O
n Monday Hadas doesn’t come to school, so I spend lunch period in the bathroom again. On Tuesday, when she’s still home with strep throat, I venture out onto the school grounds. It’s gorgeous outside and I’m too hungry to hide in the bathroom this time. Batya waves at me; I wave back, but I keep walking. I need to find my way with the tenth graders, no more hiding behind other people’s popularity. I think of Sari’s words at the wedding, how she said I was brave. Well, this has to be either the bravest or the dumbest thing I’ve ever done. I make my slow way over to the picnic table, aware that Tamara and the group are watching me from the bench with slitted eyes. Without any drama or aplomb, I sit down and unwrap my salad. Cue applause. The conversation grinds to a halt for only a fraction of a second, before starting up again. These girls have Stonesworth upbringings, after all.
On Wednesday, when Hadas returns, we sit at the picnic table together, laughing and giggling over pictures from the wedding. No one talks to us, and if I’m going to be honest, I think I would have had more people interested in me if I wasn’t with Hadas. But I don’t care. Hadas is a true friend, a soul sister, and I’m lucky to have found her, and even luckier that she didn’t give up on me.
Tamara puts up a flyer advertising an end-of-the-year pool party. The class tries to play it cool, but you can tell they’re all super excited.
We don’t go, of course, and the first day of summer vacation, Mommy takes us out for ice cream. Do I feel like a total loser? Maybe just a little. But at least I’m not spending lunch in the bathroom anymore. At least not until school starts again.
