Priya looked up at Mrs. Lufthausen and took a deep breath I'm so sorry Mrs. Lufthausen I guess I stayed up too late watching videos of dancing baby goats It's my fault The teacher shook her head I'm disappointed in you Priya Please go outside for the rest of the period And next time you want to watch a goat dance try to think about the consequences Priya got up and left the classroom She stood outside feeling a burning mix of shame and anger It wasn't her fault any of this had happened She hadn't meant to fall asleep She knew Mrs. Lufthausen took it personally but if anything it was a big compliment Priya only fell asleep in her class It was just so warm and cozy in that classroom with the sun streaming streaming in from outside Mei and Sami sitting on either side of her and Mrs. Lufthausen's monotonous voice explaining the wonderfully stable predictability of algebraic equations It was a complete contrast to Priya's morning her parents arguing as per always Pinkie making making everyone late and Priya panicking because she couldn't find her brand new shoes It turned out Pinkie Pinkie had decided to decorate them with a permanent black marker and when Priya had shouted at her their 4
mom had rushed in to console Pinkie not Priya If that wasn't bad enough she'd then scolded Priya for upsetting her younger sister The unfairness of it all had left Priya speechless and by the time she'd found her voice again nobody had time to listen to her They were late to drop her off for gymnastics Which meant that when she arrived her coach Olaf had scolded her for her poor punctuality in front of everyone In front of Dan Zhang Priya thought that would be the most humiliating humiliating moment of her day until she was kicked out of math How was Dan ever going to realize he was the love of her life when the only time he saw her she was being told off like a schoolgirl Okay she was technically technically a schoolgirl and he was also a schoolboy at the boys school next door to hers but that wasn't the point Dan was in ninth grade a whole year above Priya and everyone knew boys liked sophisticated girls Priya was going to have to try extra hard to prove her maturity if he was ever going to fall for her She looked forlornly down at her bright purple-and-white purple-and-white New Balances which were now decorated with wobbly smiley faces This was not a good start 5
Priya's stomach lurched as she inspected the invitation that Sami had just given her It was thick purple and sparkly On the front big capital letters proclaimed YOU'RE INVITED TO SAMI'S BAT MITZVAH MITZVAH But on the back it said something so awful that Priya wanted to cry She read the three words one more time Saturday June 30 and swallowed Hard Don't you just LOVE it cried Sami It's going to be the party of the year Mei raised an eyebrow Katie's parents rented out an actual nightclub for her party last month And everyone got free iPhones I think that might've been the party of the year Uh yes but we're actually invited to this one pointed out Sami That's true agreed Mei glancing down at her phone which was definitely not a free iPhone It's going to be amazing Right Priya Sami waved her hand in front of Priya's face Helloooo Priya Why are you still staring at the invitation Priya looked up with a wide fake grin plastered on her face Because it's only the coolest invitation I've ever seen And I happened to see one of Katie's invitations invitations up close when it fell out of her bag 6
Why thank you said Sami proudly I designed it myself But is your bat mitzvah definitely happening on the thirtieth asked Priya As in that Saturday For sure Sami's green eyes narrowed She scrunched up her nose suspiciously and tucked her bright red hair behind her ears Priya Shah You had better not be telling me that you cannot come to my bat mitzvah aka the biggest day of a Jewish girl's life The day I go from girlhood to womanhood I thought you reached womanhood when you got your period last year said Priya desperately trying to distract Sami from her original line of questioning That is not the point declared Sami The point is that you're my best friend in the entire world I mean you and Mei are my best friends in the entire world Mei rolled her eyes beneath her bangs It's cool I'll be the afterthought And continued Sami undeterred not only did you miss my starring role in the school play but you missed Mei's major AquaSplash birthday takeover Priya's face fell I still can't believe I didn't get to swim down the space bowl It's a forty-foot drop Forty-five amended Sami starting to count off 7
