“Was it fun to be with them?” my mom asked.
“Well, it was okay, I guess.”
“What did you do today while this was happening Jason?” my mom asked.
He took another big bite of cookie and shrugged. “Not much. I found some of the boys in our class. They were making a pile of dirt, so I helped. Then I talked to Marcus a bit.”
We ate in silence for a while. Awkward. So now my mom knew that Jason and I hadn’t been the same as usual at school. Time to talk about something else.
“Mom?” I asked, desperate to change the subject.
“Yes?”
“I’ve been thinking more about my assignment. I need to ask Grandma if she’ll come to school with me to make some Korean dishes for the class.”
“Oh.” She pursed her lips. “Could I help with it?”
“Well, Mom, no offense, but you’re not exactly an expert in Korean food,” I said.
“What do you mean?” My mom sounded offended.
“Well, like, do you even make your own kimchi?”
“No…” she started, “but that’s because Grandma can be very critical. I’d rather she not be smug about it if my kimchi isn’t as good at hers.”
“So that’s why I need to ask Grandma. She’s the expert,” I said.
“I’m sure Grandma will help you. She’d do anything for you girls,” my mom said. “But still, make sure to ask her politely for her help.”
“This is for our project?” Jason asked.
“Yes,” I answered.
“Like I suggested a while ago?” he asked with a satisfied look in his eye.
“Yes, I guess you did mention it, didn’t you? But I have some other ideas, too. I want to hand in something on paper, like a booklet, after Grandma and I make food for the class.”
“Do you want to ask her to prepare some food at home and then bring it to class?” my mom asked.
“No, I don’t think so. I think we need to actually make it, in the class. Like the whole process. But it will be kind of tricky because there is no kitchen in the classroom, so I still have to figure it out,” I said. “I’d like to ask her in person. She’s not the easiest person to talk to on the phone. Is she coming here, or are we going there soon?”
“I’ll call her over for dinner tomorrow, how about that?” my mom asked.
“Okay,” I agreed.
“You two done your snack?”
“Yes, thank you, Mrs. Kim. Your cookies were delicious,” Jason said as he put away his plate and cup into the sink. Polite as always. “I have to go, though. I promised Marcus.”
It felt like forever since we had spent any time at my house. I left our last game of cards exactly as we had left before we had to stop. It was now collecting dust.
“Already?” my mom said. “You don’t want to stay for dinner?”
“No, Mrs. Kim. Thank you for the offer,” he said as he put on his shoes and jacket. “Bye.” He gave us both a little wave.
My mom and I said our good-byes and then she said, “Krista, why didn’t he stay very long? Are you two okay?”
“He made other plans,” I said as I shrugged and walked upstairs quickly to my room.
CHAPTER 14
Armed with a whole new arsenal of clothes, courtesy of my sister, I started waking up a bit earlier every morning and paying a bit more attention to what I was wearing. I couldn’t wear a plain t-shirt and jeans my whole life, could I? My goal for myself was to try something new every day, I mean, I could go for probably a month without wearing the same thing again because I had doubled my wardrobe. I was also practicing a lot with the eyelid tape. I had been experimenting for a few days in private, but this morning I forgot to lock the bathroom door. Tori barged in on me.
“Hey!” I shouted. “I’m in here!”
“Sorry, but you forgot to lock the door!” she said. Then she looked at the counter. “What are you doing anyway?”
“What does it look like?” I said. I was feeling a bit embarrassed.
She crossed her arms and said, “You are doing a lousy job.”
I felt super defensive. “I’m practicing, okay! I’m not very experienced with this sort of thing.”
“Obviously,” she stated as she took a step closer to me and suddenly ripped off the tape I had been struggling with.
“Ouch! Tori, that hurt!” I shouted.
“Let me,” she said. She pulled off a new piece of tape, manipulated it in her fingers and then said, “Close your eyes.”
Obediently, I closed my eyes. “Open,” she said as she stepped back. “That is so much better.”
Then my mom came into the bathroom. “I heard shouting, what’s going on?” She stared at me with my one normal eye, and my one taped eye.
“Krista!” she said loudly. “What are you doing?”
“Tori and I were just…” I started fumbling over my words.
“Okay, it’s time for a serious talk. Downstairs, two minutes. Take the tape off. Now!”
Mom used to tell us that when she was a vice-principal, her specialty was discipline. I rarely saw it at home, because I just didn’t do things that got me in trouble, but when I did make her mad, she was an imposing, scary figure.
When my sister and I came downstairs, we sat sullenly at the kitchen table. She pushed a plate of scrambled eggs and toast at both of us. Then she sat down.
“I really don’t like the idea of you two manipulating your eyelids,” she stated and her eyes darted between both of us.
“Why not?” Tori asked. “What’s the big deal?”
“I’m not sure if you two are old enough for me to thoroughly discuss the countless reasons I am against it,” my mom
