Raegan lets the comment slide. “Tryouts are next week.”
Although I was never a fan of the grueling practices, I loved performing Friday nights with everyone. The bus rides to the games were the best part. We’d blast music and make silly faces for pictures we’d later post on Instagram. I wonder if this is Whitney’s way of letting me know she still wants me to be part of that.
“I’ll be there,” I tell them.
“She’s definitely joining Earth Club,” Lin brags. She’s never been on dance team with us, and sometimes I think she feels left out. Earth Club has always been our thing.
I smile at Lin. She looks so happy. How could I ever have stopped talking to her? It was stupid. I was so self-absorbed in my miserable life that I didn’t realize they were only trying to stay connected to me.
Colton leans over, trying to steal one of Lin’s pepperonis off her pizza. It’s an unsurprising maneuver coming from him. He was always doing this freshman year, evenaftereating two entire burgers by himself.
She pulls her plate away just in time. “Eat your own food.”
He looks glumly at his empty tray. “I did.”
Colton has been Jay and Breck’s friend for as long as I can remember. He’s one of the poor souls who’s had the misfortune of wearing braces for the last three years and counting, and he’s always wearing obscure band T-shirts with a long-sleeved flannel over them. Today’s shirt readsBLOODSPURT,which almost makes me lose my appetite.
I try not to lose my appetiteeven morewhen he starts picking food out of his braces.
Raegan makes a grand gesture of flipping her spiral open.
Jay groans. “Already?”
I have no idea what’s going on.
Whitney elbows him in the ribs. “Be nice. She’s president this year.”
Oh. I get it. She’s in charge of the Leadership Council agenda.
“Thank you,” Raegan tells Whitney, then she sweeps her gaze over the table. “You all better be nice to me, or I’m not inviting you to the White House when I’m the first black female president.”
Colton’s head shoots up. “Will you have a personal chef?”
Whitney gives him a look like,duh.
Colton elbows Jay. “Yeah, man, be nice.”
“I can’t fall behind.” She taps her pen on the empty page. “We’re starting to plan the homecoming dance.”
I find myself repeating Jay’s question. “Already?”
Raegan gives me an exasperated look. “It’s so much planning! I didn’t even realize how much.” She scribbles something in her notebook. “You’ll be on decoration committee, right? Whitney and Lin already told me they would.”
“It’s a lot more fun than it sounds,” Lin promises, swatting Colton’s hand away as he unsuccessfully attempts another pepperoni. “Last year we brought our dresses with us and got ready in the girls’ locker room when we were done setting up.”
“I almost forgot about that!” Whitney’s eyes go wide with amusement. She leans over and grabs Lin’s arm, her cluster of thin silver bracelets tinkling into each other. “Oh my god! Remember how Bethany Weaver forgot her bra? And we had to cut her sports bra into a bandeau so she could wear it with her strapless dress?”
Lin laughs, adjusting her glasses. “Because she refused to NOT wear one!”
Raegan looks up from her notebook. “And remember we made Vanessa run to Walgreens because we all needed extra bobby pins? But she also came back with that giant bag of gummy bears—”
As I listen to the three of them reminisce over last year’s memories, I can’t help feeling like a sock left behind in the dryer. But I fake a smile and pretend I’m interested even though it pains me to hear about all the fun I missed.
I’m so deeply involved in my self-induced pity party that I don’t register what Raegan asked me and she has to repeat it.
“I asked if you wanted to come over this weekend and help make posters for Spirit Week.” I know this isn’t for another month, but Raegan likes to be ahead of the game. She starts studying for exams at the end of October even though they aren’t until mid-December. “Then you guys can sleep over after.”
Colton pumps his fist in the air.“All riiiiight!”
