Tegwen had watched Kayla run the hurdles once before . . . By the second hurdle, all of Kayla's opponents would be watching her bounce over each hurdle, howling with laughter. By the time they could regain their composure, Kayla had already cleared the final hurdle. Tegwen knew from running the hurdles herself in middle school, that after the final leap, the rest was a breeze. She figured the amusement would have been lost by the last track meet of that school year, but even that night, everyone succumbed to their laughter. And yet again, Kayla had taken the gold, basking in the humiliation of the others who'd run against her and lost.

Kayla sat beside Tegwen, another first place medal gracing her neck. Cradling it in her right paw, Kayla thought out loud, "This will be a nice addition to my collection."

"Not to mention your last addition from high school, Kay," Tegwen pointed out.

"Well, look at you," Kayla replied, grinning irrepressibly in that contagious way she had. "Four golds in one night!"

Tegwen smiled modestly. "It's nothing, really -- so I run fast. Big deal. I just imagine that I'm being chased by the police or something."

In the midst of her laughter, Kayla said, "Don't be so modest, Tegs. You've tied the record for most gold medals won at a single meet. If you were competing in the hurdles, you'd have beat me and set a new record for most golds . . . Your 'rents must be kah-velling."

"You mean kvelling," Tegwen corrected Kayla's yiddish without thinking. Her eyes scanned the stadium stands before she looked back on her best friend again with a heart breaking sigh. "And somehow, I think they're kvetching right now, not kvelling. Big difference, there."

"You Hebrews," Kayla said sweetly, smiling. "You're all so entertaining . . . Okay, Tegs. I can tell when you're unhappy. So I dunno what kah-vetching is, but I bet something's wrong. What's up?"

Tegwen cringed. "Please don't use that phrase around me. A rooster in my history class with Professor Von Drake last Tuesday night was kind enough to point out to me the origin of that phrase . . ."

"I -- What phrase? 'What's up?'"

"Yes," Tegwen replied in disgust. "That one."

Kayla protested briefly. "Okay, fine . . . What's the matter with ya, then?"

"My parents got into a huge fight last night," Tegwen finally confided.

Kayla patted Tegwen sympathetically on the shoulder. "Hey, just think of it this way . . . If your parents separate or divorce, they won't be fighting all the time anymore."



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