch with me either. Probably busy with Colleen. I'm not bitter though. If he was going to be an immature child about this, then I had better things to do than think about him. Now that I was freshly initiated into the world of the sexually active, I wasn't as reticent whenever a guy hit on me. Which happened fairly often, now that I think back. There was a guy in my Abnormal Psychology class with sharp blue eyes, who sat a few seats away. I knew him in my head as Husky Eyes, because his eyes reminded me of those found on gorgeous husky dogs. Hey, you wouldn't happen to have the notes for last Friday's class would you? I looked up and almost winced at the intensity of his gaze. He stood by my desk, smiling affably. Nice, chiseled jaw. Pleasantly stubbly. Good so far. I-uh...yes well...I do. Oh no, I could feel it. The shyness, rearing it's annoying head. Quick, say something funny or cute, but don't make yourself look stupid. Turning my head, I scanned the classroom then grinned at him. I see you decided to ask the only Asian person in class. He chuckled sheepishly then shrugged. It could be that. Or I could have just been looking for an excuse to talk to you. It was his turn to grin. His name was Josh. It sounds like such a jock name, I know. And in a way he was a bit of a jock. He liked to call everybody bro, and did mention his love for weight training during more than one of our conversations. However, he was a jock with a brain, I swear. It wasn't long before I found other...aspects about him to like. Best of all, he slipped into the friends with benefits role with no complications. He was...what people call chill. It was nice, simple, and gave me what I had begun to crave. But I would be lying if I said that I didn't think about Max.