“Yep!”
My mom waved a hand in front of her face, trying to fan the tears away. “I just love it so much. I can’t wait to see it in person.”
“Well, you will in a couple of days,” I reminded her. “Thanks for giving me the confidence to go through with it,” I added, my heart full.
“Anytime, kiddo. Boys are going to fall all over themselves for you with that haircut.”
“Whatever, Mom,” I said, and rolled my eyes with a laugh. Loretta had already crossed the street and was waving us over, standing in front of the Yuki sign. It was the corner restaurant on the opposite side, and I could see the long counter where people lined up to select their sushi rolls, just like in a movie. “I have to go. We’re going to try sushi!”
“What!? No, you are not.”
I was crossing the street as my mother said this, and Lauren shot me a confused look at my mom’s alarmed tone.
“Don’t even joke about that,” Mom said.
“Wait…what do you mean?” I asked. “Joke about what?”
“Tess Sachs, you cannot have sushi.” My mother’s face was pale and stern. “You’re allergic to shellfish!”
“I’m what?”
I looked at my grandmother. “Well…of course you are, dear,” Loretta said, stricken. “I assumed you wanted to come for some chicken teriyaki or something like that. You can’t have fish. Or, at least, any fish that might have come into contact with shellfish.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Lauren grabbed the phone from me and looked at my mother. “Are you seriously telling me that Tess is allergic to shellfish? How do I not know this?”
“Forget you! Why do I not know this?” This was insane. My mother wasn’t with me twenty-four hours a day. What if I had tried lobster at a friend’s house? Or eaten the gross crab cakes at school?
“Why do you think we never, ever eat fish? Never go to seafood restaurants?” my mother said. “You girls know this.”
“But we’ve had fish sticks…right?” Lauren asked, looking completely confused.
“Yes, but only ones that are safe for shellfish allergies,” Mom said, clearly exasperated.
Lauren and I locked eyes over the phone. I threw up my hands and she shook her head.
“Mom, neither of us knew this,” Lauren said.
I grabbed the phone back again.
“Okay, will you girls stop doing that?” my mother said, hand to her forehead. “You’re making me dizzy.”
“Mom, I am sixteen years old. How have I gotten through my entire life not knowing I’m allergic to shellfish?”
“I honestly have no idea. You really don’t remember that time you ate a lobster roll on vacation and your whole face swelled up and you could barely breathe? We had to give you, like, a bottle of Benadryl before you even started to go back to normal.”
“That was because of the lobster?” I asked.
“What did you think caused it?”
“I don’t know, Mom! I was six!”
She took a deep breath and let it out. “Well, I’m sorry if the message didn’t get through to you, sweetie, but you absolutely cannot have sushi. There’s no way to guarantee there’s no cross-contamination. I’m so glad you called me.”
“I wouldn’t have let her eat it, Abigail!” my grandmother called out.
“Thank you, Loretta!” my mother replied, but raised her eyes to the heavens on the screen. “Tess. Go get a burger for lunch,” she told me. “And call me later so we can say Happy New Year.”
I swallowed hard against a suddenly dry throat. “Okay, Mom. Love you.”
“Love you, too, kid. And you really do look beautiful.”
“Thanks.”
I hung up the phone and shoved it away. Every muscle in my body sagged. I trudged to the nearest bench and sat down heavily. Both Lauren and Loretta walked over to stand in front of me.
“Well, that’s it, then,” I said. “Even if I gave myself a pass on number five, I can’t finish the list. I can’t try sushi.”
“Can’t you simply revise the list?” Loretta asked.
I unzipped my backpack, slipped the list out, and handed it to her. “It’s laminated.”
“But the list really only exists in your mind, doesn’t it?” Loretta asked. “Why not just come up with something to replace numbers ten and five? Which, by the way, I disapprove of mightily, I might add. Whyever would you want to make out with some boy you barely know?”
Lauren snorted a laugh. “That was supposed to be Damon, before he turned out to be the biggest jerk ever.”
“Well. I’m glad you didn’t go there,” Loretta commented.
“Me too,” I replied.
I bent forward at the waist then, realizing anew that my whole list project was down the tubes. Loretta was right, in theory. The list really only existed in my mind. There were probably two other things I’d never done in my life that I could complete before tonight. But that just felt wrong. And it partially felt wrong because Christopher wasn’t here. He’d inspired me to make the list. He’d helped me write it in the first place. He’d been there when I’d laminated it and when I’d crossed off the first item. I wondered if he knew, yet, that Damon had confessed. Suddenly, I really just wanted to talk to him. He would help me figure out what to do. But it was pretty clear from his texts last night that he was done talking to me.
I lifted my head and looked at my family.
“Come on,” I said morosely. “Let’s just go get a burger.”
TESS’S NEW YEAR’S BUCKET LIST
Make a paper airplane that actually flies (20 seconds at least) ✓
Sing in public ✓
Strike up a conversation with a stranger ✓
Wear high heels outside the house ✓
Make out with a guy whose last name I don’t know (???)
TP someone’s house ✓
Get Adam Michel’s autograph ✓