Fish Out of Water by Joanne Levy

Author:Joanne Levy
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459826618
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2020-06-01T00:00:00+00:00

I thought Seth would try to make up with me by the end of the day for sure. I even spent a few extra minutes at my locker in case he wanted to say he was sorry.

He was taking his time, chatting with people at his locker, his back to me. He was even talking to Mandy, which seemed weird. He’d never talked to her before.

Was he asking her about Knitting Club? I couldn’t really hear what they were saying, but I was very curious.

Maybe better not to know, I thought. I got all my stuff and headed out to the school parking lot.

When I got outside, Seth’s mom was already there. Her black minivan was in her regular spot. I pulled open the sliding door and hopped in.

“Hi, Mrs. Berg,” I said.

She smiled at me. “How are you doing, Fish?”

“Good,” I said. It was kind of a lie. I wasn’t good. I was nervous and filled with dread. Nervous because in a minute I’d be sharing a seat with my former best friend turned enemy. And dread because I was going to have to tell the rabbi I would be doing my bar mitzvah project with that enemy. Collecting smelly old hockey equipment. With a kid who hated my guts.

Seth’s mom looked at the back door of the school. “I thought Seth would be with you.”

“He was talking to Mandy at his locker,” I said.

“Oh?” She was smirking. “A girl?”

I nodded. “A friend, I guess.”

“Like a girl friend or a girlfriend?”

Good question. One I didn’t know the answer to. Seth had never said he was interested in Mandy like that. He’d never mentioned her at all. I could see why he might be though—she was nice. Definitely nicer than him. Especially right now.

“I don’t know.” I looked out the side window. “Oh, there he is.”

Thankfully. This conversation was getting awkward.

Seth pulled open the sliding door and got in beside me. He didn’t even look at me.

“Hi, Mom,” he said and then started talking about his project, reminding her that she had promised to drive him to the Westside arena on Sunday to pick up all the donated equipment. He was talking like I wasn’t even there.

Well, I was there. “What time?” I said, interrupting. “I’ll come to your house, and we can go together.”

Seth slowly turned his head and looked at me. He was not smiling. “Go together? What are you talking about?”

I cleared my throat. “For the project. Since I’m doing it with you.”

He frowned. “No, you’re not. Braden’s doing it with me.”

“But…” I suddenly had to blink away tears. “You told your coach I was doing it with you.”

He shook his head. “No, I didn’t. Why would I do that? You don’t even like hockey. Braden’s doing it.”

“Seth,” his mom said. “There must be room for another helper.”

“There isn’t,” he said.

“It’s okay, Mrs. Berg,” I said, my voice wavering. I did not want to cry. But my best friend was making it very hard not to. “I—I’ll find something else to do.

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