[15: 'simon says']

Meera came home from the night out with her uncle and his friends that
doubled as extended family exhausted. Going out for a celebratory supper had
turned into a private party with everyone her uncle knew in attendance.

The company was overwhelming, all focused on her and her admission to the
school, and she barely knew most of them, and they all knew her.

They'd finally come back to the house just short of midnight, and she
flopped down in bed and was about to drift off when the door opened.

Sama sat on her bed.

"You're leaving, aren't you?"

"Yeah. I think I have to."

"I don't want you to leave."

"I know. I don't want to either. I don't want to leave you."

"When do you go?"

"At the end of the summer."

"Oh good. I thought it was right away."

"No, not right away."

Sama left the room again and she fell fast asleep.

----

The last day of classes was welcome. She was tired of notoriety. Several
classmates had been accepted to prestigious schools, but none had received
such large scholarships and none had been known for not studying extra to
get in. 

She came home and went to sit in the garden.