The Fire and the Veil (Veronica Barry Book 2) Read Online Free

they gazed at their menus for a few moments. Veronica loved Japanese food. She wondered if it would be bad manners to order the mixed sashimi plate worth $22. A mixed nigiri plate was tempting, too. It was $18. She decided on the latter. She wondered if it was possible to become known as a glutton if you ate a lot of sushi. It was such light, clean food. But then, she imagined that small, delicate Japanese women didn’t eat twelve pieces of sushi in a sitting, plus wakame salad and a bowl of miso broth. Well, she wasn’t a small, delicate Japanese woman. She was a medium-height, curvy woman of French and Italian heritage. Neither of whom were known for having big women, she mused. She’d spent a semester in Paris and she’d actually felt tall there. But still, at least Italian women were known for their curves.
    “I’m getting the chirashi bowl and a side of vegetable tempura,” Daniel announced.
    Quick estimating told her his dinner would cost more than the sashimi plate. “I’ll order the mixed sashimi,” she said with a smile.
    “So,” he said as he set down his menu and gestured to one of the chefs behind the bar. “Tell me about your squirrelly kids.”
    “Ah. Well, I have a few that are just full of freshman energy. Nothing unusual. Most of the kids in French I are freshmen and sophomores. They tend to be sillier than the upperclassmen.”
    “Oh? I’d have thought that all high schoolers were cooler-than-thou.”
    “The freshman are basically still eighth graders until midway through spring, when they realize they’re almost sophomores.”
    “And the sophomores?”
    “Live up to their name. Sophomore means ‘wise fool.’ They think they have everything all figured out. Actually I think some of the sophomores are the worst; they’re completely committed to that teenage rebellion thing.”
    “And it all changes when they get to be juniors?”
    Veronica shrugged. “Lots of them get a summer job before junior year. It’s the first time many of them have ever had to wait on other people for a change. I think it makes a big difference. And developmentally… well, it does seem to make a difference, too. Of course there are often a couple of kids who lag behind and still think it’s funny to say ‘pianist.’ But the rest of the juniors give them the stink-eye for being so immature.”
    “You end up talking about a lot of ‘pianists’ in your French classes?”
    Veronica frowned and wrinkled her nose, not sure what to say to that, but she was saved by the arrival of the sushi chef, who took their order.
    “We got a few new kids just recently,” Veronica said.
    “Angie Dukas,” Daniel offered.
    “Well, yes, of course. But a few others. One of them, a girl, she stands out.”
    “A sophomore?”
    “A junior.”
    “The kind that laughs at ‘pianist’?”
    Veronica shook her head. “No,” she said. “Disruptive though. The first day she came into the room it was like someone threw in a grenade. So much attitude. She slammed her books down on the desk and just glared at me. I didn’t know what to do. I gather they dumped her in the class.”
    “French I?”
    “No, French II. Can you believe it? I can understand dumping a kid into French I when they need an elective. But she’s never taken French and they dump her into French II? Ugh.”
    The chef returned and placed little bowls of miso in front of them. Veronica wasted no time, scooping broth with her porcelain spoon. It was delicious. Daniel brought the bowl directly to his lips and drank.
    “Wow, I thought I was hungry,” Veronica said with a laugh.
    Daniel looked surprised, then glanced at the bowl in his hand. “Oh. Yeah. Sometimes I forget. Miso just doesn’t seem like spoon food to me.”
    “Do you slurp your soup too?”
    “Seriously? I dare you to slurp your soup if you ever eat at my aunt’s table.”
    “But I remember a Brady Bunch episode that said something like that.”
    “Brady Bunch? Aren’t they all white