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Mrs. Dixon held up her hand. “We’re not talking about your mom right now, Raina.”
Raina went back to staring at her shoes. “Can I go now?” she asked the scuff mark.
“Is there anything you’d like to talk about? Perhaps we can brainstorm ways to bring your grades up.”
Raina shook her head. “I’ll work on it.”
“Okay. That’s all, Raina.”
Raina barely spared her favorite teacher a nod before she rushed out of the room, heading to the one place on campus she felt she could truly relax—her kitchen. She’d spent the past few weeks on edge, tensing up whenever Jesse or Nicole entered the room. There was only one place in the entire school they’d never enter, and that was Raina’s kitchen.
As a Jewish girl at a predominantly non-Jewish boarding school, it was rare to find students who kept kosher. Raina, and two siblings from a town near hers, were the exception. The trio shared a small area connected to the main kitchen, complete with an oven, microwave, stove, and fridge. By taking turns cooking and shopping, they were able to keep all of their religious dietary restrictions.
Tehilla Goldstein had a free period before lunch on Mondays and Wednesdays, so those were her days to make lunch and dinner. Raina took responsibility for Tuesdays and Sundays, while Tehilla’s brother, Yaakov, cooked Thursdays. He would also typically be the one to go grocery shopping. The three of them would make Friday night dinner and Shabbos lunch together, setting up a small table in the kitchen space so they could celebrate the holy day.
“Lunch is on the counter.” Tehilla didn’t look up from her cutting board as Raina entered the kitchen. Raina peered over Tehilla’s shoulder as the senior expertly diced a tomato, dumping the small pieces into a plastic salad bowl. “If you want salad, come back in a few.”
“Yum, thanks, Tehilla.” Raina snatched a brown bag off the counter Tehilla had indicated and darted from the room.
Raina speed-walked through the corridors, her bag bumping against her back as she made her way into the main dining hall. Even though the room was nearly at capacity, no one was actually sitting at a table, so it took a minute for Raina to push her way through the crowds to reach her usual table. Her friends liked to claim a rectangular table on the far side of the hall, and today almost all of them were present.
“Sorry I’m late,” she greeted, taking a seat next to Gracie Adams.
Her roommate looked up at her with a smile, not moving her head from Dean Ashcroft’s shoulder. The two had begun dating recently, and while they could sometimes be a lot, Raina thought they made a cute couple.
“You didn’t miss anything, don’t worry,” Gracie said.
Theo Ashcroft—Dean’s cousin and Raina’s classmate—leaned forward, training his blue eyes on Raina. His hair flopped forward, but Theo didn’t seem to mind the dark strands falling in his eyes. “What did Mrs. D want?”
“Oh, nothing much.” Raina shrugged. She opened the paper bag from Tehilla, setting up her plastic cutlery and paper plate from within. Her turkey sandwich went on one side of the plate, opposite a pile of baby corn. Jabbing a piece of corn with her fork, Raina took her first bite. “Just wanted to check up on some stuff.”
Dean leaned around Gracie. “Mrs. D’s a good teacher, but she likes to interfere. Did she try that with you?”
“No, she was just checking in on me,” Raina reiterated as she continued eating.
Directly across from her, Theo put a finger to his lips. As Raina watched, he turned to the third Ashcroft cousin sitting at the table and stole a brownie bite off his plate.
“Hey!” Jesse Ashcroft complained, not missing anything—as usual.
His red curls flew into his face as he snapped his head around to glare at his cousin, and Raina’s gaze immediately fixated on him. If she had a dime for every time her attention had been captivated by Jesse Ashcroft, she would be the richest girl in the world. And if Raina had a dime for every time these past few weeks that Jesse had glanced at her but then averted his eyes, well, she would also be the richest girl in the world.
Raina and Jesse had instantly connected when she’d transferred to Trinity High that year. The school’s rigorous academic program had been the clincher to convince her parents, and after two years of misery in her old school, Raina had been delighted to switch to the boarding school. Jesse had been assigned as her student guide, but their relationship had soon grown into something more.
At the very least, they had been friends. Friends who binged Netflix shows in the afternoons and played Tic-Tac-Toe in the classes they shared. Friends who sat next to each other for meals and had picnics when the weather was warm. Now, all Raina had left were stolen glances.
As if sensing her rapidly darkening mood, Gracie leaned over and gave Raina’s hand a squeeze. “It’s going to be okay,” she whispered.
Somehow, Gracie always managed to tell when Raina’s thoughts drifted.
Just as Raina bit into her sandwich, two more girls approached the table, laughing and nudging each other. Raina had no problem with Zara Ashcroft; in fact, the redhead was one of her closest friends. Her real issue lay with the other girl, Nicole Lawrence, who seemed to make it her mission to ruin Raina’s life. While Raina tried her best to be nice to everyone, Nicole was always ready with a scowl.
Her sandwich fell to her plate, turkey spilling across the styrofoam. Raina watched Jesse greet Nicole with a big smile, passing her a cup of soda. Her former friend and her current enemy—acting like nothing was wrong. Was this how people felt when they had to see an ex-boyfriend with a new girlfriend? Like the world was ending while you still wished they would just look in your direction? Forcing herself to look away from Jesse and Nicole, Raina stood and tapped Gracie on the shoulder.
“I’m going to go outside for a minute.”
“Take a coat,” Gracie replied before curling back into Dean’s side.
Raina couldn’t hide her soft smile; they were so cute. If there was one good thing about the past few weeks, it was that Dean and Gracie had wised up and realized they liked each other.
