Gracie borrows so many books from the library that she makes me carry some of them. I act annoyed, but her excitement is cute, and I’m so happy she’s reading this much. We spend the rest of the day lazing about and reading. I turn off my phone entirely and decide to make an elaborate dinner.
Mom gets home right as dinner is coming out of the oven. She takes one look at the kitchen and sees me covered in flour. There’s some dry noodles on the floor and I spilled pasta sauce on the stove top. I wipe my face and realize that I’ve somehow gotten flour on my forehead too. She looks back and forth between me and Gracie and just goes back to her room.
“Well,” Gracie says, “I’m excited for your take on chicken parmesan.”
“It’s not my take on c
