“Shit,” Bella cursed under her breath.
“There was some fine attention to detail on your project. And I think you were the only team to actually visit the site and take pictures. But ultimately, your design and your funding strategies were at war, which is why Coleman House will win tonight’s competition.”
Cheers erupted from team Coleman, and Bella heaved a sigh.
“I’m sorry,” Alison said from the other side of Bella. “This is my fault. That damned green roof.”
“Not your fault,” I argued, meeting Alison’s eyes. “We didn’t lose the World Cup here. We’re going to get an A in this class. And your green roof was cool.”
My ex’s cheeks pinked up at the compliment, and she gave me a tiny smile.
“The man makes a good point,” Dani said, tossing her notebook into her backpack. “I call that a win.”
Up front, Giulios was finished complimenting Coleman’s strategies, and the lecture was breaking up. “I’ll be right back,” I said, hopping out of my seat.
I found Mr. Chan at the front of the room, chatting with a student. I planted myself a few feet away, and was eventually rewarded by a glance and a smile when the other student moved off.
“Hi,” I said, thrusting out a hand. “I’m Rafe Santiago, and I was on team Beaumont.”
“Ah!” the man said, shaking my hand. “You were so close.”
“Yeah, that’s cool. But I was wondering how I can figure out the food-truck business. My family runs a Dominican restaurant in Washington Heights. We need to think about a food truck, but we don’t know the steps.”
He nodded. “How’s your health department rating?”
“It’s awesome because my mom is a slavedriver.”
The man laughed while he reached for his pocket. “Take my card. When you’re ready to get serious with it, call my secretary and tell her that you were the Harkness kid who wanted to get going on a Dominican food truck. We’ll have a meeting.”
My fingers closed around the card. “Thank you, sir. I will do that.”
“Nice to meet you, Rafe. And feel free to bring some majarete to the meeting.” He patted his stomach. “I love that stuff.”
“It’s a deal.”
I walked away, patting the card in my pocket. And just like that I really did win everything. I got a good grade and a connection at the City of New York.
And the girl, too.
Pinch me.
Thirty-Five
December
Rafe
On the first day of Christmas vacation, I came down with a nasty cold.
In my family, we called mid-December “catering season” because of all the orders for holiday parties. Naturally, I was helping out in the restaurant kitchen. Because that’s what a Santiago did.
But after the third time I had to step out the back door to sneeze and blow my nose, my mother fired me. “Go home,” she said. “I don’t want sickness in my kitchen. I’ll bring you soup later.”
On my way out the door, I slipped my phone out of my pocket and found a call from Bella. When I listened to the message, all she’d said was, “I have the most disgusting cold. Damned Lianne! Miss you.” Click.
I laughed. Lianne had been sick during exams, and the poor girl had been all freaked out that she was going to deliver “Romeo, O Romeo” in a frog voice. Though she’d recovered already, it was no surprise Bella and I had gotten sick next.
I called her. “Me too,” I said when she picked up. “The cold and the missing. Can I bring you some fresh-squeezed OJ?”
“Really? I thought you were working today.”
“I got the plague too. And Ma doesn’t let anyone sick work in the kitchen.”
“I knew I liked your mom. Get your cute butt down here and bring orange juice. We are going to have a movie marathon.”
“You need anything else?” I asked her. “Tissues? Cold medicine?”
“I’ve got all that. Get on the train, hot stuff. Lianne went to rehearsal, and I’m bored and lonely.” She hung up on me.
Turning around, I stuck my head back into the restaurant kitchen. “Ma? Don’t bring me soup later. I’m going to Bella’s. She’s sick, too.”
My mother frowned. “Take that girl some juice.” She went to the refrigerator and pulled out a quart of the stuff.
“What are you doing?” my cousin Pablito complained. “Takes me half an hour to juice a quart.”
He wasn’t wrong. This stuff was like liquid gold. “I’ll pay you back later. I’ll take one of your shifts.” Then I got the heck out of there.