What should she rush for, anyway? So that Bubby should tell her to help out more? To have Tehillah take up too much space in her bedroom?

She could get lost in here. She could stay for hours, hide from the whole crazy world. From her parents and Tehillah and Shani and the dumb high school application

Satisfied that no one was listening, she leaned closer and murmured, “I can’t tell you now. Later, when we’re alone, okay?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know, okay? My parents want me to go to out of town with Shani”

“I know it’s not easy for you, sharing your room, helping out, but we’re all pitching in, and it’s a mitzvah, remember?”

Morah Hertz’s eyes narrowed even more, until she was practically squinting. “So, chutzpah as well?” she said softly, but in a voice icy as the rink itself