The confrontation Nomi was dreading happened after school.

She and Jenna were walking home together, heading to Jenna’s house for another couple hours of practice. Nomi’s throat still hurt, but she knew that wouldn’t stop Jenna from making them try their dance routine. She clutched Alice to her chest as they made their way off the school grounds.

A block away, Jacqueline caught up with them.

“Where are you two going?” she asked.

“Practice,” Jenna said.

“Oh, right. For your routine.”

Jenna looked at her funny. “What’s gotten into you?”

Jacqueline just smiled at first. Then she said, “Nomi is faking. She can totally talk. She’s just trying to fake her way out of the talent show.”

“Ugh, give it up, Jacqueline,” Jenna replied.

“No! I heard her talking at her locker. She thought she was being sneaky, but I heard her talking to her doll.”

Nomi’s heart sank. She kept waiting for Jacqueline to share what she’d overhead. The fact that she didn’t made Nomi wonder if she was safe.

Jenna rolled her eyes. “Sure, Jacqueline.”

Jacqueline continued, “She’s a weirdo, just like I always warned you. She’s a creep.”

It felt like a punch to the chest. Nomi stopped walking. Her feet were glued to the ground.

She’d always suspected the other girls didn’t like her. But to hear it from Jacqueline’s lips, to know she was right …

She looked to Jenna. She waited for her friend to stick up for her. To say Jacqueline was being out of line.

But for once, it was Jenna who said nothing at all. She just looked at Jacqueline with an expression that said, I wish you hadn’t said that.

Nomi’s heart shattered.

“You’re just jealous,” Alice piped up from inside Nomi’s backpack.

“Come on, Nomi. Stop pretending,” Jacqueline said. “This game is old. We know you can talk. Stop hiding behind your stupid doll.”

“I’m not stupid,” Alice said. “But you are, if you think we don’t know why you’re so mad. We know you’re jealous of the fact that you aren’t part of our group, Jacqueline. And you know why you aren’t? Because you aren’t talented. Not one bit. I’m more talented without my voice than you are when you have yours!”

It was clearly a step too far.

Jacqueline’s eyes widened with rage. She took a step forward to punch Nomi.

Jenna stepped in between them.

“Okay, okay, caaalm down,” she said. She practically had to pull Jacqueline away. “We’re all saying things we’re going to regret.”

Except you, Nomi thought. You haven’t said anything to defend me at all.

Thankfully Alice didn’t verbalize those words. Nomi didn’t need Jenna turning on her, too.

“She’s a creep,” Jacqueline repeated, this time through gritted teeth. “A loser. We’re better off without her around.”

“I think it’s time for you to go home,” Jenna said to Jacqueline. “We have to practice.”

“Tell her to say something!” Jacqueline yelled as Jenna nudged her away. “She’s faking, Jenna! She’s nothing but a big liar!”

“Right, right. I’ll Emmy you later.”

Jacqueline finally, begrudgingly turned and walked away. She looked over her shoulder at Nomi a few times. It was only when she was safely around the block that Nomi turned her back to her, and she and Jenna started walking again.

Jenna was quiet for a few blocks. When they were nearing her house, she paused.

“What she said,” Jenna muttered. “Was it true? Are you faking?”

Nomi shook her head violently.

“Okay. Because if you don’t want to be in the talent show, you can just say so.”

Nomi pulled out her phone, and Alice spoke her words: “No. I want to be in the show.”

“Okay,” Jenna said. She looked to the phone. “Hey, how did you do that, anyway?”

“Do what?”

“Make your doll say those things. I thought they were programmed to be, like, annoyingly nice all the time. Did you manage to hack into her?”

Nomi considered lying. Considered saying nothing. Instead she typed in the truth.

“No. The doll is sentient. It’s saying things on its own.” She was surprised the doll actually spoke the words, but when Jenna responded, she understood why.

“Ha!” Jenna replied. “Yeah, good one. Fine, don’t tell me how you did it. But you’ll have to spill sometime. I swear, I thought Jacqueline’s eyes were going to bug out of her head. I’ve never seen her so angry before.”

She grinned at Nomi.

“Nice to see you sticking up for yourself. Weirdo.”

Nomi smiled weakly.

On the one hand, it was nice to hear Jenna compliment her.

On the other, it was clear that Jenna would never believe the truth.

Alice was alive. Alice was saying things she shouldn’t, saying the things Nomi thought but could never say. Nomi knew she should be freaked out. She should be scared of Alice.

But for the first time in her life, Nomi finally felt heard.