Mismatch by Lensey Namioka

really hungry. He walked slowly to Hero’s. It felt funny to go in and eat by himself. Apparently the boy making sandwiches thought so, too. “What happened to your girlfriend?” he asked. “Had a fight, huh?”
    “Mind your own business,” growled Andy. Ignoring the boy’s smirk, he took his sandwich and walked over to his and Sue’s usual table.
    He knew their fight hadn’t been Sue’s fault, not totally. He couldn’t blame her for being upset, since he’d started sitting at a different table during lunch. He had been really angry with her after their argument. Sue had said it was only their families keeping them apart, but the more she said it, the more it sounded as though
she
had some problems with the Japanese people, too.
    But then he thought about it. He realized he wasn’t being really fair to Sue. If that man in Beijing, instead of just spitting on Andy’s father, had also broken his arm and knocked out some teeth, Andy would have to think for a moment on how he felt about the Chinese people.
    Sue was right about one thing, anyway: it was too soon for her to introduce him to her family. He would have to find a chance to talk to her. He was reluctant to approach Sue in school, where Mia, Ginny, Nathan, and others had their sharp eyes on them. He’d have to continue meeting her at Hero’s after rehearsals—if he could get her to join him again.
    Tuesday night was the night of the meeting to discuss how to finance the trip to Tokyo. Andy and his parents showed up at the school gym right on the dot at seven-thirty, but the tiers of seats were already crowded, and they had to go all the way to the top row to find room. Andy looked around to see if he could find Sue. Since he was looking down on the backs of people, he wasn’t able to spot her.
    The meeting was chaired by a Mrs. Fulton, the president of the Lakeview P.T.A. “Ladies and gentlemen,” she said, calling the meeting to order, “you all know why we are here. As you no doubt recall, the Kasei School from Tokyo visited America last year and gave a concert at our school. Most of the people here went to that concert, which was a huge success. The Kasei School is noted for its outstanding musical program. Its orchestra played superbly, and deserved the enthusiastic reception they got.” She paused, looked around, and smiled. “I believe that the Lakeview High School Orchestra is every bit as good!”
    Wild applause broke out. Personally, Andy thought that the Kasei orchestra had a stronger wind section, but the Lakeview orchestra had better string players.
    The year before, his parents had acted as host family for a cellist from the Kasei orchestra. Since their guest spoke very little English, Andy’s father had to do most of the talking. On the weekend the Suzukis took their guest for a picnic on Mount Rainier, and the snowy scenery impressed him deeply. He kept saying, “Fuji! Just like Mount Fuji!”
    Andy wondered if he would see the boy again if he went to Tokyo. Then he remembered that the boy had been a senior and would have graduated by now. Did Sue’s family also host a player from the Kasei orchestra? No, of course not. Sue had just transferred to Lakeview High and hadn’t been around during the visit by the Japanese kids.
    Meanwhile, Mrs. Fulton was still talking. “As you know, our orchestra has received an invitation from the principal of the Kasei High School to visit Tokyo and give a concert in their auditorium.”
    More applause. Without waiting for it to end, Mrs. Fulton went on. “We are on the point of accepting the invitation, but before we can do so, there is the problem of financing the trip. We don’t have to worry about lodging, since host families in Tokyo have offered to put up our players. But we still have to pay for the plane tickets.”
    “How did the Kasei orchestra pay for their trip?” asked one of the parents.
    “A good question,” said Mrs. Fulton. “I actually asked the Kasei principal. He said