I was studying for my math test, trying as hard as I could to forget about what had just happened at Olivia's, and also trying really hard to not think about him, when I heard a knock on my door.
"Math again?" my dad asked as he walked in.
I nodded.
"Well, you may have an extra day or few days to study… ." I had no idea what he was talking about. Was he surprising us with a spur-of-the-moment trip to Disney World? Was I going to be missing school?
He continued. "They're saying snow for tomorrow. Can you believe it? The temperature already dropped ten degrees in the last hour!"
"Snow? Are you serious, Dad?" If he wasn't, I needed to study. The Pythagorean theorem wouldn't get learned on its own.
"Well, I can't promise anything, but I thought I'd let you know." He kissed me on the forehead, said good night, and left my room.
How could I possibly study after news like that? Just the idea of a snow day was exciting. It was the best when you didn't expect it, when you woke up the next morning to snow. That rarely happened in New York City, though. The last time it happened was in, like, third grade or something.
Did Olivia and Kate already know about this? I wanted to call them or text them or something. But then what if it didn't happen? What if I jinxed it?
I decided to stay quiet.
I went over the same math problems again and again, barely understanding them any better each time I tried them. I was distracted, and not just by the potential snow day.
I couldn't get him out of my head. Nothing specific had happened today. Just that he was wearing the red hoodie that looked so cute on him and the small moment when he said "what's up" to me and did that head-nod thing when he was passing out the science test.
Also, the whole thing with the notebook was bugging me. It was one thing for Kate to do it, but it was a whole other mean thing for her to expect me to be okay with her doing it.
Of course she assumed I was okay with it. And why wouldn't she? I didn't even say anything to stop her.
Oli was my best friend too, and so what if she was a little obsessed? Okay, she was a lot obsessed. But was it our job to stop her?
I could never speak up to Kate. I hated that about myself.
I closed my math book and went to brush my teeth. My parents were at the kitchen table whispering. They didn't whisper much, so when they did I knew it was about something important.
"You really think so?" my mom asked my dad.
"That's what they're saying." My dad was eating sunflower seeds and spitting the shells out into a red mug. He only munched sunflower seeds when he was nervous about something.
"We will have a hundred calls to make. Or will people realize that we're not going to open the restaurant in a blizzard?"
"Who says we can't open in a blizzard?" my dad said.
I was hiding behind the doorframe, and I could see them perfectly even though they couldn't see me. My mom gave my dad her signature "are you insane" look—her eyes dropping all the way to her chin.
"Come on, Ru, be serious," she said. "None of the wait-staff will be able to get there."
I couldn't listen to this anymore. I brushed my teeth and put all thoughts of this unexpected snow day out of my mind.
Snow days were great, but not tomorrow. Please not tomorrow. The thought of it was too sad.
Missing Valentine's Day at Chen's Kitchen would be so disappointing that I would be okay with taking ten tests on the Pythagorean theorem if it would prevent the restaurant from closing.
And the worst part of it was, as much as I wished for it not to snow, as much as I wished for him to talk to me, as much as I wished Kate would stop being so crazy about Oli and the notebook and stuff, there was nothing I could do about it.
I hated it. Why couldn't things just work out?
At least for tomorrow.
