French Leave by Anna Gavalda

Hallelujah.
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    With the first notes of the guitar I bit my lips and stared at the overhead lamp to hold back my tears.
    Simon adjusted his rearview mirror and immobilized me.
    â€œYou okay? Are you sad?”
    â€œNo,” I replied, cracking at the seams, “I’m just really . . . really happy.”
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    We spent the rest of the drive in complete and total silence. Rewinding the film and thinking about tomorrow.
    Recess over. The bell was about to ring. Get in line, two by two.
    Silence, please.
    Silence, I said!
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    We dropped Lola off at the Porte d’Orléans and Simon drove me home and stopped right outside my door.
    Just as he was about to pull away I put my hand on his arm: “Wait here, it’ll only take a minute.”
    I rushed over to Monsieur Rashid’s.
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    â€œHere,” I said, handing Simon the packet of rice, “don’t go forgetting the shopping.”
    He smiled.
    He kept his arm raised for a long time, then once he had turned the corner I went back over to my favorite grocer’s and bought some dog biscuits, and a can of Happychow.
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    â€œGarance, I warning you, your dog piss one more time on my eggplants, I gonna make meatballs outa him!”

 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Born in Paris in 1970, Anna Gavalda published her first work, I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere , a critically acclaimed collection of short stories that sold a half a million copies in her native France, in 1999. She has since published three novels, all of which have been bestsellers in Europe. Her novel Hunting and Gathering was made into a film starring Audrey Tatou and Daniel Auteil.