The mindless chatter of Dante Park was beginning to grow more and more aggravating. As they slaved away on their laptop, the last thing Navya wanted to hear was…. Honestly, anything other than the recycled Lo-Fi playlist blaring through their ten-dollar headphones, but somehow, Dante gossiping about asinine rumors from a school they didn’t even attend was infuriating beyond measure. They knew that Dante usually went above and beyond but this was just ridiculous.
Ugh… I can’t think… Dante, please, do your work, you surely must have some tests to study for or something… Please shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up- Navya silently prayed, knowing the universe was surely looking down on them with pity… or maybe it had tired of their constant prayers. Who knew? Philosophy later, unnecessarily complicated molecular biology now. As Navya tried to re-enter the perpetual torment called homework, Dante was beginning to become more than just a nuisance. Their annoyance began to build, like how a yawn rolls forward, intensifying and intensifying, becoming a tiny roar that clouded one’s head.
“And-” Dante giggled, “Yeah, so they fought an’ it was awesome, an’ I told everyone, the whole thing blew up, and now both of ‘em are tryna to kill me. It’s fine though, because I’m slippery. So, what’d you do this weekend?”
Navya closed their laptop, DESPITE THE FACT THEY WERE NOWHERE NEAR FINISHED WITH THEIR PAPER, and took a deep breath. Dante was their roommate. They couldn’t kill him, they had to remind themself of that. The RA would kill them if she had to find another roommate willing to put up with them. So, Navya relied on the power of words instead of strangulation. Unfortunately, words had failed them, so they just ended up death-glaring Dante, while gesturing towards their laptop, shaking their hands like an ornery old man trying to intimidate some rather teenagers into getting off of his lawn.
“I have been conscious. For the last. 72 hours. That’s what I’ve been doing this weekend, Dante.”
“…That don’t seem very good for your health.”
“No, no it isn’t, I feel like, very frankly, I’m in hell.”
“….So would that make you Dante-”
“Get out.”
“Look, why don’t you take a break-”
“No, Dante, I can’t! Alright? I can’t! Because I need to get this done, and maybe you don’t understand this, but I actually give a crap about my work so, either you can grow up and act like an actual adult or GO AWAY!”
Dante stayed silent after that. He didn’t like being compared to a child. Nobody did, but… Navya knew Dante got overexcited at times. Navya groaned internally. Ugh, why did they have to be the bigger person? Being the bigger person sucks. Why couldn’t they ever be the smaller, more vicious person?
“…I’m sorry. I… shouldn’t have said that. It’s just… it’s getting harder to… do this, Dante…. I can’t… between my studies and Mom and Dad and…. I don’t…” Navya exclaimed in frustration, as they reached for Dante’s hands, clasping onto him for dear life. “I don’t have the time… to let you annoy me anymore. I… I wish it didn’t have to be this way, I really did, but… I just don’t have the time, and my parents, they-”
“Navya. You absolute drama god.”
“Huh?” Out of all the ways Navya expected Dante to react, this was certainly not one of them. It was not even on the list.
“Look, I know you’re busy, and I know you’re stressed. M’sorry for annoyin’ ya, I just thought it’d be good for you to have a break. Things might seem hopeless but you’re Navya goddamn Shah, and I’m Dante Park. Power couple, remember? We got this. ‘Sides, I thought you stopped talkin’ to your father anyways.” Dante glared at Navya while he raised the last statement.
“Well, I di- I did, but… she’s just so-” They stammered, trying to come up for a justification on why they had resumed conversation with their father.
“I don’t like you talkin’ to your dad again. He ain’t treat you right. I know ya ain’t like me sayin’ these kinda words, but he’s, quite frankly, a bitch. An’ you know that. Don’t listen to your father, you ain’t gonna ruin your future by… having a social life. And you’ll do fine on the paper, yer the smartest kid on this whole damn campus.”
“He’s not a…. that word. But… maybe he can be a little…”
“Narcissistic? Delusional? Manipulative? A psychotic control freak who uses tradition as an excuse to force his kids to conform to toxic standards?”
“…Yeah, that….”
“Relax, alright? Why don’ you get some sleep?” Dante shoved aside the laptop and books and research papers and scooped Navya up into his arms, starting to carry them to their side of the bed.
“Dante, my paper-”
“Shut up about the paper!” Dante exclaimed. “Shouldn’t a fuckin’ pre-med know that your brain performs worse under sleep deprivation?” Dante asked as he dropped Navya onto the bed.
“What do you know about the body, you study freakin’ classics.”
“Fair enough…. But you said you were goin’ through Hell? I know a little bit ‘bout that.” Dante smirked as he sat next to Navya, looping his arm around their shoulders and pulling them towards him. “I’ll be your Virgil, Alighieri.”
“You’re the Dante…” Navya grumbled softly, leaning into him. “You sure about this? You know I’m kinda a mess, right?”
“Yeah. A mess I am absolutely, maddeningly, irrevocably in love with. You know Dante Alighieri literally went through Hell and back to be with the person he loved, right? So… maybe I am the Dante.” Park leaned in and kissed Navya, and for a little bit, all their worries and problems went away.
Well, okay, they were still there. They had an impossible-to-complete paper due in a couple of days on which their entire academic career hinged upon, parents who insisted on controlling every aspect of their life despite the fact they lived an entire half-country away and had not slept for so long they were ninety percent sure they had met the actual God, and holy crap, was that twelve-year-old girl terrifying. But at least they were in the Inferno with a boy they could count on.
