We just looked at each other. We didn’t hug. We’re not like that. That would have been weird. I was lucky to still have him as my friend. There was a long pause. Neither of us knew what else to say.
He broke the silence. “Well, if you really want to apologize, you can help me tomorrow when it’s my turn to present my Heritage Month project.”
“How can I help?” I asked.
He loaded a few bowls into the dishwasher before he said, “You can be my model for the Kerr clan tartan.” He tried to hide it, but he was smirking.
“You mean the tartan that basically looks like Christmas? All red and green?”
“I see you’ve been paying attention to my research. Yes, exactly that tartan.”
“Will I be expected to play bagpipes?” I asked as I rinsed a few plates.
“No, but haggis may be involved.” He smiled.
Haggis—basically starchy, animal organs and other goo cooked in sheep guts. And people think kimchi is weird. I hoped he was joking.
I frowned. “Gross!” I said.
“Maybe Tori can make you a dress?” he suggested.
“Ha, ha,” I said. “It’s too soon to make dress jokes.”
“I’m trying to lighten the mood!” he said as he looked at the plate of leftovers remaining on the table. Grandma had brought a few more rolls of kimbap with her today. I guess she had ingredients left over from yesterday, but nobody ate too many of them because we all were focused on the soup.
“It seems a shame to waste these.” He showed me the plate. “But I am totally not hungry.”
“Me neither,” I replied as I stared at it. “Ah, I’ll just eat a few more pieces,” I leaned across the table and reached out for a slice of kimbap.
At the same time, Jason grabbed one more piece too, and he gave me a big grin as he popped it into his mouth and chewed. He was kind of a bottomless pit. I popped another slice in my mouth too, and I smiled. It was clear that Jason and I couldn’t let good Korean food go to waste.
It was also suddenly clear to me that talking is pretty important. I could have lost my best friend because I was too scared or proud or stupid just to talk with the person I was most comfortable talking to.
We finished cleaning the kitchen and walked into the living room where everybody was sitting around watching the end of the variety show. There were no English subtitles, so I had no idea what they were talking about, but it looked like it was supposed to just be silly fun, because we had heard some laughing while we had been cleaning up the kitchen.
Grandma got up off the sofa with the usual amount of effort required by a grandparent. “I go home now,” she said.
We all walked her to the door, said our usual good-byes and thank-yous. When she was about to leave, she turned back, looked at me and then she looked at Jason. Then she nodded her head and she patted both our forearms gently. I patted the top of her hand too. I think she smiled.
CHAPTER 21
The day of the Celebration of Dance finally arrived. Jason had given his presentation the day before and instead of dressing me in the Kerr clan tartan, he dressed his dog. It was a big hit. Madison, Arden, Emma, and Cassie couldn’t get enough of his dog and broke their vow of silence against boys. Madison even said to Jason, “Can we play with you and your dog at recess?”
I just about fell over.
So, for the first time in years, a boy was allowed near their special tree. Not sure if they’d want Jason there without his dog, but that crazy dog sure helped break the ice. Maybe now they’d come around and see that Jason wasn’t so bad. Madison didn’t seem too upset about Tori not making a dress for her. She didn’t seem to be holding a grudge, anyway. She didn’t grab my arm and whisk me away to play like she used to, but she still talked to me and I still talked to her. We were both giving each other a bit more needed space.
For the Celebration of Dance, Denise had instructed us all to wear black t-shirts and jeans, ripped up jeans if we had them. No problem for me, I had a lot of pairs like that. And she also told us to wear running shoes. My mom had taken me shopping and bought me some new runners. Tori said that the style we picked was a good balance between comfort and fashion. I realized that what I was wearing to the Celebration of Dance was basically what I had worn to school every day before I started wearing my sister’s clothes. Funny…
Our class took a school bus because the location of the event was across town, far away from our school. I looked around the bus and it was crazy to see the entire class dressed exactly the same. We looked incredible. The noise and energy on the bus was almost deafening. Mrs. June was so excited she could hardly contain herself. I’m surprised she didn’t break out into yoga right then and there to try to calm herself. She had a heck of a time getting us to quiet down so she could say something to us.
“Class, I just want you to know how proud I am! This will be an experience you will never forget! I will film the whole thing so if any of you have parents who couldn’t come, I will send everybody a copy of the video. Don’t worry! And let’s thank Denise for helping us prepare such an amazing dance number. Denise, would you like to say anything before we arrive?”
Denise, who had been sitting next to Mrs. June on the bus, stood up and simply said, “Don’t screw it up!”
Kids came from all over the city to perform at
