CHAPTER ONE
SHORT FRY

Dalia Gopie flopped on her bed and groaned. What an epic failure the last hour had been. She’d met up with her friends. It was supposed to be an awesome lunch because everyone had been so busy throughout the summer, and they hadn’t seen each other since forever. This was their chance to catch up before school started next week.

Except… except, over the summer, everyone had grown. Everyone but Dalia. All her friends looked older, more mature. Now Dalia was the shortest and youngest looking; she felt like the little sister who tags along with her older siblings. It would have been OK, sort of, except when they went to their favorite hang-out to eat. The waitress tried to give Dalia the kids’ menu. That was for kids who were 10 or younger! Adding to the humiliation, her friends piled on with the teasing. Sick of being called “Short Fry,” Dalia had pretended she got a call to head home.

Everyone looks like they belong in middle school, except me, she thought. She looked in the mirror. Before lunch, she thought she’d looked good. Now, she looked like a baby. I bet everyone at school will look grown-up, except me. What if—she pushed the thought from her head, but her brain filled in the last part. What if I look so young that my friends don’t want to hang out with me anymore?

The buzz of her phone startled her. When she saw it was her best friend, Nils, she answered the video call.

He appeared on the screen. Nils must have biked home because his cheeks were red and strands of his blond hair were plastered to his forehead. “We teased you too hard,” he said as soon as he saw her. “By the time we realized you weren’t laughing along, you were already gone. I’m sending you something from the group.”

Dalia checked her text. It was a picture of her friends, holding a sign that said, “Our bad! So sorry!”

“That’s cool,” she said. “Thanks.” Dalia grinned. “I like the silver glitter on the sign.”

“What happened?” he asked. “Normally, you’re cool when we roast you.”

“That was when we were all close in height and stuff,” said Dalia. “Now, you guys look grown-up, and I look like a little kid—”

“Oh, man, no wonder you didn’t laugh,” Nils said.

“Dalia! I’m home! Come help with the groceries, please,” Mom’s voice rang up the stairs.

“I gotta go,” said Dalia.

Nils laughed. “I heard. Say hi to your mom. We’ll talk later?”

“You got it.” Dalia ended the call and headed downstairs.

“Hey, pumpkin. How was your day? Was it great to see your friends?” Mom reached into a cloth bag and pulled out a jar of tomato sauce.

“It was… OK,” she said. She told her mom about how much older everyone looked and how embarrassing it was to get the little kids’ menu.

Mom laughed. “Trust me, there’ll be a day you’ll be thrilled when people think you’re young.” She cupped Dalia’s chin. “It’s frustrating, but we all grow at our own pace, honey. You’ll catch up with your friends soon enough.”

“That’s such a mom answer,” Dalia said as she put the milk in the fridge.

“You may look young,” Mom said, “but you’re getting older. If you weren’t maturing into a fine young lady—”

Dalia groaned. “Fine young lady?”

“We wouldn’t allow you to go on social media, would we?”

“Yeah, but you still have a ton of rules about it,” Dalia complained.

“To protect you,” Mom said. “With school starting up, maybe now’s a good time to review those rules again—”

Dalia sighed. “No posting photos or videos of my face, my account has to be private, and I can only make connections with people I know in real life.” Dalia ticked off the rules on her fingers.

After they were done unpacking, Dalia headed to her room and opened one of her favorite social media apps, Clik-Clok. As a video started playing, excitement shot through her veins. Mom may not have been able to help her, but this video might be the answer to her problems.