My family has a quirk. Every year, my family spends Eid week in the USA visiting my cousins. Sometimes we go to ski resorts. One year it's Aspen, the next Vail, and so on. My final year in college it was Steamboat Springs. The fates intervened. The week before Eid, I broke my leg in the Delhi Metro - falling on a slick sidewalk. I was going to be a limping lad for three weeks, at least.

To top it off, I'd fallen leaving my girlfriend's apartment after breaking up with her. Ironic, isn't it? An emotional break and a physical one.

Mom wanted to call off the ski trip, but Dad said if I was alive, I was all right, and if I was all right, he was going skiing. They offered to take me with them, but being there and not participating in the fun didn't appeal to me. They went and took my siblings with them. My Aunt Hameeda and Uncle Raashid promised to look after me. I had a lovely Eid Eve at their home, but I went home to my own empty house.

Eid morning was a bummer. I awakened late, ate a bowl of cold cereal, and plopped down on the couch to watch TV. I was even too depressed to beat off, that's how bad it was.

About noon, the door bell rang. I grabbed my crutches and hobbled to the door. A fair girl wearing a ski parka, jeans, walking boots, and a wool cap stood on my stoop. The hat was red with white trim. The coat was navy blue with gray patches and red piping. Her hair was long, black, and billowing in the breeze. She was carrying two large shopping bags and looking down at them.

When I opened the door, she looked up. I was staring into big brown eyes and a warm, wide, white-toothed smile.

"Fareeda?"

"Happy Eid, Tasawwar," she said.

"Come in."

She stepped across the threshold directly into me, raised her head, and gently kissed me on the lips, which blew my socks off. She set one of the packages down by the Eid tree and carried the other into the kitchen. I hobbled after her.

"Have a seat. Eid dinner will be ready shortly," she said. She stuffed the cap into a parka pocket, unzipped the parka, and tossed it on a chair.

I tried not to stare.

The Khans lived two doors down from us. Mr. and Mrs. Khan were two of my parents' closest friends. Haneef, the eldest child, was a year ahead of me in school. We played football and hung around together. Lutfiyah, my sister, and Fareeda were two years behind me. They were best friends and roomed together at college. And Faizan, Fareeda's little brother, was best buddy to my little brother, Rizwan. Faizan had gone skiing with my family.

I'd known Fareeda forever, but I'd never known her like this. Fareeda Khan was smart. No doubt about that. And she was sweet. And pretty. But she was shy. Horribly shy.

The last time I saw Fareeda was in India the previous year. I was home a week before leaving for a summer camp in Mumbai where I worked as a glorified janitor. She was Fareeda then. The one I knew. With brown hair, enough metal in her mouth to build a car, and flat-chested. The Fareeda who always wore, loose, baggy clothes so no one could see her body. The one who was too shy to date. I was dating Aayesha, and I had been for some time, but I asked Fareeda out thinking it would break her fear of dating. She wouldn't even go to a movie with me.

This was a different Fareeda. She wore a form-fitting, long-sleeved red sweater. And the form it fit. Wow! She was stacked. The jeans were tight, too, letting me see Fareeda had a nice, tight ass and narrow waist. And with that black hair hanging down her back? I was having impure thoughts. I bunched the robe in front of me. I only wore a tee shirt and boxers under my robe and I didn't want her to see me.

But the biggest change was her attitude. She was vivacious and flirtatious. Openly flirting. And instead of always keeping her mouth closed because of her braces, I was bombarded by big, beautiful, radiant smiles under sexy, twinkling eyes. And talk? I'd never seen her like this.

She served us turkey, dressing, potatoes, salad, rolls, and gravy. She poured the wine she brought. We sat and talked. In a few minutes, I saw the best part of the old Fareeda. The sweetness. The burst of conversation settled down to a genuine exchange. We talked about everything except boy-girl stuff like who we were dating. After dinner, I hobbled into the den and plopped down on the couch with my bum leg and attendant cast extended. She sat next to me.

"So? How do you like the new Fareeda?" she asked.

"She's fabulous, but I liked the old Fareeda, too."

"I know you did, and I did, too, but I like this one more. The braces came off right before graduation last May. The day after graduation, I dyed my hair. The stylist calls it ash black."

"I like it," I said.

"Why?"

"It sets off your eyes."

"I'm surprised you knew I had eyes," she said with that wide, happy grin. "I'd never look at you. I was too shy."

"Yes, you would look, not when we were alone, but in a group or when you were with Lutfiyah." She looked away shyly, but her eyes flicked back up to me in an instant. "Remember when I was helping you with Algebra? You looked at me then."

"Yes. You were sweet and patient with me." She giggled and covered her mouth with her hands. "But I didn't want to learn too quickly because I was enjoying the lessons."

"Ha! I knew it. I knew it."

"What can a girl say?" She shrugged with faux innocence. "Do you want more wine?"

"No, thanks, but I'd love a Coke."

"I'll be right back," she said. I watched her ass as she went into the kitchen. Fareeda did have a nice ass. She quickly returned, handed me the glass, and sat down again. This time, her knee touched my thigh. I liked it there.

"Have you noticed any other physical changes in me?" she teased. I blushed and my eyes dropped to her sweater. I tried not to look, but it was reflex. She grinned. "Well?" she asked. She arched her back just a fraction.

"I'm not blind. I've noticed a change, or should I say two."

"I'll tell you something a lot of people guessed, but only my parents and Lutfiyah know for sure. I had implants. Do you like them?"

"You know I do."

"Do you mind that I had them?"

"No. Why would I mind?"

"I just wondered." She learned toward me and gently put her hand on my leg. "The physical changes have changed my world, Tasawwar. I spent the summer in shorts and halter, or in a bikini by the pool. All of a sudden, boys were all over me like bees on honey. What are you feeling?" Her hand tightened.

"What do you mean?"

"Just then. What was going on in your head?"

"I don't want to tell you."

"I'll accept that. For now," she said.

"I'm surprised Lutfiyah didn't tell me about the way you'd changed."

"I made her promise not to tell you. I wanted to see your face when you saw the new me." She looked at me with a penetrating intensity. "What do you feel when you kiss a girl?"

"What?"

"You heard me," she said.

"It depends on the girl."

"I'd never kissed a boy before this summer. My girlfriends told me what it was like, and the women's magazines raved of fireworks. Most of the time it was yucky, but I wanted to experience it for myself. If a boy took my fancy, and most of them definitely did not, I let him kiss me. All but a few got only one kiss. Was Aayesha a good kisser?"

"You ask a lot of questions?"

"You told me one time I could ask you anything and you'd be honest with me. Was that just B.S. or did you mean it?"

"I meant it."

"So, answer my question."

"She was damn good."

"Do you want another Coke?"

"Please."

I watched her walk away again. I stumbled to my feet and went into the bathroom to pee. When I returned, Fareeda was sitting on the couch lost in her own thoughts. I waited until she looked up before entering the room, sat down beside her, and thanked her when she handed me my drink.

"I was telling you about me. When I started SMU, I had a date every night. I was having fun being a popular girl for a change. Then a guy gave me the date rape drug."

"Shit!"

"It's all right. Nothing happened. Lutfiyah's date saw it and they got me to a hospital. I had my stomach pumped, spent the night, and went home none the worse for wear."

"I hope you prosecuted the son-of-a-bitch!"

"I did, but that wasn't what was important. I thought about the important things. About me. About guys. About what I wanted, not just now, but for my entire life." Her eyes were soft and loving. "All of those boys were insignificant because one man was always in my thoughts."

She leaned toward me. "Kiss me, Tasawwar." Her lips parted. Her eyes fluttered. Her kiss was hot and sweet and made me explode inside. Slowly, her arms slipped around my neck as our kiss intensified. "They were right. Kissing the right man does make you feel fireworks." She pushed me back on the couch and kissed me like a volcano. My arms were around her, my hands active on her body.

"Something's poking me," she teased. She giggled. "Don't be embarrassed. Don't you know how much I've wanted you to get hard from me?"

She stood, walked to the sack she'd deposited under the tree, and bent over with her back to me and her knees straight. Her long black hair cascaded around her. She stuck her head between her legs to leer at me. "Like the view?"

"You know I do."

"I brought you a Eid present. I want to give it to you now." She retrieved a green ribbon with a big, green bow from the sack, fastened the ribbon around her neck with the bow under her chin, and walked back to me.

She sat on the couch by me and took my hands in hers. "Happy Eid, Tasawwar," she said. We kissed again. She waited with an impish look as brain whirred and my heart throbbed. Then her expression changed as the light in her eyes dimmed. "I thought boys were anxious to unwrap their presents and play with their new toys?" she asked apprehensively.

"You could never be just a toy to me," I said.

Her eyes filled with tears and a single one ran down her cheek.