“Kayla, you’ve been invited to the live competition, and of course, you’ve won a prize already,” Mrs. Price says. “I’ll be speaking to your parents to give them the details and discuss whether they will consent to your taking part in the event.”

Kayla finally smiles. “Thank you, Mrs. Price. I’m excited at the opportunity.”

Mimi rubs her own envelope between her fingers. She hasn’t opened it yet, although Shoshana is poring over hers like the secrets of the world are contained in the two lines of text. Ella’s is discarded at the edge of her desk, and Tzippy’s already doodling on the back of her own paper.

She shrugs and lifts the flap.

46%.

A 46%? On a test she hadn’t studied for? That means she knew almost half the material. She hadn’t thought so.

Maybe there’s something to be said about test-taking without any pressure at all. Shame she can’t ask that none of her tests should count toward her report card.

She wonders what Kayla’s grade was, what it took to get to the top 20 candidates in the country.

Apparently, she’s not the only one wondering, because as soon as Mrs. Price leaves the room, someone asks Kayla that very question.

“99.5%,” Kayla says. “And there was an additional note about the last question, in which crucial data was missing, and for which I gave several possible answers…”

“Oh, come off it, do we really need to spend more time talking about math?” Raizy Reich asks loudly.

Kayla stares back at her. “I’m just answering Breindy’s question.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure. Like it’s not just another chance to show off. As if any of us would want to be a math geek invited to these nerdy genius competitions.” Raizy rolls her eyes.

Mimi’s eyes widen. Ouch. Even for Raizy, this is bad. She must be having a real bad day. But Kayla, Kayla…

Someone should say something. Tell Raizy to be quiet, to leave her sister alone.

…She should say something.

I can’t. I just can’t.

Gym class flashes through Mimi’s mind. It’s the same feeling, that horrible stuck-ness of the layout-twist combination that she can’t get herself to conquer.

But…

It’s in your mind, Tova had said. You think you can’t, so you can’t.

Is it? Is it really?

Three seconds of eternity pass, and then — I can, I can — Mimi sucks in a breath, opens her mouth, and says, “Hey, I think it’s actually pretty cool that Kayla won.”

There’s a nanosecond of shocked silence — what have you done, Mimi, what have you done — and then, suddenly, blessedly, Hadassah says, “Me, too. Good for you!”

“Yeah, she’s gonna make our school famous,” Breindy adds, and a few others chime in.

Mimi sneaks a glance over at Raizy. She looks annoyed, but then she tosses her head and says something to Mali, and they’re wrapped in their own conversation again.

Her heart is racing, pounding through her rib cage like she’s completed a mega gym routine, and she hasn’t even moved since class ended. All she did was say something, for goodness’ sake, but somehow it feels huge, a mountain she’s shifted with her bare hands.

Around her, the conversation moves on. No one seems to realize that a world has changed, that she’s conquered impossible territory.

Maybe, she thinks, wrapping her arms around herself to breathe in the victory, it’s better that way.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha Jr., Issue 935)