Chapter Ten

When I got to school the next morning, it seemed like every kid I passed was staring at their phone, and the All the Talents web app was pulled up on every screen. Round two only had twenty contestants, and everyone was excitedly talking about their favorites. I was pleased to hear Maya’s name mentioned more than once.

My excitement and anticipation seemed to double every time the bell rang. By the end of fourth period, my stomach was so full of butterflies, I didn’t know if I’d even be able to eat my sandwich. I’d just stepped into the hall when I felt my phone buzz in my pocket, and I pulled it out.

hey, guys! lunch in mrs clark’s classroom? she said it’s ok!

I pressed my back against the lockers to let everyone else pass. Chewing my lip, I stared at the screen until the next text popped up.

ok!

on my way!

I exhaled a sigh of relief and typed a reply.

be there in a min!

I headed in the opposite direction of the cafeteria, the butterflies in my stomach basically swing dancing now. But I couldn’t help feeling relieved, too. I had no idea why Lucy wanted us to have lunch in Mrs. Clark’s room, but after what happened yesterday, I was perfectly fine with avoiding the crowded cafeteria.

Mrs. Clark was leaving just as I arrived. “Hi, Erin,” she said warmly. “Just running to the cafeteria. I can’t believe it’s my last-ever chicken-fingers day!”

I fake gasped, placing my hand on my forehead like I was going to faint. “Wait, does TechTown not serve chicken fingers in their cafeteria? Those monsters! You should quit and stay here with us. That would teach them a lesson.”

“Actually,” Mrs. Clark said, raising an eyebrow. “Everyone at TechTown gets to order their lunches from their favorite restaurants. Including the Bakeshop.”

My eyes widened. “So you get to eat cupcakes while you code?”

“I do,” she replied, nodding seriously. “Well, as long as I keep the frosting off my keyboard.”

I let out an exaggerated sigh. “Oh fine. I guess it’s a pretty cool job.”

Mrs. Clark winked at me. “It’s pretty great. But it won’t be the same, not seeing you girls every day.”

“You could visit coding club sometimes,” I said immediately. “And I’ll bring homemade cupcakes! The Bakeshop’s got nothing on my baking skills.”

She laughed. “It’s a deal.”

I waved as she hurried down the hall, then stepped inside her room. Lucy was already there, arranging five chairs in a circle. She smiled at me, and I couldn’t help thinking she looked just as nervous as I felt.

“Hi.”

“Hi.” I walked over, squeezing my lunch bag so hard, I crushed my chips. “So, um. What’s this about?” I asked, gesturing to the chairs.

“Oh, Mrs. Clark said we can’t eat near the computers.”

Despite my nerves, I laughed, thinking of the cupcakes. “No, I mean why are we having lunch here instead of the cafeteria?”

“Well.” Lucy shifted nervously in her seat. “I thought some privacy would be nice after, um, yesterday.”

Before I could respond, Maya and Leila walked in. “Private lunch room!” Maya exclaimed, claiming a chair and stretching out her legs. “Nice.”

“Yeah, we should do this every day,” Leila agreed, glancing over her shoulder. “Hi, Sophia!”

“Hi.” Sophia stood in the doorway, with the same nervous smile as Lucy. For some reason, realizing I wasn’t the only one who was nervous made me less nervous.

Once everyone was seated, we looked at Lucy. She took a deep breath.

“Okay, so the reason I wanted us to eat in here is I thought maybe we should talk about what happened at lunch yesterday.”

I swallowed hard. Then Lucy, Sophia, and I all blurted out:

“I’m sorry!”

We stared at one another, open-mouthed. After a second, Maya started chuckling. Then Leila joined in, and soon the rest of us did, too.

“Okay, hold on,” Lucy said, looking at Sophia. “What are you sorry about?”

“For not helping more with everything coding club has been doing,” Sophia replied. “I know you all got stuck with a lot of extra work since I’ve had softball tryouts, and I feel bad.”

“And I’ve been working on my fashion show,” Maya added. “I probably slacked off on coding club, too.”

“I didn’t do any extra work, either,” Leila admitted. “I’ve been spending a lot of time getting ready for this robotics competition.” She hesitated, giving me an uncertain look. “And Erin got stuck testing the site all by herself. Tania said you were really stressed out, Erin. I’m so sorry.”

Now everyone was looking at me.

“It’s okay,” I said. “I volunteered for all that. Work zombie, remember.” I looked down at my hands. “But that plan kind of backfired on me. I was trying to distract myself from something.”

I paused, glancing at Maya, and she smiled encouragingly. Then I told my friends all about my dad’s missions and my panic attacks.

“I had one on Saturday when Maya came over to help me with my video,” I finished. “That’s the real reason I dropped out of the talent show.”

Exhaling loudly, I leaned back in my chair. No tightness in my chest, no super-fast pulse, no sweaty hands. The only thing I felt was relieved.

Lucy spoke first. “Erin, I’m so sorry,” she said, her eyes wide and round. “I had no idea. And I kept asking you for help with the teacher app, too!”

Leila reached over and patted my arm. “Is there anything we can do to distract you?”

“Yeah!” Sophia said eagerly. “Want us to come over after school? We could watch a movie or something!”

“We could bake cookies!” Lucy added.

Maya sat up straight. “Two words: dance party.”

“Three words,” Leila chimed in. “Robot dance party.”

Warmth radiated in my chest as my friends continued suggesting increasingly goofy ways to distract me. I couldn’t believe that I’d ever been worried about our friendship falling apart without coding club.

“Okay, it’s settled,” I announced. “Friday after school, you’re all coming over for the movie-cookie-robot-dance-party-athon of the century!”

“Perfect!” Leila said. “And we can celebrate Maya winning the talent show, because we all know she’s going to.”

Maya fiddled with the silver star charm on her necklace. “Ha, we’ll see. But I’d love to come over!”

Sophia nodded. “Me too!”

I turned to Lucy and was surprised to see she looked a little teary. “What’s wrong?” I asked, alarmed.

She smiled and blinked a ton, staring up at the ceiling. “Nothing! It’s just . . . well, I know this is going to sound silly, but ever since Mrs. Clark told us she’s leaving, I’ve been worried that . . .”

I stared at her, realization dawning. “That we’d all stop being friends?”

Lucy shrugged. “Yeah, kind of. Everyone was suddenly so busy with other stuff . . . it felt like everything was changing. I think that’s why I’ve been so obsessed with the teacher app. I guess I thought if I found the perfect replacement for Mrs. Clark, you wouldn’t quit the club.”

“Quit?!” Maya placed her hand over her heart dramatically. “Never!”

“No way!” Sophia agreed. “And, Lucy, even if there was no coding club, you know we’d all still be friends.”

Lucy looked at all of us, teary-eyed. “I know. It was silly of me.”

“No, it wasn’t,” I told her. “I was worried about the same thing!”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I was totally afraid we were drifting apart or something.” I paused. “I think that’s part of why I’ve been so anxious. My old therapist did say clubs were helpful, but I don’t think it’s because they distract you from what’s making you anxious. It’s because they help you make friends who can help you when you need it.”

“Like when you have a ton of chores to do if you want to make it to the hackathon on time,” Sophia said. We all laughed at the memory, but I knew Sophia was right. We were more than teammates. We were friends, and friends are there to help when you need it the most.

Lucy looked at me curiously. “So do you have a therapist now? It sounds like your old one was pretty cool.”

“She was,” I said with a loud sigh. “I’ve been looking for a new one, but it’s so . . . ughhhhhhh.” I slumped over in my chair, letting my arms dangle, and my friends giggled.

“Why is it ughh?” Maya asked.

“There are just so many to choose from, and all these reviews, and every time I try to go through them all, it’s really overwhelming.”

I opened my lunch bag, then realized Lucy was still staring at me. But now she had a familiar glint in her eyes.

“Can you send me a link to those reviews?” she asked. “I think I have an idea . . .”