Page 134 of Instant Karma

I think of the times I tried to cast karmic justice on Quint at the start ofthe summer. When he refused to help with the biology project because he “had other things to do,” or when he was late to meet me on Main Street. I was so mad at him. So sure he was being selfish and lazy. But he wasn’t. He really did have other things to do. Seals to feed. Sea otters to rescue.

That’s why my attempts kept backfiring. Instead of punishing him, the universe was rewarding him. The extra credit from Mr. Chavez. The twenty-dollar bill.

All that time, I couldn’t see what was right in front of me. But the universe could. The universe knew.

“What?” says Quint, and I realize I’ve been staring at him.

I flush, and shake my head. “Nothing. Just spacing out.” It takes me a second to remember what we were talking about. “Anyway, don’t get the wrong idea. I do still think that revising the report and improving our grade is important. If I’m going to get into one of my top college choices, I can’t let my GPA slip.”

“Where do you want to go?”

“Stanford,” I say, with no hesitation. “Or Berkeley. They both have really good business schools.”

He makes a face. “Business? What, did you look up the most boring majors possible and that one ranked just above political science?”

“Excuse me. Business is fascinating. The psychology of why and how people spend their money, the reasons why some businesses fail and others keep going strong… And I figure, a business degree can be applied to almost every field out there, so no matter what I’m drawn to later, I’ll be able to make it work.” I hum thoughtfully. “Sometimes I think, if either of my parents had any business sense, their lives would be so much easier. I never want to worry about money like they do.”

My thoughts go back to that wad of cash in my backpack. The box of silverware in the pawnshop. I swallow.

“That, I can understand,” says Quint. “I know Mom doesn’t want me to worry, but it’s impossible not to. This center is her passion, but it’s also her livelihood. If it fails…” He doesn’t finish the thought. I wonder what Rosa would do if she couldn’t run the center anymore. “But money isn’t everything. She works really hard here and it’s always a struggle to keep things going, but I don’t think she’d want to do anything else.”

I don’t respond. Sure, money may not be everything… but it issomething.I can’t imagine working as hard as Rosa, or my parents for that matter, and still having so little to show for it, no matter how much I love my work.

“Let me guess,” I say, cocking my head speculatively. “You’ve given precisely zero thought to where you want to go to college, or what you want to study.”

“Not zero thought,” he says a little defensively. “I may not be working off a five-year plan likesomepeople…”

“Ten, actually.”

“My mistake.” He rolls his eyes. “But right now, I’m pretty sure I’ll be taking a gap year.”

My gasp is so horrified that Quint looks legitimately concerned for a second.

“Agapyear? Oh, come on. That’s just a fancy way of saying you’re either too lazy to go to college or too indecisive to pick one.”

“Whoa. Uh-uh.” He points a finger at me. “Just because it isn’tyourplan doesn’t make it a bad one.”

“It just delays the inevitable! If you’re going to go to college, then go to college! Why mess around, wasting a whole year of your life… backpacking Europe or whatever cliché thing you think will make you ‘well-rounded.’” I make air quotes.

Quint crosses his arms over his chest. “For your information, studies have shown that people who take gap years regularly perform better in college once they get there.”

I narrow my eyes, unconvinced.

“Look it up,” he says mildly.

“I don’t want to drain my phone battery,” I grumble.

“You don’t want to admit that I could be right. Again.”

“We’ll see.” I huff. “So what do you plan on doing during your year of slackery? Please tell me you won’t actually be backpacking through Europe.”

“Australia, actually. I want to dive the Great Barrier Reef before it’s too late.”

My eyes widen in surprise. I spend a moment mulling this over. “Okay, that’s actually kind of a neat goal.”

“Translation from Prudence to English: That’s a brilliant idea, Quint. You should totally do that.”

I shake my head. “Not so fast. You don’t need a whole year to do that. Why not just go on summer vacation?”

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