Roomila and Aarav's house was unusually quiet that Saturday night. Their parents had left early that morning for a family wedding in Kanpur and wouldn't return until Sunday evening. For the first time in years, the brother and sister were completely alone in the house—no rules, no interruptions.

Roomila was curled up on the living-room sofa in her favorite oversized hoodie (actually one of Aarav's old ones that she had secretly taken) and tiny cotton shorts. Her glasses kept slipping down her nose as she scrolled through Netflix. Aarav came in fresh from the gym—grey sweatpants and a black tank top clinging to his sweat-dampened chest and abs. He dropped beside her with a bowl of popcorn.