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She took another forkful, larger this time Russell watched her He see, a sort of shit-eating grin

"What?" Sophie asked

"Thinking I won that bet," Russell said

They demolished the pie and e cheese, after all Pretty soon all that was left was a sad lump of ice crea Russell shook his head

"I was planning on paying when I thought you were rich, so wouldn’t it be patronizing to let you split it now?"

Sophie laughed at that "Wait, you thought I was rich?"

Russell quirked an eyebrow and attempted to look bashful

"So, does that make us even?" she asked

"Not really keeping score," Russell said "But it does " He laid a pair of twenties on the table

"Thank you," Sophie said "For everything But especially for the latkes Those will probably be ht is the last night of Hanukkah The latkeis closing"

"Aren’t you going home for the holidays?"

"I’ll be home for Christmas and New Years but no, not Hanukkah this year"

"Why not?"

Sophie paused, wondering which way to answer that "Two hundred and sixty-seven dollars," she said finally

She told him that this was how much the price of tickets dropped if she left next week Sophie had fought with her mother about this, which was unusual She was accustoality It had always been that way, a matter of necessity with just the two of them and her one to Sophie’s college fund Then last winter, right as Sophie was filling out her applications, Luba had a stroke She’d lingered in a sort of twilight and neither Sophie nor herhomes (they were so Soviet) When she died, five s was history NYU had said yes, but Sophie’s dream school was suddenly exorbitant, even with a financial aid package Then U of B caenerous offer

Sophie’sAnd now, this latest postponeone Sophie wondered if that wasn’t the real reason for the delay Maybe her mom wanted to skip the holidays this year Maybe Sophie did, too

Thinking about all this, Sophie started to cry Oh, for Christ’s sake This most certainly qualified as a What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth? moment

"You okay?" Russell asked