“Huh.”
She pauses. “You real y like him, don’t you?”
I’m struggling not to cry. “No. It’s not like that.”
“Liar. So are you getting up today or what? You need sustenance.”
I agree to meet her in the cafeteria in half an hour, but I have no idea why, because the moment I’m out of bed, I want to crawl back in. I’m nauseous, and my head feels like someone smacked it with a Wiffle bal bat. And speaking of whiffs, that’s when I catch a smel of myself. My pores are boozy and sour.
My hair reeks of stale cigarettes. And my clothes. Oh, gross. I run to my sink, dry-heaving.
And that’s when I discover last night’s vomit. And I puke for real. Again.
In the shower, I find weird bruises on my legs and feet. I have no idea what they’re from. I slump in my tiny tiled corner and let the hot water run. And run.
And run. I’m twenty minutes late for breakfast. Lunch. Whatever it is. Paris is blanketed in several inches of snow.When did that happen? How could I
sleep through the first snowfal ? The white glare makes me shade my eyes.
Thankful y, Rashmi is alone at our table when I stumble in. I couldn’t face anyone else right now. “Morning, sunshine.” She smirks at my wet hair and
puffy eyes.
“What I don’t understand is how people actual y think drinking is fun.”
“You were having fun when you were dancing last night.”
“Too bad I can’t remember.”
Rashmi slides a plate of dry toast toward me. “Eat this. And drink some water, but not too much. You might throw up again.”
“I already did.”
“Wel .You’re off to a good start.”
“Where’s Josh?” I take a smal bite of toast. Yuck. I’m not hungry.
“You’l feel better if you eat it.” She nods at my plate. “He’s stil asleep. We don’t spend every minute together, you know.”
“Yeah. Right. That’s why you and I hang out all the time.”
Whoops.
Rashmi’s brown skin reddens. “I know this’l be a shock to you, Anna, but you aren’t the only one with problems. Josh and I aren’t exactly on the best of terms right now.”
I slink down in my seat. “I’m sorry.”
She fiddles with her juice lid. “Whatever.”
“So . . . what’s going on?” It takes a minute of prodding, but once she starts, it’s as if a dam has burst. It turns out they’re fighting more often than I’d thought. Over Josh skipping school. Over her pushing him. She thinks he’s upset because she’s leaving next year, and he’s not.We’re all leaving for
col ege, and he’s not.
I hadn’t thought of that before.
And she’s upset about her younger sister, Sanjita, who’s hanging out with Amanda’s crowd, and worried about her brother, Nikhil, who’s getting bul ied,
and angry with her parents, who won’t stop comparing her to her older sister, Leela, who was the School of America’s valedictorian two years ago. And