“So, I was thinking.” Ella’s voice softened to a wheedle. “Someone’s parents or sister will totally wanna drive us to go snow tubing one day, right?”

The line is quiet. A moment too late, Mimi realizes why: Shoshana’s sister Dina is their go-to driver for these kinds of trips. Dina, who ran out of the store in tears last time Tzippy and Ella saw her.

Ella seems to realize her mistake because she jumps in to speak again. “C’mon, Tzippy, no one from your family’s gonna be available?”

“I can ask my sisters. Maybe one of them will take us. Or my cousin Esti, she’s cool like that. I’ll let you know.”

“Great!” Ella moves on. “Then the next day, I figured we should go to that indoor water park they’re renting out, you saw the ad?”

“Oooh, yeah, fun,” Tzippy says.

“I’m in,” Shoshana adds. Mimi’s relieved to hear that she sounds more natural, almost back to her normal self. Maybe this — the planning, the fun, the trip together — is all they’ll need to get back to the close-knit group that they’ve always been.

“Mimi?”

Mimi rubs her thumb on the slightly scuffed corner of her desk “Sure, sure, it sounds great. Count me in.”

Oh, can she do with a vacation.

Especially now, with her parents and her grades—

Wait.

They wouldn’t. They couldn’t.

Or would they?

Would her parents really expect her to use her midwinter vacation to catch up on studying? Surely not. Her parents weren’t like that, they’ll understand that she needs a break.

But maybe they won’t like the idea of two full-day trips. Maybe they’ll want her to leave some time for studying, for all that work the teachers love to pile on right before vacation (what, exactly, do they think vacation is for?).

Supper is meatballs and spaghetti, not her favorite. But Mimi hangs around in the kitchen for a full half hour, waiting for it to empty so that she can speak to Ma.

“I was talking to my friends before, we’re planning midwinter vacation,” she tells Ma, collecting the dirty napkins from the table. May as well collect some brownie points for helping out. “We’re thinking of doing day trips, you know, snow tubing and stuff… Ella has all these ideas, Tzippy’s working on getting us a ride…”

Ma nods enthusiastically. But then again, Ma always does that; it doesn’t tell you what she’s really thinking. “That sounds like a great idea, Mimi. Speak to Ta about it, ask him what he thinks, okay?”

Typical. Mimi’s chest tightens. Why, why, why did she even mention it? Now Ta’s for sure going to ask about homework and start making conditions…

But these are her friends, and this is their chance to make everything okay again. She’s not ready to give up just yet.

Ta is surprisingly agreeable. “You’ve been working hard. Ma tells me how much time you’ve put into studying recently… you deserve a break.”

Oh. Mimi leans against the wall and offers a small smile. “Th –thanks, Ta.”

Her father busies himself with his wallet. “You know, Mimi, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea here. It’s not about the grades, it’s not about needing to be the top. It’s simply about putting your focus and efforts where it matters at this point in your life. Getting hundreds on every test is nice, but in life, it’s character that matters. And part of building your character is becoming aware of priorities and responsibilities.” He extracts several bills and hands them to her. “This is for the trip. And remember, just for your efforts, Mimi, you’ve already made us proud.”

Suddenly, she’s blinking back tears.

Later, when she’s sipping hot cocoa on the couch, Ma comes over and sits down beside her. “Ta told me he spoke to you,” she says. “I’m sure you’ll have a great time with your friends.”

Her smile looks too bright. Uh-oh.

“We were just thinking…” Ma picks her words carefully. “You’re making plans with a group of friends, it’ll be so much fun. It would be so nice if you girls would invite Kayla to go along with you.”

(Originally featured in Mishpacha Jr., Issue 914)