Pink & Green is the New Black by Lisa Greenwald

thinking about me. I’ll take it. It’s a step in the right direction.
    Or did he see my e-mail? And assume we’d come here to celebrate? That’s a possibility too.
    â€œSo, what’s new, Yamir?” I ask, trying to play it cool.
    â€œNada.” He looks at his phone, seemingly bored.
    Fine. I guess that’s how he’s going to be.
    Travis is still standing there. He hasn’t said anything. Shouldn’t he be eating with his family?
    I look over to their table and see Gavin and their parents eating away. Travis is going to miss out on all the good sushi.
    I say, “Travis, I see you’ve discovered the best restaurant in all of Connecticut.”
    â€œOf course! My dad eats at the sushi places in Manhattan whenever he has a meeting.”
    â€œSmart man.”
    â€œSo, I heard all about the cafeteria decision.” He raises a hand for a high-five. “Way to go, Lucy. That’s awesome.”
    I look over at Yamir, who is still standing there, leaning on my grandma’s chair and staring at his phone. He should just go wait at the front of the restaurant if he’s so bored here.
    â€œThanks so much, Travis. But, um, you should go eat. You’re gonna miss out on all the sushi.” I nudge my head in the direction of his family’s table.
    â€œUh. Yeah. You’re right.” He gives an embarrassed smile. “See you in school.”
    He walks away, and Yamir finally looks up. “That kid is
weeeeiiiirrrrdddd
.”
    â€œNo, he isn’t.” Sunny hits him on the arm. “He’s nice and cool, not a complete doofus like you and your friends.”
    He hits Sunny back. “Right. Okay. Because you really know about being cool.”
    â€œOkay, children, time to go,” Mrs. Ramal says. “The Desbergs need to enjoy their dinner.”
    â€œBye, Luce,” Sunny says. “I’ll text you.”
    Yamir says nothing but does this strange hand-gesture thing where he puts two fingers on his forehead and then points them at me. I’ve never seen it before, and I have no idea what it means.
    â€œEverything okay here?” Gari comes by again, putting a hand on Dad’s shoulder. It’s a little unusual, because he knows Dad the least well of all of us, but yet he seems to feel this connection to him. Maybe it’s a guy thing.
    â€œWonderful as always,” Grandma says. She does this funny thing with sushi where she moves her chopsticks all around while she decides what piece to pick. I’ve never told her that I notice this, because I’m afraid she’ll stop doing it. It’s just so cute.
    â€œNow we can enjoy our dinner,” Mom says. “No more interruptions. Who’s ready for round two?”
    The platters are mostly empty, and I’m not even sure I’ve had any sushi yet.
    â€œI am,” I say. Now that the Ramals are gone and I’ve convinced Travis to stay at his table, I can eat in peace.
    We order a second round, and we’re eating more than chatting, which is fine with me, since it means they’re not asking about Yamir and Travis. I’m sure my family has a million questions. Well, at least my mom does. I can see it on her face.
    â€œLucy, we’re so proud of you and all the work you’ve done with Earth Club,” Dad says eventually. “You put your all into it and it paid off.”
    â€œThanks.” I smile. I’m so appreciative of this, but all I can think about is what just happened with Yamir and Travis.
    We order three rounds of sushi, and by the time we’re done, we’re fuller than we’ve ever been before.
    â€œThanks so much for coming,” Gari says. “See you soon, I hope.”
    â€œWe might not need to eat again for three weeks,” Dad mumbles. “So full.
So
so full.”
    â€œThat’s how we like it.” Gari pats him on the back, and we walk out to the car.
    That may have been the