At least she had Micah, assuming that he still wanted to be her friend. Which, Caroline realized with a sinking feeling, was a rather large assumption.
“You must apologize to the girl, of course,” Ima said. “I expect you to go and talk to Principal Jenkins about this and do whatever she feels is appropriate. In fact, I will accompany you for this talk.”
Caroline tapped the “yes” button. There wasn’t much else to say.
Ima reviewed the rest of Caroline’s punishments. She would not receive her allowance for the next month. She would, however, be quite busy cleaning out the garage.
“I imagine at least one of your brothers will be helping you out with that,” Ima said dryly.
Right. With all of her own misery, Caroline had all but forgotten about Benny and Noah. But surely they were in trouble too—even if what they’d done didn’t really compare to Caroline’s mistakes.
A hot flash of rage rose up inside her, and try as she might, Caroline could not banish it. Why, oh why, had Lara been so horrible? Caroline would have liked to ask her, but that required talking to Lara. And that was something Caroline absolutely refused to do.
Ima was still talking, Caroline realized, but she only caught a word here, two words there. She could not concentrate well enough to arrange the sounds into sentences. Finally, Ima ran out of words.
“Can I go now?” Caroline typed.
Although her lips remained pursed, Ima nodded. “I suppose we’ve covered everything.” Under her breath she added, “And we have several more conversations to get through this evening.”
“Actually . . .” Dad began. “I have a question.”
Caroline and her mother both stared at him. He had been remarkably silent through all of the scolding.
“I was just wondering . . . why did you do this, Lina-Lin?”
“I already told you,” Caroline said. She had absolutely no desire to discuss this subject any further.
“Yes, I know. But is there something else, meydl?”
Caroline tapped the “no” button before Dad even finished the question. With barely a glance at Dad and Ima, she hurried out of the room. Away from her parents. Away from Noah and Benny, who paced by the door to the living room while Lara made sad faces.
Away from her sister.
* * *
LOCATION: Dinner, Rosh Hashanah
EVENT: I messed everything up.
QUESTION FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATION: Is it even possible to fix my mistakes?
Lara stared at the page, then glanced over at the door. There was still no sign of Caroline. She sighed and turned the page. Lara was rereading the third Georgia Ketteridge book—wait, no, it was the second—but couldn’t follow the story. It didn’t really matter. Georgia was, no doubt, doing something smart and awesome and inspiring. Something un-Lara-like.
She didn’t even look at the book as she turned another page.
Finally, Lara couldn’t take it any longer. She tossed the paperback on her nightstand and marched out of her bedroom. Her mission: finding Caroline.
She checked the living room—no Caroline. Then the den—no Caroline. Finally, just as she entered the kitchen, Lara caught sight of dark, curly hair.
Her heart sank. It was only Ima.
Ima turned around, cradling her favorite mug. “Are you looking for something? Or somebody?” she asked.
“She probably doesn’t want to see me anyway,” Lara mumbled.
Ima placed her mug on the table with a soft clang. “Yes, perhaps it would be best if you and Caroline had some time apart.”
That was something Lara appreciated about her mother. No matter how bad things got, she never tried to deny that things were, in fact, bad. Lara thought that was something she and Ima had in common. Of course, Ima probably hadn’t ever done anything like revealing everyone’s secrets at Rosh Hashanah dinner. That kind of mess-up was purely Lara’s territory.
“You’re right,” Lara mumbled. She shuffled away.
Lara had nearly left the kitchen when Ima’s voice called her back. “She will forgive you.”
“You really think so?” Lara allowed herself a tiny, tiny flicker of hope.
“I do. I have a sister too, you realize.” Ima paused. “Of course, I cannot say how long it will take.”
Well. That wasn’t exactly a happy, uplifting thought. But it was something, so Lara tried to hold on to it.
“And Dad?” she pressed.
Ima gave a not-quite smile. “Your father loves you. No matter what you do.”
Lara knew that already. But instead of making her feel better, it just made her feel worse. Her whole family loved her—she knew that perfectly well. And she’d repaid them with . . . that.
After mumbling her thanks to Ima, Lara wandered back to her bedroom. It remained empty. Even Kugel showed no inclination to stop by. Perhaps he too was taking Caroline’s side.
The minutes ticked by, and bedtime crept ever closer. For once Lara looked forward to it. Caroline would have to return to their room then, surely.
Lara picked up the Georgia book she’d dropped. She completed five chapters, though she didn’t particularly enjoy them. All the while, she kept stealing glances at the door. The stupid, annoying, unmoving door.
With four minutes to spare, Caroline slipped in. Without offering a single look for Lara, she changed into her pajamas and tucked herself into bed.
Lara waited until the lights were completely out to speak.
“I’m sorry.”
No response. Well, that made sense. Aside from the fact that Caroline was probably super mad—if one could put such a thing aside—Caroline didn’t have her tablet out. So, obviously she couldn’t respond.
The sensible thing to do, Lara thought, would be to just leave it at that. Maybe Lara’s sorry-ness would somehow make an impression on Caroline as she drifted off into sleep, and she would wake up in a more generous spirit.
Of course, if Lara were in the habit of doing the sensible thing, she probably would not be in this predicament in the first place.
“I didn’t mean to do . . . all of that,” she continued. “I really didn’t.”
The sound of blankets shuffling came from Caroline’s side of the room.
