The Difference Between You and Me by Madeleine George Page A

company that owns and maintains the snack machines in the cafeteria, to increase the selection of snacks they offer in the machines. I did all this research about what kinds of healthier options they could be offering the students at Vander, and this one Tuesday I was trying to tell Jesse how excited I was about the whole thing, and she had barely heard like three words from me before she interrupted and was like, “Why are you letting a corporation like Handi Snak tell you what’s healthy and what’s not? Why don’t you work with the people at the farmers’ market and bring in actual fresh fruits and vegetables from local farms, which would be organic and healthy and cheap?” And in my mind I was like okay, A) that’s a totally impractical idea because there’s no way to store the fresh fruits and vegetables, and also in the winter there aren’t any and also who’s going to be in charge of preparing and selling them, and B) thanks a lot for being totally negative and dismissive about this plan I worked on for like two months to do something positive for our school. I guess, like a lot of people in our town, Jesse has a tendency to just criticize things that she thinks are wrong—she doesn’t have any actual ideas or solutions for changing things she doesn’t like in the world. Personally, I’m not a whiner. I don’t believe in complaining about something if you don’t have a realistic plan for how to fix it. Organic fruit in the vending machines at Vander is
not
a realistic solution.Plus, that day when we got into the fight about the healthy snacks, we barely got two minutes of make-out time total, and I was just like, Okay, this is
so
not worth it. This is the last time I try to talk to her about anything from real life.
    I’m sure she would have some crazy, weird objection to the NorthStar thing. I don’t even know what it would be, but I can just feel that she would be like,
This violates the separation of church and state,
or whatever. And I just didn’t feel like dealing with that from her right then.
    That’s one thing I’ll say for Michael—I can talk to him about anything. If I come to him and tell him I just want him to listen to me while I work out a problem I’m having, he’ll do it. He’s the most perfect sounding board. I always hear girls complaining that their boyfriends don’t listen to them when they talk or don’t care about their lives or their feelings or their dreams, and I can’t help but feel bad for them. In this way, Michael’s one in a million. Most girls aren’t nearly as lucky as me when it comes to their boyfriends.
    When I called Michael after the NorthStar meeting, I told him all about it, every single thing, what I was wearing and what kind of fizzy water the receptionist brought me to drink while I waited and all the amazing things Mr. Willette and Ms. Rinaldi said to me during our discussion, and how productive it all was and how great for Vander. And Michael just listened supportively to me, and when Iwas done he told me that he admired me so much, and that he thinks it’s amazing how much I care about our school. As good as I was already feeling, I felt a million times better after I got done talking to him. That’s what real love does—it makes you feel like Wonder Woman, like you can achieve superhuman feats. Not everybody has real love in their life, and I know how lucky I am to have it with Michael. It’s not something I would ever want to give up.

9

Jesse
    When Jesse gets to the parking lot behind the Town Hall on Sunday it’s ten minutes before noon, and Esther is there alone. She’s bent over, facing away from Jesse, and muttering to herself as she rummages through a messy heap of cardboard signs on sticks. By her feet is her lumpy black tote bag, a thermos, two folding chairs, and what looks like a giant, rolled-up fabric scroll on two two-by-fours. Jesse recognizes this as demo equipment—it’s familiar to her from years of accompanying her