Pointe by Brandy Colbert

Author:Brandy Colbert
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2014-04-09T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

IT’S THE WEEK BEFORE THANKSGIVING AND THE GREASY FRONT windows of Casablanca’s are decorated with paper turkeys and cardboard leaves, its tables host to plastic gourds that could stand a dusting.

It’s the week before Thanksgiving but it feels like Christmas outside. When the heavy scarves and wool hats are out before the end of November you know it’s going to be a bad winter. I burrow my nose into my own chunky knit scarf as a blast of cold air tunnels its way through my layers.

The people sitting at the counter turn around and stare at me accusingly, as if I purposely waited for a gust of wind before opening the door. The looks you get for simply existing during winter in Chicago are enough to send you right back out to the cold sometimes. I keep my head down as I make my way back to Sara-Kate and Phil.

Except Phil’s not here. I didn’t see his car in the lot but I thought maybe he hitched a ride with Sara-Kate. That never would have happened before this year because they never hung out when I wasn’t around. I’ve always been the link between them. Phil was sitting with me in the lunchroom the first day of our freshman year when Sara-Kate approached with a tray of chicken nuggets, her face bright red as she asked if she could sit with us. But she and I were the ones who hit it off that first day. Phil was skeptical, partly because he’s wary of anyone new, partly because he thought Donovan would return someday and then there wouldn’t be room for someone else.

I don’t know what’s changed between them, but it’s there. It’s weird how you can go to school with a person forever and brush shoulders at parties for years and then something shifts. I wish I could pinpoint the moment it happens, but maybe it’s not a moment. Maybe it’s been there all along and nobody noticed.

I’ve gotten so used to seeing Phil next to Sara-Kate that she looks incomplete sitting alone at our back booth. Her head is bent over a fat fashion magazine, her asymmetrical bob pumpkin-colored for the holidays.

Sara-Kate looks up as I walk toward the booth and instantly pushes the magazine aside. “Did you know that Casablanca’s serves a full Thanksgiving meal every year?” She reaches for one of the menus, which have been stuffed with inserts advertising the dinner. “From open to close you can get a turkey dinner, complete with your choice of white or dark meat, mashed potatoes, a cooked vegetable, a dinner roll, and a slice of pumpkin pie. All for $9.99.”

I slip into the booth across from her. “It’s kind of sad,” I say.

Sara-Kate puts the menu back in its holder. “Considering they can’t even identify which vegetable they’ll be cooking? A sad Thanksgiving indeed.”

“No, having to eat dinner here is the sad part.” I place my hat on the bench next to me, but leave my scarf wound around my neck.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.