Page 179 of Facing Off
“This is also not how we play charades.” Quinn scribbles in his notebook. “Try again, Lokhov. No more talking, just act it out.”
I watch as Dmitri gestures at Kavi, repeatedly trying to “act” out the wordsoulmate.
Adrian’ guesses get more unhinged and hilarious, according to the Wings players, at least, who are basically clutching their stomachs and almost crying with laughter.
I puncture the crowd and come by the sofa across from Adrian. “Come on, you can get this.”
He’s mid-guess but trails off when our eyes meet. Even if we’ve officially been together for a while, the impact still hits me. Him, too, I can tell.
Our eyes haven’t unlocked. His are darkening with swirls of vivid blue. It’s as if seeing me always knocks all the air out of his lungs.
Someone nudges him. His teammates wonder why he’s not playing anymore. Lokhov tells him he’s got one more chance, that’s it. At that, Adrian briefly glances at Lokhov and Kavi.
Lokhov tells him that it’s one word, eight letters.
That’s a big hint, but there’s no way he’s going to know the word.
“Come on,” urges Quinn. “Give it your best shot, Cap.”
Blue eyes return to stay on mine. The expression on his face? It softens completely. He guesses.
“Soulmate.”
My breath hitches and my heart utterly melts.
“That can’t be it, can it?” someone says.
“No, he got it,” answers Kavi. “That was my word.”
Quinn whistles. “In a shocking turn of events, our captain got it right!” He goes and congratulates both Adrian and Dmitri by clapping them on the shoulder, and then strides up to me.
“Sonya, I’m pulling the sibling card! You’re playing next.”
I groan and make a stabbing motion with my hand, teasing my brother because he knows I hate playing charades. Adrian rushes over and swings me into his arms. “You’re on my team, baby!”
“I’d never separate you two,” says Quinn. “Remember what happened last time?
“You mean when Hughes mimed that he was in jail and kept reaching out to Sonya the whole night?” says Lokhov. He scowls. “I don’t want to witness that again.”
Kavi’s head rests on Lokhov’s shoulder. “Hey, how long has it been, Sonya?”
“How long has what been?” I ask.
She makes a circle with her hands, a faux megaphone and shouts, “Since we celebrated that Sonya is the first South Asian ballerina to be a principal dancer in her lead role in the famous Bob Pepita ballet!”
Not missing a beat, Adrian hoists me onto his shoulders. I’m covering my face with my hands and laughing, not even embarrassed anymore.
They’ve been doing this at all our parties since then!
The whole room explodes with cheers. Everyone’s holding up their glass. Adrian is taking me around, so I can receive a personal congratulations from every player.
I let it go on for about five minutes before scrambling off his shoulders.
Then I look around the room.
For the longest time, I thought I walked around with this underlying sense of not belonging. I thought the only way to fix that was ballet. To “make it” and prove to the world who I was.
But what I’ve learned is that belonging somewhere a lot of times has to start with you. You have to practice feeling and expressing authentically, even when you’re not okay.
