NextDoorToAStar

ByKrystenLindsayHager

NextDoorToAStarCopyright©2015byKrystenLyndsayHager.Allrightsreserved.FirstPrintEdition:September2015

LimitlessPublishing,LLCKailua,HI96734www.limitlesspublishing.com

Formatting: LimitlessPublishingISBN-13:978-1-68058-268-0ISBN-10:1-68058-268-2No part of this bookmay bereproduced, scanned, ordistributed in any printed orelectronic form withoutpermission. Please do notparticipate in or encouragepiracy of copyrighted

materials in violation of theauthor’srights.Thankyouforrespecting the hard work ofthisauthor.This is a work of fiction.Names, characters, places,and incidents either are theproduct of the author’simagination or are usedfictitiously, and anyresemblance to locales,events, businessestablishments, or actual

persons—living or dead—isentirelycoincidental.

Dedication

In loving memory to my

father,Bruce,who supportedme alongmywriting journeyand always had faith in me.The best storyteller,supporter, and father anyonecouldaskfor.

TableofContents

ChapterOneChapterTwoChapterThreeChapterFourChapterFiveChapterSixChapterSevenChapterEightChapterNineChapterTenChapterElevenChapterTwelve

ChapterThirteenChapterFourteenChapterFifteenChapterSixteenChapterSeventeenChapterEighteenChapterNineteenChapterTwentyChapterTwenty-OneChapterTwenty-TwoChapterTwenty-ThreeChapterTwenty-FourChapterTwenty-FiveChapterTwenty-SixChapterTwenty-SevenChapterTwenty-Eight

ChapterOneThe school year should

end right after spring break,becauseall anyonecan focuson is summer vacation. Youcan’t learn anything new,because all you can thinkabout is all the fun stuffyou’re going to do once youdon’t have to get up at thebutt crack of dawn. Summeralways seems full ofpossibilities.Nothingexcitingever happens during theschool year, but maybe,during summervacation,you

couldrun intoahotcelebrityandhe’ddecidetoputyouinhisnextmusicvideo.Okay,itwasn’t like I knew anybodythat happened to, but mygrandparents did live nextdoor to a former TV star,Simone Hendrickson, andSimonewasdiscovered inanicecreamparloronesummer.Ofcourse,shelivedinL.A.atthe time and was alreadydoingplaysandcommercials,so the guy who discovered

her had already seen herperform. But hey, it wassummer, she got discovered,andthatwasallthatmattered.

Amazing stuff didn’thappen to me. You knowwhat happened to me lastsummer? I stepped on a beeand had to go to theemergencyroom.They’renotgoing to make an E! TrueHollywood Story out of mylife. I didn’t go on exoticvacations—like today, I was

beingdraggedalongwithmyparents to my cousin’sgraduationparty.MostpeoplewaiteduntilatleasttheendofMay before having a gradparty, but Charisma washavinghersearlybecauseshewas leaving on a trip toSpain. I was dreading thispartybecauseIdidn’twanttolistentoeverybodytalkabouthow smart and talentedCharisma was—making mefeellikeablobincomparison

—butmymomRSVP’deventhough I said I’d rather diethan go. My death threatsmeant nothing. But still, forsome strange reason, I had afeeling this summer wasgoingtobedifferent.

We pulled up toCharisma’s house, and Ilagged behind my parents aswewenttothebackyard.Mygrandparents were alreadytheresittingbythepool.

“Too bad Hadley didn’t

bring her bathing suit,”GrandmaDaniels said tomymom.

I had seen the whole“bring your swimsuit” thingon the invitation, but therewasnoway Iwasputtingonabathingsuitandgettingintoapoolinfrontofpeople.Andthank goodness I didn’t,because it was a total highschool party. When mycousin Donny graduated, hehad, like, fifty old people

there and only three of hisfriends, but this was a totalteenagerparty,and therewasabigdifferencebetweenme,aninthgrader,andabunchofseniors. Right now, sitting atthe pool, the gap felt evenbiggerasIwatchedCharismaand her friends looking likemodels.

When I left thehouse thismorning, I thought I lookedgood in my white and pinkstripedForever21shortsand

my paint splashed t-shirt. ItwasthecutestthingIowned,butImightaswellhavebeenwearing Osh Gosh overallssince I was surrounded bysenior girls wearing bikinis.And not even the regularkind, but the ones withcutouts on the sides that hadthemetalthingsholdingthemtogether.Iwaswaytooshortandskinnytowearsomethinglikethat.

“Hadley, Charisma has

someoldsuitsifyouwanttotryoneon,”AuntShellysaidas she passed a cheese andcrackertrayaround.

“No, I’m fine. Thanks,though,”Isaid.

NowaywasIgetting inabathing suit around all thesehigh schoolgirlswho lookedlike goddesses. I’d like tothinkIlookedatleastmyage,but I couldn’t forget the firsttimeIwalkedintomyhistoryclassand the teacher toldme

the eighthgrade classwas intheotherwingoftheschool.

Isatonmypatiochairandwatched one girl getting outof the pool. It seemed likefiftyguysofferedheratowel.She was tan with dark hair,superexotic,andprettymuchthecompleteoppositeofpale,dishwater blonde, short littleme. Even without anymakeup and her wet hairplasteredtoherface,theguysweredroolingoverher.There

was also a couple who werecompletelymakingoutonthesideofthepool,rightinfrontofmygrandparents.

AuntShellyannouncedthefood was ready, so we wentinside.Inoticedmostofgirlsstayed by the pool. A fewwalked in and stole a grapeout of the watermelon fruitbasket,butnoneofthemgotaplate. Meanwhile, the guyswerepiling theirpaperplatesfull of baked beans, ham,

potato salad, and whateverelse theycouldfiton there. Ialways felt self-consciousabout eating in front ofpeople who were older thanme—not adults, butteenagers.

AuntShelly toldme togosit with Charisma and herfriends and walked me overto where the girls weresitting.

“ThisisCharisma’scousinHadley,” Aunt Shelly said.

Theothergirlsbarely lookedup.

“Are you guys allseniors?” I asked the girlsittingnexttome

“Yeah,” she said.“Charisma, canyouhandmeanotherDietCoke?”

“Seriously, Kiely? It’sbeen,like,foursecondssinceyourlastone,”Charismasaidlaughing.

“Can I get one too?” Iasked.

“Sowhat arewe going todo tonight, you guys?”Charisma asked. “Scott saidwecouldgotohishouse.”

“Um, can you pass me aCoke?”Iaskedagain.

Charisma popped a grapeinhermouthandadjustedherswimsuit. I saw her reachovertogetacanofsodaandIsighed in relief, but shepopped the top and took alongdrink.

“Charisma, can I get a

sodatoo?”Iaskedlouder.She stared at me like it

was the first time she hadseenmeallday. I swear, shewantedtoaskwhenIhadsatdownwiththem.Sheglancedbehindherintothecooler.

“Oh,sorry,Hadley.Thisisthelastone.There’sprobablymore in the kitchen if youwanttogo.”

Igotupandwalkedtothekitchen, but there were abunchof seniorguys right in

front of where the drinkswereon thecounter. I turnedand went back to where mygrandparents and parentsweresitting.

“Hadley, you have tocome stay with us thissummer,” Grandpa said,reaching past me to get anapkin. “You could spendtime at the beach and go outontheboatwithus.”

I shifted. He meant well,but I wasn’t the kind of

personwhowenttothebeacha lot. I was more the typewho sat in the shade with abook, in the privacy of mybackyard.

“Why don’t you comewhen school gets out?” hesaid, and then reminded methe actress SimoneHendrickson lived next doorto them. Trust me, I hadn’tforgotten. Oh, and did hementionhowSimoneused tobeontheTVshowDuncan’s

Corner?ShewasalsoinaTVmovie, did a bunch ofcommercials, and was in aworkout video…and wasgorgeouswithherroundblueeyes and perfect blonde hair—not like my blah,dishwater-coloredhair.

“You didn’t get a chancetoget toknowherwhenyouwere there last summer,”Grandma said. “It would befun foryou tohave someonecloser to your own age

aroundforthesummer.”Um, maybe she was

forgetting the fact when sheintroduced me to Simone,Simone glanced at me, said,“Hey,” and then told hermom she had to meet herfriendsatthebeach.Itwasn’tlikeIexpectedhertohugmeyelling, “Let’s be bestfriends,”butmaybeshecouldhave held back the yawn. Iknewsheusedtobeonsomesitcom,butdidshehavetobe

sostuckup?Simone used to play the

youngest daughter, Abby, onDuncan’s Corner. The showwas pretty popular, but Ihardly ever watched itbecause it came on the sametime as Video RequestCountdown, which washosted by Jack Brogger, myfavorite singer. I glancedaround the pool. Whycouldn’t Charisma have guyfriends like Jack? It seemed

like real high school boyswerenothingliketheguysonTV. The real ones werescrawny with broken-outskin. If Jack were here,though—

“Hadley, do you wantsome cantaloupe? It’s full offiber. Helps you go to thebathroom,” Grandma said,interruptingmy Jack fantasy.I shook my head. It wasprobably better Jack wasn’there. He’d probably be

flirting with the dark-hairedgirl or Charisma and breakmyheart.

My Aunt Faith was lyingout on a pool chair lookingbored.Shehadherlegsoutinthe sun, but the rest of herwas in thepoolhouse so shewouldn’tgetsunburned.

“Hadley, I read in InStylemagazine a lot of celebritiesvacation in Grand Haven,”Faith said. “You should stayover. Who knows who you

mightsee?”“Seriously?Likewho?”“Well,acoupleofthegirls

fromDuncan’s Corner cameto visit Simone, and theactress Jerrica Adams camewith her husband, and abunch of singers, likeKevynDeGarmo, Alfonso Carerra,andJackBrogger—”

I sat up in my chair.“Seriously? Jack Brogger?”Shenodded.

“Myfriendsawhimouton

a boat last year,” she said.“Herentsacottage.”

“Cottage?” Grandmasnorted.“Theplacewherehestays is so huge that youwouldn’t refer to it as acottagebyanymeans.”

Faith nodded and saidthere was a big gate with asecurityguardoutfront.

“We tried driving past it,but you can’t see muchexcept the outline of thatplace—and it is huge,” she

said.Time to rethink thewhole

spendingthesummerwiththeGrandparents thing. I lookedover at my mom who said,“I’d be happy to get rid ofyouforthesummer.”Well,ifJack spent time in GrandHaven,thenIhadtovisitmydad’sfamilythissummer.

I called my best friend,Lexi Irvin, as soon as I gothome to tell her I’d bespending the summer in a

placewhere Jack vacationed,andthenImentionedSimone.

“Oh my gosh, Hadley,”Lexi said. “It would beamazingtolivenextdoortoastaroverthesummer.”

“Yeah, but Simoneprobably hangs out in clubsor something. I doubt we’dhang out or be at the sameplaces.”

“Well, those beach townsare small, so I’m sure yourpathswould cross, especially

withherbeingsoclose.”“True, but let’s behonest.

I’m not exactly the SimoneHendrickson of the ninthgrade. I don’t get invited topartiesorhaveaclosetfullofdesignerclothesor—”

“Whatever,youdohaveagreatbestfriendthough,”shesaid.

“Yeah, well, at least I dofor another week until youleaveforDallas.”

“Don’tremindme.Exactly

five days,” she said. “I can’tbelieve I have to start overagain as a sophomore.Everyone says it’s so muchharder to meet new peoplewhen you transfer in highschool.”

“I’msureyou’llmeetatonof newpeople,” I said, and Imeant that. Lexi was funny,friendly, outgoing, andeverything you’d want in abest friend. I was moreworried about how I was

going to handle starting overonmyown. Iwaswaymoreof an introvert. I stared outthe window as I thoughtaboutwhatlifewouldbelikewithout my best friend sincethefourthgrade.Shewasthekind of friend you couldcommunicate with byexchangingglances.

“I can’t believe you’rereallygoing,”Isaid.“Imean,we talk or text every day.Who is going to like the

pictures I post online of mybreakfast?”

Lexi cracked up. “We’restill going to talk and texteveryday,andIpromiseyou—if you post a picture ofyourhalf-eatenoatmeal, thenIwill‘like’it.”

I knew she believed that,but I also knew she’d meetnew people and, well, forgetaboutme.

“Listen, I gotta go andmake sure my boxes are

labeled for themove. I’ll seeya tomorrow,” she saidhangingup.

The greatest thing abouthaving a best friend washavingsomeonealways therefor you—even when youmakeafoolofyourself—likewhenItrippedinfrontofmyentire class while acceptingmy spelling bee trophy,althoughLexitoldmenooneeven noticed, and everydodgeball day in gym class

pretty much made me anexpert in humiliation, butwewere always in it together.Now I was seeing thedownside of having a bestfriend—being so exclusivewithsomeonethatyoudidn’thave a lot of other people toturn to when your BFFmovedaway.

Isighedandreachedinmydesk for a piece of gum.Mymom had warned me abouthanging out with only one

person all the time, but nooneelsegotmethewayLexidid. Now, it felt like I wasgoingtohavetostartallovertrying to fit in with anothergroup.Sure, IhadothergirlsItalkedto,butIdidn’thaveagroup. Ididn’t fit inwith thesuper popular girls, I wasn’tsmart enough to hang outwith the brains, and Iwasn’tathletic enough to be friendswith the girls on thebasketball team. At least

going away for the summermeant I wouldn’t have to sithome feeling sorry formyself.

ChapterTwo

LexiandItriedtospendasmuch time together as wecouldbeforemovingday.Onher lastday, abunchofgirlswho barely talked to herbefore were crying like theywere losing their best friend.Isabella Bowman, the mostpopular girl in school, evenasked Lexi to sit with her atlunch. Isabella always worethe latest stuff—she had arealCoachbagandnotoneofthose knockoff ones, and all

the other girls wanted to beherfriend.IfIsabellasatwithyou at lunch, then you weresomebody, but if Isabelladidn’t know who you were,thennobodyelsedideither…andtheydidn’tcare.LexiandIusedtotalkabouthowgreatitwouldbetositatIsabella’slunch table, but today Lexididn’tevenaskmetositnextto her. I sort of followedbehindthem.Mybestfriend’slastdayofschoolandIhadto

ask people to move over tosqueeze in at the table. Iguess I understood why sheforgot about me, but I neverwouldhavedonethattoher.

I went over to her houseafter school to say goodbyeand there were over thirtypeoplethere.

“Lexi, I’m really going to—”

“Just a sec—” she saidputting up her hand. Sheturnedandhuggedagirlfrom

ouralgebraclasswhoIbarelyremembered her speaking to.“Iwillmissyousoooomuch,Kylie!”

As soon as Kylie movedaway,IwenttohugLexi,butanothergirl,thisonefromourhealthclass,beatmetoit.

“Lexi! I cannot believeyou’re leavingme,”shesaid,and a bunch of otherscrowded in. I stood backwaiting until they were doneso I could have a moment

alonewithLexi.“Okay ladies, Lexi has to

get to bed early because weare hitting the road superearly and she needs herbeautyrest,”Mr.Irvin,Lexi’sfather,said.“Youcanalltextande-maillater.”

“Wait, Lex, we didn’t gettotalk,”Isaid.

“Yeah, I know, sorry.Thingsgotsocrazy,butIwillcallyouassoonasweget toDallas. Maybe even if I get

some timewhenwe stop forthe night,” she said, huggingme.“Igottago,mydadwantsusupatfoura.m.He’scrazy.This isn’t goodbye anyway,it’s see ya when I see ya,‘kay?”

She smiled and I tried tosmileback,butmyeyeswerefillingwithtears.

***

The next few days werehard. Lexi had been my labpartner in science, so onceshewasgone,

Mr. Jeffries, our teacher,had me work with Isabellaandher labpartner,A.J.A.J.did all the work, so Isabellaand I talked. It seemed likewe had a lot in common, so,stupid me, I invited Isabellato come over. I hoped she’dseeIwasanokaypersonandwant to hang out with me.

Isabella told me she had towatch her sister after schoolwhile her dad was working,but she was nice about it.However, Isabella’s bestfriend, Brittany Buchanan,wastalkingloudlyinthegymlocker room so that I wouldhearher.

“Did you guys honestlythink someone like Isabellawouldwant tohangoutwitha loser? Izzy just learnedherlab partner’s name and the

girl has gone to school withus since sixth grade. Howpathetic,” Brittany said,flipping her frizzy redponytail.

Ishutdown.Igrabbedmybag and walked out of thelocker room. I told CoachJeffers I wasn’t feeling wellandhegavemeapasstoseetheschoolnurse.

“Do you want me to callyourmomandhaveherpickyouup?”thenurseasked.

Momhadalready lecturedme on how the schoolmightholdmebackifImissedanymoredays.ThenI’dbestuckin ninth grade for anotheryear, and even then all theother girls would still havebiggercheststhanme.

“Idon’tthinkIneedtogohome,” I said. “Can I stayherealittlelonger?”

NurseCohenletmestayinher office during lunch andshe even brought me some

crackers. I had been eatinglunch in the bathroom eversince Lexi moved. I feltawkwardaskingpeople tositat their lunch table—everyone already had theirgroups or their best friend,andnowthatminewasgone,I was alone and lookeddesperate.IdecidedI’drathereat a peanut butter sandwichnext to a toilet than have tobeg somebody to let me sitwiththem.

***

Mymothermetme at the

doorwhen I got home. I gotbad vibes from the way herlipsweresetinastraightline.

“Hadley Alana Daniels,the school nurse called andsaidyou’vebeeninherofficetwicethisweek,”shesaid.

“Ididn’tfeelgood.”Great,did the school monitor how

many times I went to thebathroomtoo?

“Is everything okay atschool?”sheasked.

Ididn’twanthertoknowIdidn’t have anyone to eatlunchwith,soInodded.

“IsitbecauseLexi’sgone?Huh?” She put her hand onmy shoulder. “What’s goingon?”

Ipulledaway.“I’mfine.”All I needed was my

mother calling the school

about Brittany. I didn’t getwhy Brittany had turned onme during gym. She neverseemed to have a problemwithmebefore.Iwonderedifshe thought I was trying togetbetweenherand Isabella.Some girls could be weirdlikethatandhadtobetheoneeveryonelikedthebest.

My dad came home fromwork, and naturally mymother had to tell him Iwasinthenurse’soffice…again.

“What’s going on,Hadley?” he asked whenmymomwentupstairs.

I shrugged. “Nothing.Some girl was kinda rude tome in gym and I needed togetaway.”

“Rude? What did shesay?”

“I mean…nothing to myface. She didn’t like that Iaskedherbest friend tohangout.”

“She’s jealous,” he said,

waving the whole thing off.“Ignoreit.”Thenhewentintoa speech on how these werethe“bestyearsofyourlife,soyoubetterenjoy‘em.”

Great,soitwasonlygoingtogetworse?Ididn’tknowifI could take it. I tried toexplain it was hard to find agroup to hang out with nowthatLexihadmoved,butmydad wasn’t getting it. Hedidn’t understand why youcouldn’t hang out with

everyone.Thenhetoldmetoinvite a friend over, because“they’dlikeyouiftheygottoknowyou.”

Then, a few days later, anew girl named JenniferYamaguchi came to ourschool. Mrs. Dultrieve hadher sit next tome and askedmetoshowJenaround.Iwasfeelingprettypositivetohavesomeone new to hang outwith. I showed her how toorder her lunch on the

computerinthecafeteria,andI took her to the librarybecause I went theresometimes while everybodyelsewentoutside.

“The librarians don’t careif you eat in the magazinesection as long as you don’tgetcrumbsallover.”IpulledoutmysandwichandmyJackBrogger bear keychain fellout.

“Are you aBrogger too?”she asked, taking her Jack

keychainout.“Yes! I have the bigger

bear too. I ordered from thewebsite and he has a littleconcertt-shirton.”

“I want one of those sobad,”shesaid.“I’veseenhiminconcerttwice.”

“Jack’s my favoritesinger,”Isaid.

“Mine too.Noone else atmy old school was that intohim.Theylikethatstupidboyband from the U.K. Not one

of those guys is anywherenear as cute as Jack,” shesaid.

We watched Jack videoson my phone until the bellrang.

***

Thenextday,Jensatwith

Isabella and her friends atlunch. Iwaited forheratherlocker,but shenever showed

up. I had asked Jen to comeover after school tohangoutand watch Video RequestCountdown,whichwas Jen’sfavoriteshowtoo.Isatinthefamily room and waited allafternoon for her. Momthought Jen misunderstoodand thought she wassupposed to come overtomorrow instead. I noddedandwentuptomyroomeventhough they were premieringJack’s new video at night. I

didn’twantmyparentstoseemecry.

***

When I got to school the

next day, I saw Jen withIsabella and Brittany. Iwantedtoaskwhyshedidn’tcomeover,butIwasn’tbraveenough to go over there. Ibasically knew why anyway.I mean, why be friends with

mewhenyoucouldhangoutwithsomeonelikeIsabella?Ibet the only reason Brittanywanted to hang out with herwas because Jen’s dad droveaBMW.Jensawmestandingthere. Our eyes locked for aminute, but then she startedtalking to someone else. I’dshow them allwhen I got tohang out with SimoneHendricksonforthesummer.

After school, Imissed thebus and decided to walk

home insteadof calling for aride. I had walked homebeforeanditwasnobigdeal,but todayBrittanydecided tofollow me home. Her housewasn’t even near mine, butshe stayed in step with meevery inchof theway. Iheldmybagtightlytomychest.

“Running home to playwith your bear?” she asked.Oh my—Jen told her aboutthat? How embarrassing.WhydidItellheraboutthat?

Brittany’s breath smelledlike tuna fish and feet as itpressed against my neck. Ipretendednottohearherandkeptwalking. I could seemyhousecomingupandIbrokeintoarun.Ididn’tstopuntilIgotintomybedroom.Icurledup on the bed, andmy heartwaspoundingasIrestedJackthebear’sheadonmychest.Istayed there untilmymothercalledmefordinner.

ChapterThree

The next few days wereevenworse.JenniferhadtoldIsabella and Brittany abouthowIwanted togo toGrandHaven to see Jack andmademe sound like a weirdostalker. So embarrassing.Isabella didn’t say anything,butBrittanywouldn’tletitgoand she pretended to coughthe word, “loser,” when Iwalked past her inhomeroom. To make mattersworse, Mrs. Dultrieve heard

Brittanycallmea“loser”andmade her apologize tome infront of the whole class. Iwanted to die. I thought Imight get my wish sinceBrittany seemed like shemightmurderme.

“Hadley, I’m sorry I saidyou have no friends and theonly person who would everbe your friend is a bearbecauseyou’resucha loser,”Brittanysaid. I sankdown inmy seat. I thought Mrs.

Dultrieve would see throughher fake apology, butsometimesitfeltlikeeventheteachers were on the side ofthepopularpeople.

“See, not so hard,” Mrs.Dultrievesaid.“Nowwhatdoyousay,Hadley?”

“It’sokay,”Isaid.“You’ll have to speak up.

Wecan’thearyou,”shesaid.“It’sokay.”“Open your mouth wider,

dear.”

“It’s okay.” It came outloud and the whole classlaughed.

Icouldn’twaituntilschoolended. Everything would beall right on June third—thelast day of school. No moreBrittanysteppingonthebackofmyshoeasIwalkeddownthe hall or people telling me“this seat is saved” when IaskedifIcouldsitwiththem.Assoonas thisyearended, Iwould be free until

September.OrsoIthought.

***At night, I sat down to

dinnerwithmyparents.Iwastaking a bite of my dinnerwhen my mom dropped abombshell.

“Hadley, Dad and I havebeen talking, and we thinkyou should go away to theschool’scampthissummer.”

Camp? No way, theycouldnotdothistome.Iwassupposed to spend mysummer looking for JackBrogger inGrandHaven,notgoing to some stupid campforlosers.

“Thatcampismoreforthemiddle schoolers. Highschool kids can train to becounselors there, but youcan’t apply for that unlessyou’ve gone to the campbefore,andIhaven’t,”Isaid.

“That’s not what we’regetting at.We think itwoulddo you some good tosocializemorethissummer.”

“But you already said Icould go toGrandHaven,” Isaid.

“Yes, but you’ve had ahard time since Leximoved,andthiswouldbeagreatwayfor you to get to know someofyourclassmatesbetter,andI bet therewill be somenewpeople there,” Mom said as

Dad handed me the crappycamp flyer my stupid schoolhadsenteveryone.

“There’s swimming,hiking,painting—”

“I don’t like to do any ofthose things.” I interruptedmydad.

“You like to paint,” hesaid. “Take your hair out ofyour mouth, Hadley. It’s adisgustinghabit.”

“Youcan’tmakemego. Idon’t even know how to

swim,”Isaid.“I’lldrownanddie.”

MymotherremindedmeIdid know how to swim, so IremindedherofhowIalmostdrownedinMr.Stevens’poolsix years ago. Mom saidshe’d write me a note so Iwouldn’t have to swim andtold me losing one water-wing didn’t count asdrowning.

“Mom, I went underwaterandIcouldn’tbreathe.”

“Oh, maybe for twoseconds. There’s plenty ofother things you could do atcamp,”shesaid.

Ialmoststartedtocryrightat the table. Summer wassupposed tobemychance toget away. To get to knowSimone and go somewhere Iwasn’t invisible and start allover. Maybe even besomebodyelse.Tobeanyonebutwho thepeople at schoolthoughtIwas.

“Well, you can’t spendyourwholesummerwatchingTV,”Dadsaid.

Why not? He spent hissummers in front of the TV.TherewasnowayIcouldgoto some stupid camp with abunch of people who didn’tnotice me now. I mean, Icouldn’t sleep without Jackthe bear, and I couldn’timagine what would happenif I brought him with me. Ihad seen enough movies

about camp to know there’salways some kidwho all theother campers make fun offor thewholesummer.Inthemovies it was always somespoiled richkidwhowas thetarget, but even then that kidwas rich, so theydidn’t havetoomuchtocomplainabout.

“There’s a girl my agenextdoortoGrandma—”

“Yes,butyourfatherandIthought this would give youanopportunitytogettoknow

the kids around here. Nowthat Lexi is gone, you reallyneed to branch out andmeetsome new people beforesophomoreyear.”

So my own motherthought I was a friendlessloser and that I better makesome friendsnowor else therestofhighschoolwasgoingto stink. Fabulous. Well,maybe she shouldn’t havesent me to some stupidprivate school with like,

twenty kids in each class.Howwas I supposed tomeetpeople when there wasnobody to meet? And don’tget me started on the boys.They were all short andtalked about going to thetoilet all the time. Sure, itwould be great if I couldspendallsummerhangingoutwithpeoplearoundhere,butIknewIwasn’tgoingtogettoknow anybody at camp. Atleast inGrandHaven Icould

have fun. Besides, maybeSimone and I would becomefriends.

She sighed. “Well, if youwant to go to yourgrandparents’…I guess wedid say it was all right.Maybe you and the neighborgirlwillhititoff.”

Somehow I doubted we’dbecome best friends, butmaybe we would hang outonce in a while. AndmaybeJackBroggerand Iwouldbe

dating by the end of thesummer too. Yeah, that wasprobably not gonna happen,butagirlcoulddream.

ChapterFour

I didn’t even get to sleepinonthefirstdayofsummervacationbecauseUncleStu’sSUVdroveintothedrivewayat exactly eight o’clock. Myeight-year-old cousin Clark,and Lily, who was almosttwo, were strapped in themiddleseats,soIhadtositinthe back next to all thesuitcases.At least Iwouldn’thave Lily drooling on me,because she seemed to begettingspiteverywhere.Ihad

brought a book along, but itwas hard to concentratewithClark’s video game,Armageddon 5: The FinalBludgeoning, beeping away.Somehow,despitethenoise,Imanagedtofallasleep.Aswepulled up in front of thehouse,IsawmygrandparentsandAuntFaithwaitingforuson the porch. Grandpa gaveme a hug and helped UncleStu unpack the car. AuntMaggie tried to give Lily to

Grandma, but Lily wascovered with spit and someredjuicestuffshehadspilledin the car, so GrandmahandedherofftoAuntFaith.

“Aren’t you a stickybaby?” Aunt Faith said asLilyblewspitbubblesather.“Aw, so cute.” Grandmapulled a tissue out of hersleevetowipeLily’shands.Iwastiredaftersittingsolong,butGrandmawantedustogoout to lunch so we all piled

back into theSUV.Wewentto a restaurant and sat at atable overlooking the lake,and I split a pepperoni andmushroom pizza with AuntFaith.Ihadn’ttriedthincrustpizzabefore,andittastedlikea chewy cracker. Clarkstartedwhining about gettingdessert.Grandmadidn’tthinkLily and Clark needed anysugar, but she sighed andwentalongwithit.

“Hadley, order something

white in case you spill,”Grandmasaid,pointingtomywhiteForever21sweatshirt.

“You can have whateverflavor youwant,”AuntFaithsaid,rollinghereyes.Iwasn’tsurewhattodo,soIaskedforachocolateandvanillatwistycone. Grandma handedme abunchofnapkinsandtoldmenottodrip.

After lunch, Uncle Stu,Aunt Maggie, and GrandpaplayedsoccerwithClarkand

some neighbor kids. Clarkhad only been here for fivehours and he had alreadymadethreenewfriends.EvenLilyhadfoundatoddlerwhowas almost as sticky as shewas. Meanwhile, I sat withGrandma, who kept tellingGrandpanotto“besorough”withthekids.

“Hadley, do youwantmeto take you over to seeSimone?”Grandmaasked. “Imentioned tohermotheryou

werearrivingtoday.”I did, but my outfit was

wrinkled and my skin wassupergreasyafterbeinginthecarallafternoon.

“I’d rather meet heranotherdaywhenIdon’tlooklike I spent hours riding in acar,”Isaid.Ofcourse,evenifItookthreehourstogetreadyand had Jennifer Lopez’sstylist do my hair, I’d stilllook like a blob next toSimone.

Uncle Stu took us to thebeach on Saturday. I playedin the sand with Lily whileClark took off with his newfriends.Therewere twogirlswho were lying out in thesun. One of the girls wasAsian with long, dark hairand the other girl had curlyblondehairpulledbackintoaponytail.Theybothhaddeeptans, halter top bikinis, andwerereadingTeenVogueandInTouch.Mydadwouldn’tlet

me subscribe to anymagazines because hethought theywereawasteofmoney, so Ihad tobuy themwhenhewasn’taround.

I watched the dark-hairedgirl pull on a hoodie with“Juicy” on the back as theywalked over to the snackstand and came back withwhatappearedtobeabigredsnowballinacup.

“Hadley, do you want tocomewithme toget a snack

or something to drink?”Uncle Stu asked. I followedhim to the snack shack. Iwanted the snowball thing,but when I ordered a sno-cone, the girl behind thecounter told me they didn’thavesno-conesandhelduparedPopsicleinstead.Itwasn’twhatIwanted,butIstartedtoreach for it until I saw someguyeatingwhatIwanted.

“Wait,what’shehaving?”Iasked.

“Oh,aTropical Icy.Whatflavor do you want?” sheasked.

“Red,”Isaid.“Cherry?” she asked,

raisinghereyebrowlikeIwasstupid.Okay,soredwasn’taflavor, but I guess I didn’tlook toodumbsince shewasthegeniuswhodidn’t realizeaTropicalIcywaslikeasno-cone. I went back to mybeach towel and tried tofigure out how to eat it. It

came with a spoon, but theothergirlshadeatenitlikeanicecreamcone. I tried it andslurped all the color andflavor off. Iwatched the twogirls reapplying their tanningoilandchangingsidessotheywouldtanevenonbothsides.Something about them mademe wish I were invisible.They could have beenmodels, and there Iwaswitha toddler who was alwayscovered in spit andmyuncle

with his attractive farmer’stan.

***

Clarkandhisfriendswent

out on the lake the next day.Uncle Stu invited me to goalong,butbeingtrappedonaboat with a bunch of eight-year-old boys was not myidea of fun. I plugged in theTV, but my grandparents

didn’t have cable, so it waspointless.Ihadmylaptopbutthe wi-fi in the house wasweird and the internet keptgoingdown.

I checked out thebookshelves, but all of thebooks were for adults andnone of them seemedinteresting.IguessIappearedpretty pathetic because AuntFaith suggested we godowntown and check out thestores. Mom had given me

some money so I bought aCary McKissack book, aglitter glue pen, and someGummicolabottles.

“Don’t tell Grandma I letyou buy candy,” Aunt Faithsaid. “She doesn’t mindbaked goods and ice cream,but shedoesn’t likeus to eatcandyforsomereason.”

I thought itwasweirdmyaunt would worry abouthiding candy from hermother.Evenmymomdidn’t

care if I ate candy.Wewenttothejuniorsdepartmentnextandfoundtheperfectbathingsuit. It was a purple tankiniwith silver paint splashedacross it. It wasmuch hotterthanmyplainbluesuit.Itookit into the dressing roomalong with a pair of jeanshorts,someCapripants,andaJuicyCouturet-shirtwithabeachsceneonit.

“How does the suit fit?”AuntFaithasked through the

door.The suit definitely made

melookolder. Ithadabuilt-inbra,soitwaslikeIneededabra, insteadofmyold suit,which made me look like Ineeded an adult to help mecross the street. I opened thedoor and my aunt steppedinsidethedressingroom.

“You certainly look moremature,” she said. “Are yougoingtogetit?”

“DoI lookstupid in it?” I

didn’t want to look like alittlekidtryingtoohard.

“You look cute. Is itexpensive?”sheasked.

Itwasonsaleandshetoldme to try on the other stuffwhile I was deciding. Thejeanshortswerea lot shorterthanIexpected,butallofmyclothesweresoboring.Thesewere like something thosegirls on the beach wouldwear.

“What do you think?” I

asked.“A little short, but they’re

cute.”Iwashopingfor“hot,”but

I bought the swimsuit andshorts.AuntFaithgotmethet-shirt and Capri pantsbecause they were the onlythings Grandma wouldn’tfreak out over. I also had topromise not to let Grandmaseemeinthebathingsuit.

As soon as we got home,Grandmawaswaitingforus.

“I talked to Mrs.Hendrickson this afternoonand told her all about you.She said you should comeover to see Simone,”Grandmasaid.

I felt a cold trickle ofsweatrundownmyside.

“Well, maybe tomorrow.I’m kind of tired aftershopping, and I shouldprobablywashmyhair againbeforeImeetsomeone—”

“Hadley, don’t be silly.

She said to drop over afterlunch, so they are expectingyou.”

Well, thiswaswhat I hadwanted, right? To meet andhopefully hang out withsomeone this summer? Butpart of me wished thatsomeone wasn’t a TV starwho was intimidatinglypretty.ThewholethingabouthangingoutwithSimonehadsounded like a good idea inmyhead,but the realityof it

was pretty terrifying. Plus,Grandma was acting likeSimone actually caredwhether or not some nobodyfromGoodacre came over tomeether.

Iwentupstairsandputonmy new jean shorts, butGrandmamademechangesoMrs. Hendrickson wouldn’tthink I “always dressed soprovocative.”Theywerejeanshorts, not bikini bottoms.Sheesh, but the Capri pants

made my legs look betteranyway.

“Now have fun and takethe hair out of your mouth.You’llsmell likeawetdog,”shesaid.

IknockedonthedoorandMrs. Hendrickson told meSimone was on the porch inback.Itookadeepbreathandwalked to the back whereSimonewas sitting.Her longblonde hair was impossiblystraight and shiny, and she

looked like an adult in hertiny beige shorts and baby-blue halter top, while Icouldn’t have seemedyoungerorlesscoolifItried.She was stretched out on awicker couch talking on thephone. She didn’t even lookupatme,soIsatonabenchand waited for her to finishtalking. Shewas in no hurryto get off the phone so Istaredoutthewindow.

“Asia, I’m so bored.

There’s nothing to do,” shesaid,twirlingherblondehair.“IwentforawalktodayandIdidn’t see a single cute guy.Not one. I know,” she said.“When are you comingback?”

Simone went on abouthow bored shewas and how“life sucked.” She hung upwith her friend and thenstaredoveratme,andIwentinto this whole thing aboutmeetingher last summer,but

she cut me off and said shewas going to lay out in herbackyard.Ididn’tknowwhatI was supposed to do, so Ifollowed her outside. Shespread her towel out andrubbed some Chanelsunscreen on her face, arms,and legs. I had seen thatlotion on the Style Networkand I knew it cost a ton. Iwatched her lean back andput a towel over her face,whileIsattherelikeanidiot.

I couldn’t believe she wasonlygoingtobeasophomorein the fall like me. Sheseemed more like aneighteen-year-old. Simonegot bored after a while andsaid she was going down tothebeach.

“Hey, do you have aswimsuit?” she asked. Inodded. “Go get it and wecanhangonthebeach,‘kay?”

Was that actually aninvitation to hang out with

her?Inoddedandracedbackto the house to change intomynewbathingsuit.

“Grandma, I’m going tothe beach with Simone,” IsaidasIwalkedtothedoor.

“Okay, have fun and takeyour phone with you,” shesaid.

I took a deep breath as Iheaded over to Simone’s. Ifelt like my whole life wasabouttochange.

ChapterFive

I got to Simone’s and shewas sitting on the porchtextingandwaitingforme.

“Finally, I thought youdied,”shesaid.“Let’sgo.”

Simonewalked fast, and Ihad to almost run tokeepupasIfollowedhertothebeach.She stood on the sand for aminute, looking around forthe best place for us. Thenshewent to the area right infrontofthetanlifeguardwithperfecthair.Shelookedupat

him, flashed her perfectColgatesmile,andspreadouther towel. Her towel said“Juicy Couture” on it, whilemine had Hello Kitty on thefront. I flipped it over to theplainsidesoIdidn’tlooklikesuchakid.

I turned to ask hersomething and realized shewaslisteningtomusiconheriPhone.IsatthereunsureifIshouldbegladIwashangingout with someone or if I

shouldtrytogettoknowher.“Simone?” I asked. She

was moving her lips as shelistened to the music, andeven though her sunglasseswereon,Icouldseehereyeswere closed. I tapped herwristandshesatstraightup.

“What’sup?”sheasked.Ilostallcourageandsaid,

“Doyouwantmetogetyouasoda from the concessionstand?”

“Oh yeah, sure. That’d be

great. Cherry Coke if theyhaveit,”shesaidasshewentbacktoherrecliningpositionandturnedhermusicbackup.

Well, at least she wastalking to me, although shedidn’toffermeanymoneytoget her drink. I got up andwent to get her soda. As Iwaited in line, I noticed allthegroups thatwere togetheron the beach. There wasn’tone person who was therealone. I hoped Simone and I

would hit it off so I didn’thave to spend summer up inmy roombymyself. Iwouldgo broke with all the booksI’ddownload, andeventuallyI’d run out of stuff to read.No, I was going to have tomake an effort with Simoneto become someone shewantedtohangoutwith.

I walked back to thetowelswithhersoda.

“Thanks, doll,” she saidopeningit.“We’vebeenhere

ten whole minutes and thatlifeguard hasn’t even comeovertotalktous.”

“Well, he’s working.There’s probably a policywhere they can’t take theireyesoffthewater.”

“Yeah, lame,” she said.“But you’re probably right.I’ll have to catch him offduty, Iguess.Want togo fora walk and see if there’sanyone interesting over bythelighthouse?”

Inodded,andshe toldmewe were okay to leave ourtowelsthereandIcouldstickmy phone and sunscreen inher tote bag. As we walked,she stopped to take pics andpost them on Instagram. Ihave only fifteen people onmy account, and most arebook bloggers who I don’tknow in person but liked totalk to. I showedSimone thephotoIposted.

“Nice shot. I like to post

picsformyfans,butonesthatdon’t show exactly where Iam in case anybodyweird ischecking my account,” shesaid.

Here I was posting tomyfifteenkinda/sortafriendsandshewaspostingtofans.

“Youmustlovebeinghereyearround,”Isaid.

“It’s okay. It gets a littleboringinthewinter.”

“I’d imagine any place isboringafterL.A.”

“Iguess.”Shestoppedandlooked out at the water.“Whereareyoufrom?”

“Goodacre,” I said. “It’s ahalf-hournorthofDetroit.”

“Is there stuff to dothere?”

I doubted my sleepytown’s movie theater andregular mall would impresssomeonewhohadgonetothePeople’sChoiceAwards.

“Sometimes my mom’swork gets free tickets to

games and we go see theTigers or the Pistons. That’sprettyfun.”

“Some of the Pistons areprettycute,”shesaid.

“Once I got an autographfromoneofthem.Itwasn’tatone of the games. He waswaiting in line to get coffeeandmyfriendaskedhim.Hesigned our napkins,” I said.Oh wow, I fangirled tosomeone who probablysigned autographs all the

time.HowlamecouldIbe?“Did he, like, flirt with

youor anything?” she asked,loweringhersunglasses.

“Well, he was twenty-eight.”

Shestoodtherestaringandwaitingformetoanswer.

“Um, no…why? Do guyswho are almost thirty flirtwithyou?”Iasked.

“You’d be surprised. I’veeven been hit on by guys intheir thirties,” she said,

rollingherroundblueeyes.“Gross.”“Hollywood is different.”

She shrugged and lookedaway. “Whatever. Do youwant to walk all the waydowntotheendofthepier?”

“Sure. There are someguys who aren’t ancientsittingdownthere,”Isaid.

She smirked and openedher mouth to say somethingwhen her phone buzzed.“Instagram likes. I got fifty-

eight likes so far.Howaboutyou?”

I looked down at myphone.One person had likeditandaskedwhereI tookthepicture.

“Um,afew.”She nodded and then got

up. “Gotta go to thebathroom.Berightback,”shesaid.

I picked up the magazineshe had been reading andnoticed she had dog-eared a

pagewith a soap star namedValeria Joseph. Valeria hadstraight blonde hair withbangs, unique-looking,squinty blue almond eyes,and shimmery tan skin. Shewassoflawlessandgorgeous,IwassurprisedIhadn’theardof her before or seen her inanother magazine orsomething. She had thisknowing, confident littlesmirk,andinthatonepicture,she was everything I wanted

tobeandlooklike.The interview was only

aboutherhairandmakeup,soI didn’t learn anything abouther other than the show shewas on, but I took out myphone and texted myself allthe names of the beautyproducts she listed as herfaves.

“What are you doing?”Simoneasked,sittingdown.

“Nothing…texting myfriend,” I said, and then I

looked up and realizedSimonewasonherphoneandactually not talking to me atall, but chatting to her friendAsia.

“Connor sent me a textthis morning,” she said. “Ohmy gosh, Asia, you know Iwould never like him ifMorgan did.Don’t even hintatthat.”

After twenty minutes, Idecided to head back toGrandma’s when it appeared

Simonewasn’tgettingoffthephoneanytimesoon. Iwouldhavestayed,butIhadbeeninthe hot sun for a while andwas starting to feel a littlesick and didn’t want to endup sunburned. Simone didkind of wave when I left.Well, she put her hand up,sorta. I guess it counted asgoodbye.

Iwalked in the house andGrandmaaskedifIhadfun.Iwasn’t sure what to say,

because if I said, “yes,” andSimone never spoke to meagain,I’dlookstupid.

“It was okay, but Simoneand I don’t have a lot incommon.”

“Maybe you’d have morein common with JuddLidstrom’s granddaughter.I’ll call and see if they canstop by later,” she said.“Besides, you’ll get to knowSimone better as time goeson.”

I nodded and wished Iwasn’t so pathetic mygrandma had to set up “playdates”forme.Clarkwasonlyeightandhehadmadetonsoffriends on his own. He wasnever around, but I wasalways hanging around thehouse like a leech orsomething.

Mr. Lidstrom came overwithCharlottelater.Charlottehad a short, dark bob andhuge brown eyes. Mr.

Lidstromkinda seemedmoreexciting and fun thanCharlotte.Grandmatoldustogooutside,soCharlotteandIwentforawalkonthebeach.

“Where do you go toschool?” she asked. “I go toWatson.”

“IgotoaprivateschoolinGoodacre,”Isaid.“It’skindanearDetroit.”

Charlotte was a mathleteand in some club called the“Future Scientists of

America.”“I want to go to science

camp this summer, butGrandpa wouldn’t let me gobecause I have too manyallergies and they’re literallyoutsideallthetimethere.”

“Wannawalkonthepier?”Iasked.“Wecangodowntothelighthouse.”

“Sure. It’s a good thing Iput sunscreen on before Icameover.IttakesawhiletosoakinandIburnfast.”

We walked down to thepier where some older girlswere sitting with theirboyfriends. I wanted to getout of there, but Charlottewas busy sticking her pastyfeetinthewater.

“Let’s go back,” I said,tuggingherarm.

We walked back to thebeach, but my back feltprickly from having thosegirlsstareatus.

“Do you know why

Simone stopped acting?” Iasked.

“I dunno. She neverbraggedaboutbeingonTVoranything when she movedhere. She was in my classbecause theyheldherbackayear. She did get mad whentheycastthisothergirlasthelead in the winter play lastyear,”shesaid.“Butshewasright to be upset ‘cause theothergirlsucked.”

Charlotte and I walked

down to the ice cream stand.The cool girls I had seen onmyfirstdayatthebeachwerethere. The one with curlyblonde hair was drinking asoda. She was so tan andperfect-looking.Iwouldhavekilled to be her. Then Irealized Simone was sittingwiththem.

“Hadley, your nose lookslike it’s getting red,”Charlotte said. “Put somesunscreenon.”

Charlotte handed me thebottle. I tried to wave heraway, but she wouldn’t takenoforananswer.Shehadputsome lotiononherownnoseanddidn’tevenbother torubitin.Itriedtogethertoblenditwhen Ioverheard someonefromSimone’sgroupmakeacomment about Char’ssunblock-coverednose.Iwassuper embarrassed and triedto steer Charlotte toward theboardwalk.

“Do you want to get aTropical Icy?” she asked.“I’vegotsomemoney.”

The Icy containers werehuge and the juice drippedout the ends so Iwent togetsome napkins to wrap thebottom.Iheardsomegirlsaysomething about someonebeing “all gross and sticky,”andIglancedupincasetheywere talking about me. Theblonde girl I had seen theother day at the beach was

standing with her boyfriendand they were looking atCharlotte. Charlotte hadcherry juice running downherarmsandonherchin,andI was embarrassed for her.Simone smirked at her andthenwalkedovertome.

“Can I get a napkin?”Simoneasked.

I handed her a stack ofnapkins and she pulled onefromthebunch.

“Um, I only needed one,”

she said. “I know how tohandleasno-cone.”

Ididn’tknowwhatelsetodo, so I laughed along withthem.

“You guys know eachother?” Simone asked,looking Charlotte over. Ididn’twant tosay“yes,”andbe on the loser list allsummer,soIshrugged.Ihadmy back to Charlotte and Irolledmyeyes.

Simone nodded. I glanced

around, but Charlotte wasgone.Ifelthorrible.

“Looking for sticky girl?”Simoneraisedhereyebrows.

“Um,Idon’twanttogetintroubleforlosingher,”Isaid.

“Hey,we’re going to grillhamburgers tonight at myhouse. Do you wanna comeoverlater?”

“Sure, what time?” Iasked.

“Around seven,” she saidover her shoulder as she

walkedaway.“Okay,seeyathen.”I went to look for

Charlotte but couldn’t findher,soIwenttotellGrandmaI was going over to theHendrickson’s for dinner.Clark was always eatingdinner at one of his friend’shouses, so his empty chairwas a constant reminder ofwhatafriendlessloserIwas.At least for one night mychair would be the empty

one.IputonmymakeupandaskedAunt Faith to helpmewith my hair since I wasuselesswith a curling iron. Ididn’twant toget there rightat seven o’clock and lookovereager, so I waited untilfive minutes after seven toleave.

Simone’s mother seemedhappytoseeme.Shegavemeahamburgerbunandtoldmeto help myself. I got ahamburger and some chips

and went over to whereSimone was sitting with herfriends.Simonewassittingina big white lawn chair, buteveryoneelsewasseatedonabig picnic blanket. Therewasn’t any room for me onthe blanket, so I sat on thegrass.

“Guys,thisisHadley.Thisis Lucas, Connor, oh, andNick,” she said, nodding atthe boys and then pointed tothe girls—the same two

perfect-looking girls I hadseen on the beach the otherday. “And this is MorganKempandPilarIto.”

They all nodded, and Inoticed Lucas, Connor, andNickweretheonlyoneswhowere eating hamburgers.Morgan and Pilar were botheating salads, andallSimonewas having for dinner was abottleofdietvanillacola.Sheleaned back in her chair andpulled her tanned legs up.

Simone had a baby-blueAmerican Hotties hoodedsweatshirtoverherwhitetanktop,andherhairwashangingover the back of the chair.Pilar’s dark hair was pulledupintoahighponytailanditshowed off her highcheekbones—like Valeria’s.Pilar was wearing a denimmini skirtwithMilanwrittenall over it, and Morgan hadhercurlyhairpiledon topofherheadandshewaswearing

a short t-shirt dress. Morganwas much curvier than theother two girls and Lucaskeptstaringather.

“Didyou try themacaronisalad?” Simone asked me.“It’ssupergood.”

“Pasta salad,” Morgansaid.

“Sorry,right.Pastasalad,”Simone said. I shook myhead.

“It’s so fattening with allthe mayo,” Morgan said.

“Notlikeit’dmattertoyou.”Shewasstaringatmylegs,

and I felt like a skeleton inshorts so I tucked my legsunderneathme. SimonewentonabouthowMorganwassothin.ThenSimonepattedherown flat stomach as if shehad a big belly and said shewas theonlyonewhohad towatchherweight.

Nick looked over at me.“So where are you from,Hadley?” he asked. He had

warm hazel eyes, and Ialmost lost my train ofthoughtlookingintothem.

“Goodacre. It’s nearDetroit.”

“Ohyeah,that’srightnearwhere the Pistons play, isn’tit?” he asked smiling. Hemovedcloser towhere Iwassitting. “You ever go to anygames?”

I nodded. “Sometimesmymom’s work gets tickets.She’s a bigger fan than I am

and she gets so into it—it’skind of funny sometimes.” Ifeltmy face getwarm. Theyprobably all went to gameswith friends, and here I wastalking about hanging outwith my mommy. Soembarrassing.

“That’scool.Iwatcha lotof games with my dad,” hesaid. “So you’re intobasketball?”

“I like towatchbasketballand baseball. I suck at

playingsports,butIgetreallyinto watching them. I guessthat’s lame,” I said, feelingstupid.

“No, I’m the sameway. Imean, Iplaybaseball a little,butthoseguys—”Henoddedover to where Lucas andConnorweresitting.“—Theyget on my case about beingmore intowatching thegamethan going out and playingbasketball or whatever withthem.”

“Yeah,thegirlsatmyhighschool are all super athletic,andItripovermyownfeetifI change my shoe height.” Ifelt my face get hot.“Seriously,whydidItellyouthat?”

He laughed. “I hear ya, Iamaboutascoordinatedasanewbornbabychick.”

“That’s still better thanme.”

“Did I mention that thechicken still has part of the

egg shellon itsheadand it’srunning into the barn door?”hesaid.“Repeatedly?”

Icrackedup.“That’squitethevisual.IthinkImayhavemetmymatch.”

The smile grewacross hisface. “It’s nice to havesomeonewithagreatsenseofhumor around,” he said. “Nooffense to theothergirls,butit’s sure nice to hearsomething other than themtalking about each other or

their lip gloss color orsomething.”

I glanced over to makesure the girls couldn’t hearhim. Pilar and Simone werebent over looking at Pilar’sphone screen, but Morganwasglaringinourdirection.Iwas pretty sure she couldn’thear us, but she didn’t seemhappytoseehimwithme.

“Nick!” Morgan said.“Can you get me somethingtodrink?”

“Uh, yeah.Sure,” he said,getting up. “Do you wantanything,Hadley?”

I shook my head and assoon as hewent inside, Pilarand Morgan got up to go tothe bathroom and Simonegrabbedmywrist.

“I need another soda.Comewithme,”Simonesaid.I followed her to the picnictable and she picked up abrownieandstartedtoeat.

“These are so good,” she

saidwithhermouthfull.“Tryone.” I ate a brownie asSimone took another one.“Isn’t Connor hot?” sheasked.

“Isheyourboyfriend?”She scrunched up her

nose. “Kinda. I guess. Ithought he liked Pilar, but Iguesshelikesmenow.”

“Did Pilar say she wasokay with him liking younow?”

Simone got defensive.

“Shesaidshewas,why?”“No reason. I just

wondered.” Simone seemedupset, so I went on sayingPilar didn’t seem mad. Ididn’t know how anyonecould tell how Pilar wasfeeling about anything,because she always had thesame expression on her face.Pilar was pretty and exotic,but she always appeared likeshe had sucked on a lemonandsmelledawetdog.

“Does Nick have agirlfriend?” I asked,hoping Iwasn’tbeingtooobvious.

“Not right now, butanyway,Connorwantsme togo to a party this weekend.It’shiscousin’sparty,butmymom would freak if I went’causeheandLucasaregoingtobeseniors.”Sherolledhereyes.“Doyou think itwouldbeokay if Isaid Iwasgoingto your grandparents’ housesoIwouldn’tgetintrouble?”

“Iguessitwouldbeokay,”Isaid.Simonegavemeabiggrin,andevenherroundblueeyesseemedtosmileatme.

“Great, thanks. Haveanother brownie,” she said.“They’regluten-free.”

Morgan and Pilar cameback and wanted to go toLucas’s house and take hisdad’sboatout.

“Wait, let me ask mymom,”Simonesaid.

It was obvious I wasn’t

invited,soIstoodtherewhilePilartwistedastrandofshinyblackhairaroundherfinger.

“You guys, she won’t letmego,”Simonesaid,walkingover to us. “Do you wannastay here andwatch amovieinstead?”

Morgan rolled her eyesandsaidtheyweregoing.

“Hadley, can you comewithus?”Nickasked.

“Her name is Hayley,duh,”Morgansaid.

“Uh,no,it’sHadley.Ihaditright,didn’tI?”heasked.

I nodded. “Yeah, but…Ishould probably stay withSimone.”

“Okay, cool. So…see yaaroundthen?”heasked.

I couldn’t stop the stupidsmilethatwastakingovermyface.

“Yeah, I hope so.” Did Isoundtoodesperate?

“Good.” The five of themleft,butheturnedaroundand

winked at me. My heart feltlikeitshotupawholestory.

“Let’s go inside,” Simonesaid. She flopped across thecouch in the family roomwhileIsatonthefloor.

“My mom never lets medo anything,” she said,flinging a flowered pillowacross the room. I put acartooninandSimonepulledher legs up and startedpicking at the silver nailpolish on her toes. Her

entertainment center had abunchofDVDsmarkedwithdifferentepisodesoftheshowSimone was on. There werelike, a billion DVDs there,and Iwonderedwhy shehadstoppedacting.

“How long where you onDuncan’sCorner?”Iasked.

“Three seasons. Do youwant somemorechips?”Shegotupwithoutwaitingformetoanswer.

“Is Nick a senior too?” I

asked.“Nope,ajunior.”I stood up to leave when

themovieended,andSimonesaidshe’dwalkmeback.Wewent through the backyardand she grabbed a bottle ofregularCokefromthecooler.

“Ma, I’m walking Hadleyhome,”shesaid.

We got to the backdoorandIwasn’tsurewhattodo.

“Thanks for inviting me,”Isaid.

“No problem. Nowremember, if anybody asks,I’mgoingtobeatyourhouseonSaturdaynight,’kay?”

“Right.Seeya,”Isaidandshe waved without turningaround. Iwonderedwhat it’dbeliketobeinvitedtoapartylikethat.

ChapterSix

The next day, AuntMaggie asked if I wanted toinviteoneofmyfriendstogoto the movies. I couldn’tinvite Charlotte after I blewheroffyesterday,andSimonehad been to the GoldenGlobes before, so it wasn’tlike she was gonna want tohang out with my stupidcousin and his friends. Clarkbrought three of his friendsandIwoundupsittingnexttoUncle Stu. The movie was

dumb,butJoshHavenwasinitandhewassosweet.AuntFaith called him “the boynext door,” butAuntMaggiecalled him “cute, but kind ofdim.” We stopped for lunchon the way home, and theguys were acting out one ofthe fight scenes when Pilar,Morgan, and Simone walkedinto the restaurant. I wantedto die when Clark’s friendPeterranintoMorgan’slegasshewassittingdown.

“Ew, get it off me,” shesaidasIslumpedinmyseat,hopingtheywouldn’tseeme.

“Sorry,” Peter said as hebacked away from Morgan.Sherolledhereyes.

“UncleStu,canwegetthepizzatogo?”Iasked.

“What’d ya say, hon?” heasked. “Hey! Clark, put itdown. Mister, I am gonnacounttothreeand—”Iaskedagain if we could leave, butby then the waitress had

alreadybroughtoursodassoIwasstuckthere.AuntMaggiewent to get some morecrayons so the boys could,“shut up and color.”While Iate, I watched Pilar fix herhair in the reflection of thenapkin holder. I swear shecould make a mirror out ofanything. I got up to use therestroom, and my hopes ofnot running into them wereshot in thebuttwhen IheardSimone and Pilar come into

the bathroom while I was inoneofthestalls.

“So is Lauren going tostay at your house?” Pilarasked.

“Yeah, my Mom’s gonnapickherupfromtheairport,”Simone said. “Remember,nobody’s supposed to knowshe’scoming.Ionlytoldyouguys,okay?”

Were they talking aboutLauren Gere who was onDuncan’sCornerwithher? I

was dying to know, so Idecided to come out of thestall. Simone and Pilarexchanged a look when theysawme.

“Hey,Hadley,what’sup?”Simoneasked,pullingoutherlipgloss.

“Nothing. What’s newwith you?” She shrugged asshe concentrated on applyingher gloss. Pilar nudged herarm.

“Wegottago,but callme

later,okay?”shesaidasPilarpulledheroutthedoor.

Great, so I wasn’t worthyofhearingherbignews.Iwasjustgoodenoughtocoverherbutt when she needed tosneak out. Whatever. Idecidedtoforgetabouther…until Igothomeand realizedI was dying to meet LaurenGere. Simone probablycouldn’tsayanythingaboutitto me in front of Pilarbecause she had told her not

to tell anyone. She didn’twanttolooklikeahypocrite,right?SoIcalledSimoneandshetoldmetocomeover.Hermom was vacuuming underthe couch cushions when Iwalkedin.

“Are you guys havingcompany?”Iasked.

“Yeah, my friend Laurenis coming to visit soon, butI’m not supposed to tell toomany people. She’s superprivate,”Simone said. “Want

asoda?”“Lauren Gere? From the

show?”“Yup. Do you want diet

vanilla, cherry, or regularCoke?Cherry’smyfavorite,”Simonesaid.

“CouldImeether?”Simone stopped pouring

the drinks. “Yeah, sure, butshe recently broke up withher boyfriend, and she’safraid the magazines willcome down here to find her.

She was dating StephenHarmon from Fate’s WickedTwists and they were on thecoverofTeenVoguetogether,and then he got a bigmovierole and dumped her for hisco-star Tiarra Gregory.Anyway, he’s kinda been inthe tabloids a lot and there’sbeen a lot of crap about thebreakupinthemagazinesandstuff. She wants to hang outhere and not worry aboutanything.”

I promised not to sayanything. We went into herroom.Morgan calledwhile Iwas there, but Simone toldher shedidn’t feel likegoingout.

“Morgan, I don’t feel likeit. I know, but I havecompany right now. No, notLauren, but—Morgan! Geez,letmetalk!IhaveaheadacheandHadley’shere, so I can’tleave right now. I’ll call youtomorrow,okay?”

Simone tossed her cellphone onto her vanity. “Shewon’t shut up about Lauren.It’s so annoying. Let’s gowatchamovieorsomething.”She got up without waitingforme.

Later, I walked past theLidstrom’s cottage on thewayhome,andMr.Lidstromwas outside watering hisyard.Ifeltsoguiltywhenhewaved to me. I wondered ifCharlottehadsaidanythingto

himaboutwhatajerkIwas.I walked into the house

and Grandma and Grandpawereabout togo to the storeto pick up dinner, so I wentalong. While mygrandparents were arguingoverwhattogettoeat,Iwentto look at the makeup. Iwasn’t surewhat I needed toget because my mom onlywore blush and lipstick.Valeria said her favoritebrand of mascara was Be

Lashful and she “Couldn’tlivewithoutCoverGirlblushand lip gloss.” I picked up atube of Be Lashful mascara,someblush,andasheerpinklipgloss.IaskedGrandpaifIcould get some makeup andhe nodded, but I don’t thinkhewaspayingattention.

Assoonaswegothome,Iwent up to my room anddumped the makeup on mybed. I took out my favoritepictureofValeriaandtriedto

copywhatshehaddonewithher makeup. I smeared theblush on, butmy skin didn’tglow like hers. I put themascara on next, but I got itin my eye, which started totearupandleftwaterytracksinmyblushsoIhadtowashmyfaceandstartover.NowIknew why my mom didn’twearmascara. I tried itagainand managed to keep themascaraoutofmyeyes.Iputon the gloss and checked

myself out in the mirror. Alittlebetter,butIdidn’tlookathing like Valeria. She musthave used some other stuffshe didn’t mention, or I justwasn’tasprettyasher.Iworemy new makeup to dinnerand Grandma noticed the lipglossrightaway.

“Lookat all that lipstick,”shesaid.“Lookslikeyourana lollipop across yourmouth.” Not the look I wasgoingforatall.

“Itlooksnice,”AuntFaithsaid.

I leanedover andgrabbeda piece of the cucumber shewaschoppingupfordinner.Iasked her if she knew whoValeriaJosephwas,butAuntFaithhadn’theardofher.

“Is she a singer or anactress?”sheasked.

“She’s on a soap calledCharmedLives,”Isaid.

“Your mother lets youwatch those shows?”

Grandma asked. “Thosestories are a waste of time.Trash.”

“I watch You Only LiveOnce,” Maggie said. “Thestoryline’sgoodrightnow—”

Grandma gave her a lookandshegotquiet.

“I don’t watch the show,but I saw Valeria in amagazine.”

Aunt Maggie said shemightknowwhoshewas,soIshowedherapicture.

“She looks like a Barbiedoll,” Aunt Maggie said asAunt Faith glanced over hershoulder. If Faith had longerhair and wore a lot moremakeup, she might look alittlebitlikeValeria.Grandpacameinthekitchentogetthebarbecue sauce and saw mymagazine.

“Hey, Chandler Ashton,”hesaid.

Chandler Ashton wasValeria’s character on the

show. Grandma asked himhow he knew her name andheshrugged.

“Imusthaveseenheronanewsprogramorsomething,”he said. “Am I going to dothecornonthegrilltoo?”

“Dad, do you watchCharmed Lives?” AuntMaggiesmirked.

“You know your motherdoesn’t approve of thosetypes of shows,” he said.“Hadley, do you want to set

thetable?”I nodded, but I hated

eating outside, because yougetbugsinyourfaceandyouspend the whole timeguarding your food. Clarkwas eating at his friend’shouse for dinner, so I wasstucksittingnexttoLily,whowas having toddler meatsticks for dinner. She keptwavingherhandsaroundandgettinghotdogwateronme.Thenshedumpedhertoddler

cup over my plate and littledrops of juice got on mypotato chips. Aunt Maggietook the cup away from her,but my chips still had redstuffalloverthem.

Afterdinner,Grandpatookusoutontheboat.AuntFaithstayedhomebecauseshegetsseasick.Iwasnervousatfirst,but it was kind of fun whenthe boat hit choppy water.Grandmadidn’t find it funatall and she kept telling

Grandpa to slow down. Mymascara was smeared undermy eyes when I got back tothehouse.

“Weird question, but whydoes Charlotte live with herGrandpa? Where are herparents?” I asked AuntMaggieaswewalkedinside.

“Her mom passed awaytwo years ago from a rareblood disorder. Her parentsgot divorced a long timeago,”shesaid.“Idon’tknow

ifsheseesherdad—”“He was no good,”

Grandma interrupted. “Hermotherwas a saint to put upwithhim.”

Maggie touched my arm.“Whydon’tyougoovertherewithsomecookies?”shesaid.“We’re going to do boringgrownup stuff tonight. Youshould hang out with yourfriend.”

I figuredeven ifCharlottehated me, there’s no way

anyone would slam the doorinmyfaceifIhadhomemadecookies. So I took mychancesandwalkedoverandrangthedoorbell.

“Those cookies lookgood,” Mr. Lidstrom saidwhen he answered the door.“Let’sgetaniceglassofmilktogowiththose.”

Charlotte took a cookiewithout saying anything.They were watchingEntertainment Tonight, so

Mr. Lidstrom took the plateintothefamilyroom.Charsatbackdownonthecouch.Shewas looking through oldissues of gossip magazinesand some issues of SoapOperaDigest.Shedidn’t sayanything, so I picked up oneof the issues and started toflipthroughit.

“Here,” she said, pushingsomething towardme. ItwasapictureofJackBrogger.

“Thanks,” I said, hoping

the gesturemeant shewasn’ttoo mad at me anymore.“What’snew?”

She shrugged and keptturning pages. Then shelooked up. “Do you want togo downtown tomorrow andhangoutatnoon?”

“Yeah,I’dlovethat.”She nodded slowly.

“Okay.”Uncle Stu sent me a text

sayingitwasgettinglateandGrandma wanted me home,

soIgotuptoleave.“See you tomorrow?”

Charasked.“Definitely.”

ChapterSeven

Simonecalledmethenextmorning and asked me tocome over. I knew I shouldgo meet Char, but I didn’tknow if Simone would everinvitemeoveragain.Imean,it wasn’t like TV starsregularly called my house.Okay, so it wasn’t likeanybody calledmy house, soI couldn’t tell Simone I wasbusy—especially whenLauren Gere was coming totown. Instead, I called

Charlotte and told her Icouldn’t hang out today. Shestarted toaskwhy,but Isaidmy grandpa had to use thephone. I felt so crappy lyingto her, but I figured she’dunderstand if she had thechance to hang out withSimone,wouldn’tshe?

Simonewas sittingonherbed when I walked in herroom.Shewaswearingatinyoranget-shirtthatshowedoffher tan stomach, designer

jeans, and a pair of strawplatform Steve Maddensandals. I had never seenanybody at GoodacreAcademy wearing clotheslikethat.BrittanyandIsabellawould die if they saw mehanging out with somebodylikeSimone. Iwouldhave toget somebody to take apictureofustogetherbeforeIleft Grand Haven so I couldshow everyone back home Iwas friendswithaTVstar. I

wasn’t sure Simoneconsideredmeherfriend,butstill,shehadinvitedmeover.

“So guess what? Majornews. Nick Jenkins e-mailedmeaboutyou,”shesaid.

I sat down in a chair thatwaslikeagiantbirdcage,anditswungoutunderneathme.

“I hate those chairs,” shesaidasIalmostfellout.“Mymotherhasathingforshabbychic. It’s so weird. Promisemeyou’llneverattempttosit

inthatthinginfrontofNick.”“Sorry, so what exactly

did he say?” I asked. “Don’tleave anything out.Not evenonewordheuttered.”

“Hewanted to know howlong you were staying intown and if you had aboyfriend and…wait for it…ifyouhadaskedabouthim.”

“What did you say?” Ileaned so far forward that Ialmost tipped out of thestupidchairagain.

“I played it totally cool. Isaid,‘Shemighthaveasked.Ican’tremember.Iwanttosayshe did ask about you, but itwassuchacrazynight.’Thenhe asked if I’d bring youalongthenexttimeweallgoouttogether.”

“Seriously? Are you forreal?” Is this when she wasgoingtoaskifI’dcometothepartywithhersowecouldallhangouttogether?

“Yup. He said you were

superfunnyandsweetandhedefinitely wanted to get toknow you better. Do youwant something to drink?”sheasked.

I hated diet soda, butSimone always drank it, so Isaid I wanted a diet vanillasoda. She came back withtwo bottles, and I moved tositonherbedbecause Ikeptbumping my head on thebirdcagechair.Shekickedoffher gorgeous sandals and

motioned toward mysneakers.

“I can’t stand wearingshoes in the summer,” shesaid.

“Me neither. I, um…couldn’t find my sandals,” Isaid. “So…anyway, is Nickgoing to be at that partytomorrow?”

“Oh yeah, he’ll definitelybethere,”shesaid,andIheldmybreathasIwaitedforhertoinvitemetogowithher.

“So,isitstillokayifIsayI’m at your housetomorrow?” she asked,leaningforward.Icouldsmellher lime-scentedbody lotion.Ididn’tknowwhattosay,soInoddedandshe jumpedup.“Great, let’s go get some icecream.”

As I followed her out thedoor, I felt defeated. Like Ihad gotten so close, but stillwasn’t getting asked to hangout with the popular crowd.

ButNickhadaskedaboutme,andthatwassomething.

Simone wanted to go totheicecreamplacewhereallthe high school guys hungout, but there was hardlyanybody in there when wewalked in. She ordered awaffle cone with cookiedough ice cream, which wasmyfavoriteflavortoo.

“Ew, there’s nobody goodhere,” she said, lookingaround for a table. Shewent

back to the guy behind thecounter. “Can I get thisdipped in sprinkles?” sheasked, leaning across thecounter and smiling up athim.

He dipped her cone andtold her it was on the houseeven though the sign said itcostadollarforsprinkles.

“Can I get a cup ofwater?”Iasked.

“Yeah, but it’s a dollar-fifty,”hesaid.

IgavehimthemoneyeventhoughIdidn’tseeapriceforteeny-tiny paper cups ofwater listed on the menu.Simone grabbedmy arm andpulledmeoutofthere.

“Let’s go in here. Theyhave the cutest accessories,”she said, walking into aboutique.“Lookatthesepalmtree earrings. So cute andthey have two pairs if youwantonetoo.”

I toldhermyearsweren’t

pierced and she offered topiercethemforme.

“All you need is an icecube, a bunch of towels, and—”

“It’s okay,” I said. “I’llthinkaboutit.”

“Whatever. I’m getting apair for Lauren. Oh, let’s goto the drugstore next,” shesaid. She walked in andheaded straight for themagazinerack. ImentionedIhad read aboutwhatmakeup

Valerialikedandhereyesgotbig.

“I love her,” she said. “Idid a commercial with herwhen I was ten and shewasso sweet. I never missCharmedLives.”

“Iboughtsomeofthestuffshe said sheuses,but I can’tget the shimmery look shehas,”Isaid.

“Followme,”shesaid.Shewent to the makeup aisle,pickedupasampletube,and

squeezed a tiny bit ofshimmer stuff ontoher hand.“Ilovethisstuff.Youcanputit on your cheeks, eyes, andlips. Oh, you need to getsomebronzertoo.”

“What’sitfor?”“Itmakesyoulooktan.”I let her pick out some

shimmer cream and bronzerforme.WeweregoinguptothecounterwhenweranintoCharlotte and her grandpa.Mystomachdropped.Simone

went to get some gum,leaving us alone. Charlottestaredatthefloor.

“I forgot I said I’d dosomething with Simonetoday,”Isaid,talkingwaytoofast. I sounded so guilty andslimy. “Can you come overonSaturday?I reallywant tohangoutwithyou.”

“Whatever.” Charlotteshrugged.

“Hadley?C’mon.”Simonewasstandingbythecounter.

“So…see ya soon?” Iasked and Charlotte noddedwithoutlookingatme.

Ifeltliketheworstpersonever, but Simone talked allthewaybacktoherhouse.AsIsatonherbed,IrealizedallI had wanted this summerwastomakenewfriends,andI had finally stepped out ofmy comfort zone and donethat, but I had also made afriend feel like crap and Ididn’t know if she believed

my weak response. Life wasso much easier when it wasonlyme andLexi…the sameLexi who swore we’d textevery day and hadmessagedmeatotalofeighttimessinceshemoved.Could anyonebecountedon?

“Hadley, you’re not evenpaying attention,” Simonesaid, tapping the shimmertube against her palm. “See?Youhavetomixitallupandtherearecertainpartsofyour

facewhicharesupposedtobebronze, like your forehead,and other parts meant to belighterandshimmery,likethetopsofyourcheekbones.”

She pulled out a pink eggshaped sponge and started toapplyit.

“The pink shimmer stuffgoes on your cheeks and onthecreaseofyoureye,butthewhite shimmer goes on yourforehead, part of your nose,and the brow bone. Got it?”

sheasked.I nodded, but was totally

confused. Did some girlsinstinctivelyknowhowtodostuff like this, or was itsomething you learned? Andif so, where were they alllearning this? I felt like therewassomeclassImissed,likethe time I was home sickwhenmyclasslearnedhowtotell time on a clock. I swearever since then, I have tomentallycount toknowwhat

time it is—I can’tautomatically figure it outliketherestoftheworldcan.

“Okay, bronzer is next,”Simone said, taking a littlebrushandliningmyeyeswithdark plum eye shadow. “Ialwayswear dark eyeliner tomake myself look older. Itmakes my eyes look superblue. Now go like this,” shesaid, sucking in her cheeks.“If you shade this partunderneath your cheeks, it

looks like you havenoticeablecheekbones.”

“Didyoulearnthatfromamakeupartist?”Iasked.

She shrugged. “Don’tremember. Do you want meto curl your eyelashes or doyouwanttodoityourself?”

I let her do it since Iwasn’t even sure what to dowith the eyelash curler. I’dprobablypokemyeyeout.

“I can’t leave the housewithout curling my lashes,”

she said. She pinchedmy lidalittlebitandmyeyesstartedto water. “Okay, what do yathink?”

IpickedupthemirrorandI didn’t look like Valeria’stwin, but Simone had givenme noticeable cheekbonesand my eyes were biggersomehow.

“It’samazing.Idon’tevenlooklikemyself.”

Shenodded.“Yeah,isn’titgreat?”

Later, Grandma noticedmy new look as soon as Iwalkedinthehouse.

“What’s on your face?”she asked. I told her Simonedid my makeup. “Hermother’s got her hands fullwithher,”shesaid.

ChapterEight

I was trying to copy themakeup techniques Simoneused on me when Charlottecameoverthenextday.

“You have a smudge onyour face,” Charlotte said,squintingatme.

“It’sbronzer.It’ssupposedtomakemelooktan,”Isaid.

“Itmakesyoulookdirty.”“Well,Simonewearsitall

thetime.”Irubbedmycheek.“She’sso tanshe’salmost

orange. She’s probably fake-

baking to keep up withMorganandPilar.Youknowthey’re all going to getwrinklesandsundamage.”

“Do you know that Nickguyshehangsoutwith?”

“Yeah, he’s really sweetandcute,”shesaid.“Hewentout with Morgan for a littlebit. Like, for two days, orsomething. He’s not likethose two jerks he hangs outwith—ConnorandLucas.”

I filled her in on what

Simonesaid.“Hadley, it sounds likehe

was asking her to bring youtotheparty,butsheusedyoufor an alibi instead.”Charlottebitherlip.

“Well, I had alreadypromised I’d cover for herbefore he asked, so…youknow…nobiggie.”

“I dunno, I’d be sort ofmad myself,” she said. Ithought itwasweird that shewouldn’tlookatme.

Charlottewasrightthough—itmighthavebeenmyonlychanceforNick toaskme tohangout.He’dprobablymeetsomeoneelseatthepartyandforgetallaboutme.

“Well, anyway, youprobably wouldn’t like himonceyougot to knowhim ifhehangsoutwiththatcrowd,right? I mean, any guy whogoesoutwithMorgan…”Sheshrugged and cleared herthroat.“Anyway,lookwhatI

brought over for you.Remember when we weretalkingaboutbookswelovedback in the day? Well, Ifound my copy of The Lion,the Witch, and theWardrobe.”

She handed it to me andshe started looking throughmy books when an article IhadprintedoutaboutValeriafell out of one of mymagazines.

“What’s this? Are you

getting your hair cut?” sheasked.

“No. There’s an interviewof the actress who playsChandlerinit.”

She glanced at theinterview. “It’s all aboutmakeup and hair stuff. Ididn’t know she dyed herhair.”

I got up. “She does?Where does it say she dyesit?”

“It says, ‘Valeria goes for

touchupseverysixweeksforherbasecolor.’”

I felt dumb admitting Ihadn’tpaidattentiontothat.Itold Char how Simone haddone a commercial withValeriaonce.

“Was she nice?” sheasked.

“Yeah, Simone liked her,butdon’tyouthinkit’sweirdSimone never talks aboutbeingonTV?”

“I dunno. Never thought

about it. She told you aboutthe commercial though,” shesaid.

“Yeah, Iguess.Hey,haveyou ever wanted to get yourearspierced?”

“No way. Why would Iwant to put holes in mybody?” She stuck her tongueout.

“Idon’tknow.It’skindofpretty.” I shrugged. “I mightletSimonepiercemine.”

Charlotte almost fell off

thebedlaughing.“Ihopeyouhave a blood donor nearby,”she said. “I wouldn’t let hersharpenmypencil,muchlesspokeaholeinmybody.”

“Whatever,Imightdoit.”“Well,goodluckwiththat.

Hey,doyouwanttogotothenaturecenterwithmeandmygrandpatomorrow?”

I wasn’t into science, andto be honest, it soundedboring, but Char said theplacehadaprettyviewofthe

lake and she mentionedConner, the guy Simoneliked, had an older brother,Sam,whoworkedthere.

“Isthebrothercute?”Charlotte made a face.

“Pleasedon’tturnintooneofthem.”

“Oneofwho?”“Never mind. Anyway,

you’d probably think so.Sam’s the kind of guy whoknows he’s cute, but he’salwayssupernicetomewhen

I go in there,” she said. “Iknow it’s not your kind ofthing,butwillyoucome?”

“Yeah,sure.”

***Simonecalledmethenext

morning.Shewantedtocomeover to tell me about theparty, but I had to tell her Iwas busy because I couldn’tcancelwithCharlotteagain.

“Fine, whatever. Nickasked about you again.Anyway, call me when youget back,” she said, hangingupbeforeIcouldrespond.

Ihaddone theright thing,butthatfearofSimonenevercalling me back again keptcreeping intomymind. Plus,there was the whole fact shehad news aboutNick. I triedto ignore the feeling as I atemybreakfastandcheckedmyphoneformessages.

“Hadley, must you havethat phone by you twenty-fourseven?”Grandmaasked.

“I sent a text to my bestfriend,Lexi, and I’mwaitingforhertorespond.”

“Well, you can respondafteryou’redoneeating,”shesaid, slidingmy phone awayfromme.“TheLidstromswillbe here anyminute, and youdon’t want them waiting foryoutofinishyourcereal.”

Oncue, thedoorbell rang.

Grandma sighed. “Fine, takea Pop Tart with you. Youcan’t start the day on anemptystomach.”

AuntFaithletCharlottein.Chartookonelookatmyfeetand said, “You better put onyourSkechersorsomehikingboots. Sandals aren’t a goodchoice.”

I changed my shoes andMr. Lidstrom took us to thenature center, which was abiglogcabinwithstuffabout

leaves and animals in it.Charlotte was in heaven aswewalkedaround.Thecenterhad a game where you putyour hand in a bunch ofdifferent boxes with rubberdoors over them and tried tofigureoutwhatwasinsidebytouch.

“Areyougoing to try it?”Mr.Lidstromaskedme.

“Iwillputmyhandinonlyafteryou’vegottenyourhandsafely back and tell me

what’sinside.”He laughed, but Charlotte

stuck her hand in each onewithout worrying she’d endup touching some big slimything. There was this kid’sdad there who keptpretending something on theother end had eaten his handoff. It wasn’t funny the firsttime he did it, and it wassuper annoying the twenty-thirdtimehedidit.

“Areyouupforthehiking

trails?” Charlotte asked.“They’re fun because thereare these steps built into thehillandwecan take leafandflowersamples.”

We walked over to thestairsandstartedtoclimbup.Mr. Lidstrom said he’d waitforusatthebottom.

I was glad I had changedmy shoes because my feetwould have been destroyedwalkingupthathill.

“Isn’t this gorgeous?”

Charlotte asked as shereachedovertopickacoupleof wildflowers. I nodded outofbreath.

“Come on, we’re almostnear the top,” she said. “It’llallbeworthit.Promise.”

I followedher up the hill,andwhenwegottothetopitwas epic—you could see formiles—miles and miles ofdark blue water. The lakelooked gorgeous as itshimmered under the

sunlight.“See?Toldyaitwasworth

it.”Shesmiled.I pulled out my phone to

take pics and even Charlottetookafewofherown.

“Areyouposting themonyourpage?”sheasked.

I nodded. “With thehashtag ‘best summer ever.’Are you ready to go backdown?”

“Canwesitforawhile?”Wesatonabenchcrafted

outof logsand lookedoutatthewater.

“It’s so peaceful here. Ican’trememberthelasttimeIwas someplace so quiet,” Isaid.

Charlotte nodded. “I loveithere.It’smyfavoriteplace.Icameupherealotaftermymom died. You know,Grandpacan’tclimbthestepsthe way he used to and hedoesn’t like me coming upherebymyself, so I’mreally

glad you were able to comewithmetoday.Itmeansalottome.”

Ismiled.“I’mgladIcametoo.”Itwaskindofnicetobesomeplace where I wasn’tworried about fitting in orhowIlookedorifIwasbeingjudged. It felt comfortable,like when I slipped on myfavorite pair of yoga pantsfresh from the dryer—thesuper worn out pair Momwouldn’t letmewearoutside

the house, but that I couldneverthrowout.

Wewalkedbackdownthehill and Charlotte got acoupleofbooksfromthegiftshop.Her grandpa bought usboth journals that had driedpurpleflowersonthecover.

I posted a picture ofmineon my page and I got aninstant reply from Simoneaskingifshecouldcomeoverlater.Iwroteback:

Sure!“Hadley, do you want to

comeover?”Charlotteasked.“Char, her grandma will

probably want her home,”Mr. Lidstrom said. “Do youwanttocallandaskher?”

I didn’t think Grandmawould carewhen I got back,but Simone had asked if shecouldcomeover,andIreallywantedtoseehertoo.

“I should probably get

back,” I said, and theydroppedmeoffatthehouse.Icalled Simone as soon as Igot inside, but her mothersaidshewasgone.Guessshewasn’t sitting aroundwaitingfor me, but as long as sheincluded me when everyonegot to meet Lauren, theneverything would be perfectand I’d know that I wasfittinginwithhergroup.

ChapterNine

Simone didn’t call meback that night or the nextday. It rained all day so Icouldn’tgotothebeach,andCharlotte had a stomachacheso she couldn’t come over. Iwent into the family room toplug the TV in, butGrandpawasalreadyintherewatchingCharmedLives.

“You do watch thisshow?”Iasked.

“Do not let yourgrandmother know. She

thinks I’m in here taking anap,” he said, lookingnervously behind him.“Charlotte’s grandfather gotmeintoitlastyear.”

IfoundoutGrandpadidn’tlikeChandler’s sister, andhethought Lance was Chandlerand Madison’s half-brother,so neither girl would end updatinghim.

“See, Lance keeps talkingabout how he came toOrchard Valley to find his

long lost sisters,” Grandpasaid. “That’s gotta beMadisonandChandler.”

“Maybe that’s whythey’ve never dated. I mean,Chandler’s dated every otherguy on the show, but notLance.”

“Yup, those writers thinktheycanpulloneoveronus,”he said, nudging me. “Notlikely.”

We heard Grandmacomingandhe turnedoff the

TV.“Whatareyoutwoupto?”

sheasked.“Nothing, talking about

this rain,” Grandpa said.“Crazy, crazy weather we’rehaving.”

“Uh-huh,” she said andwalkedoutoftheroom.

As soon as shewas gone,he turned the TV on. “Don’tworry, I paused it first,” hesaid. “We won’t miss asecond.”

Ismiled.

***Simone hadn’t called me

by Monday, and Charlottewasstillnotfeelingwell,soIstayed inside again. AuntFaith took me to the libraryafter lunch and we were theonly two people in therebesides the librarian. Thereweretwobeatupchairsinthe

back,soAuntFaithandIsatandreadoldcopiesofInStyleandLifeandStyleforawhile.Therewasawholearticleonsummer jewelry, and itseemed like every teen celebhaddanglyearringsoninthemagazine.

“Faith, when did you getyourearspierced?”Iasked.

“Idon’tremember.IthinkIwasthirteen.Why?”

“Iwanttogetminedone,”Isaid.

“I’m surprised you don’thave pierced ears already.Mostgirlsyouragewhowantthem, have them. Have youaskedyourparents?”

“MomthinksI’llgetsomeweird infection orsomething,” I said. “But I’lltakecareofthem,andthey’remyears.”

“What about your dad?”sheasked.

I shrugged. “He doesn’tcare,buthethinksit’skindof

stupid.” Actually, what Dadhad saidwas, “What kind ofmoron puts holes in theirhead?” Then my mompointed out she had piercedears and he shut up prettyquick.

IaskedGrandmaifIcouldget my ears pierced when Igot home. I thought she’dfreak out, but she was alsosurprised I didn’t have thempiercedalready.

“Wouldyoutakemetoget

them done?” I asked. Myparents couldn’t object ifGrandma was onboard withtheidea.

“Iwillifyourparentsokayit,”shesaid.

“They don’t think I’mmature enough though. It’snotfair,”IsaidtoAuntFaith.“Everybody’s got piercedears but me. Even Lily hasearrings.”

“That’s true, the little onedoes have them,” Grandma

said, and she andAunt Faithexchangedaknowinglook.

“Soit’sreallyimportanttoyou?”AuntFaithasked.

I nodded. “I’m the onlygirl Iknowof inhighschoolthat doesn’t have her earspierced.”

“Well,Iwasyoungerthanyou when I got mine doneanditturnedoutokayforme,but you have to promise totake care of them and get itdonebyadoctor,”shesaid.

She called a couple ofdoctor’s offices, but none ofthempiercedears.

“What about tryingSlater’s Jewelry Store?They’re reputable,”Grandmasaid.“ButIhadnopartinthisifyourparentsask.”

***

AuntFaith tookme to the

jewelry store the next

morningandawomannamedMichalina sat me down andshowed me how to turn andclean the earring posts.Michalina asked if I had anyquestions about cleaningthem, but all I wanted toknowwasifitwouldhurt.

“It might pinch a little.Some people don’t feel athing, but others say it feelslike a little poke. Nobody’sever died in my chair,” shesaidlaughing.

I sort of wanted to leave,but Ihadcome this far and Icouldn’t walk out the door alike little kid. Besides, I’dnevergetthischanceagainifI left. I got in the chair andsaidaprayer.

Michalinahadmepickouta pair of earrings and toldFaith the14kgoldoneswerethe best. She made a dot oneach ear with a marker andaskedmeifthemarksseemedstraight. I nodded and she

loaded the piercing gun. Itookadeepbreathandclosedmyeyes.

“Ready?”sheasked.I bit my lip and nodded.

She placed the gun againstmyearlobe.Punch!Itfeltlikeshehadstapledmyear. Iputmy hand up to see if I wasbleeding.

“Are you okay?”Michalinaasked.Sheandmyaunt were staring at me. Iwondered if I could go the

rest of my life with one earpierced or would it lookweird?Idecidedtogetitoverwith. Michalina pierced myleftearandithurtworsethanthe right. I thought I wasgoing to fall out of the chairfromthepain.

“See? You hardly felt athing,”Michalinasaid.

Yeah, I loved feeling likethe earth was swayingunderneathme.Myearswerethrobbing, and I was so

lightheadedAuntFaithhadtohelp me out of the chair.Michalinaaskedifwewantedto look at earrings, but IthoughtImightpassoutandIwanted to go home. I leanedagainst the counter as myaunt paid. Michalina cameoverandgavemeahug.Shereminded me to clean andturnmypostsandgavemeabottleofcleaningsolution.

“Are you okay?” Faithaskedwhenwegotinthecar.

“It hurt worse than Ithought. Still, I’m glad Ididn’t have Simone do it,” Isaid.

“Ew.” She shuddered.“Promise me you won’t putanymoreholesinyourears.Idon’t want to see you in amonth with three holes ineachear.”

I promised I wouldn’t getanymorepiercings. Iwantedto say there was no way I’dever go through that again,

but I didn’t want her to getupset. Ihadtoact like itwasno big deal so she wouldn’tfeel guilty for taking mebehind my parents’ backs. IflippedthevisormirrordownsoIcouldseetheearrings.

“Do you regret it?” sheasked.

“No, it looks nice, don’tyouthink?”

Shenoddedandtoldmetodrop hints toGrandma aboutwantingdiamondearringsfor

my upcoming sixteenthbirthday. I couldn’t wait toshow Simone. I wished Icould have gotten coolerearrings.Ididn’trealizeIwasgoingtohavetowaitsolongto change them, but as soonas Icould, Iwasgoing togodowntown and buy a pair ofdanglypalmtreeearringslikeSimone’s. Grandma waswaitingbythedoorwhenwepulledup.Shepulledmyhairbackwithherhands.

“Maggie, do these studslookeventoyou?”sheasked,squinting.Myaunt rolledhereyes and said they werestraight.

“Are you sure?”Grandmaasked, tilting my head up.“Theylookofftome.”

“Yes, Ma. Perfectly even.They look nice, Hadley,”Aunt Maggie said. She heldLily up to see and Lily putherhandsuptotouchthem.Ibacked away since my ears

were already sensitive and Ididn’t need somebodyswattingatme.

IcalledSimone to tellheraboutmyears,butshewasinaweirdmood.

“Do you want to comeover?”Iasked.

“I’m like, super busy.Maybeanothertime.”

Iwent over to Charlotte’shouseinstead.

“Why are you smiling soweird?”Charlotteasked.

I had put my hair in aponytail so shecould seemyearrings better. “Noticeanything?”Iasked.

“Yeah,you’reactinglikeafreak,”shesaid.

“I got my ears pierced.Aunt Faith took me thismorning,”Isaid.

She peered closer andasked if ithurt. Ididn’twantto act like a kid so I said itdidn’t.

“It looks okay, I guess. I

mean, if you like them that’sall that matters, and at leastyoudidn’t let Simonedo it,”shesaid.

Her grandpa had madesomelemonadeandhishandsshook as hepoured it for us.He asked if Iwanted to stayfor lunchandsaidhe’dmakeus mini pizzas. I called myGrandma’s house to checkand asked if I could havelunchoverhere.Iwasinluckbecause Aunt Maggie

answered and said I wouldmiss out on a fresh batch ofhertunasalad.

“Oh, your friend Simonecalled,” Maggie said. “Shewantedtogettogethertoday.”

I bit my lip. Simonewanted to see me. I couldpretendIhadtogohomeandthen call her, but I did likespending timewithCharlotteandhergrandpa.

“So? Can you stay?” Mr.Lidstrom askedwhen I hung

upthephone.“Yup, sure can,” I said.

“Thanksforhavingme.”I decided to stay longer

afterlunch,andCharlotteandI worked on a collage shewanted for her wall ofpicturesfrommagazines.

I didn’t call Simone untilafter dinner, and then, whenshecameover, she saidPilarand Morgan were actingweirdaroundher.

“What do you mean?” I

asked.“Well,Iwentouttodinner

and a movie with my momthe other night. Connorwantedme tocomeoverandwatch movies with Lucas,Nick,Morgan, and Pilar, butitwasmymom’sbirthday,soIwentwith her instead,” shesaid. “I mean, it would bewrong to leave her alone onherbirthday.”

“So what happened?” Iasked.

SimonepickedupJacktheBear. “I’m not sure. All Iknow isMorgan told me wewere going to have to findsomebodynewformetolikebecause Pilar was going outwithConnornow.”

“Wait—afteronenight?”“Yup,”shestaredupatme

with her round blue eyes. “Ican’t believe they would gobehindmybacklikethat.Butyou know, the other day weallwent to thebeachandshe

kept talking to him andtouchinghisarm.”Sherolledhereyes.“She’ssoobvious.Ithink she’s jealous becauseLauren’scomingtovisitme.”

Inodded.“I swear, everything had

been fine until the party.ConnorkepttryingtokissmeandIdidn’tmindatfirst,butthen it seemed like itwasallhewanted to do. I feltweirdbecause he wanted to bealoneandIwantedtogoback

to the party. He even calledme a ‘little girl.’ What ajerk,” she said, picking fuzzfrom the bear. “And I thinkMorgan only got him andPilar together becauseMorgan and I had the sameshorts on at the party, andConnor said I was hotter inthem.”

“Did he say it in front ofher?”Iasked.

“Notright in front of her,butI’mprettysuresheheard.

And she didn’t seem toothrilled when Nick startedasking me questions aboutyou. Then, when the guyswent to watch a baseballgame, they went past thischannel that was showing amovie I was in years ago. Ionlyhada tinypart in it,butConnor seemed impressedand I think itmadePilar andMorgan mad. I didn’t evenwant to watch the stupidmovie.” She sighed and put

Jack the Bear down. “I usedto have a bear like this.Except mine was a girl bearwithaprincesshat.”

“Whathappenedtoher?”“I guess she ended up in

the garage. I put a lot ofmykid stuff in boxes when wemoved,”shesaid.

“Whendidyouguysmovehere?”

“A year ago, after Istoppedworkingandthenmyparents got divorced. Sort of

whyIwentoutwithmymomfor her birthday.” She pulledher knees up to her chest.“She’s been upset becauseshe found out my dad’smarrying his girlfriend,” shesaid.

Iwasn’t surewhat to say,so I said it might be cool tohave a new stepmom.However, that wasn’t therightthingtosay,becauseshegavemethecoldestlook.

“The woman will not be

mystepmom,”shesaid.“Mydad never spends any timewithme,butnowhe’stalkingaboutputtinghishouseupforsale and getting a biggerplaceincasetheyhavekids.”

“Does he live nearby?” Iasked.

“Aboutahalf-hour,buthenever comes here. I alwayshavetogothere,andthenheusually leaves to go out orsomething.Theworstthingismy mom was pregnant two

years ago.” She sighed.“Then she lost the baby andmy parents started fighting alot.”

Simone got super quietand stared out the windowuntil I suggested we walkdown to the docks and get aTropicalIcy.

“I dunno. I don’t want torunintomyfriendsthere.I’mnotreadytodealwithallthatdrama.ItiscoolifwestayinandwatchTVorsomething?”

I nodded and we wentdownstairs and made rootbeerfloats.

“This summer officiallystinks,” Simone said, lickingroot beer foam off her upperlip. “Allmy friendshateme,my dad’s a jerk, and now Idon’tevenhaveaboyfriend.”

“Did Morgan sound madwhenshecalled?”Iasked.

“No, it’s…I don’t knowhow to explain her. She actslike she’s your friend one

minute, and then she sayssomething totally mean toyou. The day after the partyweall hadplans togo to thebeach,butMorgancalledandsaid theyweren’t going, so Istayedhome.”She licked theice cream off the end of herstraw. “But then I found outthey went to the beachwithoutme.”

“That sucks.Doyouwantto do something tomorrow?”Iasked.“Wecouldgo to the

beach.”Shesaidshedidn’twantto

run into Morgan and Pilar,but she told me to call hertomorrow and we’d gettogether. “Oh, and Laurenwillbein townsoon,andweshould all get together,” shesaid.“MaybewecouldinviteNick since he’s obviouslyintoyou.”

After she left, I plannedwhatIwouldwearwhenIgottomeetLaurenGere.Ipulled

outmy new journal with thewildflowersonthecover,andwhenIopenedit,Irealizeditwas a gratitude journal.Underneath the post, Thingstobegratefulfor,Iwrote:

1.HadfunwithCharlotteandher

grandpa 2. Hung out with Simone 3.Simone invited me to hang out whenLauren gets here 4. Finally beingincluded in plans 5. New earrings 6.GettingtohangoutwithAuntFaith7.Spending time with Grandpa andwatching soaps 8. Nick was askingaboutme9.Best.Summer.Ever.

ChapterTen

The next morning I wokeupandsawIhadtwomissedcalls from Simone. I guess Ihad accidentally turned myringeroffwhenIwenttobed.Charlotte called to see if Iwanted to go downtown. Iwanted to, but I told her I’dcallherbackafterIaskedmygrandmother.Instead,IdialedSimone’s number. I mean,she had called me first afterall.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Mrs. Hendrickson,it’s Hadley. Is Simonehome?”Iasked.

“Hi hon, no, she’s not.Simone’s out with herfriends.”

Iguesstheymadeup.Niceof Simone to letme know. IcalledCharlotteback.

“Hey, Iamdying togo tothe lighthouse museum.Wannago?”Charlotteasked.

It sounded super boring,but shewas so excited about

it that I couldn’t say no.Wehad to walk pretty far to gettoit,butatleastwegottogoinside and look around. Theguide said therewere rumorsitwashaunted.

“Whatdotheghostsdo?”Iasked.

“Well, sometimes I hearsomebody walking up thestairs, butnoone’s there andthe lights turn on and off allthetime,”hesaid.

Not exactly the lighthouse

of terror then. I was startingtofeela littleclaustrophobic,butCharlottewasinaweandtakingpicturesofeverything.Theairfelthotandstale,andI needed to get out of there.Finally, I told her I’d waitoutside for her until she wasready. We walked down theboardwalk and decided to goto this spot that overlookeddowntown Grand Haven.Some of the cottages werebuilt right into the hills and

were so high up they hadtheselittleelevatorthingiestohelp the people get up thehill.

“I wish I lived in one ofthose,”Isaid.

“Yeah, but most of thestores and restaurants closeduring the fall and winterbecause there aren’t a lot oftourists and then it’s not asmuchfun,”shesaid.“Oh,seethe huge brown house withthetwotierdeckinthefront?

That’sPilar’shouse.”The house was across the

street from the beach andoverlooked the lake. Westarted towalkbackdown tothe beach when we sawMorgan and Pilar coming upthe path. Pilar was wearingoneofthosestraplessbathingsuitcover-ups,whichshowedoffherimpossiblydarktan.Ihad seen the exact samecover-up in Seventeen, and Iknewitcostaton.Iwondered

whichhouseMorganlivedinand figured it was probablythe big blue one I had beendroolingover.Istartedtosaysomethingtothegirlsastheygot closer, but they walkedpastmewithoutevenlookinginmydirection.

***

I called Simone the next

day, but she was going over

toMorgan’sforlunch.“I so want to talk to you

though,” she said, and myheart soared. “I’ll be backaround three, socallme thenandwe’llhangout.”

After lunch, Charlottecalledandinvitedmeover towatch Charmed Lives. Iwanted to tell her Nick hadbeen asking about me again,butshehadactedsoweirdthelasttimethatIletitgo.

After the show, Charlotte

askedifIwantedtogetsomeicecream. Iwanted to,but itwasafterthreeo’clock.

“Simoneaskedmetohangout later. You could cometoo,”Isaid.

She wrinkled her nose.“Nah, I’m good. That’s notreally my scene. But youguys have plans, so noworries. We’ll hang outanothertime.”

I called Simone as Iwalkedtothehouse.

Her mom answered. “Ohhi,hon,” she said. “Simone’sstilloutwithhercrew.I’lllether know you called. I thinkNick’s mom is flying hometonight, so it probably won’tbetoolate.”

Wait, she was with Nicktoo? The same Nick whosupposedly wanted her tobringmealong thenext timetheyhungout?Thatsucked.

I decided to walk back toCharlotte’s since I didn’t

have plans anymore, butwhenIgotthere,hergrandpasaid she left. I figured sheprobably went to get icecreambyherself and I couldmeetupwithherattheparlor,butGrandmawouldn’tletmego alone. Aunt Faith wentwith me, but Char wasn’tthere. I wondered where shewas and if she was hangingoutwithsomeoneelse.

***Charlotte didn’t call me

thenextdayeither.Istayedinmy room reading until it gottoo hot up there and wentoutside to read in thehammock.UncleStuaskedifIwanted to gowith him andthe boys to play miniaturegolf,butIdecidedtogooverto Charlotte’s. Her grandpaletme inand Iwent intoherroom where there was

anothergirlsittingonherbedlookingthroughascrapbook.

“Oh,hi,”Charlottesaid.“Ididn’tknowyouwerecomingover.ThisisDeidre.”

Deidre stared up at methrough her straight blackbangs and nodded. Then shewent back to the scrapbook.“Remember when we wenttubing last year?” she asked,leaningclosertoCharlotte.

Theyboth crackedup andItriedtosmileeventhoughI

had no clue what they weretalking about. Charlotteexplained Deidre’s mom hadconvinced her to try tubinglastyear.

“I thought I was going todrown,”Charsaid.“Ifelloutofthetube,butIkepthangingonto the rope thing andeverybodywas yelling atmetoletgo—”

“’Cause when you let go,you float up to the top,”Deidresaid.

“But I didn’t know thatand it was so funny,” shesaid. “Well, except for thealmostdrowningpart.”

“Did you guys meet thissummertoo?”Iasked.

They exchanged a look.“No,we’veknowneachotherfor a long time,” Charlottesaid. “Deidre lives in GrandHaven. She’s back fromgymnasticscamp.”

“My cousins Pilar andJeremy Ito live nearby,”

Deidre said. “Do you knowthem?”

Pilar was her cousin?Deidre sort of resembledPilar, except she didn’t havethe super dark tan, the longhair, or the cheekbones.DeidrewaswhatPilarwouldlooklikewithouttheplatformsandals, tonsofmakeup, andcuteclothes.

The two of them kepttalking about school, and Ifeltsoleftout.

“We’re going over toDeidre’shouse,”Char said. Ididn’t know if I was invitedor not from the way Deidrewaslookingatme.

“Oh,okay,well, Ihave toleave anyway because I’mgoing to play miniature golfwith Clark and my uncle,” Isaid,gettingup.

I walked home andGrandpa said Uncle Stu hadalready left with the boys. Itried calling Simone’s cell

phone.“Hi,it’sHadley.IsLauren

intownyet—?”“Hadley, I gotta go,” she

said, interrupting me. “I’llcallyoulater.”

Simonenever calledback,and I ended up spending thenight watching a baseballgamewithGrandpa.

“It’skindofnicetohaveaTV watching pal,” Grandpasaidsmiling.

“Yeah, Dad watches the

History Channel non-stop,and my mom could watchHGTVall day long. It’s niceto have someone whounderstandsmyloveofsoapsandsports.”

“And you understandbaseballprettywell,”hesaid.“Yourdadwasneverintoit.”

“Nope, Mom’s the biggersports fan, but she likesbasketballmore.”

I heard my phone buzzwith a text, but I didn’t

recognizethenumber.Hey, it’s Nick. Finally gotyournumberfromSimone.Hope it’s cool that I’mmessaging ya. I wanted toseewhatyouwereupto.I almost dropped the

phone I was so excited. Iwrote back that I waswatchingaTigersgamewithmy grandpa and thenwincedbecause it looked lamer on

thescreenthanithadsoundedinmyhead.

Nick: No way, I’mwatchingwithmydadrightnow. We got back frompickingupmymom.NickandItextedbackand

forth about the game. Itseemed easier to talk aboutbaseball with him, butSimone hadn’t told meexactlywhathehadaskedher

about me. Did he want afriend to talk to about sportsor something, or was heinterestedinme?

Nick:Did you see the firstbasemantripoverhisfeet?I think we found our newrolemodelinlife.Ilaughedandtextedback.Me:Wemightneedtoaimhigherandgoforsomeone

who can run two feetwithout landing on hisface.Nick: You have loftiergoalsthanme.See,Iknewit—you’re good for me.Makingmeaimhigher.Ismiledandtextedbacka

sticker of a girl prancingdownarunway.

Me: Imight be delusional

if I think I could make itdownarunwaylikeher.Nick:Ifanyonecoulddoit,you can. So why haven’tyou come around withSimone?I’vemissedseeingyou.What to say? That I was

never included in her plans?That I wasn’t sure she sawmeaswhat—anequal?Itriedtothinkhowtowordit,while

soundingmysteriousand likesomeonehe’dwant togooutwith.

Nick: Gotta go, Dad’syellingatmefornotpayingattention. ;) Talk to yasoon.Night.“So…a boy?” Grandpa

asked.“Howdidyouknow?”“You get that same look

on your face that Faith does

when a guy messages her.”Helaughed.

“I don’t know if he’sinterested or not though. Hemight have wanted someoneto talk to about the game. Imean, it seems like he’s intome.”

“If hewaswilling to taketime away from the game tofocus on you…my guess isthat he’s interested, and myadvice is to not tell yourgrandmother,” he saidwith a

wink.

ChapterEleven

I calledCharlotte thenext

morning to see if shewantedto come over, but she wasgoing out on Deidre’s dad’sboat.

“I guess I can ask if youcancomealong,”shesaid.

“It’s okay. I might dosomething with mygrandparents,”Isaid.Ididn’twanttobegforaninvitation.

“Oh, okay. Well, have

fun,”shesaid.Ispentallmorningreading

and hoping Simone wouldcallme to do something andbring upNick. Iwondered ifLaurenwasintownyet.

Aunt Maggie came intomy room. “I’m going to getmyhairdonedowntown.Youwant to go with me? Youcould get a trim if youwantandafterwardwecanget icecream.”

Grandmahadbeenreading

in the family room allmorning,soitwasn’tlikeI’dbe able to watch CharmedLives anyway.At least at thesalon I’d be able to readmagazines.

“Sure,thanks.”Aunt Maggie was getting

herhairwashedwhenSimonecame inwithhermom.Theyboth had appointments, buthermomwentfirstsoSimonesatdownwithme.

“I’m getting a trim and

maybe some layers,” Simonesaid.“Iwanttogethighlights,but my mom won’t let mebecause they fry my hair. Iusedtohavethemallthetimethough.”

Iwasn’texactlysurewhatall went into gettinghighlights other than usingsome kind of bleach andtinfoil, but I nodded. One ofthe magazines had saidValeriahadbutteryhighlightsnear her face, so they had to

be a good thing. MaggiecameoutwithatowelonherheadandaskedifIwantedtogetmyhaircut.Myhairwasin a messy ponytail andneeded a trim, but I’d onlyever had one person cut myhair for me—my mom’shairstylist, Ramona. She hadbeen doing my hair since Iwas little, and I was a bitnervous about the idea ofsomeone else touching myhair.

“You should do it,” saidSimone. “You would lookgoodwithsomelayersaroundyourface.”

Valeria had layers aroundherface,soIagreed.Simoneand I had our hair washed,and I felt dumb having hersee me with wet hair. IalwaysmadesurenevertogetitwetatthebeachwhenIwaswith her. However, Simonewasevenprettywithherwethair plastered against her

head.“Okay, so we’re doing

layers?”thestylistaskedme.“Yeah, like this,” I said,

pullingupapictureofValeriaonmyphone.

“Do you want a bit ofbangs with it like in thepicture?”

IlookedoveratSimone.“Do it,” she said. “If you

hateit, theywillgrowoutbythetimeschoolstarts.”

“Bangs like theseareeasy

toblendinwiththerestofthehair if you don’t like them,”thestylistsaid.

I nodded and she said shewas going to use a razor onmy hair. I didn’t knowwhatshe meant and about had astrokewhenshestartedusingit around my face. I thoughtmyhairwouldenduplookingall choppy since the stylistkeptcutting itawayfromtherest of my hair, but it fellright into place when she

finished.I looked at all the hair on

the floor around my chair.She cut a ton off, but it wasstill sorta long, and now ithad shorter pieces in frontlike Simone’s. Simone’shairstylist told her to use adeep conditioner since shewasbleachingherhair.

“Don’t tell my mom,okay?”Simonesaidtome.“Iuse this stuff you spray inyour hair tomake it blonder.

Shewon’t letmehighlight itanymore, and my hair’sgotten darker in the last twoyears. I had to do somethingwhile the highlights grewout.”

Her stylist told her sheshouldn’t use the bleachingstuffandsaidyourhormonesmadeyourhairdarkerasyouget older. Simone made aface when she said,“hormones.” Adults alwaysblamed everything on

hormones. You could steal acar and back over a dog andthey’d shake their heads andblameitonhormones.

“Where do you get thatbleachingstuff?”Iaskedafterthehairstylistlefttogetsomestylingpomade.

“They took it off themarket,but I stockpiled rightbefore they did, so I have atonleft.It’ssupereasytouse.Icandoitforyou,”shesaid.“Youhave touseahairdryer

orsitinthesuntoactivateit.It looks pretty natural.Comeover tonight and I’ll showyou.”

I went over to her houseafter dinner and she sprayedsomething called“Sunglazing” in my hair. Itsmelled like rotten eggs andWindex, but I didn’tcomplain. She used herhairdryer and my head felttightanditchyfromtheheat.It didn’t lookmuch different

when she was finished, butshe said it would be morenoticeable if I sat out in thesun.

“I use it a lot and myhair’s naturally dishwaterblonde. It’s even darker thanyours,”shesaid.

I was surprised since myhairseemeda lotdarker thanSimone’s.Herhairwassuperblondenow.

“Make sure you putmoreconditioneronyourhairsoit

doesn’tdryout,”shesaid.Ididn’townany,butLily

hadabottleofBabyTangles-Be-Gone which said, “extraconditioning” on the label soIfiguredIcoulduseit.

“Sowhat’s going on withConnorandPilar?”Iasked.

“They’re still going out,but I thinkPilar toldhimnotto talk to me anymore. He,like,won’tmake eye contactwith me or anything. It’s soweird.”

“When’s Lauren comingtotown?”Iasked.

“Hmm?” she said as shepulled down the side of herwaistband to check out hertan. “My color is gettinggross.” She pulled up thebottom of her pink tank top.“Ineedtoputmoreon.”

“Putmoreofwhaton?”“I use this self-tanning

cream, but sometimes itwears off kinda splotchy,”shesaid.

Now it made sense whyshe was so tan. I alwayswondered how she got somuch color when she wasalways putting on sunscreen.Simone put her hair up in abun with a headband to pullback the little hairs aroundher face. Then she rolled upthe bottom of her shorts andcovered herself in tanningcream, which made her lookgreasy. She padded over toher bed on her heels so her

oily feet wouldn’t stain thecarpet.

“NowIhavetositwithouttouching anything for twohours so it can dry.Can youturnontheradio?”sheasked.

Simone’s mom asked if Iwanted to stay for dinner.They were having tunacasserole,whichIhated,butIcalled and asked if I couldstayanyway.

“Simone, don’t get thetanning stuff on my

furniture,”hermothersaid.“Iwon’t,Ma.”“Well, you left a brown

ring on my white couch lastweek,” she said. “That stuffstinks.”

Simonerolledhereyesandpassed me a plate ofcasserole. I tried to eat asmuchofitasIcould.

“Ma, did you use fat-freesoupinthis?”Simoneasked.

Her mother shook herhead. After dinner, we ate

leftover birthday cake thathad been in the freezer. Inever realized how awesomefrozenfrostingtasted—itwaslike biting into chewy icecream.Simonedidn’tseemtomindthecakewasn’tfat-free.We went over to mygrandparents’ yard afterdinner. Simonewas still oilyfrom her fake tan and didn’twant to go inside and haveanybody see her. Thebackyard smelled fresh and

moist from the sprinklerswateringthegrass.

Iturnedtolookather.“SowhenisLaurencoming—”

“Oh man, I got sometanning stuff onmy shorts. Igotta throw these in thewash,” she said, tugging atthehem.“Berightback.”

ItookacouplepicsofmynewhairwhileIwaswaiting,and, in a moment of rarebravery, sent one to Nick,askingwhathethoughtofmy

new look. The second I sentit, I feltstupidandwantedtotake it back. Ugh, now Iwould look so shallow anddesperate for his approval.HowcouldIbesodumb?

Nick: Looks really pretty,butyoudidbeforetoo.Waswatching the Tigers lastnightandthoughtofyou.My face got warm as I

wrote back that was I

thinking about him toowhenI watched the last game.Simonewalkedupthen.

“What are you doing forthe Fourth of July?” I askedwhen she sat down with hernew shorts on. I was hopingshe’d ask me to watch thefireworkswithher,spend thenight, and then we’d go get,well, not best friendnecklaces, but somethingmatching that showed wewere friends like all thegirls

at my school in Goodacrehad. It seemed everyone hadmatchingsomethingorother.Lexi and I had the sameschoolbags,butthatwasit.Ialways wanted to havematching jewelry withsomeone—that feeling ofbelonging. I really hopedwewould hang out on theFourth.MaybeLaurenwouldbeintownthenandwecouldallhangout. Instead,Simonesaidshehadplans.

“Pilar’sparentsarehavingeverybody over to watch thefireworks from their place,”she said. “They have peopleover each year because youget a better view fromuponthehill.”

I would have died for aninvitationtoPilar’sparty,butI knew it wouldn’t happen.Pilar had never even spokento me. I wished Simonewould offer to ask if I couldcome, but she didn’t say

anything.After all, Nick hadmentioned it to her that sheshouldbringmealong,right?AsIwasgettingupthenerveto ask her if she would, shesaid the mosquitoes werebothering her and she wasgoing to go inside. I had thesamesickfeelingIalwaysgotwhen Imissedmy chance todo something. The feelingonly got worse when I wentinside.

“Hadley, did you see the

new Celebrity Snooper blogtoday?” Aunt Faith asked.“Simone is in itwithLaurenGere.”

“What? She didn’t sayanything about that. Werethesesuperoldpictures?”

“Here,”shesaid.“I’llpullit up on my phone. It’sSimone and Lauren walkingalong the boardwalk withsomeblondegirlandaboy.”

“Does it say when thathappened?” I asked. I

couldn’t believe Simonewouldn’t have mentionedLaurenhadalreadybeenhere.

Faithfoundthesiteonherphone and stared at it. “I’mnot sure, but I guess it wasprettyrecent.Here,look.”

Simonewas on the phonein the picture and the blondegirl with them was Morgan.ButwhatwasworsewasthattheboywasNickandLaurenhad her hand on his arm.Great, it was probably the

same night I called Simoneandshewastoobusyto talk.Maybe I was the one on theotherendof thephone in thestupid picture. I had missedmy chance to meet Lauren,and Simone never even toldmewhen shewas in town. Iguess I wasn’t cool enoughfor her to admit she wasfriendswithme tosomebodylike Lauren. Who was Ikidding? A TV star wantingto hang out with me? We

weren’t friends at all. I wassomebody she ran to whenshe needed something. AndNickwas probably humoringme until his new celebritygirlfriend called him back. Iwanted to throw up all overthetable.

“Didn’tSimonementionittoyou?”AuntFaithasked.

“Maybe she did and Iwasn’t paying attention. I’msuper tired, so I’m gonna gotobed.Night.”

Iwentuptomyroomandcleared my clothes off mybed.ThegratitudejournalfellonthefloorandIkickedatitwithmyfoot.HereIthoughtIhad finally made some newfriends and it turned out onewasusingmeandneitheroneof them cared enough toinvite me to the Fourth ofJulyparty.Idon’tknowwhyI thought I would fit insomewhereorthatsomegreatguywould likeme. Iguess I

got luckywithLexi,butnoweven she had forgotten aboutme.Allherpostsonlinewerewith new people, and shenevertaggedmeormessagedme back. I guess I wasn’timportant enough to beanyone’spriority.

ChapterTwelve

While Simone got ready

forthepartyeveryonebutmewas invited to, I went to thegrocery store with mygrandmother. Grandma wentto buy stuff for our littlefamily BBQ, and I went tocheck out the fake tanningcreams. I stuck a bottle ofself-tanningcreaminthecart.I planned to tell Grandma itwassunscreenifsheasked.It

did have an SPF of 4 in it,after all. Charlotte’s grandpawastalkingtoGrandmainthemeataislewhen Icamebackto the cart with some icecream.

“Judd Lidstrom’s comingover tomorrow to watch thefireworks,” she said. I wasexcited until she told meCharlottewasgoingtoapartywithherfriendinstead.Great,so thewholeworldwouldbeat Pilar’s house, and I’d be

stuck home. Even Clark wasgoing to the Ito’sbecausehehad become friends withPilar’s brother, Jeremy.Grandpahadboughtsparklersfor us. and Uncle Stu wasgoing to grill hot dogs, but Iwasn’t exactly in the partymood…if you could callsparklers and hot dogs aparty.

Charlotte called later andasked if Iwanted to gowithher to Deidre’s aunt and

uncle’s party tomorrow. Iwent to put on my fake tanandimaginedmyselfwalkinginto the party looking all tanand gorgeous, and everyonewould be wondering who Iwas and why they hadn’tasked me to hang out withthem before. Connor andLucaswouldwantmy phonenumber, Nick would bebegging me to go out withhim, Simone would realize Iwascool, andMorganwould

wanttobemyfriend.Then reality set in. First,

the fake tan squirted out ofthebottleallgooey. I rubbedthe cold cream all over myarmsand legsandputa littleonmy face.Simonehadsaidyou had to wash your handswell or it would stain yourpalms. I wasn’t sure how toput the tanning stuff on theback of my hands withoutgetting it on my palms anddrying,soIdecidednottoput

anyonmyhands at all. I saton some paper towels so Iwouldn’tgetanybrownstuffonmy bed, but it seemed todryfast.

I woke up the nextmorning and Iwas definitelydarker.My face was kind oforange,butmyarmsandlegshad streaks on them. It waslikesomebodyhadburnedmewith a curling iron. Plus,myhandslookedlikeIhadwhitegloves on compared to the

rest of me. I couldn’t go tothe party all streaky. Peoplewould make fun of me. Ithought about putting thetanningstuffonallthelighterplacesonmybody,butthenitmight look like I had adisease.Iendedupwearingalongsleevedshirtandjeanstothe party.Charlotte had on at-shirt and shorts when shecametopickmeup.

“Aren’t you hot wearingallthat?”sheasked.

“I want to be covered forthe mosquitoes,” I said.“Malaria is nothing to messaroundwith.”

“I have some bug spray,”shesaid.“ButmaybeIbetterbring a sweatshirt too. Yougot your hair chopped. It’scute.”

I wasn’t the only onewearingjeansattheparty,butIfelt likeIwasdressedforawinter carnival when I sawMorganandPilar.Pilarhada

deep pink halter top on withtiny jean shorts, and she hadput some shimmery stuff allover her arms and legs.Morgan was wearing a bluecrocheted tank top, and shewouldhavepassedforatleastseventeen. She had her curlyblonde hair down for achange,andalltheguysweresittingaroundher.

“She’s so fake-looking,”CharlottesaidaswewatchedMorganandLucasdance.

Morgan seemed soconfident as she moved herhips. I wouldn’t be able todance so free even if I wasalone inmy own bedroom. Iwas glad I had worn jeansbecauseIwouldhaveseemedlike a skinny kid next toMorgan’s muscular legs.Simone was sitting next toPilar and Connor, eatingpotato chips. Simone waswearingablackandwhiteoffthe shoulder striped t-shirt

and a jeans skirt. Nick wassittingofftothesidedrinkinga glass of lemonade andwatchingtherestofthegroupdance. He didn’t look mywayatall.

Charlotte and I shared alawn chair while Deidre saton the porch rail. I ate hotdogs while I watchedeveryone else dancing andhaving fun. Deidre’s unclemade cupcakes with red,white, and blue frosting, and

Charlotte had eaten twocupcakes when I noticed herlips were purple from thefrosting. I gave her mynapkintowipehermouth,butshedidn’tseemtocare.

“Hey,yougoing to ignoremeallnight?”

I lookedup andNickwasstandingthere.

“Oh,hey.”“Can I sit?” he asked. I

nodded.“Sowhat’sup?”“Nothing.”

“Hadley, did I weird youout when I said I wasthinking about you the othernight?”heasked.

“No, why?” I said staringatmyhands.

“Idunno,youseemalittledistant that’s all. I didn’tmeantocomeontoostrong.Ilike you, that’s all,” he said.He looked a little sad, buthow was I supposed to feelknowing hewas only payingattention to me now that the

TVstarwasbackinL.A.?“How’sLauren?”He scrunched up his face.

“Huh?Who?”“Lauren Gere. I wouldn’t

think you could forgetsomeonelikehersoeasily.”

“Oh,her.Idunno.Okay,Iguess. She sent me a couplecrazytexts.”

“Define ‘crazy texts,’” Isaid.

Helaughed.“Um,well, intwoofthemshewaswearing

abikini.Idon’tgettextslikethoseeveryday.”

Great. Very subtle,Lauren.“Areyouguysgoingoutnow?”

“Nah,” he said, lookingoutonthewater.“Imean,shelivesinL.A.”

Lovely,soifitweren’tforthe distance factor, he’d besendingherlovepoemsnow.

“Besides, I like somebodyelse,”hesaid.

I started to askwhowhen

Pilarcameover.“We’re getting ready for

the fireworks display,” shesaid, narrowing her eyes atNick.Iwonderedifhewasn’tsupposed to be sitting withme.Nick turned tomewhenSimonerushedpastusoutofthe house. She ran down thesteps and Connor watchedher,buthedidn’tgoafterher.NickandIexchangedalook.

“It’skindoflateforhertowalkbackbyherself,”Isaid.

He nodded. I went to getCharlotte and we went afterSimone.

“Leavemealone,”Simonesaidwhenwecaughtupwithher. Her mascara wassmeared under her eyes andshemovedawayfromus.

“Where are your shoes?”Charlotteasked.

Simone glanced down ather feet and said she left hersandals in Pilar’s room.Charlotteoffered toget them

whileNickandIwaitedwithSimone.

“Whathappened?”Iaskedher.

She looked over at Nickwho said, “You know what?I’llgooverherewhileya’ll…talkabout…whatever.”

As soon as hewas out ofearshot, Simone spilled.“They think I was flirtingwith Connor. It’s so stupid,”she said “Connor told meMorgansaidIdidn’tlikehim

anymore, so he asked Pilarout. I told him I never saidanything to her about notliking him, and then Pilaraccusedmeoftryingtobreakthemup.”

“Why would Morgan sayyou didn’t like himanymore?”Iasked.

“Idunno.Thissummerhastotally sucked,” she said.Weboth stared up at the sky asthefireworksstarted.

“Oh, and they’re mad I

gave Nick your number,because, even though shewon’t admit it,Morgan likesto keep him around in casethings don’t work out withher and Connor. Nick’s like,her backup. It’s so dumb,”shesaid.

Charlotte ran up holdingSimone’s sandals and Nickcame back over. The four ofus stood and watched thefireworks. Mosquitoes keptlandingonSimone’sarms,so

Charlotte let her wear hersweatshirt.Simonesaton thecurb and tucked her legsunder the shirt, and I hopedCharlotte didn’t noticeSimonewaswiping her noseonthesleeve.

“Thismust be the finale,”Charlotte said as the sky litup.

Nick touchedmyarmandmoved me away from thegirls.Charlottewasstaringupat the sky and oblivious to

everythingaroundher.“I’mreallygladyoucame

tonight,Hadley,”hesaid.“Me too. And thanks for

coming with us to check onSimone. That was reallysweetofyou.”

“Yeah, no problem, butI’m not sure if I should beinsulted or not though,” hesaid.

“Huh?” I turned to facehim.

“I told you I liked

somebody else, and youdidn’tevenaskmewho.Isitbecause you don’t care orbecauseyoualreadyknow?”

I remembered Chandlerhadbeeninasimilarsituationon Charmed Lives and Iquoted her word for word.“Well, don’t keep it amystery.Tellme.”

Hesmiledandthenleanedover and kissed me. I couldsmell the smoke from thefireworks mixed in with

Nick’s Polo cologne, and IthoughtIwouldpassoutfromhappiness.

Then my inner dorkinesscameout.“Soit’sme,right?”Iasked.

He laughed. “Yeah, Ithoughtyou’dfigurethatout,but if you need clarification,that’scool.”

I started laughing. “Sorry,I’m…yeah.Whatever.”

“That’s what I like aboutyou.You’rereal.Andforthe

record, I was never intoLauren. She was acting likeshe was super into me whenshe was here, but she’s notmy type at all. However, ifyou’dliketosendmebathingsuit pictures, I would notobject at all,” he said. “I’mkidding!Well,sortof.”

He smiled and kissed meagain, and when he pulledback,thefireworksshowwasending.

“Thatwasthebestdisplay

ever,”Charlottesaid.Ilookedshocked until I realized shemeant the fireworks andwasoblivioustowhathadgoneonliterally behind her back.Even Simone didn’t seem tonotice that Nick and I had amajor moment, but he wassmilingatme,anditwaslikewesharedthisintimatesecret.

Deidre came down andasked why we had run offwithout telling her. Charlottetold her we were walking

Simone home and Deidreseemeddisappointed.

“My uncle bought somefireworks and he’s gonnashoot them off from thedeck,”Deidresaid.

“I want to go home,”Simonesaid.“Youguysdon’thavetogobackwithme.”

“Areyoustillspendingthenight?” Deidre askedCharlotte.

Charlotte glanced over atSimoneandme.IsaidIcould

walk Simone home and InoticedDeidredidn’tseemtocarewhetherornotIleft.

“I’ll walk you guyshome,”Nicksaid.

“But they’ll get mad atyou for leaving,” Simonesaid.

He shrugged. “It’s dark,and Iwant tomake sure youguysgethomeokay.”

Myfacegotwarm.Hewassothoughtful.UnlikethatjerkConnor who let Simone run

out of the party upset anddidn’t even bother to checkuponher.

Simone was texting Asiaaswewalked back andNickreached over and held myhand. It felt like sparksweregoing off up my entire arm.We got to our street and Iturned to thank Nick forwalkingushome.

“It was really sweet ofyou,”Isaid.

“No problem,” he said,

glancing over to whereSimone was standing. “Uh,well, I’ll text you tomorrowthen.”

We both had stupid grinson our faces like we hadsome private joke. I wantedhimtokissmegoodnight,butI also didn’t want to sharethatsortofprivatemomentinfrontofSimone.

“Will you tell me if theytalk about me at the party?”Simoneaskedhim.

“Oh, I’m going to headhome,” he said. “Lessdrama.”

As soon as he walkedaway, Simone grabbed myarm. “Can I come over for alittle bit? My mom willwonder why I’m home soearly,”shesaid.“AndIdon’twanttohavetogetintoit.”

We walked through mybackyard where Charlotte’sgrandpa was roastingmarshmallows with my

family.“Hi, girls. Come make

s’mores with us,” AuntMaggiesaid,handingSimonea stick with a marshmallow.Simone held it over the fireand Grandpa gave me amarshmallow, but I scorchedit right away. Aunt Faithshowedmehow to turn it sothemarshmallowwas sort ofbathed in thebluepartof theflame.

“Simone,Isawyouonthe

CelebritySnoopersite,”AuntFaith said. “That must havebeen a fun visit with yourfriend.”

She shrugged. “Laurenflew home after thephotographers showed up onthe beach, and then Pilar gotmadbecausetheycutheroutofalltheshots.”

I wanted to ask her moreabout it, but she’d alreadyhadaprettyroughnightandIdidn’twanttomakeitworse.

We went into the kitchenandIstartedtopourheradietsoda when she asked if wehadanyregularsoda.Ifounda can and she leaned acrossthe counter and balancedherself on her stomach withher nose almost touching thecountertop.

“Ican’tbelievehowthoseguysacted,”Isaid.Iwasstillhanging onto the hope thiswas it—the final fight, andnow she’d realize I was her

true friend and someone shecouldcounton.

“Theydiditallthetimeatschool last year,” she said asshesatdownand twistedherhairup.Shegrabbedapencillying near the phone andstuckit throughthebun.I’vetried thatamillion timesandI’ve never been able to getone to stay inmy hair. Evenwith her hair all messed upandhereyemakeupsmeared,she still was like something

outofamagazine.Shesighedandspitanicecubebackintoherglass.

“You know,Morgan usedtogetmadatmybest friend,Asia, like, twice a week, soI’m used to it. They kissedmy butt when Lauren washere, but nowLauren’s goneso they don’t need meanymore.”

Ishrugged.Iwantedtosaysomething about the fact shesaid she was going to

introducemetoLauren,butIwasn’tbraveenough. IguessI was lucky Charlotte hadn’tgotten mad at me for all thetimes I dumped her to dosomething with Simone.Charlotte hadn’t evenabandoned me when Deidrecame back to town. MaybeI’d even been lucky beforewhen I only had Lexi for afriend. It seemed like havinga lot of friends was a hugepain in the butt. I mean, I

went out of my way to helpSimone out, but there weretons of times when she toldme we were going to hangout and then she left to dostuff with her popularfriends…or her famousfriends.

SimoneandIwentintothefamilyroomtowatchTVandeat leftovers from myfamily’s picnic. She finishedoffacontainerofpotatosaladand we polished off the rest

of the raspberry gelatin. Wemadeplanstogotothebeachtomorrowwhen Iwalkedherbacktoherplace.

ChapterThirteen

I went over to Simone’s

house at noon the next day.Hermomwas rinsingoff thedishes from lunch andSimone was on the backporch talking on the phone.She was telling her friendwhathappenedattheparty.

“Asia, they totally gangedup on me,” she said. “AndConnordidnotsayonewordin my defense,” she said.

“Listen, I gotta go.Somebody’shere.”

Simone stood up and Ifollowedher toherbedroom.Shepulledherhairback intoa ponytail and put a whiteshirt on over her aqua bikinitop.

“Doyouneedsunscreen?”she asked. I nodded andrubbedsomeon.Sheevenletmeborrowapairofpinkflip-flops with big daisies on thefront.Wewalkeddowntothe

beachandlaidoutourtowels.She dug through her bag forsomemagazines.

“There’s an article aboutValeriainthisone,”shesaid,handing me a copy. “I’mgoing to get a skirt like herswhenIgetbacktoschool.”

“Her hair looks sodifferent when it’s long andcurly,”Isaid.

“Extensions,”shesaid.“Huh?”“You know, when they

sew fakehair in soyourhairlookslonger.”

I didn’t even know youcould put fake hair in andmake it look longer. Iwondered how many of thepeople in the magazine hadfake hair as I thumbedthrough it. I heard someoneyelling,“No,Lucas!Stopit.”

Simone was staring atPilar, Connor, Lucas, andMorganplaying in thewater.LucaspickedMorganupand

pretended he was going tothrowherinthesurf.

“I hope she drowns,”Simone said. “Do you haveanygum?”

I shook my head. I sawCharlotteandDeidrewalkingon the beach and wonderedhowtheirsleepoverwentlastnight. I felt a little queasywatchingthemtogether.ThenCharlotte saw me and cameover.

“I have your sweatshirt at

home.IcangiveittoHadleyif you want,” Simone said,squintingupather.

Charlotte asked if wewantedtogowiththemtogetsno-cones. I didn’t bring anymoney with me, but Simonesaid she’d pay for mine.However, Connor was at thesno-cone stand with Pilarwhen we got there. Simoneignored them and walked upto the counter. She orderedtwo cherry sno-cones and

then asked me if cherry wasokay. I nodded as Pilarstarted talking to Deidre.Even Deidre was surprisedhercousinwasbeingsosweettoher.

“Didyouguyshavefunatthe party?” Pilar asked us. Itwas the first time Pilar hadever spoken to me. Wenodded and Simone kept herbacktous.

“Hi, Simone,” Connorsaid.

Simonestaredathim.Shesaid“hi”inaquietvoiceandPilar tugged on Connor’sarm.

“See ya later, De,” Pilarsaidoverher shoulderas sheandConnorwalkedaway.

“Talk about awkward,”Charlottesaid.

Simone handed me mysno-coneandlickedthedripsoffthesideofhers.Westoodon the docks and all youcould hear were slurping

sounds.“We’re going to go back

toDeidre’s house towatch amovie. Do you guys wannacome?”Charlotteasked.

“Um, my cousin and herfriendsaresupposed tocomeover later for a barbeque,”Deidresaid.

She didn’t come right outand say Simone wasn’tinvited, but Deidre made itclear Simone wasn’twelcome. Charlotte gave me

a pleading look, but SimonewasalreadywalkingawaysoIshruggedandfollowedher.

“Callme tonight,Char,” Isaid over my shoulder as ItriedtocatchuptoSimone.Iwondered if Nick was goingtobeatthatparty.

“Youdidn’t have to comewith me. You could havegone with them,” Simonesaid.

Ithoughtshewasgoingtosay she didn’t want me

tagging along, but she didn’tsay anything else as shesmoothedmoresunscreenon.She stretched out and put onher sunglasses. I asked if Icould borrow some moresunscreen and she didn’tanswer.Inudgedherwithmytoe and realized she hadfallen asleep. I picked up amagazine and spent theafternoon reading. I wenthome with a headache frombeingout in thesun too long

andmyshouldershadstartedto peel. Simone and I hadn’ttalkedmuch, but at least shewanted me around, andmaybe she had planned tointroduce me to Lauren butcouldn’t because she had toleave early.Maybewe’d endupbeingbestfriendsyet.

ChapterFourteen

By Saturday, Simone and

her friends hadmade up andNick still hadn’t textedme. Iwentover toSimone’shouseto pick up Charlotte’ssweatshirt since Simoneneverbroughtitoverlikeshesaid she would. Pilar waspainting her nails onSimone’sbedanddidn’tevenbothertolookup,butMorganstaredatme.Simonegaveme

the sweatshirt and I realizedshehadn’twashed itbecauseit still hadmascara stains onit. I got out of there fast andtook it over to Charlotte’shouse.Weendedupgoingona nature walk and I realizedhowmuchImissedspendingtime with her. Plus, it wasnice todosomethingwithoutDeidre around. Charlottepicked some white flowersand when we got to mygrandparents’ house, she

asked if she could use myglitter pen to decorate theflowers.

“I can’t believe schoolstarts in three weeks,” shesaid, lying across the foot ofmybed.

Mystomach rolledover. Ihad forgotten about school.Now I was going to faceanotheryearoftorture.

“At least we still havesometimetohangoutbeforewehavetogoback,”Isaid.

She shook her head. “Mygrandpa signed me up to goto some stupid music campforaweek.Ibeggedtogotoscience camp, but I don’twanttospendaweekplayingtheviolinindoors,”shesaid.

“You’re leaving? But wehaven’t even seen each otherlately,”Isaid.

“I know. You’ve beenwith Simone, but we’ll haveto hang out a lot thisweek,”she said. “Hey, your hair

looks lighter. Did you dosomethingtoit?”

“Simoneputsomestuff init,” I said. I went to themirror. My hair did look alittlebrighteraroundmyface.I was surprised Grandmahadn’tsaidanything.

Char picked up hersweatshirt. “Ew, she didn’teven wash it. It smells likecocoa butter and shampoo,”shesaid.

I knew it was Paul

Mitchell shampoo because Ihad peeked in Simone’sbathroomcabinet.

“Nick and I kissed on theFourthofJuly,”Isaid.

She stared at me.“Seriously?”

“Yeah, I really like him,andIthoughthelikedmetoo,but he hadn’t messaged meoncesincethen.”

She looked away. “Well,that crowd…I dunno. Iwouldn’t spend too much

timethinkingabouthim.”“ButI—”“Igottaget ready togo to

Deidre’s. I’ll try to call youlater,okay?”shesaid,gettingup.

I ran into Simone as shewas cutting across our lawn.She seemed kind ofembarrassed, and I told herCharlotte was leavingtomorrow to go to musiccamp.

“Who?”Simoneasked.

“The girl with the darkhair,” I said. “She lent youhersweatshirt,”Isaid.

“Ohyeah.Duh.Ofcourse,shewasinmymathclasslastyear. I gave it back, right?”sheaskedandInodded.

“I’d hate to be stuck atsome loser camp,” she said.“Oh, I saw on CelebritySnooper Jack Brogger isplanning a vacation, and itsoundslikehe’scominghere.Thereportersaidanunnamed

source said Jack spent lastsummer at a lake resort inMichigan and he was goingupthereattheendofAugust.Dude,we’vegottoseehim.”

I asked if she wanted tocome in, but she had to gethome because she had metsome guy at the beach andshethoughthemightcallherwhen he got home. AuntFaith asked if I wanted tosplit a brownie when I cameinthehouse.

“Did you have fun withCharlotte last night?” sheasked.

“Wehadagoodtime.”Myeyes started to water and Iwiped themwith the back ofmyhand.

“You’regoing tomissheralot,”shesaid.

“Yeah, my best friendmoved to Texas a couple ofmonths ago, and now I haveto leave Charlotte,” I wipedmynoseonmysleeve.

“Charlotte’sgoing tomissyou. It’s been hard for hersince her mother passedaway.” She passed me anapkin.“Oh,Charismamightcomeforavisitsoon.”

I sat up. Charisma wascoming here? I asked when,butAuntFaithwasn’tsure.“Idon’t know when she’sgetting back from her trip. Iknow she wants to comebefore she starts college.Sheprobably won’t have time

though.”With my luck, Charisma

would show up on the sameday Jack Brogger came totown.They’dmeet, and he’dlookpast the fact shehadnopersonalityandputher inhisvideo, and they’d getengaged, andhe’dgiveher abigsapphireringliketheoneChandler’s character wore.Then they’d be on the coverof InTouch Weekly andthere’d be pictures of them

sitting at outdoor cafes,holding hands and drinkingcoffee, kissing on the beachall the time, actingas if theydidn’t know a photographerwastheretakingthepicture.Inever understood how noneofthecelebritieseverseemedto know there was aphotographeraroundyet theylookedperfectinthepictures.

“Hadley, do you want tosplit another brownie? I’mstillhungry,”AuntFaithsaid.

I shook my head. Charismahad a way of taking myappetiteaway.Iwentupstairsand curled up under thecovers. I realized I hadn’tfinished Charlotte’s copy ofThe Lion, theWitch, and theWardrobe, so I read until Ifellasleep.

Simone called the nextmorning to tell me Morganwashavingabarbecue.

“It’sthisafternoonandherdad’sgoingtogrill.Itshould

be fun. Do you want to gowithme?”sheasked.“Nick’sgoing tobe thereandhe toldmetoinviteyou.”

Istarted toanswerwhenIgotacallontheotherline.

“Hey,” Charlotte said.“My grandpa’s making aspeciallunchformylastday.Canyoucomeover?”

It was my last chance toseeCharlotte,butSimonehadnever invited me along to aparty, and it had been my

dream to hang out withMorganandherfriends.Plus,Nick had remembered I stillexisted.

“Are you still there?”Charlotteasked.

“Yeah, sorry I’m out ofit,”Isaid.No,Icouldn’tmissout on seeing Charlottebefore she left. I askedCharlotte what time I shouldcomeoverandshetoldmetocomerightaway.Igotontheother line and told Simone I

couldn’tgo.“C’mon. Puh-lease?” she

said. “Nickwill be there andyou can borrow one of myoutfits. Idon’twant togobymyself. What if they get allweirdonmeagain?Please?”

“It’s the last time I’ll seeCharlotte,” I said. “Butmaybe we can do somethingtomorr—”

“Whatever,” she said andhungup.

I walked over to

Charlotte’s house and Mr.Lidstrom had put flowersfromhisgardeninlittleglassjars at each of our plates.Deidrewasn’tthereyetsowewentintoCharlotte’sroom.

“I made something foryou,”shesaid.

Shehandedmeanotebookthat she had filled with stuffwe’d done during thesummer. There were pressedflowers from the walks wetook, a picture of Valeria

because we had spent somuch time watchingCharmed Lives, and picturesof book covers on one page.There was even a picture ofJack with question marksaround his head saying,“Where are you?” And shehadgluedanenvelopeonthelast page, and inside it wasthenecklacewehadstartedtomakeoutofgumwrappers.

“I can’t believe I didn’tfinish it after all the gum I

chewed,”shesaid.Itwastoosmall to be a necklace, so Iworeitasabracelet.

“This is much better,” Isaid. “And for once havingskinnyarmspaysoff.”

DeidrecameoverandMr.Lidstrom dished out lasagna,which was Charlotte’sfavorite. He had putvegetablesfromhisgardeninthe salad, and we had littlecheesecakes for dessert.Charlotte’s bus came to pick

her up at four o’clock. Shegaveusallhugsandwavedtous from the window. Wewatcheduntilthebuswasoutofsight.

“Would you girls like tostay for a while and have aglass of soda pop?” Mr.Lidstrom asked, lookinghopeful.

Deidre said she had toleave, but I stayed and hepouredme a glass of orangesodaandputsomecookieson

a plate for us. We watchedTV for awhile, and Ihelpedhim in his garden until mygrandpacameover.

“I see you’ve put mygranddaughter to work,”Grandpasaid.

“She’sabighelpandgoodcompany,” Mr. Lidstromsaid.

“We’re going to missCharlotte around here,”Grandpa said. Mr. Lidstrommade me promise to come

backandvisithim.IwashopingDeidremight

start calling me sinceCharlotte was gone. I eventhought about calling heruntilIwenttothebeachwithAunt Faith and saw herhangingoutwithPilar.Isaid“hi” to Deidre and sheanswered me, but she didn’tgo out of her way to befriendly. I noticed Simonewasn’twith them, so Icalledher figuring she might want

mearoundifherotherfriendsweremadather.

“Hey,what’sup?”Iasked.“I’msoboredIcoulddie,”

Simonesaid.“Doyouwanttogotothemovies?”

We went to see DeathComes for the Dress UpDolly, but she spent most ofthe movie sitting low in herseat and texting. I keptlooking behind us to see ifanyone was going to get upand yell at her for texting

during the movie, but thereweren’ta lotofpeople in thetheater.

The lights came on and Iaskedwhatshethoughtofthemovie.

“Oh, dunno.” Sheshrugged. “That doll wassuper creepy though. Butguess what? Morgan and Ijust made up. It was all thishugemisunderstanding.Ifeelso dumb. She is the best. Sogladthat’ssorted.”

Great, so I was back tohangingaroundthehouseandreadinguntiltheydumpedheragain.

That night I sent Nick atextbeforeIwenttobed.

Me: Hey, long time, notalk. The Tigers are doingpretty well. How are youdoing?Missya.ButwhenIgotupthenext

day,therewasnomessage.

ChapterFifteen

OnTuesday,Iwenttovisit

Mr. Lidstrom. His door wasopenand I sawhimcleaningup the kitchen through thescreendoor.Hehadtheradioon as he swept the floor andheinvitedmeinandgavemeaglassofrootbeer.HehadtotakesomestuffuptotheatticandIwentupwithhim.Theirattic was full of trunks andboxes and he said a lot of

them were filled with hiswife’sthings.Hefoundaboxof old photo albums andshowed me pictures ofCharlotte’s mother and hergrandmother. Charlotteresembled her grandma, butwith darker hair. Mr.Lidstrom also had a stack ofoldsupermarkettabloids.

“They’re my guiltypleasure,” he said. We spenttheafternoonlookingthroughthe tabloids, and he let me

keep all the ones withpictures of JackBrogger andJoshHaven.

Clarkwasbugginghisdadto take him to the movieswhen I got home. Uncle StugaveinandaskedifIwantedto come along. He said Icould bring a friend sinceClarkwasbringing three,butSimone wasn’t home, so Iwentalone.WewerestandinginlinewhenIsawDeidrebythe snack counter with Pilar

and her brother. Deidre toldme both their families weregoing to Disneyland for aweek. Iwondered if itmeantConnorwouldstartgoingoutwithSimonewhenPilarleft.Ihoped Simone would inviteme todostuffwithher sincePilarwasleavingandbecausesheandMorganwerealwaysfighting.

Ofcourse,itdidn’thappenbecauseSimone’sbestfriend,AsiaMilanowski, came back

home from her vacation. Istill kept thinking Simonewouldcallme,butshedidn’t.Aunt Faith saw I was dyingofboredomoneafternoon,soshe took Lily and me to geticecream.Lilywasfussinginher stroller so we took herout. Lily started running allover theplacethesecondherfeet hit the ground. AuntFaith handed me her icecreamconeandtookoffafterher as Morgan, Asia, and

Simone walked into the icecream shop. I was holdingtwo cones and Morgansmirkedatme.

“Eat enough?” she said.Simone said “hi” to me asAunt Faith came back withLily who was covered inchocolateicecream.

“I’ve got to get hercleaned up,” she said asLilyflailed her chocolaty armsand got a smudge on mybeacht-shirt.

Morgan found thishysterical and Simone rolledher eyes. I didn’t know ifSimone was making fun ofme or not, so I went outsidewiththeicecreamtowaitformy aunt. Simone cameoutside and handedme somenapkins. She didn’t sayanything and went backinside. Aunt Faith came outten minutes later with a wetpapertowelformyshirt.Thechocolate stain smeared and

shetoldmeshe’dputitinthewash when we got home. Ididn’tevencare.Ihadboughtthe t-shirt to look cool infront of Morgan and herfriends, but it didn’t matterbecause nothing I did wasgoing to help me fit in withthem.

I went up to my room tolie down and knocked mymagazine off the bed. Ipickeditupandflippedtothearticle with Valeria, and I

realizedshewaswearinghairextensionsinalmostallofthepictures. Then I noticed hereyes were brown in somepictures and blue in others. Iwondered if Simone knewValeria wore coloredcontacts. I’d been trying sohardtolooklikeValeria,andnowIfoundoutevenValeriadidn’tlooklikeValeria.

Simonecalledmethenextday and asked me to comeover.Ifiguredsheneededme

to cover forher so shecouldgo to a party, or maybeMorganandAsiaweremadather, but theywereboth therewhenIwalkedintoherroom.

“Hi, Hadley,” Simonesaid. “Do you wantsomething to drink?” Inoticed Simone was back todrinking diet Coke again.Morganwas looking throughamagazineandSimonestuckher finger in the magazineand flipped the page back to

showmeapictureofValeria.“I love her hair in this

picture,”shesaid,pointingtoa photo of Valeria with herhaircutlikeSimone’s.

“Oh my God, are youtrying to copy her?”Morgansaid, cracking up. “Howfunny!Youaresocrazy.”

Simone laughed it off andstartedpickinghernailpolishoff. Iasked if Icould tryhereyelineronandshenodded.

“You use drugstore

makeup?” Morgan asked,wrinklinghernose.

“All the makeup artists IworkedwithinL.A.usedthiskind,” Simone said as shehandedmehereyepencil.

“Oh, you’re such anexpert. I forgot what a bigstar you are,” Morgan said,rollinghereyes.

“Valeria Joseph uses BeLashfulstufftoo,”Isaid.

“Well,shegetspaidtosayshe uses it,” Simone said.

“I’m not sure she actuallydoes.”

I guess it would explainwhy Valeria’s skin lookeddewy and perfect in the adsand mine was more on thegreasy side.My handwasn’tsteady, and I smeared theliner under my right eye.Morgan snorted when shesaw it, and I went to thebathroomtowashitoff.

“We’re going over to myhouse,” Morgan said when I

came back into the room. Iwas excited I was going toseeMorgan’shouse.

“Okay,great,”Isaid.“Yeah, so…see ya later,”

Morgan said, looking me upanddown.MystomachfellasI realized I hadn’t beeninvited, and Imadea foolofmyself by letting her know IthoughtIhadbeen.

“Um, I think I’m gonnastay here,” Simone said.Morgan stared at her. “I’m

kindoftired.”“Fine,” Morgan said.

“C’mon, Asia.” Asia got upand followed her. After theyleft, Simone made somepopcorn.Sheputabaginthemicrowave, but she wasn’tpaying attention and itburned.

“Ma,howlongdoyouputthisstuffonfor?”Hermothercame into the kitchen andopened the microwave door.Steam poured out of the

microwave and her mothersighed.

“Letme do it, okay?” hermother said. Simone backedawayandhermomheatedupa bag of popcorn for us.Wetook thepopcornback toherroomandshetoldmeshehadgottensunburnedyesterday.

“I burn fast, so I use thefake tanning stuff,” she saidas she smeared some aloemoisturizer on her cheeks.“Morganwasdrivingmenuts

thismorning.Shetoldmemyhair was starting to lookcheap and maybe I shouldhave it done professionally,and Asia sat there and saidnothing.”

“Your hair looks nice.Morgan’sprobablyjealous,”Isaid.

“Idunno.Mymom thinksMorgan looks like a photonegativebecauseherhair’ssolight and she’s so tan. Youknow, she even goes to a

tanning booth in thewinter,”shesaid.

“Why would anybodywanttobetaninthewinter?”I asked. “All you see in thewinter are your face andhands.”

“Morgan wears shortsuntil there’s snow on theground,” Simone said.“Anyway,shewantsmetogoout on Lucas’s family’s boatwith her, Nick, and Connorthisweekend.”

I asked if hermomwouldlet her go and she shrugged.As much as I would bethrilled to have Morgan askme to go anywherewith her,I’d be scared to death to gooutonaboatwiththreeguys.Simone was only a fewmonthsolderthanme,yetsheseemed so much older andmore mature. Maybe it wasbecauseshehadbeenonTV.I said she could say shewascoming over to my

grandparents’ house again ifshewanted.

“Thanks. My mom wouldfreakifsheknewIwasgoingtobeonaboatwithabunchof guys, and Lucas’s brotherisnineteen.”Sheplayedwiththe fringe on her shorts. “Idon’t evenknow if Iwant togo.”

“Why not?” I asked,passingherthepopcornbowl.

“Well, Connor didn’texactlystickupformewhen

MorganandPilargotmadatme,andhe’salwaystryingtogetmealone,”shesaid.“Pilarhasn’tevenbeengoneaweekand he’s already called andtoldmehelikedmeallalong,butMorganwantedhimtogoout with Pilar. I mean, whydidn’t he tell her he likedme?”

“Yeah.”“And Asia’s been kissing

up to Morgan so bad. She’slike her shadow now.”

Simone leaned back againstherpillow.

“Has Nick mentioned meatall?”Iasked.

“No,why?”I didn’t want to tell her

about the kiss and then findouthenowhadagirlfriendorsomething.

“Hestoppedtextingme.”“Boys are weird. Guess

what?Ifoundoutmydadandhis girlfriend are havingfireworks at their stupid

wedding.”“Whendidyou findout?”

Iasked.She said her dad had

called last night. He wantedher to be a bridesmaid at hiswedding, but he was gettingmarriedinSeptemberandshesaid she didn’t think shecouldgo.

“I’dhavetomisstwodaysof school because theydecided to get married onMackinacIsland,”shesaid.

“It’s too bad your momwon’t letyoumiss school,” Isaid.

“Well, shesaidIcouldgoif I wanted to, but I don’tthink I want to.” She pulledanother thread off her shortsand wound it around herfinger. “They’re alreadytalking about having kids.They’renotevenmarriedyetand his girlfriendwas sayingshe’d love to have a babynamedDakota.Seriously?”

“It’saprettyname,”Isaid.“It’s my grandmother’s

maidennameandmymiddlename,” she said. “Why didsheevenbringthatup,andofallthenamesintheuniverse?She’salreadygotmydad, sowhy does she have to stealmynametoo?”

Ididn’tknowwhattosay,so I offered to go refill thepopcorn bowl. She seemed alittle calmer when I cameback.

“You know the bear youhave?” she asked. “I foundmine last night. She was inthe garage. I went out thereafter I talked to my dad…Ididn’twantmymomtoknowIwasupset.”

She brought her bear outand it reminded me of Jack,but with a pink tutu on. Iaskedwhathernamewasandshemadeaface.

“I named her Glitter. Shewas my mom’s, but I liked

her better than any of mybears. I showed her to Asia,and she said Glitter seemedkinda dirty. Maybe I shouldthrow her in the wash,” shesaid, staring at the bear’sface. “But she doesn’t lookdirtytome.”

Grandma called me tocome home for dinner, butshesaidIcouldinviteSimoneover to eat. After dinner, wewentuptomyroom.Simoneloved my Jack Brogger

sticker, and she said I couldborrow the CDs of his Ididn’t already have, whichwas good because my momwouldn’t let me buy hisLivin’ in Sin album for somereason. I thought aboutbuying it here since shewasn’taround,butmymotherhadthiswayofbeingable totell when I’ve donesomethingwrong,andIknewshe’d find out. Sometimes itwas like my mother was

psychicorsomething.“IthinkJack’shot,butI’m

inlovewithJoshHaven.He’smy favorite actor,” she said.“I loved the movie he didwithAngeliaByatt.”

I hadn’t seen it because Ilooked too young to get intoR-rated movies without myparents—it was soembarrassing, but I noddedanyway.

“You know what weshould do?” she said. “We

should have a Josh moviemarathon tonight. We couldrent a bunch of Josh’smovies, andyoucould spendthenight.”

Itwasokaywithhermom,and Grandma said I couldspend the night but not to“make a pest of myself.”Simone and I got hermother’s rental card and wewentdowntown.WegotthreeJoshmoviesandthenstoppedfor slushies at the ice cream

parlor.IwantedacherrycolaslushiesoIputbothcolaandcherry flavors in my cup.Simonethoughtitwasagoodideasosheput someofeachin her cup too. We walkedpastthepizzaplaceandIsawMorgansittingatatablewithAsia. I hoped Simonewouldn’t notice them. ShewashavingfunwithmeandIdidn’t want her missing heroldfriends,butshesawthemandrolledhereyes.

“It’sgonnabeanother funschool year,” she said. “I’msosickofit.Everyyearisthesame.Somebodygetsmadatme and then they’re all madatme.ThenMorgangetsmadat somebody else and we allhavetogetmadatthem,evenif they didn’t do anything tous,”shesaid.

I thought she’d bedepressedbecauseherfriendshadgoneoutwithouther,butshe seemedokay.Oneof the

movieswasstupid,sowefastforwardedthroughitandonlywatched the parts Josh wasin. Joshwasn’t a great actor,but he had this sort of dumbbut sweet quality about himwhichmademelikehim.

“Wouldn’t Josh andValeria be a cute couple?”sheasked. “Muchbetter thanthe girl he pretends to bedating.”

“Wait,pretendstodate?”“Yeah, you know, like

thosephotosinthemagazineswhere he’s got his armaroundthatgirl.”

“Sothosearen’treal?”“When I was on the set

everyone talked about howthe studios had a deal withthisonemagazinetopromotetheir stars. So thephotographers from thatmagazine always knew whowas going to be where, andeveryonecould lookamazingintheshots.”

It was weird to know itwas all fake. I felt dumbfallingforit,sotoshowherIwasn’tsupernaïve,ItoldherI thought Valeria worecolored contact lenses andshesatuponthecouch.

“Forreal?Inevernoticed.I think you’re right though,”she said. “You know what?Last week Morgan saideverybody tellshershe lookslike Madison on CharmedLives, but Lucas’s brother

saidMadisonwasway taller.ShegotsomadandIfeltbadfor her. Not like she’s everstoodupforme.”

We slept in until noon.Simone’s mom said therewasn’tanythingdecentinthehouse for lunch and gave ussomemoneytogodowntown.Simoneletmeborrowapinkt-shirt and a pair of jeanshortswhenwewalkedtothehotdogstandandstoppedforslushies.Nickwas at the hot

dogstandwithanothergirl. Iimmediately shrank behindSimonewhenIsawhim.Sheraisedhereyebrowsatme.

“Hey, Nick, what’s up?”sheasked.

Heshrugged.“Nothing.”Thegirlhaddarkhairand

wore cat eyeliner that madeherlooksophisticated—likeadark-haired version ofMadison on Charmed Lives.The girl had an immaculatewhite sundress on, and I felt

likesuchaslobbykidnexttoher.

“Wehaven’t talkedtoyouin a while,” Simone said,squintingassheputherhanduptoblockthesun.

“Yeah,” he said and thenturnedtothegirlhewaswithand put his arm around her.“Seeyaaround.”

I felt like puking on thesidewalk. He had a newgirlfriend and I was nothingtohimnow.

“What was that?” Simoneasked as they walked away.“He’s normally, like, supersweet. And who’s thatchick?”

“Maybe I did somethingwrong,”Isaid.Myeyesfilledwith tears as I toldher aboutthekiss.

“But he was fine afterthat?”sheasked.

Inodded.“Andthenallofa sudden he stopped textingme, and Iwrotehim,butgot

noresponse,soIstopped.”“Who knows? Maybe he

got scared off. Don’t worryabout it. After all, we stillhave one Josh movie left,”she said, putting her armaround my shoulder. “Wedon’t need local boys whenwehaveourJoshie.”

Maybe she didn’t, but IreallylikedNick.Hewasthefirst guy I felt comfortablewith, and he seemed like helikedmetoo.Icouldn’tfigure

outwhatIdidwrong.“Do you think that text I

sent himweirded him out orsomething?”Iasked.

She took my phone andscrolled through ourmessages. “I dunno, nothingjumps out at me. I don’tunderstand boys though, soyou are asking the wrongperson.”

***

Later, when Grandma

called me to come home fordinner, I asked if Simonecouldeatwithus.

“Fine, but we’re havingleftovers,”Grandmasaid.

Grandma wasn’t kiddingwhen she said “leftovers.”SheandGrandpahadcleanedout the fridge. Simone and Ipiggedoutand thenwewentup to my room and Simonewenttomybooks.

“Iusedtoreadallthetime,but when I moved here Istopped. Oh my gosh, youhaveTheFaultinOurStars,”shesaid.“I loved that. I readit a couple years ago and Icried so hard when I got totheend.”

“Ihaven’t finished ityet,”Isaid.

“Don’t skip ahead. Youhavetoreadthewholething.Can I borrow itwhen you’redone?Iwanttoreaditagain,”

shesaid.Aunt Faith came upstairs

and said Mrs. Hendricksonwas on the phone. Simonewent to talk to her and shecamebackwitha funny lookonherface.

“My mom’s going on adate tonight,” she said. “Shehasn’tgoneoutwithanybodysincethedivorce.”

Aunt Faith asked if shewanted to stay over tonightand she nodded and went to

callhermomback.“Mom said I could stay,

and I have my key so I cangetmystuff,”shesaid,sittingontheedgeofmybed.

Grandma said we couldsleep in the living room, butwewerebothprettysoreaftersleepingonthefloorthenightbefore and we decided tosleep in my bed. I hadn’tshared a bed with anyonesinceIwaslittleandIhopedIwouldn’t kick her in my

sleep. She told me not toworry and said she was ablanket hog. She fell asleeppretty fast, but I stared up atthe ceiling, wondering whoNick’s new girlfriend wasand what she had that Ididn’t.

ChapterSixteen

My parents decided to

cometoGrandHavenaweekearly. They hadn’t told methey were coming, but mygrandparents didn’t seemsurprised. Oh well, it wouldbe a good distraction to getme over my Nick heartache.Mom noticed my earringsright away, but she didn’tseem too worried about it.Grandmatoldmyparentsshe

hadnothingtodowithit,andAuntFaith rolled her eyes atme.Theybroughtmeapeachsweatshirtwith “Toronto” onit and a charm bracelet. Dadasked if I had been having agood time, and I told themabout hanging out withCharlotteandSimone.

“Well,I’mgladyoulikeithere, because your motherand I have been talking, andwe’ve been thinking aboutmoving here,” he said. “Mr.

Stevens has been looking forsomeonetomanagetheofficehereandwe thought itmightbeanicechange,”hesaid.“Itwas part of the reasonGrandpawantedyoutocomeforavisit.”

I was confused, because Ihadbeendreadinggoingbacktomyoldschool,butIwasn’tsure if I was ready to startover in a new school. Ofcourse, I’d have Charlottehere, and I didn’t have any

friends I was leaving backhome.Plus,SimoneandIhadbecome closer, but I wasn’tsureifshe’dwanttohangoutwithme once school started.She said she and her friendsgot into fights all the time,but then they always madeup.MaybeIwouldn’tbecoolenough for Simone to hangout with once we got toschool. Plus, now there wasalltheweirdnessbetweenmeandNick.

“We foundaplacenearbyfor rent,” Dad said. “So wethought we’d come back alittle early to get thepaperworktakencareof.Youand Mom can go home andpack up the rest of the stuffwhileIgetthingssettledherewith the house and my newjob.”

IcalledSimone to tellhermynews,butshewascryingwhen she answered. She hadfound outMorgan had taken

Asia to go to Cedar Pointewithher.

“Morgan’s family goeseach year before Labor Day,and she always asks me togo,”shesaid.“Italkedtoheryesterdayandeverythingwasfine,butIcalledAsia’shousetoday and her mom told mewheretheywere.”

We talked for a fewminutes and I told her Iwasmoving. She said she’d helpme fix upmy room, and she

seemedsortaexcitedabout itwhen I leftwithmymom togoback toGoodacre topackupthehouse.

***

Once we were back in

Goodacre, I started to feel alittle sad about leaving myoldroom.Ididn’tknowifournew house was going to bebig enough for all of our

stuff, butMomsaidweweregoing to store stuff at mygrandparents’ house. Themovers were loading ourfurniture into their truck andMom asked if there wasanyoneIwantedtoseebeforeweleft.TheonlypersonIhadhung around with after LeximovedwasJennifer…andtheschool nurse. I shook myhead.

“Will you run down thestreet to Foodies and get

some more boxes?” Momasked. I stopped to put onsome lip gloss in case I ranintoanyonewhileIwasthere.

“Pick up some soda popwhileyou’rethere,”shesaid,giving me some money. “Ican’tgetusedtoyouwiththisnewhaircut and thosebangs.It’s cute though. You look alot older. Guess you won’tneedmetobuythoseR-ratedmovieticketsforyounow.”

“Veryfunny,”Isaidasshe

laughed.I walked into the store,

saw Brittany and Isabellaoverby themagazines, and Iwalked right back out. Myheart was racing, and it feltlike itwasgoing to jumpoutof my chest. I had beenfeeling pretty confidentlately, well, for me anyway,and I was not going to letBrittany bring me down. Iwasabout toturnaroundandgo home when I decided I

had nothing to lose. Even ifBrittany spit in my face, itwouldn’t matter, because Iwas moving and I wouldnever have to see her stupidface ever again. I went backinto the store and walkedright past them. They didn’teven notice me. I got theboxes and soda and was onmy way to the checkoutcounter when I like, flippedout or something. I don’tknow what happened to me,

but I walked over to wherethey were looking atmagazines and said, “Hi,Isabella.”

“Hey,” she said, squintingat me. “Oh, hi, Hadley. Ialmost didn’t recognize you.You cut your hair. It looksgood.”

Brittany didn’t sayanything,soItoldthemIwasmoving to Grand Havenbecausemy dad got a job inSpringLake.

“Oh, cool,” Isabella said.“It’llbeweirdhavingtomakenewfriendsthough.”

Brittanyrolledhereyes.“Actually, I’ve met a ton

of people there. You knowtheshowDuncan’s Corner?”I asked. Isabella nodded, butBrittany sighed. “Well, I’mfriends with the girl whoplayed Abby. She lives nextdoortomygrandparents.”

Brittany didn’t sayanything, but Isabella’s eyes

almost popped out of herhead.“Seriously?Letmegiveyoumye-mailaddresssowecan keep in touch. Brit, doyouhaveapen?”

Brittany glanced in herpurseandsaidshedidn’thaveoneinaboredvoice.

“It’s okay,” I said. “Ibarelyhavetimeto textore-mailanyway.”

“Hold on,” Isabella said,running up to the servicecounter toborrowapen.She

wrote her address on a scrapofpaperandgaveittome.

“So what’s Abby like?”sheasked.

“Abby? Oh, you meanSimone,” I said. “She’s cool,andshespentthenight.Well,actually, I spent the night atherhouse,andthenshecameovertomyhouse.Anyway,Igotta go. We’re leavingtoday. Have fun in school,guys.”

As I walked away I

thought about how we hadgone to school together foryears and she had neverbothered to getmy e-mail orphone number before. Iconsidered throwingIsabella’s e-mail addressaway. After all, she didn’twant to be my friend whenshehad thechance.SheonlylikedmenowbecauseofwhoI knew, not who I was, andthat hurt. But two thingsstopped me— although

Isabella didn’t stick up forme, she was never mean tome. She didn’t deserve meacting that way toward her.And second, I overheardBrittany say, “She’s such aliar. She doesn’t know her.”So I decided I’d e-mailIsabella some pictures ofmewithSimone.

ChapterSeventeen

Mom and I went back to

Grand Haven and startedmovingour furniture into thenew house. It was a tallbrownhouse,whichwasbuiltintothehill.Youhadtowalkup a long staircase to get tothefrontdoor,andthegaragewasrightonthestreet.Itwasa street over from GrandmaandGrandpa’shouse.

“These stairs are going to

betreacherousinthewinter.”Grandma shuddered.“Remember, we get moresnow because of the lakeeffect.”

The house wasn’t as niceasouroldhouseinGoodacre,butitwascozier.Therewasabrick fireplace in the familyroom, a screened-in porchwhich overlooked the trees,and a walkout basement.Evenmygrandparents’housedidn’t have one of those.

Therewasonebedroomwithugly roosterwallpaper, but ithad a great view. You couldalmost see the lake throughthetreesifyousquintedhardenough.Momsaiditcouldbemy room, but evenDad saidwe would have to paint itbecausetheroosterpaperwassougly.

Mr.Lidstromwaitedtoletme tell Charlotte we hadmoved. Shewas surprised toseemewhenherbusdropped

her off. Originally, I wassupposed to have gone backtoGoodacrebynow.

“Myparentsdecidedwe’regoingtomovehere,”Isaid.

“No way! You’rekidding,” she said. “Are yougoing to live with yourgrandparents?”

“Well, I’m staying therenow because our place isn’treadyyet,butwegotahouseonAnthonyStreet.”

“How cool. Will you be

going to Watson too?” sheasked.

Momhadalreadytalkedtosomeone at Watson HighSchool, andall Iknewwas Iwas in Mrs. Feldman’shomeroom. She asked hergrandpa if her roomassignment card had comeyet. We checked it, but shewasinMr.Chang’sroom.

“I hope we have lunchtogether,”Isaid.

“There’s only one lunch

period.”“Ohwow, I didn’t realize

it was such a small school.Well,thenIhopeIdon’thaveany classes with Pilar orMorgan,”Isaid.

“I was Pilar’s lab partnerlastyear.”

I thought it was strangethey had been lab partnerssincePilarhadbarelyspokentoCharallsummer.Charlottewas exhausted, so I wentback toGrandpa’shouseand

Simone came over. She wasinMrs. Feldman’s room too,but Pilar, Morgan, and Asiawere all in Mr. Chang’sroom.

“Life is so unfair,” shesaid. “My mom already saidit might be a goodopportunity to meet newpeople.Howlame,”shesaid.“But she said she’d take meto the mall in Spring Laketomorrow to get some newschoolclothes.Doyouwanna

come?”Mom gave me some

money and so did Grandma,who told me not to buyanything, “too short, toorevealing, or cheap-looking,and don’t spend all yourmoney.”

***

Simone’smompickedme

up at ten o’clock. Mrs.

Hendrickson stopped to getgasandgaveusmoneytogeta soda. Simone was back todrinking regular soda again,andshesaidsheneededtogetnew jeans and wanted somenewshoes.Sheshowedmeapicture she had cut out fromTeen Vogue magazine of apair of baby-blue glitter andsuede Skechers sneakers. Icouldneverhavepulledthemoff. Even Isabella Bowmancouldn’t have pulled them

off,butthey’dlookperfectonSimone.Hermomdroppedusoffatthedoorandsaidshe’dmeet us for lunch at oneo’clock in front of the gianthamburger statue. SimonesuggestedweheadtoMacy’sfirsttolookaroundandcheckeverythingout.

“I have to get a newbackpack,”shesaid.“Myoldoneisgross.”

Shepickedoutabackpackwithpinkwritingonit,butit

wastooexpensive.Shefoundapinkone she liked,but sheworried it would be toocutesy with her hair color.Then she pulled out a baby-blueDKNYbackpack,whichwasbeautiful,butsupersmalland meant to be used as apurseandnotaschoolbag.

“Um, there’s no wayyou’dbeabletofitanybooksinto that,” I said. “It’s cute,but…”

Maybe you’re right,” she

said,dumpingitintothepile.AtGoodacreAcademy,all

the girls carried bags. Onlythe boys used backpacks. Itried on a purple one and itfelt weird to have somethingover both shoulders. Simoneshook her head at me andpushed one of the straps offmyshoulder.

“You sling it over oneside,” she said. “Only kidswearitoverbothshoulders.”

Simone decided to buy a

light blue one and I boughtthe same one in purple. Wetriedon jeansnextand I toldher Iwasn’t allowed towearthematmyoldschool.

“I’ddie if I couldn’twearjeans,” she said. “I live inthem.”

I’ve always hatedshoppingforschoolclothes.Ieven used to avoid going tothegrocerystoreonceAuguststarted because seeing allthose “Back to school” signs

mademeallqueasy.Iwassoused to shopping with mymom for clothes, I didn’teven knowwhat size Iwore.Simonehad to turndownthebackofmyjeanstocheckthesizeforme.SheheadedtotheJuicy Couture rack andpickedoutabunchofstufftotry on, so I grabbed a fewthingsandstartedtoheadintoadressingroom.

“Wait,” she said. “Let’sgetabigroomandwecantry

onstufftogether.”I felt kind of weird about

changing in front of her,especially since BrittanyBuchanan had made fun ofmy underwear. I had startedwearing a better bra sincethen, but I truthfully didn’tneedtosinceIhadnothingtofillitout.Simonedidn’tseemtomindandtossedhert-shirtinthecorner.Ofcourse,Ihadseen her in a bikini beforewhich was kind of like

underwear,soshedidn’thaveanything toworryabout.Shepulled on a pair of jeans,tugged on a white turtlenecksweater and flipped herstraightblondehairoutoftheneck.

“Okay, yeah. I’m gonnaget these,” she said as shechecked herself out fromeveryangle.“Morganalwaysasksme if her butt looksbigwhenshebuysjeans.Ialwayssay she looks perfect even if

they don’t because it’s notworthdealingwithhercrap.”

“Morgan kind of looksgood in everything anyway,”Isaid.

Simone nodded. “Yeah,yet she’ll purposely tell meand Asia we should buysomething that doesn’t lookgoodonus.Likeonetimeshetold Asia to get a largesweater, when she wasswimming in thebigger size.Asialookedwaybetterinthe

fittedsweated,anditwaslikeMorgan wanted her to looklike a sack of potatoes. Andshe did the same thing withme—she told me I lookedlike I outgrew this sweater Itriedonandmadeitseemlikeit looked too tight, but it fitperfect. I hate her mindgames,youknow?”

“I’ve only shopped withmybestfriend,Lexi,andsheand I were always superhonest about howwe looked

instuff.Ican’timaginetryingto figure out if someonewastellingmethewrongthingsotheycouldlookcuterthanme—that’ssoweird.”

“It’s psycho,” Simonesaid, glaring at her reflectioninthemirror.“DonottellherI said that though. Seriously,Hadley,evenifyougetsupermad at me, don’t ever tellMorganIsaidthatabouther.Promise?Okay?”

“Promise.”

IboughtaredsweaterandapairofDKNYjeans. Iwasglad I found the jeanson thesalerack,becauseotherwiseIwould have spent all mymoney on them. We wereheading to the shoedepartmentwhenshegrabbedmyarm.

“Let’s get some newmakeupforschool,”shesaid.

We went over to theCosmic Powders makeupcounter and the clerk picked

out apink shimmergloss forSimone and a blush-coloredglossforme.Simonetoldmeshe read Keri Ritchie hadworn the same color in herlatestmovie.Thewomansaidwegotagiftwithpurchaseifwe spent eighteen-fifty. Itseemed like aweird amount,especially since they didn’thave anything which costeighteen dollars and fiftycents. The lip gloss wasthirteen dollars, so Simone

boughtaneyelinerpencil,andI bought some pink blushSimone sworeKeri used too,so we could both get a freegift. As soon as we left thestore, we went to sit downand look at our free stuff.There was a small bottle ofperfume, a tube of raspberrylip stain, some mascara,something called “clarityserum,” and a little jar ofmoisturizer.

“Don’t tell my mom how

much we spent,” she said.“She’dfreakoutifsheknewIspent so much on makeup.We’re supposed to be onsome stupid budget now‘causeI’mnotworking.”

“Are you thinking aboutgoing back to acting?” Iasked.

“Dunno. Hey, let’s go tothe bathroom to put on ournew glosses before we meetmy mom,” she said, tuggingmyarm.

After lunch, Simone tookme to a jewelry place andhelpedmepickoutthreepairsof earrings. I even found apair that were like someValeria owned.As I paid formyearrings,InoticedSimonewasbusytexting.

“So I have something totell you and not sure how. Ifound out from Asia whyNickhasbeenactingsoweirdand started dating that girl,”shesaid.

“Why?”“RememberIsaidMorgan

likes to keep him as abackup?”

“Yeah,so?He’snotgoingoutwithher.”

“Well, apparentlyMorgantoldhimyouhadaboyfriendbackinGoodacreandthatsheheard you talking to him onthe phone at the Fourth ofJulyparty,”Simonesaid.

“Oh man—the night wekissed?”

“Yup, Asia said he wassuper upset about it andcalledhisexafterthat.Thereis good news though,” shesaid.

“How? How could therebe good news? Unless yousayhisexisgoingto liveonthe space station and has noplans to come back to earthanytimesoon.”

“Asia says he isn’t superinto that girl, her name isReagan,andshethinksit’sall

someegothingforhimanditwon’t last,” Simone said.“I’m really sorry, but it didbackfireonMorganwithhimasking that Reagan girl backout.”

I shrugged and SimonetoldmethatatleastIcouldbeassured it wasn’t anything Idid wrong, but it didn’t hurtanyless.

“Do you mind if we gohome now?” I asked. “I’mnot in a shopping mood

anymore.”She nodded and put her

armaroundme.

***Aunt Faith liked all the

stuff I bought when I gothome, but Grandma thoughtmyjeansweretooexpensive,so I didn’t tell her about themakeup. I hoped I’d fit in atmynewschoolbecauseIsure

never felt like I fit in at myoldone.

ChapterEighteen

Grandpa and Dad had

started painting our newhouse and they decided totearupall thecarpetingafterMom foundadeadmouse inthe kitchen. Dad made mepromise not to tell Grandmaabout the mouse because hethought she’d completelyfreakoutand lose it. Ididn’tmind staying at mygrandparents’ house, but

Mom was going crazy. Shesaid she liked GrandmaDaniels, but she liked her alot more when we lived twohours and forty-five minutesawayfromher.

“Excited about schooltomorrow?”AuntFaithaskedme.

My stomach flip-flopped.“Um, no,” I said. “More liketerrified.”

“You’ll be fine. It’s asmall school, so not as

intimidating as your old one.That’ssomething,right?”

I nodded andwent to callSimone toaskwhat Ineededtobringonthefirstday.

“Makesure tobring lunchmoney, because only losersbring their lunch, and bringlip gloss and breathmints incasewe get cute guys in ourclass, and a hair thingy incaseyourhairgoes flat,” shesaid.

“I meant like, school

supplies.”“Oh, a notebook or some

paper,”shesaid.“IguessI’mgonna like, need a pen orsomething.”

IcalledCharlotte,andshetold me to bring a numbertwo pencil, some erasablepens, a binder for math, afive-subject notebook,folders,aredpen,aruler,andaboxoftissues.

“Anddon’tforget tobringyour lunch,” she said. “The

cafeteriafoodisgross.”Ididn’twanttolooklikea

loser, but I made a turkeysandwich to stick in mybackpackincasethecafeteriawasservingsomethingweird.I packed my backpack andwent to bed. I stared at theceiling for hours. I was sonervous about starting thetenth grade. I mean, I gotnervous at the start of eachschool year, but at least inGoodacre, I already knew

thosepeople.HowwouldIdoinaschoolwhereIonlyknewacoupleofpeople?Andwhatif Charlotte was wrong andthey decided to split up thelunchperiods?I’ddieifIhadto eat lunch in the bathroomagain.

***

I was completely stressed

out the next morning.

Grandmamadewaffles,but IonlyateabiteandIthrewupfrom nerves right beforeCharlotte came over to pickme up. Mom talked to herwhile I brushed my teeth toget rid of the vomit taste.Mom had to go with me tomake sure all my files frommy old school had arrived.I’d asked Simone if shewanted a ride to school, butshe was getting a ride fromAsia’smother.

“I cannot wait until nextyearwhenwe’llbeallowedtodrivetoschool,”shesaid.

Mom pulled up to theschoolandI feltmystomachlurchagain.Ifeltdumbgoinginto school with my mother,butitwassortofnicetohaveherthere.Thesecretaryintheoffice said all my stuff hadcome in so Charlotte walkedme to class. Simone wasalready sitting by thewindows,soIsatbehindher.

She had worn an H&M jeanskirtandapinkshirtwithherstraw sandals. I hadn’t evenrealized we could wearsandals to school. I wouldhave gotten sent home if Iwore sandals at my oldschool.

Our teachercame inandIstartedtorelax.Mrs.Feldmanhad short red hair, and shereminded me of the nurse atGoodacre Academy. ThedooropenedasMrs.Feldman

readoffournames.“Oops, sorry I’m late,”

said a voice, and in walkedNick’snewgirlfriendlookingrunway flawless.Oh, killmenow. No, this was nothappening.

Mrs. Feldman asked thegirl what her namewas, andshe said Reagan O’Hara.Reagan walked over and satrightinfrontofSimone.Mrs.Feldmanmade us take a testto see what we had learned

lastyear.Iwasfinishingupastory problem when I heardReagan whisper to Simonethatshelovedhersandals.

“Thanks, they’re SteveMadden,”Simonesaid.

“I know, see?” Reaganstuck her foot out into theaisleandshewaswearingthesame pair of strappy redsandals with a flower on theside. Meanwhile, I waswearing a pair of pinksneakers that made me look

likeIwasgoingtoplaygroupor something. The bell rangand I leaned over to pick upmy backpack. I got up andSimone and Reagan werewalking out together. Whatwas this? She was going tohangoutwithReagannow?

I got lost looking for myEnglish class and walked inlate.Theteacherglaredatmeover her glasses as I tried tofindanemptyseat.Iendedupsitting behind Pilar and

Morgan. The teacher, Mrs.Simpson, told us we weregoing to have free readingdays every Friday. Pilarsighed, and she and Morganexchanged a look. Pilar keptflipping her long blackponytail on my desk while Iwas trying to takenotes.Herhair smelled like HerbalEssence shampoo. I metCharlotte and Deidre outsideof the lunchroom when thebell rang. I went looking for

Simone, but she was alreadyin line with Asia. Thecafeteria was serving chilianditsmelledlikebodyodor.

“Did you bringsomething?”Charlotteasked.

I nodded and followedthem to a table. Deidre andCharlotte had almost everyclass together,but Ionlyhadone class with Charlotte. Isaw Simone paying thecashier and I tried to get herattention.Shedidn’t lookup,

and she andAsiawent to sitwithMorgan andPilar.ThenI saw Simone look up andstart waving. I started to getupand then realized shewaswavingReaganover, thegirlshehadonlyknownforaboutfive minutes and was myalmost boyfriend’s newgirlfriend. Was there noloyaltyanywhere?

I had social studies withSimone,soIsavedheraseat.Simonewalkedintotheroom

with Reagan and I motionedto her. Simone said shepromised to sit with Reagantoo.

“You want to sit withNick’sgirlfriend?”Iasked.

“From what I’ve heard,she doesn’t even know hewasevertalkingtoyou.Theybrokeupmonthsagoandshewent to Traverse City for afew weeks, and she cameback after the whole Fourthof July party thing,” Simone

said. “See? She’s totallyinnocentinallofthis.”

“How long did they datebefore?”Iasked.

“Well…theyweretogetherlast summer, I guess. Shedoesn’t normally live hereyear round, so that’s why Ididn’t knowher. She’s supersweetthough.”

Sweet? She didn’t seemsweet to me. Although Iguess I couldn’t hate her forcoming in between me and

Nick since she technicallyhadn’t,right?

“Well…maybe we can allsit together,” I said, lookingaround for three empty seatstogether.

“Simone, over here,”Reagan said, pointing to twoemptyseatson theothersideoftheroom.

Simone said we could sittogether in science class,which was next period. Inodded, but for now I was

stuck sitting by myself.Maybe I could get to classearly tomorrow and saveseatsforthethreeofus.

Our teacher, Ms.Crawford, passed out ourtextbooks and startedwritingon the board. I couldn’t payattention because I waswatchingReaganandSimonewhispering to each other.They had known each otherforonedayandwerealreadyacting like best friends. At

least Simone remembered towaitformeafterclass.

“I heard Mr. Martin istough,” Simone said as wewalkedtothescienceroom.

The room had little tablesfor two instead of regulardesks. I stopped in thedoorwayandbitmylip.

“I’ll sit at a table withHadley, and Reagan, you sitbehindus,”Simonesaid.

I felt relief, but Reagan’slipsformedastraightlineand

shelookedlikeshewantedtosaysomething.

“Okay,people.Weneedtopick labpartners—onlyworkingroupsoftwo,gotit?”Mr.Martinsaid.

Reaganmoveduptoworkwithus,andIhoped thatourlittlegroupofthreewouldflyunderMr.Martin’sradar.Wewere working on filling abottle with vinegar andbaking soda. Reagan andSimoneweretryingtogetthe

balloon on the bottle whenMr.Martincameover.

“Girls,wehaveanunevennumber here and I need oneof you to work with MaxWright,”hesaid.

I hoped Reagan wouldoffer togosinceSimonehadagreedtositwithme,butshedidn’t say a word, and Mr.Martin askedme if I’dmindmoving.

Ididn’tknowwhattosay.I wanted to say Simone was

my partner and I shouldn’thave to leave, but I got upandmoved to work with theshort, funny-lookingkidwhosmelledlikehamandrubbingalcohol. Ihopedhe’dat leastknowwhathewasdoing,butI had to do thewhole lab bymyselfwhile he stared at hisshoes. I could hear Reaganand Simone laughing on theother sideof the room.Theirballoon had blown up like itwassupposedto,butourshad

onlysprayedfoamonus.Mybrand new shirt was soakedwithvinegaranditstunk.Thebell rang, and I had to cleanup by myself because Maxhadleft.

Charlotte savedme a seatin our next class. We wereworking on the first chapterwhenmyeraserfelloutofmypenandIaskedCharlotteifIcould borrow hers. She tookoffherpencapandInoticedthe ring she was wearing. It

was a pinky-peach color andmadefromaseashell.

“That’s pretty. Where didyougetthering?”Iasked.

“Deidregotitformewhenshe was on vacation,” shesaid, twisting the ring on herfinger.“Shehasonetoo.”

Great, sheandDeidrehadmatchingrings,Simonehadafabulous new friend, and Ihadhamboyforalabpartner.This schoolyearwasalreadycrappy and it was only the

first day, whichmeant I stillhad to come back tomorrow.Ugh.

“Do you want to comeover after school?” Charlotteasked. “Deidre and I aregoing to do our homeworktogether.”

“Iguess,”Isaid.We went to Charlotte’s

house and all I heard aboutwas how Deidre andCharlotte had all the sameassignmentssincetheyhadso

many classes together. Oh,how precious. Gag. Theyworkedtogether,andIhadtodo allmywork bymyself. Icalled Simone when I gotback to my grandparents’house, but hermom said shewas at Asia’s house. Mrs.Hendrickson said she’d haveSimonecallmewhenshegothome, but she never calledmeback.

ChapterNineteen

Simone was already in

class and talking to Reaganwhen I got there the nextmorning.

“Igotyourmessage,but Igot home too late to callyou,”shesaid.

She started to saysomething else, but Reagantapped her arm to get herattention. Iwanted tosee if Icouldeatlunchwithher,butI

was afraid to ask. Instead, IatewithDeidreandCharlotte,and theywere tellingme thisfunny story about theirscience class. It didn’t seemfunny to me, but I tried tolaugh. I hurried to get tosocial studies so I could sitnext to Simone, and I savedseats for both Simone andReagan. They spent most ofthe hour whispering to eachother and Simone barelyspoketome.

I was dreading scienceclassandhavingtositnexttoMax. He was already at ourlabtable,andhewaswearinga pair of plaid shorts thatmade his legs look shorterand whiter than usual. Wehad another lab assignment,and Max broke a test tube.Mr.Martinsaidwe’dhavetostayaftertofinishthelab,butMax said he rode the bushome. So I was now stuckdoing the whole thing. I

bangedmy stuff on the deskwhenIgottomynextclass.

“What’s the matter?”Charlotteasked.

“I have to stay afterbecause my idiot lab partnermessedupourproject.”

“Simone?”“No,thisguynamedMax.

Willyoustayafterwithme?”Iasked.

“I would, but I promisedDeidre I’d go over to herhouse.You could come over

whenyou’redone,”shesaid.“Whendid sheaskyou to

comeover?”“I dunno. This morning.

Why?”sheasked.I shrugged and said, “No

reason.” Deidre could haveaskedmetocomeoverwhenshe saw me at lunch, but itwas obvious she wantedCharlotte all to herself. Ithought this year would bedifferent,butmaybe Iwasn’tmeanttohavefriends.

***

Charlotte got sick the

following week and wasabsent.Isatatourusualtableat lunch, but Deidre went tositwithsomeothergirls.Shedidn’t even come over andask me to join her. My facegot hot, and I crumpled upmysandwichandwenttothebathroom. I stayed in there

until the bell rang and calledCharlotte after school to seehowshewasfeeling.

“I have pneumonia,” shesaid. “Itwasmy first chancetowatchCharmedLivessinceschoolstartedandIsleptrightthroughit.”

“Whendoyouthinkyou’llbebackatschool?”Iasked.

“Notforawhile.”“Wow, I hope you feel

better. I can get yourhomeworkforyouanddropit

off.”“Don’t worry about it.

Deidre said she’ll bring ithome for me. She’s in mostofmyclassesanyway,soit’seasierforhertogetit.”

I got off the phone andGrandmaaskedmewhatwaswrong. I told her and sheblewitoff.

“Let the other girl bringher the homework. Whywould you want to go overthere and catch her germs?”

sheasked.“You’reluckyyoudon’t have to be exposed topneumonia.”

I wouldn’t have mindedgetting sick and missing afewdaysofschool.Ithoughtthisschoolyearwasgoingtobe different because I hadCharlotte and Simone, but Iwasstillalone.

I went over to the newhouse and Dad had finishedmy room.Thehouse smelledlike sweat and paint, and I

pulledmyshirtovermynosewhenIwent intomyroom.Iwanted a yellow room andevenpickedoutasoftyellowcarpet, but we found a bigstain on the wall when theyremoved the roosterwallpaper.Theypaintedoverit, but the stain still showedthrough the yellow paint.Aunt Faith knew I had myheart set on having thewallsyellow,andshesuggestedwepaint two of the walls a

different color. Grandpa hadsome leftover lilac paint inhis garage, so they paintedboth the stainedwall and thewall across from it lilac.Grandmadidn’tlikeit,sayingit, “Was like a cheap Easteregg.” Aunt Faith remindedheritwasn’therroom.

Simone told me she’d gowith me to buy stuff for mybedroom, but she was neverhomewhenIcalled.ShewaseitherwithMorgan,Pilar,and

Asia, or her new friendReagan.

“Dad,when canwemovemyfurniturein?”Iasked.

“Notforacoupleofdays,”hesaid.“Howdoyoulikethepurple?”

It was pretty, but I stillcouldn’t picture it as mybedroom. Also, I hadunpacked my dollhouse, andMom said I’d either have tostoreitinthegarageandriskit getting moldy and bug

infested in there, or I keep itinmyroom.Ihadoutgrownityearsago,butIdidn’tliketheidea of something that hadonce been so special to mesitting in a damp garage. IknewCharlottewould like it,but I didn’t know if Simonewouldbe comingover, and Ididn’twanthertothinkIwassome immaturekid.Maybe Icouldputitinthebackofthecloset.

Simone called when I

came back to mygrandparents’ house andwanted me to come over. Iasked Aunt Faith if I could,but she toldme towait untilafter dinner. I hoped Simonewouldn’t call somebody elseinthemeantime.

“I’ll come as soon as I’mfinishedeating,”Isaid.

“Okay. Whatever,”Simonesaid.

I sped through dinner andran over to her house.

Grandma was convinced I’dthrowupbeforeIreachedherhouse, but my dinner stayeddown. Simone said hermomwasoutonanotherdatewith“Bob, the giant loser.” Wewent to her room and Inoticedherbear,Glitter,wasstuckunderneathherblanket.

“Did you see the skirtMorganwaswearing today?”sheasked. “I’msurprised theprincipal didn’t send herhome.”

I didn’t think Morgan’sskirt was too short, but Inodded.

“Youknow,MorganaskedReagan to go shopping withher this weekend, and shedidn’t even invite Asia andme,”shesaid.

“Is Pilar going too?” Iasked.

“Ofcourse,‘causeMorgancan’t go anywhere withouther shadow.” She rolled hereyes. “Morgan’s had an

attitudeproblemlately.”I wanted to say, “Only

lately,” but I knew they’deventually make up anddidn’t want to chance mycomment getting back toMorgan.

We started playing withhermakeup, and she toldmeshe had taken the clarityserum from our free gift anduseditonhereyelids.

“See? It gives a nice littleshimmer,” she said, closing

her eyes. I put some on myeyes,butitmademylidslookoily.

Simonewantedmetostayuntilhermomgothome.Mrs.Hendrickson didn’t get homeuntil nine, and I ended uphaving to stay up late tofinishmyhomework.

ChapterTwenty

Simone sat with me at

lunch because Morgan wasmad at her for copying hernail polish. Simone’s polishwaspalepinkandIdidn’tseewhatwassouniqueaboutit.Iasked if Pilar and Asia weremadathertoo.

“No, but they kind of goalong with whatever shesays,”shesaid.

Reagancameoverand sat

down across from Simoneand started squirting aketchup packet all over herfries. Reagan was wearing ajean skirt with a lilac top,which matched her lace upsandals. She seemed morelike a model than a tenthgrader.Simonehadjeansanda t-shirt on like me, exceptherswerecuter, trendier,andmade her look a lot older. Imadeadecisiontowearsomemakeup other than lip gloss

and blush tomorrow. MaybeSimone could show me howto put on eyeliner again or Icould try the serum stuff onmylids.Iwassickoflookingyoungerthaneverybodyelse.

Simone wanted to knowwhat Morgan had said whenReagan told her she wassitting with us. Reaganshrugged.

“Whatever, nobody tellsme who I can and can’t sitwith,”shesaid.

I could tell Simone wasimpressed, because nobodyeverstooduptoMorgan.

“Are you still goingshopping with themtomorrow?”Simoneasked.

“Yeah.Doyouwantmetotalk to her or something?”Reaganasked.

“Nah, she’d get mad, butmaybe we could dosomething tonight,” Simonesaid.

“Oh, Pilar and I are

spending the night atMorgan’s.” She shrugged.“Sorry.”

I wished Simone wouldaskme to do something, butshe went back to eating herlunch.

We walked back to classand Simone and Reaganpassednotesallhour.IhopedMs. Crawford would catchthemandmakeReaganmovetoanotherseatwayacrosstheroom,butsheneverdid.

Max wasn’t in scienceclass and Mr. Martin let mework with Simone andReagan. Simone went to thebathroomand I tried to thinkof something to say toReagan,butshehadthiswayofmakingmefeellikealittlekid.

“Ilikeyourskirt,”Isaid.“Huh? Oh, thanks. My

boyfriend loves when I wearit,”shesaid,andmystomachflipped over. “Can you hand

methebeaker?”sheasked.I went to pick up the

beaker, but I knocked it overand water went everywhere.Fabulous, IhadbecomeMaxWright. I went to get somepaper towels, which Reagansnatchedfrommetowipeherskirt.

“I’msosorry,”Isaid.“Do you knowhowmuch

this cost? It’s Topshop,” shesnapped. “Don’t stand there,you moron, get some paper

towels.”Simone came back and

askedwhathappened.ReaganrolledhereyesasIwipedoffthe table. Reagan’s notesweresoaked,butallshecaredabout was her stupid skirt.ThebellrangandIhurriedtofinish cleaning everything. Igrabbed my backpack andrushedintothehall.IranintoMorgan and knocked herbackpack strap off hershoulder.

“Watch where you’regoing,spaz,”shesaid.

Asia and Pilar didn’t sayanything, and I put my headdownandhurriedtoclass.

***

I called Charlotte as soon

as I got home, but she wasasleep. Simone called andasked me to come overbecause her mom was going

outwithBobagain.Can you showme how to

put on eyeliner again?” Iasked as I sat on the floor.She traced my eyes andstarted smudging the linewith a cotton swabwhen thephone rang. It was Asiaasking if Simone wanted togotoamovietonight.

“Okay, do you want tomeet at the theater?” Simoneasked. I stared at my handswhiletheytalked.

“Okay,we’llmeet you in,like, ten minutes,” she saidand hung up the phone.“Hadley,doyouwant to callyourmomandmakesureyoucango?”

“Gowhere?”Iasked.“To the movies. Duh.

Don’t you want to go?” sheasked.

I nodded and she went tochange. I ran to mygrandparents’ house, butAunt Faith was the only one

there. She gave me somemoneyforthemovieandtoldme to callmy dad for a ridehomebecauseshedidn’twantus walking home at night.Asiawaswaiting outside thetheaterforus.

Themovie theywanted tosee was rated “R” and Iwasn’tsureiftheywouldsellmeaticket.AsiaandSimonelooked old enough to get in,but I wasn’t so sure.However, theguybehind the

counter didn’t seem to careabout age restrictions—eitherthat or my new haircut didmake me look older likeMomsaid.WegotsodasandSimonesatbetweenus.

The movie was kind ofscary,andIhadtolookatthefloor when the tree came tolifeandatethekids.InoticedAsiahadherheaddowntoo.

After the movie, we wentto the pizza place. Weordered a medium pepperoni

pizza and a pitcher of Coke.SimonewenttothebathroomwhileAsiadrainedhersoda.

“So that was pretty scary,huh?”Isaid.

“Hmm? Oh, the movie.Yeah,” she said, using herstraw to chip the ice at thebottomofherglass.

“It freaked me out whenthetreecametolife,”Isaid.

“Ohmygosh.Yes,butI’mawimpabout thosemovies,”shesaid.“IwatchedCaboose

of Horror at Morgan’s twoweeks ago, and I’m stillhavingnightmares.”

She flipped her longbrownhairoverher shoulderand leaned on her arm. I feltlikeIwasboringherandtriedto come up with somethingelsetosay.

“Ilikeyourjeans,”Isaid.“Doyou?Forreal?”I nodded. “They’re super

cute.”She bit her lip. “Morgan

told me they made my hipslook wide. I only wore ‘embecause I’m bloated. Geez,why is it taking so long tomake our pizza? There’snobodyinhere.”

“Hey,Lucasisoverthere,”Isaid.

“Where?”“With the girl in the

striped shirt. Does he have anewgirlfriend?”Iasked.

“Um, not according toMorgan,”shesaid.“Ohman,

he’s got his arm around thatchick too. Morgan wouldfreakifshesawhim.”

“Are you gonna tell her?”Iasked.

She widened her greeneyes. “Noway. She’d take itoutonmelikeitwasmyfaultor something. I’m going topretend I didn’t even seethem.”

“Hey,Asia,”Lucassaidashewalkedout thedoor.Asiagavehimaweaksmile.

“Ohno,nowifhetellsherhesawmethenshe’llknowIknow about the other girl,”shesaid.“Thisisadisaster.”

“But what’s he going tosay? He saw you while hewasoutwith anothergirl?” Iasked.

“Good point. If she eversaysanything,IcanpretendIassumed he was with hiscousin or something,” shesaid. “I mean, for all weknow that was his cousin…

that he has a creepyrelationshipwith.”

“Pretendyoudidn’tseethearm around the shoulderthing,”Isaid.

Simone came back to thetable and we told her whathad happened. She wasn’tsurprised Lucas was seeingsomeoneelse.

“I mean, he is a seniornow,” Simone said. “WasConnorwithhim?”

I shook my head. We

devoured our pizza andAsiaasked if we wanted to comeover. Simone’s momwouldn’t be home untiltwelve, and I called myparents from Asia’s cellphone. Grandma answeredthe phone and asked me amillionquestionsaboutwhereIwasgoing.

“Who is this Asia? I’venever heard youmention hername before. Did you onlymeet her tonight? She could

beacrazyperson—”“She’sinmygrade.We’re

going to hang out at herhouse for a little while,” Isaid.

“Hang out? What ishangingoutanyway?Doyouhangoutofawindow?Whatdoes itmean?Areyougoingto watch TV? Talk sense,Hadley,”Grandmasaid.

I tried to answer herwithoutlookinglikeadorkinfront of the girls.Where did

she thinkweweregoing?Toa strip club? I told Grandmawe were going to watch TVtogetheroffmyback.Ihungup and we went to Asia’shouse.

“Hey,I’mhome,”shesaidas we walked through thedoor.

Asia’s dad, Mr.Milanowski, was reading inthelivingroom.

“Hey, girls,” he said.“Asia,yourmomwenttobed

withoneofherheadaches,sokeepthenoisedown.”

“Oh,okay.We’llbequiet.Oh, this isHadley,”shesaid.“Sherecentlymovedhere.”

Herdadgotupandshookmyhand. Ihadneverhadanadult shake my hand before.Mostofthetimetheynoddedandignoredme.

We went to Asia’sbedroom where she had ahuge canopy bed. Her roomwas all shades of pink and

creamand it remindedmeofmy bedroom back home inGoodacre. Simone ploppeddown in the armchair andAsia sat on the bed, so Istartedtositonthefloor.

“You can sit up here,Hadley,” Asia said, pattingthebed.

I sat next to her andSimone started lookingthrough magazines. Asiabroughtussomefruit juice.Iwas afraid to drink mine

becauseIdidn’twant tospillit on her expensivebedspread.IhadreadenoughissuesofTeenVoguetoknowit was a Teen Couturebedspread and it wasexpensive. Asia opened herwalk-in closet and I sawsomethingsittingonthefloorinthebackofit.

“Youhaveadollhouse,” Isaid.“CanIseeit?”

Asia moved it so I couldsee it better. It was a peach-

coloredVictorian stylehousewithagreenroof.Therewerefour rooms and a cupola atthe top. She even had adifferentkindofwallpaperineachoftherooms.Therewasa living room, a kitchen, abedroom,andanursery.

“I collect miniatures. See,I put the bathroom in thehallway because mygrandparentsboughtmeatubandatoilet,andIdon’tknowwhereelsetoputit,”shesaid.

Simone came into theclosetandkneltdownnexttome.

“Asia, this is so cool,”Simone said. “I didn’t knowyouhadthis.”

“I’vehaditforever.Iusedto leave it out, but Morganthought it was dumb andimmature, so I stuck it inhere,” she said. “But I’vebeencollectingforever.”

“What’s this room uphere?” Simone asked,

pointingtothecupola.“Sometimesit’sthemaid’s

room, and sometimes I putthe toilet up there when Idon’t know what to do withit,”shesaid.

“Ihaveadollhousetoo,”Isaid. “I’m not sure if I’mgoingto,youknow,putitoutorwhatever.”

“You should, but don’tinvite Morgan over,” Asiasaid,makingaface.

“OrPilar,”Simonesaid.

“You know, Pilar used tocome over and play with itbackwhenwewereinmiddleschool,untilMorgansaidweneeded to grow up,” Asiasaid.

We checked out herdollhouse for a while andthen Asia’s dad drove ushome. I was surprised Asiahadbeen soniceandeasy totalkto.Ialwaysassumedshewould be as snobby as PilarandMorgan.

ChapterTwenty-One

Charlotte called me the

next morning and I told herabout going to Asia’s house.Charlotte said shewas goingto come back to school onMonday.

“But Ihaven’t finishedallof my homework yet,” shesaid.“Iswear,allIwantedtodo was sleep and watchcrappyTVshows.”

Iofferedtocomeoverand

helpher,butGrandmastartedmaking wild hand gestures.GrandmawroteonapieceofpaperhowIshouldn’tgoovertherebecauseI’dcomedownwith pneumonia. Charlottesaid she’d be okay, but shemight call me later and wehungup.

“Don’t worry, Grandma.I’mnotgoingover there,butCharlotte is coming back toschoolonMonday.”

“Well, don’t let her

breathe on you,” she said.“All you need is to get sick.Are you going over to yourhousetoday?”

I nodded. “Dad said theysetupmybedlastnight.”

My parents had put myfurnitureinmyroom,butnotwhere I wanted it. My dadmoved the furniture where Iwanteditandthenwentbackto Grandma’s to get the restof my stuff. So I spent theafternoon putting everything

away. I calledSimone to seeif she wanted to come over,buthermomsaidshewasoutwithAsia.

Simonecalledafterdinnerand I asked if shewanted toseemynewroom.

“You’re all moved innow?”sheasked.

“Yeah, my parents evenslept here last night. Thehouse isn’t finished, but myroomisdone,”Isaid.

“Is it okay if Asia comes

with me? She’s over here,”shesaid.

“Sure,noprob,”Isaidandwent to tellmyparents Ihadpeoplestoppingby.

I could tell my mom washappy I had some friendscoming over. Sadly, I knewshe was thrilled I had somefriends, period. The girlsknocked on the door and Ishowed them the house andthenwewentintomyroom.

“I love this carpet.”

Simone took off her sandalsand dug her toes into thecarpeting. “Why is everyoneso anti-carpet? It’s nice andsoft and squishy. Seriously?Those HGTV people have itwrong. Carpet is where it’sat.”

“I like how you did thewalls different colors,” Asiasaid,and I toldherabout theugly rooster wallpaper thathadbeenup.

“So where’s your

dollhouse?”Simoneasked.I said itwas inmycloset,

butitwasn’tsetupyet.Theywantedtoseeit,soIbroughtit out.Minewas bigger thanAsia’s,butmywallpaperandfurniturewasn’tasnice.Theyoffered to help me set it up,and I tookout the shoeboxeswith the furniture. I neverthoughtinamillionyearsthatI’d be spending a Saturdaynight putting my dollhousetogether with Simone

Hendrickson and AsiaMilanowski.

“Look at this little redcouch,” Asia said. “I lovethis, and it even has a ruffleonthebottom.”

“I like the tiny perfumebottles,”Simonesaid.

Asia picked up the toilet.“Wheredoesthisgo?”

Ipointedtothehallway.“Iknowit’sweird,butIalwayskeptitnexttothestaircase,”Isaid.

“They need to make abathroom for these things,”Asia said. “It’s a privacything.”

Simone opened theshoebox with the bedroomstuffinit.“Asia,lookatthis,”she said. “She has a littledollhouseforthekid’sroom.”

“How cute, and there’s acrib. You knowwhat?” Asiasaid. “I’m keeping mine outof the closet. I don’t carewhatMorganthinks.”

“She’s probably jealous,”Simonesaid.

I was looking through aboxforthediningroomtablewhen I pulled out my oldAmericanGirldoll.

“Oh my gosh, it’sRebecca! I have this dolltoo,” Asia said. “I had theschoolset.”

“I have the Caroline doll,but her hair looks like friedwheat because I put hairvolumizer on it,” Simone

said.We didn’t have our TV

and DVD player hooked upyet, but we made somepopcornandate inmy room.Grandma was over, and shegave us water to drinkbecauseshedidn’twantustostainthenewcarpet.

“SoIdecided togo tomydad’swedding,”Simonesaid.

“What changed yourmind?”Iasked.

Sheshrugged.“Dadcalled

on Thursday and said hewants me to be there. He’sgoing to pick me up fromschool and we’re driving toMackinaw City and takingthe ferry from there. Theworst thing is I still have tobe a bridesmaid. I thought Iwas safe since I never triedonthedress,butTinaorderedoneformeanyway.Ihopeitdoesn’tfit.”

“It’ll be okay,” Asia said.“MaybeTinawill have ahot

nepheworsomething.”“Dad texted me a picture

ofthedressandit’slightbluewith spaghetti straps. Tinasaidshewasworrieditmightbe too big on top for me.”Simonerolledhereyes.

“She seriously said that?Howrude,”Asiasaid.

“I know, she never thinksbefore she speaks. She toldme her sister is having ashowerforherandgavemeacardwhere she registered for

gifts,” Simone said. “LikeI’m going to buy hersomething for marrying mydad.”

“Kindastupid.Whatever,”Asiasaid.

“I know,” she said. “Theshower’s tomorrowafternoon, but I said Icouldn’tgo.”

***

That night, I decided tosleep in my new room. Theroom still smelled like paint,and it felt like my bed wasfacing the wrong way, eventhough it was in the sameposition it was at my oldhouse. I couldn’t sleep, andthenIrealizedIhadforgottenmybearatGrandma’shouse.I tossed and rolled over, buteverythingwasoff.Evenmypillow and mattress seemedlumpier than I remembered.

My parents hadn’t put myblindsupyet,andtherewasashadow of a crooked branchon the wall. It was like thebranchesofthestupidpeople-eatingtreeinthemovie.Igotuptogetadrinkofwaterandthe floor creaked underneathme.

“Whatareyoudoingup?”I jumped and spilled the

water down my nightshirt.“Mom, you scared the crapoutofme.”

“Don’t say ‘crap.’ I hatethat word. Now go back tobed.It’stwointhemorning,”shesaid.

“I can’t sleep. Can I goback to Grandma’s? I knowwhere they keep their extrakey and I wouldn’t have toevenbotherthem—”

“You’d scare them todeathifyousnuckinthedoorin the middle of the night.Nowgobacktobedandcloseyoureyes,”shesaid.

I smirked. “Seriously,Mom. Fabulous advice.Whydoesn’t everyone who can’tsleeptryclosingtheireyes?”

She laughed and told metogettobed.

ChapterTwenty-Two

Charlotte came back to

school on Monday, andDeidre sat with us at lunch.Morgan had gotten overbeing mad at Simone andthey were one big happyfamilyagain.Iwashavinganokay day, and even scienceclass went pretty well. Mr.Martin was making us do amockresearchpaper.

“Since this will be your

first time writing a researchpaper, we’re going to writeabout something you’ve allstudied in the past—leaves.Think of this as a grown upversionofa leafcollection—leaf collection 2.0, if youwill,”Mr.Martin said. “Andnow for the best part—youget to spend the whole houroutsidelookingforleaves.”

Max followed me aroundlikealostdog.YoucouldtellReagan was making him

nervous.“Is he your boyfriend?”

Reagan asked in a phonysing-songyvoice.

His face went red and hewalkedaway.

“Ah,no,”Isaid.“Toobad.You twowould

makeacutecouple,”shesaid.“They say like attracts like,afterall.”

If I had any guts at all Iwould have asked her whatshe meant by that comment,

but I ignored her. I thoughtSimone would jump to mydefense,butshewastoobusypicking out oak leaves. Didshe even hear Reagan’sstupidcomment?Ihopednot,because I wanted to believeshe’d stand up for me, but Icouldn’tsayforsure thatshewould.

Later, I saw Asia in thehall with Morgan and Pilar.Asiagavemeasmile,butshedidn’t say anything. Things

had changed now that wewere back in school.Sometimes Simone didn’ttalk tomeasmuchat schoolbecause she was busy withhercoolfriends.IguessIwasonly good enough to hangaround with when Morganwas mad at her or her otherfriendsweren’taround.

***

Simone wasn’t in schoolthe next day. Her dad haddecided to pick her up a dayearly to get ready for thewedding. Mr. Martin had uswork on our leaf paper inclass.IthoughtReaganwouldwork with me since Simonewas absent, but she joinedtwo other guys instead.Maxdidn’t say anything tome ashewent throughthebookfortheinformationonhisleaves.He had already collected all

ofhisthirtyleaves,butIonlyhad fifteen. I saw Reaganflirtingwith one of the boys.WhatdidNickseeinher?

We had a spelling bee insixth hour, and I made itthrough the first few rounds.Only Charlotte, ByronHorowitz, and I were stillstanding. I thought I had apretty good shot at winningbecause I had studied thevocabularylist lastnight.Wehad gone through the words

from the first three chapters,and then our teacher decidedtoaskus tospellstatenamesnext. Charlotte got“Mississippi” and I breatheda sigh of relief. She got itright, but I would havefreaked out from all of those“i’s” and “s’s.”My turnwasnextandIgot“Louisiana.”

“L-O-U-I-S-A-I-N-A.Louisiana,”Isaid.

“I’m sorry, incorrect.Byron, please spell

‘Louisiana.’”Iwas so embarrassed as I

walked tomy seat. It wasn’tevenworthgettingsofarifitmeantIhadtofailinfrontofall of those people. Nobodyeven noticed who had to sitdown before, but now itwaspretty obvious who failedwhen there were only threepeople standing up there.Charlotte and Byron keptgoing until the teacherdecided to call it a tie and

they both got candy bars asprizes. Charlotte offered tosplit hers with me, but itwasn’t big enough to split.Why couldn’t the whole,“let’sgiveittomorethanoneperson”thingcomeupwhenIwas still standing up there?Next time, I was going toscrew up on purpose in thebeginningso Ididn’thave togethumiliatedlater.

ChapterTwenty-Three

I didn’t see Simone until

Mondaymorning.“Howwasthewedding?”I

asked.She rolled her eyes and

said,“Don’task.”Later, I overheard her

telling Reagan about havingto dance with some “loser-dork” guy from the weddingparty. At lunch, I ran intoAsia.

“Hey, Hadley. How areyour classes going?” sheasked.

Iwas surprised sheasked,but she was by herself, so Iguess it was okay to talk tome.

Inscience,Simonetoldmeto come over tonight so wecould work on our leafpapers. It had rained allweekend so I didn’t get thechance to go out and collectmoreleaves.

Iwenttoherhouseatfouro’clockandhermomsaidshehad left with Morgan andPilar.Iwasconfusedbecauseshehadtoldmetocomeoveratfour,butIguessIwasn’tasimportantasherotherfriends.I walked over to Charlotte’shouse and told her Simonehadbasicallystoodmeup.

“I can’t believeher.Well,she’s flighty, so maybe sheforgot or double booked. I’llhelp you,” Char said.

“Grandpa, we’re going outfor a walk,” she said as shepulledonherjacket.“Hadleyneeds leaves for her researchpaper.”

“You canget some leavesintheyard,butnogoingintothewoods,”he said. “You’reonlystartingtofeelbetterandit’stoocoldforyoutobeouttoolong.”

Wewentaroundheryard,butIonlyfoundthreeleavesIdidn’t have already. My

project was due Wednesday,andIhadtoclassifythemandthen iron them betweenpiecesofwaxpaper.

Charlotte gaveme a bookshe had gotten from thenaturecenterand Iaskedmygrandpa ifhe’dhelpme lookfor leaves after dinner. Wewent out for a bit, but it gotdarkpretty fast.Hepromisedhe’dhelpmetomorrow,butIfeltlikeI’dneverfindenoughleaves and get it finished by

Wednesday.

***Simone wasn’t in first

hour on Tuesday. I got toscience class early andfinishedclassifyingtheleavesI was able to find. Reaganwalked by my table andknockedMax’sprojectonthefloor with her butt. I didn’tknowifshediditonpurpose,

butIpickeditupforhim.“Thanks. Did you get all

thirty?”Maxasked.“Notyet,”Isaid.“Ihaveextras ifyouwant

‘em,” he said, staring at hishands.

“Seriously? Thanks.Which ones do you have?” Iasked.

HeshowedmeabunchofleavesandtheywereallonesI could use. Now I onlyneeded two additional leaves

and I’d be done. Simonecameuptomeafterclass.

“Do youwant towork ontheprojectafterschool?”sheasked.

“I thought we weresupposed tomeetyesterday,”Isaid.

“Yeah, sorry. Yesterdaywas crazy,” she said,brushingherbangsoutofherface. “So what time do youwanttogettogether?”

“I can’t. I have to do

something with my grandpa.MaybeReagancanhelpyou,”Isaid.

“Reagan?She hasn’t evenstarted hers yet,” she said.“Well,callmeifyouguysgetbackearly,okay?”

“Okay,”IsaidandwalkedovertomeetCharlotte.

Grandpa and I went for awalk and I found the twoadditional leaves I needed tocomplete my collection.Grandma ironed my leaves

for me since she wasconvincedI’dburnmyhandsoff if I did it myself. To behonest, she was probablyright. I had never ironedanything other than my hairwithastraighteningiron,andeven then I burned myselffivetimes.

Simone called duringdinner to see if I was backyet.

“Do you have any extraleaves?” she asked. “I’m

missingseven.”“I only have amaple leaf

left. Do you have one ofthose?”

“Yeah. Shoot, my mom’sworking late and I think ouriron’s broken or something,”shesaid.

“Do you want to use ouriron?”

“Could I? That would beawesome. I’ll come over assoon as I get to the ironingpart. You are the best,

Hadley.Thebest!”Simone showed up at my

grandma’s house at nineo’clock, and I was alreadyfinished with my project.Simonewas still three leavesshort and she didn’t evenhave all of her informationcompleted.

“Can I see yours? Youknow,forhelp?”sheasked.

Help?Ortocopydownallmy info insteadof taking thetimetolookituponherown?

Whatever. “All theinformationisinthebook,”Isaid.

“Iknow,but it takes, like,forevertolookeachoneup,”she said. “This project is sodumb. It’s basically likewe’re doing a little kid leafcollection and not a realresearchpaper.”

I wanted to say, that wasthe whole point—it was amockresearchpapertogetusready towritea realone,but

she would have had to bepaying attention to theteacher to get that. Instead, Isaid my book was in myroom, and she assumed Imeant it was at the otherhouse. It was upstairs, but Ididn’tthinkitwasfairforhertocopymyinformationwhenI had to look up all the stuffonmyown—especiallysinceshehadditchedmeyesterdayto hang outwith her friends.Grandmafinishedironingher

leaves and Simone wenthome.

***

Igottoscienceclassearly

the next day to hand in myleaf research paper. Mr.Martin flipped through itandnodded with approval. Ithanked Max again for theleaves. Reagan wasn’t inclass,butshehadbeeninmy

first hour and at lunch. Iwondered if she finished herpaper.Wewereworkingwithmicroscopes to examine theparts of a leaf and Simonepulled up the stool next tome.

“Hi, guys,” she said.Maxstaredathis feet as I tried toget the leaf in focus. I askedher if she got the rest of theleaves after she leftGrandma’shouse.

“I was short two leaves,”

shesaid.“Ohwell.”“Where’s Reagan?” I

asked.“Shewasn’tfeelingwellat

lunch.”Funny, since I saw her at

lunch with a tray full of icecream and spaghetti. Sheseemed perfectly healthythen. Perhaps it wassomething about having amajor paper due that madeherfeelsosickly.

Mr.Martintoldustoadda

drop of iodine to the leaf ontheslide.Maxreachedforthebottle and he wound upspilling it on Simone’snotebook.

“Idiot,” she said,grabbinghersoppingnotebook.

“Simone, it was anaccident. You don’t have tocall him names,” I said. Shestared atme and then got uptogetsomepapertowels.

“Thanks,” Max said. “Itsortofslipped.”

Normally, I’d be irritatedwith Max too if he spilledsomethingonmystuff,butatleasthecamethroughformewhen I neededhelp, unlike acertain blonde who only ranto me when her cool friendsweretoobusy.

Simone came back andwiped up her notebook. Mr.Martin told her she couldrecopyherlabpartner’snotestomake up for the ones thathad smeared. I wanted to

laugh. Fat chance. The onlything Reagan ever wrotedownwasalistofmakeuptobuy,orwhenshemadea listof cute actors and rankedthem in order of cutestappearance. It made me sickwonderingwhatNick saw inher. She was mean, passiveaggressive,andsuperficial.

Simone always did thelabs by herselfwhileReaganwatched. At least I wouldhave helped if I had been

Simone’slabpartner.Charlotte had a doctor’s

appointment and left earlyduring class. I was walkinghome by myself whenSimone ran up to walk withme. I figured she wanted toborrowmysciencenotes,butshe asked if I wanted to dosomething. I didn’t have anyhomework,sowewenttoherhouse. She grabbed a bag ofchipsfromthekitchenandwewent to her room. I saw her

bridesmaid’sdresshanginginplastic on the back of herclosetdoor.

“CanIseeit?”Iasked.Shewrinkledhernosebut

liftedtheplasticup.Thedresswas made of icy-blue satinand it had a long skirt. Shesaid the tophadbeen toobigand Tina’s mom had to sewlittlepadsintothefront.

“Did you have fun?” Iasked.

“No, one of Tina’s

relativesaskedherwhoIwasand she said, ‘Oh, justSimone.’ Not ‘Peter’sdaughter,’ or ‘mystepdaughter’, but ‘justSimone,’” she said.“Although, I guess I wouldhave puked if she called meherstepdaughter.”

She said Tina kept sayingshe wanted to have a bigfamily.IthoughtSimonewasgoing to cry. She pulled theplastic back over the dress

andshoveditintothebackofthe closet. Then she pulledout her hair clip and startedtwistingherhairupinabun.

“If my grandma was stillalive she wouldn’t even likeTina. She’d say Tina wasfake and super annoying, butnow Tina’s talking aboutnamingababyafterher,”shesaid, twisting her hair. “Youknow,mymomwassupposedtohaveaboy.JacobPeter.”

Ididn’tknowwhattosay,

soIstaredaroundtheroom.Inoticed she had put herCaroline American Girl dollin the hanging wicker chair.The doll’s hair was a mess,andsomeonehadputeyelineronher.

“Ihave today’sepisodeofCharmed Lives onmyDVR.Wannawatch?”sheasked.

We went into the livingroom and watched TV untilMom called me home fordinner.

ChapterTwenty-Four

Simone was late to class

thenextday.Shedidn’t lookatReaganormewhenshesatdown and she shot up out ofher chair and left as soon asthebellrang.Later,Isawhersitting with Morgan andReagan at lunch when I wasinthelunchline.Asiawasinline in front of me and sheasked if I knew what wasbothering Simone. I

shrugged.“Her step-mom isn’t

pregnantoranything,isshe?”sheasked.

“Idon’tthinkso,”Isaid.Pilarwalkedbyandasked

Asia tobuyherabrownieasshewenttositdown.IsaidIwasdying for abrownie too,but there was only one leftwhenwegottothetray.

“Takeit,”Asiasaid.“Areyousure?”Iasked.“Yeah,it’sfine,”shesaid.

“I’lltellhertheywereout.”

***We had a test in science,

so I couldn’t talk to Simonein class. Mr. Martin said wecould go to the librarywhenwe were finished with theexam, but Simone wasn’t inthere.Iaskedthelibrarianfora pass and went to thebathroom. I walked in and

heard somebody crying inoneofthestalls.Irecognizedthe Steve Madden shoesunder the handicapped stalldoor.

“Simone?”“Goaway.”“Areyouokay?”Iasked.“I’m fine. Leave me

alone,”shesaid.“I’ll give you my Jack

Brogger sticker ifyou letmein,”Isaid.

“I don’t like him

anymore,”shesaid.“How about my Josh

Havenfolder?”“Loser, you don’t even

have one,” she said, but shepushed the door open. Shewas sitting on the floor, andher eyes were red-rimmedandherlipswerepuffy.

I sat on the floor next toher and she told me her dadcalled.

“What did he say?” Iasked.

“He said Tina’s pregnantand they’ve decided tomovefurther away. Tina wants tolive closer to her parentsbecauseofthebaby,andnowthey’re moving four hoursaway to St. Clair Shores. Ibarely see him as it is, butnowhe’sgonnahavehisnewfamily and I’m the leftoverkid.I’mlikethegreenthingythey put on plates atrestaurants that you don’tneed. No one would even

noticeif theystoppedputtingit on the plates.” Simonewiped her nose on herForever21sweatshirtsleeve.

“Have you talked to himabout it?” I asked. “Youknow, toldhimhowyoufeelabouteverythinggoingon?”

“About what? He thinksit’s great. A new house, anew baby, and now freebabysitting,”shesaid.“Tina’smomseemslikearealpaininthebutt,andIhopeshe’sover

thereallthetimedrivinghimnuts.”

Ireachedupandgotherapiece of toilet paper to wipehernose.

“One of the reasons weleft L.A. was because myparents were fighting all thetime.Ioverheardmymomonthe phone one day sayingtheir marriage counselorthought my career wascausingproblems.Iguessmydad was mad Mom was

spending all her time on thesetwithme,sothenhestartedbeingtheonetostaywithme,and then there was thisweirdness when my momfound out one of theproduction assistants on theshow had been sending mydad texts.” She paused toblowhernose.“Theygotintoa fight about it and he saidmymomwas always puttingmycareerfirst.”

“Is that why you left the

show?”Iasked.“Not exactly. That whole

texting thing was the mainreason they started fighting,but the show…the producerswere talking about recastingmewithanoldergirl.Ifoundoutaboutitonaccident.Theybrought this girl in and saidshewas a guest star, but shelookedalotlikeme,butwithbreast implants and stuff. Imean, this girl could havebeen my older sister, and I

hadabadfeelingthemomentshewalkedontheset.”

“Areyousuretheyweren’tgoing to have her play yourolder sister or something?” Iasked.

“No, my agent found outthey wanted to go with a‘sexier, older Abby,’ but thegirl had issues getting herlinesmemorized.Theysortofput it out there that if I waswilling to make myself lookmore like that girl, then I

couldkeeptherole.”“I don’t understand,” I

said.“Myagentaskedmewhat

I thought about getting myboobsdone,”shesaid.

“Oh, wow. What did yousay?”

Simone shifted. “I wasterrifiedoflosingmyspotontheshow,soIaskedmymomif I could have the surgerydoneandsheflipped.”

“Idon’tblameher.”

“Mom said between thatgirl who kept texting andcallingmy dad, and then theplastic surgery thing, that thewhole TV scene wasn’thealthy for any of us,” shesaid. “So they told me Icouldn’t get the surgery. Iwas somad, I like, criedmybutt off. I thought it wouldmakeeverythingbetter.”

“So you didn’t want toleavetheshow?”

“No, of course not, but

whenItoldmyagentIwasn’tgoing tohaveanythingdone,the show said that mycharacter had run its courseandtheywerewritingmeout.And right after I left, guesswhocameontheshow?Thatolder, sexy brunette whoplays the long lost cousin.That girl’s thirty-two andplaying a sixteen-year-old.HowcanIcompetewiththat?Anyway, thenwemovedandmy mom lost the baby and

they split up for good. Idunno, everything stinks. Ihave no career and now Ihavenofather.”

Thebellrangandwebothstoodup.

“HowbaddoI look?”sheasked.

I gave her a wet papertowel and she wiped themascara that had smearedunderhereyes.

***After school, I saw

Simone walking withMorgan,Asia, andPilar. Shewasstaringattheground,butAsiawavedtomeasIwenttomeet Charlotte. It waspouring outside and Mr.Lidstromwasoutsidewaitingforusinhiscar.

“Ladies, want a ride?” hecalled and we got in thebackseat.

Simone called me laterduring dinner.Mom told metocallherbackafterweweredone eating, but Aunt Faithsaid it sounded like she wascrying.Igotonthephone.

“You are not going tobelievethis,”Simonesaid.“Itold the girls about my dadmoving,andMorgan toldmenottobesuchababy.”

“Yikes,” I said. “Well,Asiaseemedworried—”

“Asia was nice about it,

but why would anybody besuchajerkwhenit’sobvioustheir friend is upset? Imean,whatisMorgan’sproblem?”

“Didyougetmadather?”Iasked.

“No.Ididn’tsayanything,andMorganthinksitwastheendofit.I’msosickofher,”shesaid.

I gave Simone my JackBrogger sticker the next dayto make her feel better. Sheput it on her binder and

Reagansawitwhenshecamein.

“You like this loser?”Reaganasked,peelingoffthesticker.

“Don’t. He’s cute,”Simone said, smoothing thestickerout.

WehadFridayreadingandI brought one of Charlotte’sJaneAustenbooks.Pilarwasin front of me and she keptflipping her ponytail andmoving around until Mrs.

Simpson told her to sit stilland read her book. Shesighed,openedherbook,andfolded back the cover. Icouldn’t even concentrate onmybookbecauseherponytailkept moving across my desklike a snake. I started to getinto the story when the bellrang. I saw Pilar close herbook and realized she hadstayedonpageonetheentireperiod.

Friday was pizza day and

everyonealwaysrushestothecafeteriabecausetheytendtorun out of pizza, and thepeople at the end of the linegetstuckwithleftovers.Igotin line in front of Morgan,Simone, and Asia. Thecafeteria lady put the lastslice of pepperoni andsausage on the counter, andMorganandIreachedforitatthe same time. I would haveletherhave it,but itwas thelastpieceandIgottherefirst.

“Excuseme,thisismine,”shesaid,tuggingatthepaperplate.

“No,it’smine.”“Morgan, she got it first,”

Simonesaid.“Giveittoher.”Morgan yanked the plate

awayandthepizzahitmylegandlandedonthefloor.

“Look what you did you,you idiot,” Morgan said.“There’s sauce all over myshoes.”

“You pulled it away from

Hadley,”Simonesaidtoher.“Isit‘AdoptaLoserDay’

or something?”Morgan said,turning to look at Simone asshe wiped sauce off hershoes.

“Oh, shut up,” Simonesaid, and the cafeteria ladytold us to move along. Igrabbed a peanut buttersandwichandhurriedthroughthe line.SimoneandMorganwere still standing there andarguing.One of the cafeteria

workers went and walkedboth of them out of thecafeteria.

Asia came over andhanded me some napkins. Istaredather.

“Foryourjeans,”shesaid.Ilookeddownandrealized

myupper leghadgrease andsaucealloverit.Charlotteletme borrow her sweatpantsfrom gym class since minewere all gross. Charlotte andDeidrewalkedme to science

class, but Simone wasn’tthere.Mr.Martin handedmemypaperwhenIsatdown.

“What did you get?”Maxasked.

Iflippedtothelastpage.ItoldhimIgotan“A”andhesaid he got an “A” too. Inoticed he actually got an“A+,” but it was nice hedidn’tbragaboutit.

Simone came into theroom and nodded at me. Imouthed, “What happened?”

and she shrugged. I waitedfor her after class and shesaid Morgan had gotten introublefortakingmylunch.

“Didyougetintrouble?”Iasked.

“No, the cafeteria ladysaidIwasstickingupforyou.Morganmaykillmethough,”she said. “Wait for me afterschool. I might need abodyguard.”

***Charlotte and Iwaited for

Simoneafterschool.Wewerewalking out when Asia ranoutafterus.

“Is Morgan super mad?”Simoneaskedher.

“She was over by herlocker, but I didn’t stickaround to listen to hercomplain,” Asia said. “Pilarwas with her though. Poorgirl,she’llhavetohearabout

itthewholewayhome.”“Yeah,well,Reaganacted

like she wasn’t sure if shewassupposedtotalktomeornot,” Simone said. “Someloyalty,right?”

I thought about howSimone was so quick tobefriendReaganandlooktheother way when she madepassiveaggressiveremarkstome, but instead I askedSimone what she got on herpaper.

She flipped to the back.“B+.”

Charlottewascomingoverto my house and I askedSimone and Asia if theywanted to come over too. Iwas afraid they might say,“Justbecausewewerenicetoyou today doesn’t meanwe’re all going to hang outnow,” but they said they’dcome over. We went to myroom andAsia knelt in frontofthedollhouse.

“You put the sink in thebaby’s room,” she said. “I’mmovingitbackintothehall—youroriginalbathroom.”

“I rolled up a pair of oldtightstouseastheblanketinthecrib,”Isaid.“ItlookslikeaTeenCouturebedspread.

“Ohyeah.Ilovethatbrandtoo. The red hearts on thetights match the room. Howcute. I should do it for mynursery,”shesaid.

“You have a dollhouse

too?”Charlotteaskedher.Asianoddedanddescribed

it to her. Mom got us somechips and sodas and we sateatingPringlesonthefloor.

“You guys, Morgan isseriously going to have mekilled on Monday,” Simonesaid.

“She’llgetoverit…afterawhile,”Asiasaid.

“Iwassomadatherwhenshe toldmenot tobe ababyabout my dad moving,”

Simone said, looking at me.“Youknewhowupset Iwas,butMorgandidn’tcare.”

Asia nodded. “Because itdoesn’tconcernher.”

I thanked Simone forstickingupformeasshewasleaving.

She shrugged. “Well, youhave to stick up for yourfriends,youknow?”

I felt guilty since I hadn’tfor Charlotte when Morganmadefunofher.

I went back to my room.“Hey,Char?Doyouwant tospend the night?” I asked.She nodded and she calledMr. Lidstrom after myparentssaiditwasokay.

I started telling her allabout my old school andBrittany Buchanan while wegot ready for bed. Charlottesaid she used to be goodfriends with Morgan whentheywereinthefourthgrade.

“You’re kidding. What

happened?”Iasked.She shrugged. “Pilar

moved here and Morgandidn’t like me anymore. Ithurt when Morgan stoppedtalking to me. Then Asiamoved here and MorgandroppedPilarforaminute—”

“And then Simonemovedhere,”Isaid.

“My grandpa always saysyou have to be a friend tohaveafriend,”shesaid.

We stayed up late talking

and didn’t get to sleep untilafter three o’clock in themorning.

ChapterTwenty-Five

On Monday, Reagan

didn’ttalktoSimoneinclass.IsawSimoneandAsiasittingtogetherwhen Igot to lunch.I started to head towardCharlotte and Deidre’s tablewhenSimoneaskedmetositwiththem.Reaganwassittingwith Morgan and Pilar, whowereactinglikeshewastheirnewbestfriend.

Morgan didn’t talk to

Simone for a few days, butshe was at Simone’s lockeron Friday morning. Theydidn’t seem to be arguing,and I knew they made upwhen Reagan started talkingto Simone in class. Mrs.Feldman told us to pickpartners for an assignmentandReagan askedSimone tobeherpartner.

“I already promisedHadley,”Simonesaid.

Simone put her back to

Reagan andmoved her chairaround to face my desk.Reaganseemedsurprisedandgotuptolookforapartner.Ipulled out my book and westarted working on theassignment.

“Reagan’s so two-faced,”Simone whispered. “Sheactedlikeshewasstickingupfor me with Morgan, butshe’s been talking about mebehindmyback.”

“Whatareyougoingtodo

about it?” I asked, and sheshrugged.

“It’s hard to completelystop being friends withsomeonewhenthereareonlyfifty kids in the entire tenthgrade,”shesaid.

Morgan hadn’t evenglancedatmesincethepizzaincident. She had alwaysignored me in English class,but on Wednesday sheknocked my binder on thefloor. It seemed like an

accident, but there was nosuch thing as an accidentwhen it came to MorganKemp.

Later, Simone and Asiacame to sit with us duringlunch.

“I thought youguysmadeupwithMorgan,”Isaid.

“Wedid,but I’d rather sithere,” Simone said.“Actually, I’d rather sit in apit of snakes.Wait, I wasn’tcalling you guys—never

mind.You knowwhat Iwasgettingat.”

IglancedoveratMorgan’stable and she was staring atus. She leaned over andwhispered something toReaganand theyboth startedlaughing.

“Looks likeMorgan’s gotanewshadow,”Asiasaid.

“What about Pilar?” Iasked.

“Morgan gets sick ofsomebody and then she

moves on,” Simone said,takingasipofherjuice.“Andsometimes she gets boredwithhernewfriendandgoesback.”

“Yeah, best friends to theend,” Asia said, rolling hereyes.

I glanced back atMorgan’s table. Morgan andReagan had their heads benttogether and they werecracking up. Pilar waslaughing, but she looked left

out,andthenMorganhandedhersomemoneyandPilargotuptobuyhersomething.Thethree of them were sogorgeous and grown up, liketheywereatleastseventeen.Iwent back to my table andCharlotte was wiping grapejelly off her teddy bearsweatshirt. Simone startedgiggling.

“Sorry, I’m such a pig,”Charlotte said, her faceturning red with

embarrassment.“Don’t make fun of her,

Simone.Youshouldtalk,youhave a little fruit punchmustache,”Isaid.

Simone clapped her handover her mouth and went inher backpack for hercompact. She held up themirrorandrealizedIhadbeenmakingitup.

“Loser,” she said,punching me in the arm. “Iwasn’t making fun of her.

Anyway, Charlotte, I have ahoodieyoucanborrow.”

“Okay, thanks,” Charlottesaid.

***

On Friday, Morgan was

waitingatAsia’s lockerafterschool.SheaskedAsiaifshewantedtocomeoverbecauseReagan was going to teachthemhowtodoyoga.

“Reaganusedtotakeyogaclasses when she lived inDenver,”Morgansaid.

“Um, it sounds like fun,butIpromisedSimoneI’dgoovertoherhouse,”Asiasaid.

“You can go to her houseanytime,” Morgan said,bumping her playfully withher hip. “Come on, I neverget to see you anymore.You’realwayswithSimone.”

“Well, we could hang outtomorrowor—”

“Why not today? TellSimone you forgot youalready had plans with me.”Morgan grabbed Asia’s arm.“Please? Iwant you to comeover.”

Asia bit her lip and toldMorgan she had alreadypromisedSimone,butthetwoof them could do somethingtomorrow after school.Morgan’stonechanged.

“Asia, Simone is usingyoubecauseshehasnowhere

else to run towhen I’mmadat her. She’s, like, afraid ofme now. It’s so funny,”Morgan said. “Tell her youcan’t go. Besides, you couldusealittletoning.”

“Yeah,Igottago.Seeya,”Asia saidas shewalkedovertome.

MorganwentovertomeetReaganandwewatchedPilarruntocatchupwiththem.

“Don’t you want to learnyoga?”IaskedAsia.

“Maybe, but not becauseMorganthinksIneedit,”shesaid. “I can’t believe hersometimes. She makes mefeel like I’m abandoning herandthensheturnsonme.Shewanted me to cancel onSimone so she could havepower over me. And thattoning comment—seriously?Howrudewasthat?”

We walked over toSimone’s locker. I wassupposed to meet Charlotte

outside because we weregoing to the apple orchardtoday. Simone asked if Iwanted to go shoppingdowntown with them. Iwanted to go with them, butallCharlottehadtalkedaboutfor days was apple cider,stuffing herself with donuts,andgoingforahayrideattheorchard.Shehadeventakenanew allergy medication soshe could be around all thehay.

“Nah, you guys go ahead.I’m going to the appleorchardwithCharlotte.Havefun,”Isaid.

“Don’t eat too manydonuts or you’ll have to doextra yoga tomorrow,” Asiasaid, tossing her hair likeMorgan.

“I’ll eat one for you,” Isaid.

“Hey, text Asia’s cellphone later,” Simone said,writing the number on my

hand. “Maybe we can allmeetupandget icecreamorsomething. Ask Charlotte tocometoo.”

Charlotte was sitting onthe curb when I got outside.“I thought you forgot,” shesaid,standingup.

“No way.” I linked myarm with hers. “I wouldn’tmissthisforanything.”

“Good. Because my newallergypillonlygivesmetenhours, which means, like,

four hours in normal allergytime.”

We walked to Mr.Lidstrom’scarandheaded tothe orchard. We picked abunchofapplesand thengotdonuts and cider. Charlotteand Iate thepowderedsugardonuts,buthergrandpa likedthe plain kind. He dippedtheminhiscoffee.Therewasa bunch of stuff for kids toplay on there like bridges,rope swings, and this pulley

thing you grab onto and itcarries you out. I thought Iwas too old to play on stuff,but Charlotte wanted to tryeverything.

At first I felt stupid, butthen I got into it and I eventriedtheropeswing.Ifelloff,but I landed inahaybundle,so it didn’t hurt.On thewayhome,CharlotteaskedmeifIwanted to order a pizza fordinner. I told her Simonewantedmetocallherafterwe

gotback.“Oh, I didn’t know you

hadplanswithher,”Charlottesaid,bitingherlip.

“She thought we couldmeetup,”Isaid.

“Okay. Well, have fun,”shesaid.

“No, she wants you tocometoo,”Isaid.

Charlotte paused. “AreyousureI’mincluded?”

I nodded, but she didn’tlookconvinced.

“We don’t have to go ifyou don’t want to.” I didn’twant to admit it, but Iwas alittle worried Simone andAsia would run intoMorganandchangetheirmindsaboutwantingtohangoutwithus.Imean, if I was Simone I’drather hang out with Pilar,Morgan, and Reagan thanwith Charlotte and me. Ihoped things would bedifferent this time andSimonewouldn’t takemefor

granted anymore, but Icouldn’t count on it. I calledAsia’scellphoneandshesaidthey were heading down totheboardwalk.

“Did you eat yet? WecouldmeetatFricano’sPizzaTavern for dinner and thengeticecreamatScoops,”shesaid.

Charlotte’s grandpadropped us off at Fricano’sand we waited for Simoneand Asia. I was afraid they

had changed their mindsabout meeting us, but theyshoweduptenminuteslater.

“Sorry guys, I was tryingon clothes,” Simone said.“Lookatthist-shirtIgot.”

We had planned to havepizza, but Asia saw Reagansitting by the window withNick.

SimonelookedatmeandItried to pretend it didn’tbotherme.

“We could get hot dogs

instead,” Simone said. “Andlet’sgetthemtogosowecansitbythewaterandeatsinceit’sprettywarmout.”

I smiled. “Thanks. Thatsounds better thanwatching…them.”

Charlottegottwohotdogswith everything on them anda large root beer float.Simone was going to get abunless hot dog and a dietrootbeer,butshechangedhermindandgotacorndogand

a root beer float instead. Itried to signal Charlotte towipe her mouth because shewas getting relisheverywhere, but she ignoredme.Ihandedheranapkinandshe got the message.However, she also burped.Simone tried to hide hersmile, but Charlotte lookedlike she was about to die ofembarrassment.

“Excuseme,”Charsaid.“Rootbeermakesmeburp

too,” Asia said. “You guys,eat some of my curly fries.I’llneverfinish‘em.”

I never thought I’d besharing fries with AsiaMilanowskiinamillionyearsorsittingacrossapicnictablefrom aTV star. Itwas crazythat this was my life now.Simone thought she spottedConnor,butitwasn’thim.

“You know, I tried e-mailing him, but he hasn’tbeen returningmymessages.

He thinks he’s so coolbecause he’s a senior,” shesaid.

“Don’t worry about it,”Asia said. “He told Pilar shewas too young for him, butthey were going out, like, amonthago.Lame.”

“Thingsaredifferentwhenyou become a senior, Iguess,” Simone said, tracingcirclesinherketchup.

We were going to walkdowntown for ice cream, but

Charlotte said they hadhomemade ice cream nextdoor. We all got big wafflecones of chocolate chipcookie dough ice cream andwalked down the boardwalk.There was a hole in thebottom of Charlotte’s coneand the ice cream keptdripping out. She lifted thebottomofherconetoherlipsandsuckedoutthemeltedicecream. I was superembarrassed when Simone

glanced over at her, but shedidn’t say anything. Wewalked down to the pier andSimone and Asia sat on theedge.

There were a lot of highschoolgirlsthereandSimoneand Asia seemed to fit rightin,whileCharlotteandIwerelike little kids. I wished Ihadn’t brought my Snoopysweatshirt,butitwasthefirstone I grabbedwhen I left. Itwasgettingcoolbythewater

as the sunwas starting to godown, and it wasn’t like Icouldn’t put it on unless Iwantedtofreeze.Meanwhile,Simone had on her favoritebaby-blueForever21hoodie,and Asia had gray and pinkH&M sweats on. Char’s andmy sweatshirt both lookedbig and bulky, but Asia andSimone’s were fitted. Theymight have been cold, buttheywerestillcute.

“You guys, I’m freezing.

Doyouwanttocomeovertomy house?” Charlotte asked.“Wecouldwatchamovieorsomething?”

IthoughtSimoneandAsiawouldsaythey’dhadenoughof the “kid show” and leaveus to do something fun, butthey agreed. Asia wanted tostop first at the newsstand tosee if the new issue of TeenVogue was out. Simonepicked up the Soap OperaDigest with Valeria on the

cover.“Valeriahasshorterbangs

again,”shesaid.“IwonderifIshoulddothattoo.”

We picked up a JoshHaven movie and went toCharlotte’s house. Mr.Lidstrom made us hotchocolate with whippedcreamandputoutsomeRiceKrispie treats for us. I wasafraid Simone might think itwas babyish, but she tookone.

“I love Rice Krispietreats,”shesaid.

Mr. Lidstrom didn’t seemto know whether or not heshouldsit in thefamilyroomwith us, so he hoveredbetweenthefamilyroomandthekitchen.HesawSimone’smagazine and mentioned heread Valeria was dating adiplomat’s son. Simone’seyes widened. Mr. Lidstromshowedher thearticle inoneofhistabloids.

“Youguys, listen to this,”shesaid.“Valeriaandthegirlwho plays Madison are bestfriendsinreallife.Look,theyevengoshoppingtogether.”

Charlotte sat up. “Arethere any pictures of LanceCunninghaminthere?”

“Yup, and I heard he andMadison dated in real life,”Asiasaid.

“You’re kidding,” Mr.Lidstrom said. “I thought hewas dating the girl who I

thinkisgoingtobehissister-what’s-her-face…Leocadia.”

“I think they’re going tofind out they’re brother andsistertoo,”Simonesaid.

“My grandpa also thinksso,”Isaid.

Asia started telling usabouthowLancewasknownto date all his co-stars, andevenMr. Lidstrom sat downtolisten.Ithoughtitwaskindof funny Simone and Asiawouldhavethesameinterests

as a seventy-something-year-oldman.Mr.Lidstromgotupto leave when Charlotte putthe movie on, but Simonetold him towatch itwith us.Later,whenwewerewalkinghome, Simone said shewished her grandfather werestillalive.

“Hepassedawayacoupleof years ago,” she said. “Butwewereclose.”

“Was he yourmom’s dadoryourfather’s?”

“Mymom’s.MyGrandpaHendricksonisstillalive,butI don’t get to see himmuch.He stopped driving so hedoesn’t come tovisit andwealmostnevergothere.”

She said her grandpa wassupposed to go to her dad’swedding,buthergrandpagotbronchitis so he couldn’tcome.

“Maybe you could callhim,”Isaid.

Sheshrugged.“Iguess.He

lives in Rockford now. Hegot remarried after mygrandmadiedandIdon’tlikehis new wife. She’s alwaystellingmenot toputmy feeton the couch orwhere to setmydrink. I feel likeI’minamuseum when I’m overthere…but maybe I will callandseehowhe’sdoing.”

ChapterTwenty-Six

The next morning, Aunt

Faith said she was going todrive toSaugatuck for an artfestival. She asked my momand me to go with her andsaid I could bring a friend. IcalledCharlotte first, but shewas having allergy problemsand she didn’t want to beoutside all day. I calledSimone next, but she was inthecarwithhermomontheir

waytoSouthHaven.“Going to Saugatuck

sounds like more fun,” shesaid. “Iwish I couldgowithyou.IsCharlottegoing?”

ItoldherCharlottewasn’tfeelingwell. I didn’twant tosay shehadallergyproblemsbecause it sounded kind ofdorky.

“Why don’t you see ifAsiacango?”shesaid.

I felt weird calling Asia,but I had been over to her

house. Mainly, I was afraidshe’d think Iwas a loser forthinking she’d want to doanything with me. I decidedto call her after I overheardmyaunttellingmymomhowshe wanted to visit the artgalleries. It sounded like aboring trip, so I took a deepbreath and called Asia’shouse.

“Hi, Asia. It’s Hadley. Ifyou’re not doing anythingtoday,uh,doyouwant togo

toSaugatuckwithmeandmymomandaunt?”

“Sure! I love Saugatuck.What time should I beready?”

“Wecouldpickyouup inan hour if it’s okay. Youknowit’sonlyme,mymom,andmy aunt going, right?” Iasked.Ididn’twanthertobedisappointed Simone wasn’tgoingtobethere.

“Yeah,itsoundsgreat.I’llbring somemagazines for us

to read in the car. See ya,”shesaid.

Irandownstairstotellmymom Asia was going.Grandmacouldn’tunderstandwhyIwassoexcited.

“Calm down,” Grandmasaid. “Why wouldn’t shewant to go? Saugatuck is afunplacetobe.”

But my mom understoodwhyIwassohappy.BackinGoodacre, if I invited Lexisomewhere and she couldn’t

go, then Ihadnooneelse toask. I wouldn’t even havedreamed about callingsomeone like Asia a fewmonths ago—not to mentioninvitinghersomewhere.Iwasalmost singing as I washedmyhair.IhadfinisheddryingmyhairwhenMomsaidAsiawasonthephone.Ohno.Shewas canceling. She probablygot invited somewherebetter…orbysomeonebetter.

“Hello?” I said as my

motherwatchedme.“I’m having a breakdown

—”“Oh, I understand if you

can’tgo,”Isaid.“No, I cango, but I don’t

knowwhattowear.Whatareyouwearing?”sheasked.

I flashed my mom athumbs-upsign.“I’mwearingjeansandmyredhoodie.”

“Okay, then I’ll wear myfleece Polo pullover. See yainafewminutes.”

Mom came over and puther arm around me. “See?You were worried for noreason.”

Ishruggedherarmoffandwent to put my shoes on.Asia’s parents were workingout in the yardwhenwe gotthere. Mr. Milanowskiremembered my name. Asiagot in the backseat with meand pulled out somemagazines from her lilacbackpack.

We got to Saugatuck andMomgavememoney tobuybothAsiaandme lunchwithplenty left over for snacksand souvenirs.Mymomwasprettygenerouswhenitcameto giving me spendingmoney.AsiaandIwenttotheSaugatuck drugstore firstbecauseshesaidithadasodafountain. We sat up at thecounter and ordered sodas,hotdogs,andpopcorn.

“Look at the guy sitting

over there,” she said. “Helooks exactly like JackBrogger.”

HehadJack’sfiveo’clockshadow and his signaturesunglasses too. However, hisskinwasn’tasniceasJack’s.Jack had perfectly bronzed,smoothskin,butthisguyhadsunspots,abitofacne,andhewas a little blotchy. Then hemovedhiswristtolookatthecheck andmy heart skipped.He had the same star tattoo

ontheinsideofhiswristthatJack had. It was Jack. IelbowedAsia.

“What?”sheasked.Imouthed,“It’shim,”and

shestaredatme.Ipointedtomywristandsaid,“Checkthetattoo.”

Her eyes widened. Jackleft,sowegotuptopay.Weraced outside, but he wasgone. We tried looking forhim, but we didn’t see anysignofhimanywhere, sowe

decided to shop and hopedwe’drunintohim.Shefoundsome cool flower braceletsand we both decided to getone.SheboughtapurpleoneforherselfandIgotonewithall different colors. I decidedtoget a blueone forSimoneandaredoneforCharlotte.

“I really want to go findJack,”Isaid.

“Iknow,but lookat theseshimmer powders,” she said,testing them on the back of

her hand. “I’m getting thesetoo.Okay,let’scheckoutandthengolookforhim.”

We both ended up buyingshimmer powder, lip gloss,andvanillacandles.I’dneverbought a candle before, butAsiasaidshelovedthemandthey did smell like cakebatter.

“This heart pillow wouldgo with my Teen Couturebedroom stuff,” she said.“HaveyougonetotheMaxi’s

storeinSpringLake?”“No,why?”“Theyhad that stuff super

marked down there. I wouldnever have been able to getmycomforterifitweren’tonclearance.“

I nodded. All this time Ithought Asia’s family had aton of money. She told meshe and her mom loved tobargainhuntandgo tooutletstores.

“Youshouldcomewithus

sometime.Morgan thinks it’slame,butmymomsayswhyshould you spend so muchmoney on something justbecause of the name on thelabel?”

We went into a French-stylestoreandshesmelledallthe lotions. She was tellingme to smell her wrist whenshe stopped in themiddle ofhersentence.

“Jack walked past thestore,” Asia said, grabbing

myarm.We went outside and

figured he must have goneinto the bookstore. She kneltdown, retying her shoe untilhecameoutwithabigbag.Ialmost fainted when heglanced over at us andnodded.

“He acknowledged ourexistence. So hot,” she said.“Let’sseewherehegoes.”

He went into a modernfurniture storeand theowner

tookhimupstairs.Wewouldhave followed him, but therewas an “Employees Only”sign. We got bored waiting,sowedecidedtogetsomeicecreamnext door sowe’d seehimwhenhewalkedout.Sheordered a scoop of espressoice cream, so I got the sameflavor.Ihadtriedcoffeeonceanddidn’tlikeit,butIdidn’twant to look like a kid infront of her. She paid formine, which I thought was

cool.“He’ssoamazing,”Isaid.Shenodded. “He’s not as,

Idunno,perfect-lookingasheis in his videos though. Iguess famous guys needmakeuptoo.”

I had never thought aboutcelebrity guys wearingmakeup, but it made sense.No wonder they all were soperfect in the magazineswhilerealguyswereneverasflawlessastheonesonTV.

“You know, Simone toldme all the high schoolers onthe TV shows weren’t eventeenagers.Somewerelike,intheir thirties,whichwaswhythey were so sophisticatedlooking. She said the guywho played her brother wastwenty-five, and he wasplaying a sophomore in highschool,” she said. “I’m stillhungry. Do you want to getsomepizza?”

Iwouldhave liked tostay

andwaitforJack,butitdidn’tlook like he was comingdownanytimesoon.

“We could go to theNewHummingbird—I’ve seenother celebs go there, somaybe he’d stop by,” shesaid.

“Good call. I did see theyhaveaback roomfor specialguests, so maybe we’d get aglimpseofhimwalkinginorout.”

We walked to the

restaurantandsheaskedwhatI liked on my pizza. I hatedgreenpepperandonion,butIdidn’t want to say anything.She suggested we getpepperoni, green pepper, andmushrooms.

“Okay, I can pick thepepperoff—”

“If you don’t like it thenI’ll only get it on half,” shesaid.

The waitress took ourorder and I was worried we

wouldn’t have anything totalk about. She glancedaround the restaurant and Itried to think of interestingstufftosay.Ididn’tknowanygossip,soIaskedheriftherewasanybodysheliked.

“In our class?” Shewrinkled her nose. “Well,after seeing Jack, there’s noone else right now who cancompare,butthere’snotalotofguysatschooltopickfromanyway. I kinda like Wyatt

Rogers. I mean, like, if theworld was ending and I hadtochoose.Whataboutyou?”

I shrugged. I still likedNick,andotherthanhimandJack,whoelseeveninterestedme? I felt like I was beingboring, so I tried asking heraboutWyatt,buttherewasn’ta lot to say. Iwas afraid shewas getting bored and goingto tell Simone she had anawful time. I had to thinkquickly.

“You know, CharlottethinksWill Fuller is cute,” Isaid.

Asia’s eyes got big.“Will’s my cousin. Oh mygosh. He doesn’t have agirlfriend right now, but heused to have a thing forReagan. I can’t believeCharlottelikeshim,”shesaid,stoppingtotakeadrinkofhersoda.“Ican’twaittoaskhimwhohelikes.”

Oh crap. Charlotte would

kill me if she knew I toldanybody about her likingWill. She had sworn me tosecrecy and I had ratted herout—to the guy’s freakin’cousinnoless.Shewasgoingto be furious…well, if shefoundout.IaskedAsianottosay anything to Will orCharlotteandshenodded.

“Iwon’tlethimknowshelikeshim,but itwouldbe socute if they got together. Ididn’t know Charlotte was

even into the whole datingthing,”shesaid.“Imean,notlike I thought she was tooyoung—it’s…well… youknow…nevermind.”

IhopedCharlottewouldn’tfindoutItoldAsiaaboutherliking Will, but Asia hadpromisednottosayanything,soIfigureditwouldbeokay.

Afterlunch,wewentbacktothestoreJackhadbeenin,buttheownerwasdownstairsnow so we guessed he had

left.Wekeptlookingforhimwhilewehungouttherestoftheafternoon.

“I can’t believe we sawhim today,”Asia said as shepulled her long, thick hairinto a ponytail. “I’m so gladyou saw his tattoo because Inever would have realized itwas him. Now I’m a littleweirded out he wears somuchmakeup the rest of thetime, but I guess it’s okay‘causehe’ssuchahottie.”

“Yeah,itthrewmethathehas...well, less than perfectskin.”

“Yeah,nottobemean,buthis skin was pretty bad andhis hair…it wasn’t his finestday, you know? Normally,it’s all perfect and instead,today, it was like, humiditywasn’thisfriend.Hewasstillthe hottest thing I’ve everseen in my life though,” shesaid.

“Withoutadoubt.Doyou

think he has a girlfriend?” Iasked.

“I think I read inSeventeen that he’s singlenow,” she said, leaningforward.“Youknow,hewentout with the girl in theStarlight video. She left herboyfriend for him, but theybrokeupafterafewweeks.”

I thought the girl in theStarlight video was themostbeautiful model I had everseen. She was one of those

exotic types who look evenbetter when they don’t wearmakeup.

“Ican’tbelieveJackbrokeup with her. They looked soperfecttogether,”Isaid.

“I know, she’s gorgeous,butIreadsomewherehesaidthey had nothing incommon,”shesaid.

“Lies, they’re both hot.Theyhavethatincommon.”

She cracked up. “I know,right? How is that not a

foundation to build a lastingrelationship? Anyway, Iguess he meant they hadnothing to talk about. Itseems like they could talkabouthowbeautifultheybothare.Youknow,ifhewearssomuch makeup on TV, thenmaybe she’s not as naturalandperfect-lookingeither.”

I nodded. Somehow, eventhoughwe had seen how hisskin wasn’t perfect and hewas way shorter than he

seemed on TV, I liked himevenmore.Heseemedmore,I dunno, real or something,becausehehadblotchyskin.Iguessbeforehehadbeen toogoodtobetrue.

ChapterTwenty-Seven

AsiaandIdecidedtowait

andtellCharlotteandSimoneaboutseeingJackuntillunch.IwasdyingtotellChar,butIheld back. I gave Charlottethe bracelet I got for her inthe morning though. Sheloved it and I thought itwasnicer than the stupid shellring Deidre got her, but Ididn’tpointitout.Deidrehadbeen hanging around Pilar a

lot lately. Itwasn’t likePilarwantedheraround,itwasthatMorganandReaganhadbeenacting like best friends andleaving her out. I guess evenhanging out with your dorkycousin was better than beingalone.

Simone had the bracelet Ibought her on at lunch andAsiayelledatmetohurryupin the lunch linesowecouldtell themour news. I gotmylunch as fast as I could and

sat down to tell Char andSimone.

“Okay, so this weekendwe saw Jack in Saugatuck,”Asiasaid.

“Shut up. No way. Youdidnot,”Simonesaid.

“Yup,” Asia said. “Heevennoddedatus—”

“Likea‘heybaby,’nodora‘hey,’nod?Showme.Showme his exact nod,” Simonesaid.

Asiagotupandpretended

to be Jack. Simone shrieked.“Atotal‘heybaby,’nod.Youguys are so lucky. So whatdidhelooklikeupclose?Didhe smell good? I bet hesmelledgood.”

Asia nodded. “He smelledlike the new Calvin Kleinmen’scologne.”

“Heseemedshorter than Ithoughthe’dbe,”Isaid.

“Washeascute inpersonorcuter?”Charlotteasked.

Asia and I exchanged a

look.“Yesandno.Hewasn’tasperfect-lookingashe is inhis videos, but he was stillsuper hot. His skin isn’tflawless in person, and Idunno how to explain it, butit’s like his imperfectionsmadehimevencuter,”Isaid.

Simone suggested we allgo out on Friday. We weretalkingaboutourplansfortheweekend when Will Fullercameover toour table toaskAsia something. Asia’s face

got red and she shifted.Willshifted his glance betweenCharlotte and me as hegrabbedsomeofAsia’sfries.Ihadasinkingfeelinghewastryingtofigureoutwhichoneofuslikedhim.

“Hey, I’mWill,” he said,noddingtome.

“This is Hadley,” Asiasaid.“She’snewthisyear.”

“I know, seen youaround,”hesaidsmiling.

I didn’t know what to do

soIstartedpickingthebitsofshredded lettuce off mysandwich.

Charlotte spent the entiretimestaringatthebackofherjuice box. Will probablythought shewas such a dorksince she couldn’t even lookat him. PoorCharlotte didn’tevenhaveaclueheknewsheliked him. I felt so guilty.After spelling class, Asiagrabbed my arm as wewalkedtomylocker.

“I swear, I didn’t tell himaboutCharlotte,” she said. “Iaskedhimifhelikedanybodyand he said he kinda likedReagan, but he could tell Iwas holding something back.All I said was someone Iknew thought he was cute,butIwouldn’ttellhimwhoitwas.”

“What a relief. I was soworriedCharlottewould findout I told you. I can relaxnow,”Isaid.

“Um, not quite. I guessWill kind of assumed it wasyouwholikeshim,”shesaid.

“Well, as long as Chardoesn’tfindout.”

“Yeah, there’s one littleproblem. He kinda likes younow,”shesaid.

At first, I was thrilled aguy liked me, but then Ithought about how Charlottewould kill me if she foundout Ihad toldAsiaabouthercrushonWill.AllIwantedto

dowas to findCharlotte andtellheraboy likedme.Onlyproblem was she liked theguy. Why couldn’t she likeMax? Why did she have topicksomebodycutewhonowlikedme?

“He askedme for your e-mail address. What should Ido?” Asia asked. “I mean, Idon’twanttohurtCharlotte’sfeelings,butitwouldbecoolto havemy cousin going outwithoneofmyfriends.”

IwassoexcitedshecalledmeherfriendthatItoldhertogive himmy e-mail address.Shegavemeaquickhugandran off to find him. I stoodthere in the hall wonderingwhat I was going to say toCharlotte.Ishouldhavebeenon top of theworld. Imean,for the first time inmy life Ifelt like I fit in somewhere.When I was a kid I used tohave aBarbie coloringbook,and it would show her at

football games with herfriends and hanging outwithher boyfriend. Now I had agroup of friends to hang outwith, people to sit with atlunch,abestfriend,plansfortheweekend, and a cute guylikedme. Itwas everything Ihad ever wanted, but I feltsick because I was going tohurtmybestfriendwhenshefound out I had givenmy e-mail address to the guy sheliked.

“Hadley.” Simone camerunningover.“Iheard.Will’ssocute.You’resolucky.”

“I know, but Char—” Istopped when I rememberedonly Asia knew aboutCharlottelikingWill.

“This is so cool. You’vegot to come over when hemessagesyousowecanreadittogether,”shesaid.

Charlotte walked up.“Why are you going overthere to check your e-mail?”

sheaskedme.“Ithoughtyourdadhookedupyourcomputeralready.”

Iopenedmymouth,butnowordscameout.

“Because Will Fulleraskedforhere-mailaddress,”Simonesaid.

Charlotte’s eyes widenedand shewalked away. I triedtogoafterher,butitwaslikeshe disappeared into thecrowd. Simone was rightbehind me and asked what

Charlotte’s problemwas, butI shrugged. I didn’t want tomake it worse by tellinganother person aboutCharlottelikingWill.

“Come on. I want to stopand get a cherry cola slushiebefore we read Will’s e-mail,”Simonesaid.

Iletherleadmetotheicecream parlor. She talked thewholewayabouthowcool itwouldbeifWillandIstartedgoing out and how she and

Asia would have to findboyfriends so we could allhangouttogether.

“If you guys start datingthenyou’llbetheonlyoneofus who has a boyfriend,”Simonesaid,playingwithherstraw.

Simone meant it as acompliment, but the thoughtmademystomachfeelcolderthan the slushie. If Iwas theonly one with a boyfriend,then I’d have to go places

with him all by myself…bymyself with a boy. Mystomach felt like it was thefirst day of school all overagain. Iwas sonot ready forthis. My parents had nevereven brought up dating ruleswithme. Imean, I still sleptwith a teddy bear and keptmydollhousearound,sotheyprobablynever thoughtaboutme getting asked out. Plus,theydidn’thaveaclueaboutNickandmeeither.

“Let’s stop at thenewsstand. I want to see ifthey have the new TeenVogue,” Simone said, and Ifollowed her out of the icecreamparlor.

I kept staring at ourreflections in the storewindows as we passed.Simone seemed so confidentandbeautiful inhergrayandpinkJuicyCouturehoodie. Itmust have been the way shecarriedherself,becauseIhad

almost the same outfit on—only less expensive—but Ilookedlikealittlekidnexttoher. Earlier, Aunt Faith toldmeIhadseemedmoresureofmyself lately. I thought shemeant because I had startedwearingmakeup,butshesaidit had nothing to do withcosmetics. She saidconfidence came from howyoufelt insideandwhatkindofpersonyouwere,andyourappearance made no

difference at all. And here Ithought itwasa loadof crapadultssaidtounpopularkids.

We walked back toSimone’s house and shechecked my e-mail, but Ididn’t have any newmessages.

“Can I braid your hair?”she asked. I nodded and shepulled my long hair into aponytail and started makinglots of little braids. It wasmore sophisticated than the

onesMomusedtodoforme.“Have you ever had a

boyfriend before?” Simoneasked.

“No. I thought Nick wasgoingtobemyfirst.Theguysatmyoldschoolwerekindofimmature,” I said. I didn’tadd that all the boys therethought I was invisible, sothere was never any hope ofme having a boyfriend inGoodacre.

“I’ve had three real

boyfriends.Onewasthisguy,Chris, who dumped me theday I found out my parentswere getting divorced. Icalledhimcryingandhewas,like, ‘Too bad, anyway, Idon’t thinkweshouldgooutanymore.Maybewecouldbefriends.’”Shepulledmyhairtighter as she talked aboutChris.

“Guys are such jerkssometimes,” I said, thinkingabout the time this guy,

Steve, from my old school,foundanote Ihadwritten toLexi and read it out loud onthe playground. Then heplayedkeep-awaywithit,andImadeafoolofmyselftryingtogetitback.

“Then Chris asked myfriend Kasey to go with himtwo days later. I mean, hecould have at least waited aweek. It was soembarrassing,” she said,pulling my hair so hard my

head snapped back. “Oh,sorry.”

Imassagedmyachinghairfolliclesasshewenttocheckmy e-mail again. She said IhadamessagefromWillandaskedifshecouldreaditwithme. I nodded and she almosttwisted my arm off she wassoexcited.

HiHadley,What’sup?Didyouwatch

the football game last

Saturday? What’s yourfavorite team? I likeU ofMincollegefootball.Seeya,WillOh, yeah. Real romantic.

Still,Iwasrelievedhewasn’taskingmeoutoranything.IfWillwantedtojustbefriendsthenitwasfinewithme.

“He’ssuchaloser.Imean,asking you about football?”Simone rolledher eyes. “But

hedidwriteyouonthesameday he got your e-mailaddress.Meanshelikesyou.”

I wondered if some girlswere given some sort of boydecoding handbook the restof us didn’t get. How couldSimone tellWill likedmebyhimaskingifIlikedfootball?I had a lot to learn aboutguys. Iwas surprised he hade-mailedmeatall.Imean,inthemornings I try to at leastbrushmyhairafterIwashit,

but today Ihadbarelygottenall the tangles out. I threw itup in a messy bun, and Ididn’t have any makeup oneither. Most days I wore alittle blush, gloss, and cover-up if I had any spots, buttoday I borrowed Charlotte’sbubblegumflavoredlipbalm.I tried to look half decentmost of the time, but on theone day I didn’t try, I gotasked formy e-mail address.Weird. I didn’t understand

guys.“You can borrowmyUM

sweatshirt tomorrow,”Simone said. “Then he’llthink you guys havesomethingincommon.”

Simone’s sweatshirtsmelled like her Bath andBody Works body spray. Iloved it when she let meborrow her clothes becausethey always smelled so girlyandnice.Myclothessmelledlike Snuggle fabric softener.

Simonewantedme to e-mailhim back, but I had no ideawhat to say. She decided tocallAsiaforadvice.

“Will loves hiking andhe’s obsessed with anythingto do with U of M. He alsolikes to watch anything sci-fi,”Asiasaid.

He sounded perfect forCharlotte. She loved sci-fi,and hiking was her favoritething to do. If Will likedCharmed Lives and Lance

Cunningham, then I’d knowhe andCharlotteweremeanttobe—or theywere fraternaltwins separated at birth likeLanceandhissister,Leocadiaon the show. Well, theyhadn’t revealed theplot twistyet on the show, but Char’sgrandpahadreaditonasoapoperaspoilerswebsite.

“I’m going to call himlater and see what he saysaboutyou,”Asiasaid.“Don’tworry, I’ll act like I haven’t

eventalkedtoyou.”IwasnervousAsiawould

let him think I liked himwhenIwasn’tevensurehowIfelt.SimonecouldtellIwasa little freaked out and shesuggested wewatch amovieand forget about guys for awhile.ShepoppedDoorDieintheDVDplayerandwesatonthesofa.

WhenIgothomeIwantedto callCharlotte, but I didn’tknowifshe’dwant to talk to

me.AuntFaithwasoverandshe asked how school wasgoing.Ididn’tmeantodumpeverything on her, but I toldheraboutWillandCharlotte.

“Does Charlotte likehim?”sheasked.

“Yeah, I think he’s thefirst guy she’s ever liked,” Isaid.

“But you like him too?”sheasked.

I shrugged and said Willwas cute, but I wasn’t sure

whether or not I liked him. Iwantedtohaveaboyfriend—Nick. Nick was easy to talkto, sweet, thoughtful, andwith another girl. That wasover and I had to move on,butallIknewwasIlikedthefactWilllikedme.

“Tell Charlotte you thinkWill’s a nice guy, but yourfriendship with her is moreimportant,”shesaid.

“Sounds like somethingyou’d see them saying on a

rerunofDuncan’sCorner,” Isaid,makingaface.“But ifIdo tell him that, then Willwould wonder what myproblemisandAsiamightgetmadatme.”

I decided to callCharlotteafter dinner. I was going totell her I didn’t try to takeWill away from her. I had itall planned out in my mind.However, I freakedoutwhenshe answered and mypreparedspeechleftme.

“Ididn’tlike,goafterWilloranything.Heaskedmeformy e-mail address. I don’tevenknowwhy,”Isaid.

“Why didn’t you tell meyou liked him too?” sheasked.

“Because I didn’t—or, Idon’t. I dunno. I thought hewas sort of cute. You knowJackBrogger’stheonlyguyIlikeanyway,”Isaid.

At least she laughed alittle. “I don’t have a chance

withWill anyway,” she said.“Actually, I had a crush onNick too,but Iknew I reallydidn’t stand a chance there.Sheesh, you take all myleftovers.”

Shesaidit likeajoke,butnowIknewwhysheactedsoweird whenever I talkedaboutNick.

“Char, Iwishyou toldmeabout likingNickbefore, buthonestly, you and Will havelotsofstuff incommon.You

both like to hike and watchsci-fistuff.”

“It’sokay,yougooutwithhim. I’ll wait for LanceCunningham to get sick ofMadison and Chandler,” shesaid. “Did you see today’sshow? Leocadia hinted sheand Lance are related toChandler and Madison’sfather.Ithinkthetruthmightcomeoutnextweek.”

Asiacalledmelatertotellme how her conversation

withWillwent.“He said you seemed

‘pretty cool’ and he washoping to hear from you,”Asiasaid.

“I have no idea what towriteinmye-mailtohim.”

“Just be yourself and tellhim you’re not into collegefootball, but youwatchothersports.” Then she toldme toaskhimwhatkindofmovieshe liked. Seemed easyenough.

***

Isetmyalarmtowakeme

up a half-hour earlier to getreadyforschool.IcurledmyhairwithMom’scurling ironand tried using an eyelinerpencilSimoneletmeborrow.I had to wash it off threetimesbeforeIgotitonsemi-okay. Simone and Asiathought it was cute when I

got to school, but Charlottedidn’tsaymuch.Simonehadtried togetCharlotte towearsomelipgloss,butsofarshehad refused to put onanything more than Dr.PepperLipsmackerlipbalm.

Asia had told me whereWill’s locker was and shewanted me to walk by andsay“hi”tohim.Ididn’twantto, but she and Simone saidthey’d go with me. Wewalked past him and I

managedtosqueakouta“hi.”Hehadthisweirdlookonhisfacewhenheansweredme.IknewIshouldn’thavetriedtowear eyeliner. Maybe theboy-decoding handbookeverybody else seemed tohave also had a section onhowtoputoneyemakeup.

Will didn’t even comeover to our table at lunch.Asia waved to him, but hewavedbackandstayedwherehewas.

“Idon’tgetit.Hetoldmehewasexcitedyouwrotehimbackandnowhewon’t evencomeoverhere,”shesaid.

“Maybe he’s embarrassedbecause everybody knows helikesher,”Charlottesaid.

Asiashrugged.“Iguess.”Iwasworried he changed

hismindaboutme. Imean, Iobviously tried to lookbettertoday too. I curled my hairand wore makeup. Maybe Ididn’t curl it right or

something.IranintoNickafterschool

while I was waiting forCharlotte. She had to stayafter to work on a labassignment since Deidre hadmesseduptheirexperiment.

IalmostneversawNickatschool because his classeswere all on the other side ofthebuilding.

“So…howareyourclassesgoing?”heasked.

“Um,okay.Yours?”

“All right, I guess. Holdup, I need to stop by mylockerhere for aminute,”hesaid.HeopeneditandIsawapicture of the new Tigerscatcher taped to the back ofthedoor.

“Nice picture,” I said. “Ilikethenewguytoo.”

“You seem a lot differenttoday,”hesaid.

“What do you mean?” Iasked.

“I dunno. Different

somehow.I’llseeyaaround,”hesaidashewalkedaway.

Charlotte met me at herlocker and asked what waswrong.

“Idonotgetboysatall,”Isaid.

ChapterTwenty-Eight

ThenextdayIdidn’teven

bother to curl my hair. I putmyhair in abraid,pulledonSimone’ssweatshirtandwentto class. Simone let meborrow her pink lip glossbecausemylipsfeltdry.

“You’re so lucky to havethick, dark lashes.You don’tevenneedmascara,”shesaid.“I have to glop it on beforeanyone notices I even have

lashes.”I never wore mascara

because it feltweirdandwashard to get off. I did startcurling my lashes recentlybecause they stick out weirdotherwise.Willwaved tomein the hall and I gave a littlesmile. I didn’t want to lookovereager since he didn’tseem interested in meanymore.

Atlunch,Asiatoldushowshe had a sneezing fit in the

hall right in front of WyattRogers.

“Ialwayshaveallergiesinthe fall, but this was theworst. I almost sneezed onhim,”shesaid.

“Ihavebadallergies too,”Charlotte said. “You shouldtry using Angold allergydrops.Theyhelpmeout.”

Asiawrotethenameinsideherlavenderbinder.“Thanks,Char.Maybe it will helpmekeepmysnotoffWyatt.”

Will walked over and satdown next to Asia. “I likeyourshirt,Hadley,”hesaid.IstartedtosayitwasSimone’sshirt,butshekickedmeunderthe table. Asia sneezed andhereyesgotwatery.

“I hate fall,” she said,grabbing a handful ofnapkins.

“Well, Iwas gonna ask ifyou guys wanted to gooutside, but I guess not,” hesaid.

“Yeah, we’ve all gotallergy problems,” Simonesaid. “But Hadley doesn’t.Whydon’tyouguysgo?”

I asked Charlotte to goalongwithus,butshepickedupanapkinandpretended toblowhernose.She stuckhertongueoutatmeas IwalkedtothedoorwithWill.

I thought I’dhavenothingto say to him, but he waspretty easy to talk to. Heasked what kind of music I

liked and he made a facewhenIsaid,“JackBrogger.”

“He’s okay, I guess. Ikinda liked the song he didfor the Thunder and Steelmovie,”hesaid.

“So do you like to reador…anything?” I asked,wondering if that sounded aslame coming out of mymouthasIthoughtitdid.

He said was into thefuturistic sci-fi seriesCharlotteloved.ImentionedI

wasgoingtoaskmyfriendtoletmeborrowherbooks,buthe toldmehe’d lend themtome.

“Iprobablydon’thaveanybooksyou’dbeinterestedin,”Isaid.

“Actually,I’dlovetoreadthe fantasy book I saw youwithinthecafeteriatheotherday.Theonewiththedragononthecover.”

“Oh, that’s Charlotte’s.I’ve never read any of that

series.”“Oh.” We ran out of

conversation and it seemedliketheharderItriedtocomeupwithsomethingtosay,themoremybrainbetrayedme.Icouldn’t come up with asingle topic, but he didn’tseemtomind.

Later, Simone asked mehow everything went when Igottoscienceclass.Itoldherhewaseasytotalktoandshesaid the three of them

watched us out of thecafeteriawindow.

“Charlotte said she thinkshe’scute,”shesaid.

“She did?” I asked, andSimonenodded.

After school, Will waitedformeatmylocker.“Wanttowalkhometogether?”

“As long as you don’tmindifCharlottecomeswithus. We always walktogether,”Isaid.

“Noproblem.”

However, not only did heend up walking with us, butNickwasheadedinthesamedirection, and it was superawkwardwithhimalongside.Will andCharlotte talked thewhole way about a movietheyhadbothseen.Theactorwho played LanceCunningham had been amutant initandWill thoughthestunkinthefilm.

“Well, he’s good onCharmed Lives,” Charlotte

said.Will wrinkled his nose.

“Youwatchthatshow?”“Weliveforit,”Isaid,and

Charlottenodded.He shrugged. “Isn’t

ValerieJacksonontheshow?She’shot.”

“It’s Valeria Joseph,”Charlottesaid.“DoyouknowwhoValeriais,Nick?”

“Yeah, but she’s kindafake-looking,”Nicksaid.

Hiscommentsurprisedme

and I tripped—right in frontofhim.Heputhishandouttosteady me. Way to begraceful.Ugh.

“Well,thisisme,”hesaid.“Uh…seeyouguyslater.”

We dropped Charlotte offand went to my house. Mymom was in the garden andwe went inside to watch TVand have some grape juice.Will said Charlotte seemedpretty cool and I waited forhim to sayhe likedhernow,

but he helped himself to abrownie. Valeria’s newshampoo commercial cameonandshewhippedherheadaround so her blonde hairfannedout.Shehadona tonof dark eye shadow, whichmade her eyes look all sexyandsmoky.

“Nick’s right, she is kindoffake,”hesaid.“Likeshe’stryingtoohard.”

“I don’t think Valerianeeds makeup at all, but I

do,”Isaid.“Nah, you look better

withoutit,”hesaid.My face got warm. Will

left after we watched thevideo countdown show. Mymomhadamillionquestionsabouthimwhenhewasgone.I went over to Grandma’shousetogetawayfromher.

Simone was helping hermom rake leaves in the frontyardandshecalledmeover.Igrabbed a garbage bag and

helpedherbagleaves.“So, Will came over to

watch TV at the house,” Isaid.

She screamed and threwher arms around me. Idropped the leaf bag and hermomlaughedatus.

“Aw, you guys are goingout,”Simonesaid.

I pointed out he hadn’tasked me officially, but shewavedherhand like itdidn’tmatter. I told her what Nick

andWillhadboth saidaboutValeria.

“Oh, I get it now—whyNickwasactingsoweird theother day. He made acomment thatyouseemedsodown-to-earth when he firstmetyou,but thenhe thoughtmaybe he had read youwrong.Ididn’tknowwhathemeant, but this explains it. Iguess he doesn’t like thewhole overly girly-girlthing,” she said. “Anyway, I

called my GrandpaHendrickson.”

Iaskedherwhathappenedandshesaidhewantedhertocome out for a visit someweekend.

“MomsaidIcouldgo,soIthink I might spend nextweekendwithhim,”shesaid.

Will messaged me later.Hekeptgoingonaboutsomestupidshowhewatchedaboutif aliens existed. It was thekindofthingthatwouldhave

fascinated Charlotte, but Iwasbored.

***

The next day, Charlotte

and Will talked about thealien show the whole wayhome.

“The guy from Roswelltotally convinced me,” Willsaid.“Imean,whyelsewouldthe government need coffins

tested to make sure theydidn’tleak?”

“Duh, who wants a leakycoffin?”Charlottesaid.

“Um, you guys? Can wetalkaboutsomethingelse?”Iasked. “Something thatdoesn’t involve bodily fluidsoozingoutofcaskets?”

WillseemedlikeheforgotI was still there. I startedtalking about the U of Mversus Michigan Statefootball game going on

Saturday. I thought it wouldget Will’s attention, butthings got worse becauseCharlotte knew a lot moreaboutfootballthanIrealized.The two of them were offtalking and I was left out—again. It seemed Will hadway more in common withCharlotte, and it was gettingonmynerves.Ididn’tmindiftheygot along,but ifhewassupposed to like me, thenshouldn’t he want to spend

time with me? What wasworsewas thewayCharlottewaslookingathim.Itwasthesame look Asia got on herface when she talked aboutJack,orthelookIgotwhenIthought about Nick—exceptCharlotte had a much betterchance with Will. I kepthopingitwasmyimaginationandWill still likedme, but Ihad a bad feeling whenCharlottecalledmeatnight.

“Did you study for the

mathtest?”Iasked.“No, I was busy chatting

online,”shesaid.Maybe she was talking to

Deidre, but I had bad vibes,so I asked who she wastalking to online. She gotquiet for a minute and thensaid,“Will.”

Icouldn’tgetmadsincehetechnically wasn’t myboyfriend and she had likedhimfirst,butIwasn’tthrilled.

“Ididn’tknowyouhadhis

e-mailaddress,”Isaid.“I don’t. He checked my

profile online. It’s no bigdeal.We talked aboutAliensAmongstUs.Areyoumad?”

How could I be? I prettymuchstole theguy fromher.ItoldherIdidn’tmind,butImentioned it later to Simonewho thought it was a badidea.

“If you like him thenyou’re going to have to getinterestedinthealiencraphe

watches,”shesaid.“Neverletyourboyfriendsget toocloseto your friends. Look whathappenedwithPilarandme.”

I thought Charlotte couldbetrusted,butthenIrealizedshehadtrustedmenot to tellanyone about her crush onWill and I had blabbed. Shehadalsotrustedmenot togoafterhimandIhaddonethattoo. If there was anybodywho couldn’t be trusted thenit was me. I decided to call

Charlotte back and tell her Ithought she and Will wouldmake a better couple. It wasobvioushelikedheranyway.

“He’s your boyfriend,”Charlottesaid.

“But he never technicallyasked me out,” I said. “Iknowyoustill likehimandIthink you should go for it.And I know it’s over, but tobehonest,Istillhavefeelingsfor Nick. Anyway, I’ll walkhome with Simone after

school tomorrow so you twocantalkalone.”

***

Will didn’t come near

either one of us at lunch thenext day. Charlotte hadn’tsaid anything to me, but IknewsomethingwasupwhensheaskedtoborrowSimone’slip gloss. Simone’s eyesalmostfelloutofherheadas

shepassedCharlottethetube.I couldn’t say anything sinceI had encouraged her to goafter him…only the secondguy (other than Nick) whohadeverpaidanyattentiontome unless you counted theguy at my old school whothrewguminmyhair.

I didn’t even bother towaitforherafterclass.Iwentstraight to my locker so Icouldavoidwatchingthetwoof them together. Simone

came over to my locker andtried to make me feel betterbytellingmeWillhadcrappytasteinshoes.EvenAsiasaidhewaskindofaloserandhealways smelled like footpowder.

We walked outside andstarted to head to Scoopswhen I heard Charlottecalling after me. She wasprobably going to tell me hehad asked her out—somethinghehadn’tbothered

to do with me. Her cheekswereflushedwhenshecaughtup to us. I didn’t know if itwas because she had beenrunningor ifWillhadkissedher.

“Aren’tyouwalkinghomewithWill?”Iasked.

She shook her headwhileshe tried to catch her breath.“No, hewaited forme, but ItoldhimIhadtomeetyou.”

“Why?”“BecauseIknowyouliked

himandIwouldn’tgobehindyourback,”shesaid.

“Isortadidthattoyou.”She shrugged. “He’s only

someguy.Imean,he’sfuntotalkto,butwhatever.AndhesaidLancewasabadactor.Icould never like someonewho didn’t like LanceCunningham. But um, I alsoranintosomebodyelse.”

“Who?”“Nick.”“Oh?”

“I asked him if he knewMorgan had lied about youhaving a boyfriend. He saidAsia told him, but hewasn’tsurewhattothink.”

“Well,itdoesn’tmatter,”Isaid.“He’swithReagannowanyway.”

“Yeah, well at least heknowsthetruth.”

“Oh my gosh, I forgot totell you guys what I readabout Lance.” Simoneinterrupted. “Valeria and the

girlwho playsMadison bothused to like Lance and theygot into abig fight over it atthe studio. Madison almostgot firedforpushingValeria,but they worked it out andthey’re friends, and he’s theonethey’renotspeakingto.”

I thought Valeria wouldhave had better taste in menthantodateLance.Itwasonething for Valeria’s character,Chandler, to like Lance onthe program, but for Valeria

to like him in real life? Hewas toomuchofaplayer forher.

“Lance is dating the girlwho plays his twin now,”Asiasaid.“Isawitonline.”

“I’m glad they decidedLance wasn’t worth ruiningtheir friendship over,”Charlottesaid.

“Well,don’tgetupset,butValeria caught him flirtingwiththemakeupartistontheset, so she got mad and

dumped his sorry butt,”Simone said. “Char, I’ll giveyou the magazine when I’mdone because your grandpawillwanttoreadit.”

“Still, they didn’t letLance come between them,”Charsaid.“Eveniftheyonlydumped him because he wasapig.”

“Yeah, I mean, he’s stillcute, but he’s no JackBrogger,” I said. “Of course,now I know that even Jack

Brogger doesn’t look likeJackBrogger.”

“You guys, I have somenews,” Simone said. “I’mgoing to sign with a localagent. I won’t be doing anyTV shows from hereobviously,butmaybeIcoulddo some commercials orwhatever.”

“That’sawesome,”Isaid.“Imissacting,andI’dlike

to do some plays orsomething. I guess there’s a

theateraroundhereImightbeable to tryout for, andMomtalkedtotheproducersofmyold show and they mightwrite me back in for anepisode where I come backfrom boarding school. Itwouldn’t be a permanentthing, but it would be fun tocomebackevenifitwasonlyforaday,”Simonesaid.

When I got home, WillIM’d me and asked if Iwanted to go to the movies

withhimandhisparents thisweekend.I’dnevergoneonadate before, and I had toadmitIwaskindofintrigued.Will was cool and it wouldhave been nice to have aboyfriend, but Charlotte hadalready said she wouldn’truin our friendship over aguy.Iknewshewouldn’tgetmad at me if I went to themovieswithhim,butIdidn’twant to hurt her feelings orlead him on. Maybe nobody

elsewouldaskmeoutagain,but I guess itwould be okayif it meant I still hadCharlotteasabestfriend.

Sometimes it seemed likethingswereeasierbackwhenIdidn’thavefriendsandthereweren’tanyguysinterestedinme, but I wouldn’t trade mylife now for anything—evenif it meant I could be JackBrogger’s girlfriend…well,okay, maybe then, but I hadnext summer to work on it.

By next summer, Simonemight even be on TV again,and maybe she’d meet Jack.After all, he was alwaysdoing guest appearances onTV shows, so it couldhappen,andheandIhadwaymore incommon thanhedidwith his video model. Weboth liked pizza, the colorblue, and cookie dough icecream. We were practicallymeanttobe.

Myphonerang thenandI

saw it was Nick. My heartjumped.

“Hello?”Isaid.“Hey, it’s Nick. Do you

haveaminute?”heasked.“Sure.”“I heard about what went

on withMorgan and Reaganandallthat—um…stuff.”

“Yeah?”“I also heard you didn’t

have a boyfriend over thesummer when we were, youknow,talking.”

“I didn’t. Morgan madethatwholethingup.”

“Well, I wanted you toknow that I believe you, andI’m sorry I didn’t ask youaboutitrightaway,”hesaid.

“No, I get it. Imean, youhardlyknewme.”

“Yeah,well,Ishouldhaveasked. Anyway, I’m sorryabout being so weird andabout how Reagan wastreating you. I guess sheknew howmuch I liked you

and kinda felt threatened byit.”

“Seriously?”“Yeah, we had a huge

fightaboutit.Shewastellingme you did something and Idefended you, and she wascoming out with all sorts ofcrazy stuff—like that youwere talking behind people’sbacks,andstuffIknowyou’dnever do.Anyway,we brokeup.”

“Oh, well, I’m sorry if I

causedproblemsbetweenyouguys,” I said while crossingmyfingersandsilentlyaskingfor forgiveness for the giantlieItold.

“Shewas super jealous ofyou, and I started thinkingabout it—whyamIwith thisgirl who doesn’t even seemlike that nice of a personwhenthegirlIreallywanttobewithlivesdowntheroad?”I didn’t say anything and hecleared his throat. “Um, do I

havetoclarifyagainthatI’mtalkingaboutyou?”heaskedlaughing.

“Very funny…actually,yeah. I do need it spelledout,”Isaid.

“So…you want to hangout tonight?It’sgettingtobeWorld Series time and wecould watch the gametonight.”

“I’dloveto.”“Great,”hesaid.“I’mmad

at the whole situation for

ruiningour summer together.But maybe we can lookforwardtonextsummer,huh?Plus, basketball season isstarting up soon. It’d be nicetowatchthegamestogether.”

It was a strange feelingbeing able to think aboutwhat I’d be doing nextsummer with my friends—and now the possibility ofhavingaboyfriend?Theideaof planning stuff wasexciting. In the past,

vacations were only fun ifLexiwas in town. Ifshewasvisiting family, then it wasme sitting in front of theTVor reading a book. Now IknewIhadawinterbreak tolookforwardtowhereIcouldgo ice skating with myfriends, and Nick was nowtalking about basketballseasonstartingupsoon.

“Sodoyouwant towatchover here or should I comeoverthere?”heasked.

I remembered then thatGrandpa had said he waslooking forward to watchingtheplayoffswithme.

“Iusuallywatchthegameswith my grandpa—it’s kindof our thing, but I’m surehe’d be cool with it if youcame over. I’ll text you tomake sure it’s fine. Is thatokay?”

“Yeah, let me know whattime.”

IcalledGrandpaandasked

himifNickcouldcomeover.“Nowis thisNick theone

you sort of like or the onewho you get that dopey grinoverwhenhemessagesyou?”Grandpaasked.

“Thesecondone.”“Ah, thenyouwill need a

chaperone. Okay, he cancome,butI’msittingbetweenyoutwo—kidding!Kidding!”

ItextedNickback.Nick:Can’twait.;)

I called Simone and told

herthenews.“I’m so glad,” she said.

“He really is a sweetie andyouguysaresocutetogether.I love how he blushes andgets so focused around you.He never does that withanyoneelse.Iswear,Morganmade him nervous and evenReaganmadehimactall shyandweird.It’slikehe’smorecomfortable around you and

canbehimself.”“Yeah,Ifeelthatwaytoo.

With Will it was soawkward.”

Simone started talkingabouthowweshouldsaveupand spend a weekend inSaugatuck next summerwhere maybe we’d run intoJack.Ismiledasshewentonabout how we could checkouthistourscheduletofigureoutthebestdates.Itwasniceto be able to plan and look

forward to stuff instead oftryingtogetthroughtheday.But while Simone wasalready looking forward tosummer, for the first timeeverIwashappybeingwhereIwasnow.IhadeverythingIwanted,anditwasnicetositback and appreciate it.Although I had to admit itwas kind of amazing thatNick was already talkingabout us still being togethernextsummer.

I got off the phone withSimone and walked over toGrandpa and Grandma’s. Iwas about to go in when Isaw Nick walking up. HiswholefacelitupashesmiledatmeandIsawhehadpickedsomewildflowers.

“Forme?”Iaskedwalkinguptohim.

He nodded. “There’ssomething I have to tell youthough. It could changeeverything.”

I swallowed. “Okay,what’sup?”

“IkindofloseitwhentheTigersplaybadly,andIdon’twant you to dump me overthat,” he said, fighting asmile.

“Well, I guess I’dhave totechnically be your girlfriendifIwasgoingtodumpyou.”

“Hmm,that’strue.Iguesswe better make that officialso it’ll be a little moredifficult to walk away after

youseemecryiftheyloseintheplayoffs.”

Ismiled.“Seemsfair.”“Soit’sofficialthen?”Inodded.“Good, because I’ve

missed you.”He looked pastme and then gave a littlefrown. “I can see yourgrandma watching throughthe curtains, so I won’t kissyou, but know that I’mthinkingaboutit.”

“AndI’mthinkingaboutit

back,”Isaidsmiling.Wewalked into thehouse

and sat down to watch thegame.IwenttohelpGrandpabring some snacks in theroom when I saw I had twotexts. One was a pic fromSimonesaying she saw thesecute necklaces online andwondered if Charlotte, Asia,and I might all want to getmatching ones. I wrote backthatIlovedtheideaandthensaw the other message was

from Nick. He sent threesmileyfacesgivingsmoochesandsaid:

Nick:Look,I foundawayaround your grandma’swatchfuleyes.Forget the best summer

ever. I was having the bestfallever.

Acknowledgements

A big thank you to

everyone who has supportedme on this writing journey.My mom and dad, Justin,Amy,theDennlerfamily,theSlater family, the TuesdayWriters Group, the CincySCBWI group, the team atLimitlessPublishing,JenniferO’Neill, JessicaGunhammer,

Lori Whitwam, RachelWhitwam, my Clean Readsfamily, and the teachers,profs, and everyone whoinspiredandhelpedmealongtheway:Dr.Zeff,Dr.Sarch,Mary Bostwick, BobHoubeck,Dr.CharlesApple,Dr. Luis Mauricio Santos,Suzanne Verbruggen, TomWearing, Susan Shapiro,Nicky Schmidt, DianaJenkins, Linda Grabowski,my amazing street team, and

theauthorsforkidsgroup.

AbouttheAuthorKrysten Lindsay Hager is

an obsessive reader and hasnever met a bookstore shedidn’tlike.She’sworkedasajournalistandhumoressayist,and writes for teens, tweens,and adults. She is the authorof the Landry’s True ColorsSeriesandherworkhasbeenfeatured in USA Today and

named as Amazon’s #1 HotNew Releases in Teen &Young Adult Values andVirtuesFictionandAmazon’s#1 Hot New Releases inChildren’s Books on Values.She’s originally fromMichigan and has lived inSouth Dakota, Portugal, andsouthwestern Ohio. Shereceived her master’s degreefrom the University ofMichigan-Flint.

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