A BIG STARFISH IN A LITTLE POND

Wednesday, 10:05 A.M.

“We’ll have a brief lecture this morning, followed by a lab activity,” Spinster Finnster wheezed in third-period Marine Bio the next morning. She whacked her chest with a closed fist and reached for the can of chocolate Ensure Plus on her desk. “You may take this time to choose a lab partner.” She lifted a skeletal finger. “A reminder to all students: If you haven’t turned in your permission slips for Monday’s field trip to the aquarium, you must do so by the end of the week.”

I swiveled to the right and pinned Molly’s hand to the lab table. “You’re mine, Knight,” I sang. I was dying to tell Molly that I’d already secured an amazing musical talent for the dance—namely, me—but I’d decided to hold off until the meeting Paige had gotten me with Dr. Phil. Just, you know, in case.

“Kacey! Oww!” Molly smiled through her whine. “Okaaay.”

Liv and Nessa exchanged meaningful glances, leaving Paige as the fifth wheel.

In the row ahead of us, Quinn glanced over his shoulder. “Hey, Molly. Want to pair up?”

“She’s taken,” I informed him.

Molly shrugged at Quinn.

“You can be in our group, too, Paige,” I said, nodding at her.

“Kacey.” Molly narrowed her eyes at me. “We’re supposed to pair off. If she’s in our group, it’ll make the group… odd.”

Paige leaned over me and slow-clapped. “I had no idea you knew your numbers!”

I tuned them out and searched the room for Zander. His usual seat was empty, and I hadn’t seen him all morning. With any luck, Stevie had suffered a tragic El-related accident on the way to school.

“What were you up to last night?” I asked Molly. “You never wrote back to my text about dance planning.”

“Sorry. I was FaceTimeing with the BF till bedtime. I was telling him about my new extracurric. And my mom said it was time to turn off the lights. He didn’t have to yet, since he’s fourteen—”

“You mentioned.” Nessa pulled a pink sticky note from her backpack and started sponging bits of lint from her structured velvet blazer.

“So I just put the phone next to me on the pillow.” Molly’s eyes glinted with naughty pride.

“All night long?” Liv asked incredulously. Then she flicked a dark curl over her shoulder. “I mean, no big deal.”

“Well, until, like, three A.M.,” Mols admitted, yanking the sleeves of her silvery tunic over her wrists. “Then I had to pee, and I didn’t want him to hear me flush.”

“All right, students. I assume you’ve all chosen your lab partners?” Finnster rasped. “Let’s get started.”

Paige bent over her notebook, pen poised for action.

“So. How’re the spy sessions going with you-know-who?” Molly whispered as Finnster embarked on what promised to be a brutal lecture on starfish.

“Good! You know. Fine.” I gnawed at my lower lip. I hated not telling her about Stevie. But what was I supposed to say? There’s this too-cool-for-school chick who might be trying to steal my band and the boy I have a crush on? You know, your ex-boyfriend?

“Did you find out if he likes another girl?” Her voice dropped even lower, and she inched her stool closer to mine.

“Not yet.” I tugged at the end of my ponytail, jiggling my leg at top speed.

“Restless Leg Syndrome,” Nessa diagnosed sympathetically, looking down at my thigh. “I saw the commercial.” Molly went silent. I couldn’t even look at her, for fear I’d give something away.

“Kacey. What’s going on?”

“I—um…” Molly had never been the most perceptive knife in the drawer, so the fact that she was picking up on my vibes meant I was sending out some pretty strong signals.

“You know something, don’t you?” She bounced in her seat. “About Zander. Tell me.”

I sighed. “Yesterday at rehearsal, one of Zander’s friends from Seattle showed up. She’s visiting for a couple of weeks.”

“Like, a girlfriend? Do you think he likes her?”

“I don’t know yet,” I said truthfully. “But we’ll have plenty of time to find out. She’ll be at school for the next couple of weeks. She might even move here.”

Molly’s forehead wrinkled like a boxer puppy’s.

“That’s all I know, though. But you’ve got Phoenix and everything now, so you probably don’t even care, right?”

“Yeah. Right.” Molly pursed her lips into a thin, pensive line. Her lashes fluttered slightly, the way they always did when she felt torn about something. During a trip to the mall last year, she’d been so undecided about a one-shoulder top that the salesgirl had asked if she was having a seizure.

The door inched open at the front of the class, and Zander ducked inside. “Um, Ms. Finnster? Sorry I’m late, but I was just in the office. I, uh, have a guest.” He produced a folded pink slip from the back pocket of his jeans.

“Quite all right, Mr. Jarvis.” Finnster frowned through her bifocals at the note.

Zander opened the door a little wider, making room for Stevie to strut across the threshold. The room went silent, and Quinn, Jake, and Aaron snapped to attention. In a sleek black moto jacket, low-slung army-green cargos rolled up at the ankle, and round-toed rose-gold snakeskin pumps, she looked like the cover model for a Chicago Public School Girls: Cool Chicks Edition calendar.

“This is my friend Stevie from back home,” Zander announced, half to Finnster and half to the class. “She’ll be here for a couple of weeks.”

“What’s up,” Stevie said coolly, stuffing her hands in her pockets. Her moto jacket lifted, revealing a momentary flash of belly ring.

Molly slapped my thigh. She’d spent all summer trying to get her parents to agree to a belly ring. When they said no, she ran away to my house for an entire long weekend.

“Class, let’s all say hello to Mr. Jarvis’s sister, Sheila,” Finnster prompted.

“Hiiii, Sheila,” we droned.

The clacking of Stevie’s heels on the linoleum floor was the only sound as Zander and Stevie took the empty seats next to Paige. Being this close to Stevie made my skin itch.

“What is everybody staring at?” Molly said into my ear. “She’s not that hot. Right?” Sweat was starting to make her temples shine, and her eyeliner was smudged at the corners. Even her hair looked deflated. The very idea that she might not be the hottest girl in the grade seemed to be sucking the life out of her.

“Well…” Liv stared while Stevie consulted her iPhone.

Quinn whipped around and winked. “If you need a lab partner, Sheila, I’d be more than happy to volunteer.”

“It’s Stevie, moron,” Stevie said without looking up.

“Ooooooh,” the guys hooted. Jake and Aaron elbowed each other.

“Feisty,” observed Quinn approvingly.

“That’s offensive to women,” Nessa announced.

Molly shushed her, then flicked her hair to get Stevie’s attention. “Hey! New girl.”

Stevie sighed dramatically and looked up. “Yes, B-list Barbie?”

“Whoa.” Paige pushed back her stool. Nobody talked to Molly like that, no matter how cool her shoes were. And even Paige knew it.

Nessa and Liv gasped.

Molly opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Not even air. I’d never seen this kind of horror in my best friend’s face. Not even last semester, when she had an allergic reaction to her mom’s plumping gloss and had to come to school looking like a Real Housewife with a botched lip job.

“Mols?” I whispered, trying to catch her eye. “Molly? Are you okay?”

“Now that you all have partners, let’s move ahead with our laboratory exercise.” Finnster reached for her walker. “You will all find safety goggles and gloves in the drawers under your tables.”

The snap of latex gloves brought Molly back to life. She turned toward me. “Kacey.” Her breathing was labored. “I can’t even—I don’t—”

“Don’t worry, Mols.” I grabbed her hand and squeezed reassuringly. “She’s going down.”