The Distance from A to Z by Natalie Blitt

Author:Natalie Blitt
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2015-12-08T16:00:00+00:00

THIRTEEN

I’VE NEVER BEEN QUITE SO interested in the differences between the nutritional value of orange juice and grapefruit juice as I am this morning. Orange juice: 110 calories. Grapefruit? Only ninety. Twenty-two grams of sugar in orange juice as opposed to seventeen in grapefruit. Orange juice, in French, jus d’orange. Basic, uninspired. Grapefruit juice, on the other hand, is the always entertaining jus de pamplemousse. What kind of a word is pamplemousse?

And why Zeke won’t move out of the front entrance of the corner grocery store so I can grab my effing juice, whether it be orange or pamplemousse, is beyond me. Why won’t he stop laughing and high-fiving with some big guy with an almost-shaved head, the two of them in T-shirts and shorts, clearly on the way in from a run? And why does he have his arm slung around my next-door neighbor Chloe’s shoulders?

That’s the real question. That’s the question that has me hiding in the dairy aisle, thinking about just guzzling down both juices, begging a stock boy (do they even have stock boys anymore, never mind on the Fourth of July long weekend?) to help me find a back exit. Chloe’s pale blond hair is in a very high ponytail and while she’s clearly light on her feet, right now she seems to be finding every excuse to lean against Zeke’s side.

Which is none of my business.

I don’t know how to say none of my business in French.

I don’t know, and I don’t have my dictionary, and I wish even Colin-who-is-not-interested-in-women were here so I could almost maintain my dignity. Because right now Chloe is making silly faces at Zeke and if I ever make it out of this grocery store, I’ll need a lot of sugary coffee. A lot. Especially since Zeke has caught my eye and is waving me over.

The only good thing is that that makes Chloe look even less happy than I am.

Alice’s eyes widen when I walk into our room with two big bags of groceries.

“I thought you were just craving orange juice?”

I don’t quite know how to say that the only way I could explain that I didn’t want to walk back to the dorms with Zeke, Chloe, and Bald Guy was that I was shopping for a bunch of things. But then Zeke waited. So Chloe waited. And Bald Guy—aka Chris—waited.

And now I have two big bags of groceries, including crackers, fruits, bagels, and chocolate. And breads. And cheese. For some reason, lots of cheese.

The good news? I had people to help me carry my bags.

The bad news? I forgot about the juice.

“I have a big test Tuesday morning in French so I thought I’d gather some snacks for a study party,” I say, unloading my assortment of foods.

“How many people are you studying with?” Alice opens the box of water crackers and squeals when she sees the cheese. “I love Laughing Cow!”

La vache qui rit. My first French phrase and that was only because it was on the cheese box.

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