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“Sophie,” my mom said. “What do you mean you failed a calc test? Isn’t that your favorite class?”

“She’s clearly kidding,” my dad said. “Right, Soph?”

“I only missed a couple questions. You know I’m not capable of failing a math test.”

My dad smiled. “See. She didn’t fail.”

“Okay...” my mom said. “But what was this about spying on a teacher or something?”

“Snooping, Mom. God. Don’t make it weird.”

“I didn’t...”

“Don’t make it weird, babe,” my dad said to her.

My mom opened her mouth and closed it again. “I do not like it when the two of you team up against me like this. Sophie said some very concerning things. I just want an explanation.”

“But she’s joking,” my dad said.

I shrugged. I wasn’t. But I was glad he always thought I was.

RJ laughed.

“Do you know anything about this?” my mom asked RJ.

“Yeah,” RJ said. “I heard about it at lunch. When we all had pizza with cooked tomatoes.” He flicked an uncooked piece of tomato out of his bowl.

“You both liked raw tomatoes last month,” my mom said.

“New month,” RJ said.

“New month,” I agreed.

She sighed. “Sophie, what are you going to do when you go off to college and you have to eat at a dining hall where you can’t tell the cooks to change up the food however you want?”

“I’ll be sweet so they do change it up for me.”

“That’s not going to work there,” my mom said. “They’re feeding thousands of students a day. You’re going to starve.”

“Babe, you survived,” my dad said. “If you could do it, Soph can do it.”

I smiled at him.

He winked at me.

“I’m not as picky as these two,” my mom said and gestured to me and RJ.

RJ and I looked at each other and burst out laughing.

“What is so funny?” my mom asked. “I’m not. Rob, tell them.”

My dad winced. “I’m sorry, Daphne, but where do you think our picky little goblins learned to be picky?”

My mom made a face.

But then my dad tickled her side.

“Stop it!” she said with a laugh and swatted his hand away.