EIGHTEEN
Patrick
“It’s great to have one-on-one time with you since Sara’s in tutoring so much,” I say as Vicky slides my chicken katsu bowl in front of me. “Now we can talk behind her back, and she’ll never know.”
Since Sara’s occupied with tutoring and Tammy’s still irked by the stunt I pulled at lunch yesterday, I took the subway to Kiki’s Chicken Kitchen alone once school let out. Kiki’s is a local restaurant owned by Vicky’s mom (who’s also Sara Lin’s aunt), and it’s beloved by everyone in the community, including me.
The interior’s covered with sunshine-yellow branding—yellow walls, yellow take-out bags, yellow napkins—and plenty of seating. Before Sara started tutoring, we’d come over here and split a chicken katsu bowl, hanging out with Vicky when there weren’t many customers she had to serve. Vicky doesn’t mind the job—especially when Sara and I visit—and when it’s slow, her mom lets her do homework in the back.
Vicky arches an eyebrow. “Be serious.”
“You know I’m kidding.” I grab some chopsticks and dig into the steaming rice. “But, hey, ever since the subway incident I keep telling Sara to do these outrageous bets, and she falls for iteverytime. Like, today? I bet her to talk to Joe—he’s her new crush—and she couldn’t even do that! So now she has to do my homework for a week.”
Vicky produces a rag from the front pocket of her apron and wipes down the table next to mine. “She’s got a new crush?”
“Yeah, don’t you read her blog?”
But Vicky’s already at the next table stacking plates on top of each other then discarding them in the bin near the kitchen before returning to my table.
“I haven’t had time,” she admits.
“He’s this new transfer student,” I explain. “All the girls are in love with him.”
Vicky adjusts her bandana—yellow, surprise, surprise—then reaches for her dishrag. “Huh.”
“Anyway, I’m just trying to help her. She told me she wants her first kiss to be with someone she loves, but how can that happen if she can’t eventalkto a guy?” I snort. “I thought if I pressured her with bets, it’d help.”
“Did you want to help, or is this really about the money?”
I shrug, using my chopsticks to grab a piece of crispy chicken. “Money is money.”
She spares a fast glance at her manager—who’s talking to one of the cooks in the back—before sitting across from me. “So—this new guy.”
“What about him?”
“Does he feel like competition for you?” She crosses her arms and her lips twist into a smirk. “If all the girls arein love with him, he must be supercute, right? So—what? Are you finally going to get the guts to fight for her?”
I pause halfway through chewing. Vicky grins wider, like she’s trapped me.
Fight for her? What is Vicky eventalkingabout? Sara and I are best friends. That’s it. We moved past her having a crush on me before our friendship crashed and burned.
“I don’t need to fight for Sara,” I protest, narrowing my eyes.
“Patrick, you talk about hera lot.”
“So? You’re her cousin. She’s my best friend.” I lower my gaze and focus on balancing another bite between my chopsticks. “What else should we talk about?”
“Sure, but you sought me out during my shift to talk about her, which is cool. I love Sara.” She rolls my discarded straw wrapper into a ball and tosses it playfully at my chest. “But, like, why?”
I grab the paper from where it fell into my lap and set it on the table, considering this. I don’t have many friends, especially guy friends. I have what my parents call “buddies”—guys I’ll say hi to in the halls or occasionally talk about sports with—and “acquaintances”—people I share notes and classes with—but none come close to matching what I have with Sara. Besides, why would I need a ton of friendships when I have her?
But if I had more friends, then maybe I’d be hanging out with them right now instead of talking to Sara’s cousinaboutSara. Not that Vicky isn’t my friend. We’re cool. But Sara’s the only thing we have in common.
“We were used to her crushing on you for the longest time,” Vicky goes on. “Then last summer she finally gets over you. I mean, that must have affected you, right? What, is she not giving you enough attention anymore, so you have to come here and talk about her?”
“Sheesh,relax.” I pretend I’m busy wiping my fingers on my napkin, avoiding the heat of her gaze. Why does she have to dissect this, anyway? “Sara and I are just friends. It’s like everyone expects us to be more than that, but it’s not gonna happen.”
When Sara confessed her feelings to me, it was clear Vicky wanted it to happen. And I get it. Vicky’s family. You always want to see your family happy. If someone was mean to Pearl or broke her heart, it wouldn’t exactly make my day.
