Becky’s mom arrives to pick her up, and Harleigh and I walk toward the house, side by side. Once we’re inside the kitchen and she’s dropped her bag by the island, she reveals the reason she’s really here.
“So,” she says casually, walking to the fridge and popping the top off a can of soda, “Charli tells me you’ve been training Waylon Ludlow’s daughter.”
I shrug. “Yeah. So?”
She gives me a look over her shoulder. “So, I thought you might need moral support.”
I snort. “For what?”
She turns, leaning back against the counter. “Shelby.”
“Harleigh.”
“Don’tHarleighme.”
“Oh my God,” I say. “Please tell me that’s not the only reason you drove all the way home.”
She studies me like she always does when she’s deciding whether to push. Then she sighs. “It’s one of the reasons.”
“I knew I shouldn’t have told them,” I mutter. “It’s not a thing. I’m a big girl, and Waylon Ludlow doesn’t bother me. It’s ancient history.”
“That’s what I thought,” she says. “But Matty and Charli made it sound like it was kind of a big deal.”
My eyes narrow.
She lifts a shoulder. “Don’t be mad. You know it’s a sister summons.”
“Sister summons?” I fold my arms across my chest. “You guys have a group chat without me, don’t you?”
Harleigh grins. “We do.”
I gasp, affronted. “I knew it.”
Sister summonsis what we call it when one of us needs the others.
She takes a sip from her bottle. “Relax.”
As if summoned by the power of sibling betrayal, Charli and Matty stroll in the back door, with Grandma bringing up the rear.
“Relax?” Charli repeats. “What’s going on now?”
Harleigh doesn’t miss a beat. “Shelby found out about our group chat.”
“Ooh,” Charli quips.
“I can’t believe you three are in a group without me,” I snap.
“Oh, please. You, Harleigh, and I have one that Matty’s not in. What’s the difference?” Charli says.
“You do?” Matty asks, her eyes bouncing between us.
Charli scoffs. “Of course. We started ityearsago.”
Harleigh smiles sweetly. “Yeah, we had to be able to cover for each other.”
Charli hooks an arm around Harleigh’s head. “We’re the only ones who are in all the chat threads. Right, kid?”
Harleigh averts her eyes and starts to whistle.
