8 Something to Chew on

Every time Sarimah left the classroom, she felt like she was walking through a forest. She couldn’t see over anyone’s head. She was pretty sure that she was shorter than anyone else her age.

“Hey, Sarimah, let’s go play soccer,” Izzy shouted, in the crowded hallway.

Sarimah heard her voice, but had to stand on her tippy-toes to find her. Little kids spun around her. Older kids towered over her. She had to nudge her way through the crowd to their locker. She felt like was walking through tall grass that was in her way.

“You need to use your elbows a little more,” Izzy said, laughing. “I’m sure you don’t get pushed around like that on the soccer field.”

They walked to the lunchroom together, where they found Brandt and Seamus. They sat down at the table with the boys.

“How many bites do you think I can eat my sandwich in?” Brandt asked.

“Four,” Seamus said.

“No problem,” Brandt answered.

“Okay, but no milk or water or anything.”

“If I do it, I get your cookies.”

“Deal, but if I win, I get your cupcake.”

Sarimah watched as Brandt took two huge bites. He chewed slowly, with his cheeks puffed out like a squirrel. He swallowed hard.

“That’s two,” Brandt said. “Only two more allowed.”

He took another big bite, and suddenly stopped.

“Nobody give him anything to drink!” Seamus shouted excitedly. He stood up to watch Brandt closely. “I’m going to get his dessert, I know it.”

Sarimah started to laugh. The look on Brandt’s face was a mixture of panic and joy.

“Make him laugh, make him laugh!” Seamus shouted.

Brandt braced his hands against the table. He was laughing now and trying to keep the sandwich in his mouth. Finally, he grabbed his milk and took a huge swig.

“Yes! I win,” Seamus said. “Hand over your cookies, buddy.”

“I shouldn’t have brought tuna salad on brown bread today,” Brandt said.

“What were you thinking? You didn’t stand a chance.”

“Wait,” Sarimah said. “I can do three bites. Then I get the cookies.”

Sarimah wasn’t sure what she had gotten herself into. But it looked like fun.

“Okay,” Izzy said. “What do we get if you can’t?”

Sarimah thought for a second.

“I will bring you baklava,” she said. “It is from Syria. It has lots of honey and pastry.”

“I don’t know how to say that. But it sounds delicious,” Brandt said. “You have a deal.”

Sarimah picked up her sandwich. She took a huge bite.

“Whoa, awesome,” Izzy shouted.

Sarimah finished off the rest of the sandwich in two more bites. Izzy, Brandt and Seamus all clapped.

“I was hungry. It helps with tomato and lettuce,” Sarimah said, taking the cookies. “Not so sticky.”

“Okay, let’s go outside or something,” Izzy said. She stood up to leave.

Sarimah jumped to her feet. She scooped up all her containers and tossed them into her lunch bag. Before she could get out of the lunchroom, she had to get around another group of kids. How had her friends already made it to the lunchroom door?

“You going to practise soccer? Don’t you need to call in your personal coach?”

Sarimah remained silent for a few seconds. She was alone in front of Tamsen again. She watched as her friends walked ahead of her into the hallway.

“We are all going to play,” she said. “Will you come?”

“I doubt it. It’s not real soccer. Not like with my indoor soccer team, the Blizzard. I don’t want to waste my time playing with just anyone in the snow.”

Sarimah’s stomach flipped. She tried her best to smile. They stood in silence for a few seconds. Then Izzy rushed back into the lunchroom.

“Hey, Sarimah, let’s go. What’s taking you so long? Lunch is going to be over soon,” Izzy said.

Sarimah let out a big breath.

“Tammy, we need another player,” Izzy said. “Come on.”

“Maybe,” Tamsen said. Sarimah saw that she didn’t want to let Izzy down. They were teammates on the Blizzard. “Okay, I’ll show you all how to really play.”

They met up outside. Tamsen was wearing her sleek winter boots and slim jacket. Sarimah was in her second-hand parka and oversized boots. She felt clumsy. But she didn’t want to let it stop her. She bent over and tied up her bootlaces as tight as possible. It made her feel much better about running in the snow. She took off her jacket.

“Why don’t you just unzip the liner and wear that?” Brandt said.

Sarimah looked at him, and then at her jacket.

He picked it up for her. “My brother has this same jacket,” he said.

He found the inside zipper, undid it and pulled the jacket apart. He handed a smaller, red jacket to Sarimah.

“There. Now, what are the teams?” he asked.

Sarimah was amazed. She had not realized there was another piece to her coat. She waved her arms around. She had more freedom to move!

“You four over there against us four over here,” Seamus said. He motioned to Sarimah, Tamsen, Izzy and Brandt as a team. “We’ll play half-field.”

Sarimah had not expected to be on Tamsen’s team. She wondered how Tamsen felt about it.

Seamus grabbed the ball and booted it high from the goal area. It hadn’t snowed for a couple of days, so the snow on the field was packed down. It made it icier than before. The ball skipped and slid from one end of the field to the other. It didn’t matter what kind of boots anyone was wearing. Sarimah could see everyone was having trouble standing. It made it tough to score, and the teams managed just two goals each as the game continued.

“Whoa, look out below!” Brandt shouted. He took a running start at a huge slide for the ball.

He nudged it forward to where Sarimah could get it. She scooted off to the wing with the ball. There was some empty space there. Then Tamsen broke through the middle of the field. Sarimah acted quickly and punched a pass up to her. Tamsen ran onto the ball and nudged it into the goal. It was a whizz-bang play that caught everyone by surprise.

“Amazing play, you two,” Izzy said.

“Nice pass,” Tamsen said. But she glanced past Sarimah, instead of looking at her.

“It was a good run,” Sarimah added.

It was the best play of the game, and the last. The bell rang and the game was over.

“Hey, we win 3-2,” Brandt said. “Tammy gets the winner, with an assist to Sarimah!”

The two teams gathered and all the players walked back into the school.

“Sarimah and Tamsen, what a great combo,” Izzy added. “You two have good chemistry.”

Sarimah looked over at Tamsen, who didn’t seem to have heard what Izzy had said. Tamsen walked away without saying anything.

“I’m serious,” Izzy said to Sarimah. “You guys are both so smart. I bet if you joined our team, you two would be amazing together.”

Sarimah looked at Izzy. She wasn’t sure if she was joking or not.

“Well, yes, I would like that,” Sarimah said finally. “It would be amazing.”