As the bell rings, Cora rushes into class and takes a seat on the other side of Nandini. “I really had to pee,” she says, chest heaving.

I sympathetically offer her my water bottle.

Miss Cannon claps, drawing attention to the front of the room. “Let’s begin our discussion of The Great Gatsby...”

I’m in a good enough mood today that I raise my hand as soon as the discussion begins. Usually, I’m too flustered unless I have a really good talking point. I don’t like having people’s eyes on me unless I have something smart to say. “I don’t think it truly matters whether Gatsby is telling the truth about himself or his past—because does it even affect his future? He could spin any tale, and it wouldn’t matter nearly as much as the way his love for Daisy is presented. I’d argue it’s the biggest facet of his entire persona.”

“Interesting point, Karina,” Miss Cannon says, smiling. “Would anyone like to counter or contribute further to that?”

Someone else raises their hand. “I agree with Karina. On page 150, it says...”

I nod, flipping to the mentioned page in the book.

The conversation continues for another ten minutes before we split up into groups. Naturally, Cora, Nandini, and I push our desks closer together.

“Okay, so I didn’t read any of it yet,” Nandini admits after checking to make sure Miss Cannon is attending to a different group. “I had a late shift at the movie theater yesterday and I still had to finish the physics lab, so...something had to give.”

“I skimmed most of it but didn’t really understand,” Cora says, scratching her nose. “Karina, can you explain?”

I roll my eyes, unsurprised. We all have our strengths when it comes to school subjects. Nandini loves science, Cora loves history, and I love literature. “So you basically want Gatsby for Dummies?”

“That’s exactly what I want,” Nandini says.

I sigh, but nod. “All right. So Nick and Gatsby are basically driving together, and Gatsby is like blah, blah, blah, here’s my whole life story, and only God knows why Nick cares. Then Gatsby’s all like bro, I’ve done all kinds of wild shit you wouldn’t believe. I collected all these jewels in Europe and hunted big game and had mad medals awarded to me during World War I from tons of European countries. And Nick is like...huh? And Gatsby is all like look here’s my medal from Montenegro and me and my bros playing cricket in Oxford, yada, yada, yada.”

“I love you,” Cora says sincerely. “You are an angel and I would absolutely die for you. I am never going to read a book again.”

“That is the exact opposite of what you should do,” I say, kicking her underneath the desk. “Please read a book.”

“We’ll see,” Cora says, waving a nonchalant hand.