Juliet didn't eat lunch with her cheer buddies that often, preferring to eat with Beth and Regina, but once Beth started spending what seemed like all her free time with Louis, that cut down on the options somewhat.

"Wow, smells good!" Alyssa said, cooing appreciatively at the har gow Juliet was eating from her thermos. "Did your parents cook those for you?"

"Kind of. My family owns a dim sum restaurant, so often we take the leftovers home—we don't want to waste food. Want one?"

"I'm good, thanks," Alyssa said, turning her nose up slightly. "It's so cool though that your family owns a restaurant. I remember watching my uncle's private chef as a kid thinking how cool it would be to do what those Food Network people do all day."

"So what are you eating for lunch?"

"I'm waiting for the line to get shorter. I think they have pasta today? It's not as good as what they have in Italy, but it's free. You get a free lunch, I get a free lunch, it all works out," Alyssa laughed. "If I give the lunch lady pouty eyes she might give me an extra chocolate milk."

"Those lunches aren't free for everyone. They're for low-income students."

"Well, according to the school, my family is low-income, so I qualify."

"I've seen your dad pick you up in a Tesla before. Isn't he a venture capitalist?"

"Yeah, but his income is zero, technically speaking, so that's good enough for the school." Alyssa punctuated this point with a smug smile, and looked down again at Juliet's har gow as if to say that her gourmet, fresh dumplings were worse than pasta cooked in a giant metal vat because they weren't acquired through grift.

The next day, Juliet tracked down Regina to sit with her, warily watching Alyssa and the other cheerleaders from across the courtyard. They seemed unbothered by her absence, laughing and smiling all the same.

"What's wrong, Juliet? You never look this depressed."

"I was eating with Alyssa yesterday, and she was being, like, really judgy about the har gow I was eating. I'm pretty sure she thought they smelled bad or something."

"She's white, what do you expect?"

"That's not the worst part. I asked her what she was eating, and she said she gets free lunches from the school—she literally has a maid. Her dad drives a Tesla and has had dinner with Mark Zuckerberg. You can't tell me that she needs free lunch. She can totally bring something from home. It's not fair."

"Why do you hang out with them anyway? I always thought they were a bit, you know, cliquey."

"I'm part of their clique, so I don't mind. It's just that I really want to confront Alyssa about it, but I don't want to have some sort of class war with her."

"Look," Regina said, putting her hand on Juliet's shoulder, "these people live in another universe compared to us. We aren't poor—your mom drives a BMW. But we, or at least our parents, still have to watch our money and understand the struggles of others. I can't just pay someone to make all my problems go away or to write my essays for me."

"So what should I do?"

"If you ever want to be invited to her birthday parties again, I suggest you put this behind you. Even if you think she's a bad person."

Juliet had never had the opportunity to take a moral stance like this before, and decided that neither Alyssa and Regina were good enough to eat with her. At least for a few days, until she got over herself. This meant that she sat by herself at an unoccupied picnic table, hoping Alyssa wouldn't walk by carrying some cardboard pizza laughing about the three dollars she saved to put toward her next Louis Vuitton handbag.

"Hey, is that bitter melon? Looks good!" Frank chirped, sitting across from Juliet. "And turnip cakes too? You're making my Caprese salad look dismal."

"You know what those are?" Juliet exclaimed.

"Of course I do. My family and I get dim sum all the time. There's this great place, Waterfront Pavilion, we love. We always go with friends."

"My family owns that restaurant!"

"You have to be kidding me, that's so cool."

"Here, have some," Juliet said, tossing Frank a few pieces of bitter melon and a slice of her turnip cake.

"So why are you eating by yourself?"

"I had a little argument with Alyssa. So Alyssa's on free and reduced lunch—not that there's anything wrong with that, obviously—except it kind of is because she's obviously really rich. And I'm thinking that she's a bad person for being so lazy, and also that her free lunch might be taking away free lunch with someone who truly needs it. Alyssa's just such a judgy person in general. I was eating some har gow the other day and she literally turned up her nose at it, like it wasn't good enough for her but that pig slop is."

"Don't you think that calling it pig slop is a bit much? I have friends who eat free lunch, and while obviously there's a reason why I bring my own food, I don't judge them for it. It's out of their control."

"OK, but that's not the point."

"The point is, you're right: Alyssa's an awful, dare I say quietly racist, person for making you feel bad about what you're eating and your own habits. But she doesn't know any better. She's never had to think about those things herself, since she lives in a little bubble. Nobody's ever tried to challenge her—you certainly don't see any of the other cheerleaders doing that. In economics, we talk about there being 'no such thing as a free lunch' to describe opportunity cost: you're always giving up something, whether you realize it or not, to get something free. And in this case, Alyssa's given up her dignity."

"That's so smart, Frank. We should eat together more. I'll tell my mom to bring you a portion," Juliet suggested amiably.

"Sadly, there's no such thing as a free lunch. But I appreciate the offer," Frank said. He ate quickly, as usual, and bid Juliet adieu with a wave. Eating alone made Juliet suddenly wish that she had some company, any company at all; his parting had ripped a Band-Aid off. The next day, Juliet went back to eat with Alyssa and the others.

"What's on the menu today?" Alyssa asked as soon as Juliet opened her thermos.

"I actually don't know what this is called in English, but it's like a rice porridge with thousand-year-old eggs and stuff inside. It's really good."

"Thousand-year-old eggs? Wouldn't those be, like, rotten?"

"Of course not, they're just buried under ash and salt and stuff for a bit..." Juliet began explaining, but could tell that Alyssa wasn't paying attention. Juliet started eating, occasionally laughing at a joke someone else said or offering one of her own. The congee didn't taste nearly as good when served with a side of judgment, she realized, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. Unless she wanted to eat alone.

Discussion Questions:

Do you feel bad for Juliet in this chapter?

Should Juliet have done what Regina suggested and set aside her annoyance at Alyssa?

What have other instances have there been in the story, sequel or otherwise, of there being "no such thing as a free lunch"?