Are We There Yet? by Kathleen West

Author:Kathleen West [West, Kathleen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2021-03-16T00:00:00+00:00

Meredith Yoshida

Meredith could feel Sadie’s disappointment radiating from her. Her daughter collapsed against the back seat and leaned her head against the window. The white ribbon Meredith had tied around Sadie’s ponytail hung limply over her neck, where Sadie’s downy hairs fell from her elastic.

Meredith had encouraged Sadie when she had first mentioned Quiz Bowl (who wouldn’t want their child engaged in an academic competition, after all?), but she found herself disliking it more and more with each rapid-fire question. The kids didn’t even wait for the whole question to be read; they buzzed in recklessly, guessing answers. What amazed Meredith was how often they were right. She herself had never heard of the Haber-Bosch process and couldn’t come up with the term “heliocentric,” even from the audience. The only questions she’d been sure of were the ones about nineties rock music and anatomy. She’d been most impressed that Tane and Yusef seemed to be experts on Smashing Pumpkins and Blink-182.

“That was so embarrassing,” Sadie mumbled.

Meredith glanced back at her as they drove past the hardware store. Alice had recommended that Meredith buy adhesive squares there for the hooks she wanted to hang inside Sadie’s closet door for synchro medals. Meredith had just complimented the way Alice had displayed Teddy’s soccer trophies on floating shelves in his room. It’s a little much, Meredith remembered thinking, but then she’d asked Alice’s advice on how to create something similar, if a little more low-key.

“Second place isn’t really embarrassing.” Meredith remembered the squirming discomfort she’d felt in the audience when Sadie couldn’t name the Emancipation Proclamation. Even Meredith had known that one. Meredith guessed it had been brave of Sadie to put herself out there, but as the synchronized skating coach always said, “Don’t compete if you’re not ready.” Maybe she hadn’t been ready.

“Elm Creek hasn’t lost in, like, five years.” Sadie’s voice sounded far away.

“Tane didn’t seem that disappointed in you.” Meredith blinked into the rearview but glanced quickly away when she saw that Sadie had startled, her neck suddenly as straight as if she were standing center ice, waiting for her music to start.

“We’re just friends.” Sadie sounded defensive.

Meredith pictured Tane’s nail polish, the way it reflected the light as his arm stretched forward in Warrior 2 when she’d taught the yoga unit in elementary PE. She’d of course imagined Sadie dating someday, but she hadn’t thought about Sadie dating now. Or dating someone who’d just had his junk revealed to the entire seventh grade.

“Friends is good,” Meredith said mildly. “Friends is all you should be in junior high.”

Sadie leaned her head once again against the glass. “But he’ll probably be embarrassed for asking me to be on the Quiz Bowl team. It’s going to suck to have to tell people we lost the streak.”

“Do people really know about Quiz Bowl?” Meredith couldn’t imagine anyone caring that the kids had lost. It wasn’t like there’d been spectators from school.

“I wanted to be better.”

Meredith smiled as she turned into their neighborhood. She and Bill encouraged Sadie’s tendency to continually strive for perfection.

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