“Why do you keep checking your phone?” Ava asked her sister on the bus ride to school the next morning.
Alex looked around to see who was sitting near them, and then spoke in a low voice.
“It’s a long story, but I kind of insulted the dance routine that all my friends are doing for the Variety Show,” she explained. “I texted Emily last night asking if I could talk to her, but I think Lindsey must have gotten to her first, because Emily hasn’t texted me back. I don’t know if it’s because she’s mad at me or because she’s still feeling bad from her cold.”
“What do you mean, ‘kind of’ insulted?” Ava asked.
Alex sighed. “I told Lindsey it was lame. But she was being mean, and I couldn’t help myself.”
“Well, I’m sure Emily will understand,” Ava told her. “She’s nice. She knows how Lindsey can be sometimes.”
“I hope so,” Alex said anxiously.
“Anyway, I didn’t tell you my news,” Ava said. “I’m going to be in the Variety Show. I’m taking Kylie’s place in a line dancing thing.”
Alex’s eyes got wide. “You mean Toe the Line?”
“Toe the Line?” Ava repeated.
“Yeah, it’s the name of the line dancing group,” Alex explained. “It’s a pun. You know, T-O-E . . .”
“Yeah, I get it,” Ava said. “Kylie didn’t say they had a name.”
“Well, everyone on the committee is super excited about it,” Alex reported. “Apparently, they’re amazing and they brought the house down last year.” She looked at Ava. “Line dancing can be pretty complicated. Are you sure you’re up for this? I mean, with your sprained ankle and all.”
“I’m up for it,” Ava said firmly.
Alex studied her sister’s face. She could see the nervousness behind her confident statement. But she knew that once Ava was determined to do something, there was no talking her out of it. She had fought hard to become the only girl on the boys’ football team. And she had never given up when their parents refused to let her play basketball. Besides, she really had been amazing during cheerleading tryouts.
“I’m sure you’ll be great,” Alex said supportively.
The school bus made a noise like a groaning dinosaur and pulled up in front of school. When Alex got off the bus, she spotted Emily’s blond head among the crowd of students walking into school.
“See you later,” Alex told Ava, jogging toward her friend.
“Emily!” she called out.
Emily turned. She didn’t smile when she saw Alex, but she didn’t look upset, either. She marched right toward her.
“Do you really think our dance routine is lame?” Emily asked directly.
“That’s what I wanted to explain,” Alex said. “Why I texted you last night. But you didn’t text back.”
Emily sighed. “Lindsey was texting me like crazy too, and I didn’t want to get into some text war. So why don’t you explain, then?”
The girls walked into the school and leaned against a wall in the front hallway.
“I’m so sorry,” Alex said. “We were in social studies class, and Lindsey was saying mean things about Max. She’s been saying mean things about him for days now. I think she’s still mad at him for embarrassing her.”
“Yeah, I know,” Emily admitted. “I’ve been wanting to say something to her about it, but . . . what does that have to do with our dance routine, anyway? That’s the part I don’t get.”
“Well, she said it was lame that I was working on my project with Max instead of joining your dance act, and that Max was lame, so I just said that the dance routine was lame,” Alex said. “I didn’t mean it. Lindsey just pushed me too far.”
Emily nodded. “Rosa said it happened something like that. I understand.”
“So does that mean we’re good?” Alex asked. “Because I really, really, really am sorry.”
Emily smiled. “Yeah, we’re good.”
Alex smiled back, relieved—until she remembered that just because Emily forgave her didn’t mean Lindsey would. “I know you’re good, but what about everybody else?”
“I think Rosa understands,” Emily replied. “Annelise and Charlotte will too, once I explain it to them. But Lindsey is really fuming about it.”
Alex nodded. “I’ll make it right with Lindsey, I promise.”
The first morning bell rang, and the girls scurried to their lockers. Alex felt comforted knowing that Emily understood and was still her friend, but she knew that making things right with Lindsey wouldn’t be easy. She and Lindsey had gotten off on the wrong foot right from the start, and it had taken months for them to finally become friends. This might be the last straw in their friendship.
Alex’s hunches were right. In social studies, Lindsey made a point never to look in Alex’s direction. And when Max approached Alex and said he would meet her in the library after school, Lindsey whispered something to Rosa and then laughed really loudly.
At lunch Lindsey made it very obvious that she was talking only to Annelise, Charlotte, Rosa, and Emily. She acted like Alex was invisible at the table. Alex knew that talking with her then wouldn’t have done any good, so she spent most of the lunch hour listening to a conversation Ava and Jack were having about college basketball and tried to act like everything was normal. She started to wonder if apologizing to Lindsey was even worth it. She could be such a difficult person!
Do I really need a friend like that? Alex wondered. But the problem was that Lindsey was friends with Emily, and everyone else Alex liked. She had to get along with Lindsey, or things would be forever awkward anytime she hung out with her friends. And Lindsey was usually a nice person, and a lot of fun to be around—Alex didn’t know why she was still holding a grudge against Max.
But when and how she would make it right to Lindsey—that was what she had to figure out. She had other things to do in the meantime.
Like working with Max on their social studies project, for one. When the final bell rang, she first headed to the auditorium to see Chloe Klein, the sixth-grade class president. Chloe was one of the other student council members working behind the scenes on the Variety Show. Alex found her backstage, writing in a notebook.
“So, we’ve got some acts rehearsing today,” Chloe informed her. “I’m going to talk with them to find out what kind of lighting they need and what kind of props they’re using.”
“Sorry I can’t help today,” Alex said.
“That’s okay. Kendall and Jerome will be here soon,” Chloe said. “You can be here on Thursday, right? We’re going to start choosing the lineup and talking about the program.”
“No problem,” said Alex. “See you then.”
As she walked out of the auditorium, she saw a boy twirling a lasso and singing onstage. Emily, Lindsey, Rosa, Charlotte, and Annelise sat in the seats, waiting their turn. Emily waved at Alex, but Lindsey turned her head just as Alex walked by.
Alex sighed and hurried to the school library. Max was sitting at a table with his social studies book open and his head resting on it, like a pillow.
“Max!” Alex hissed in a loud whisper as she sat down.
Max jolted awake. “What? Oh, hey, Alex.”
Alex took her social studies folder out of her backpack and opened it up.
“So, I made an outline of the project,” Alex began, taking out a sheet of paper to show him. “I thought maybe we could divide up the research.”
Max picked up the paper and read out loud. “Research the history of the Fifth Amendment. Research three important Fifth Amendment cases. Describe why the Fifth Amendment is important to students. List reasons.” He groaned and put down his head again. “This is so much!”
“It won’t be so bad if we divide it up,” Alex said encouragingly. “And there are two of us working on it, so we can each take a part of the project we’re interested in. Are you more interested in the history of how the amendment was created, or the court cases?”
Max seemed to brighten a little. “The court cases, I guess. I started looking stuff up last night, and there were some pretty serious cases where people were pressured into confessing crimes when the Fifth Amendment could have helped them.”
“Okay, so why don’t you start with one court case, and I’ll start with the history of the amendment, and then we’ll check in with each other in a couple of days,” Alex suggested.
Max frowned. “I guess. It’ll be pretty hard for me to work on it at home. I’ll have to do everything here, but the library doesn’t stay open that late.”
“There’s always the town library,” Alex reminded him. She was curious about why he couldn’t do homework at home but didn’t want to ask. That felt like prying.
“I know, but it’s on the other side of town from where I live, and I can’t get a ride,” Max said.
“So, we might as well get started now,” Alex said, determined to keep Max from being negative about every suggestion she made. “Why don’t you start by looking online and seeing what books the library has on the subject? We need at least two books in our bibliography.”
“Sure,” Max said, and he slid out of his seat and made his way over to the library computer station.
Alex looked down at her outline, but she was distracted thinking about Lindsey. She had to stop this before it got any worse. Maybe she could talk to Lindsey before the Dancing Divas started their practice.
Alex left her folder on the table, let Max know she’d be right back, and went back to the auditorium. She found Lindsey and the others still waiting in their seats.
Alex slid into the row behind them. The girls got quiet, and Lindsey once again turned her head.
“Lindsey, can we talk, please?” Alex asked. “I need to apologize to you.”
Lindsey’s head spun around. “Yes?” she asked.
“I really didn’t mean to say your act was lame, honestly,” Alex said. “I just got upset when you called Max lame, and a loser, and—”
“There you go, defending Max,” Lindsey said. “You didn’t defend me when he made fun of me.”
“But I don’t think he was making fun of you,” Alex said. “And anyway, the bell rang right after, and—”
“And you’d rather hang out with Max than be in our lame dance group,” Lindsey interrupted.
“Lindsey, I am so sorry I said that! Honestly!” Alex insisted.
“Apology not accepted,” Lindsey said, and she turned away from Alex again.
Alex looked at Emily for some guidance, but Emily just shook her head. It was no use. Not now, anyway.
“Well, if you’re ever ready to accept my apology, just come find me,” Alex said to the back of Lindsey’s head, maybe a little too sharply, and then she walked off.
That was frustrating, she thought. But at least she felt that she understood Lindsey a little bit more. Lindsey went to great lengths not to be embarrassed. She hadn’t wanted Alex to know she got the free school lunch or that she bought her clothes in the thrift shop. Max’s “preignition” comment must have gotten to her more than Alex realized—and it hadn’t helped that Alex had smiled at it. And now she and Max were project partners. Lindsey probably thought Alex was a traitor. How was she supposed to fix that?
Back in the library, Max was sitting at the table. When Alex approached, he quickly opened a book titled The History of the Bill of Rights and started leafing through it, as though he wanted Alex to think he’d been reading it the whole time.
That struck Alex as odd, but then again, Max was a little odd anyway. She sat down and noticed some pages sticking out of her social studies folder. Did I leave them like that? she briefly wondered, but then quickly forgot about it.
“So, this book looks pretty good,” Max said. “But maybe it’s something you can use. I’m not finding any court cases in here.”
“Thanks,” Alex said, taking the book from him. “Maybe we can do some online research for that.”
The two of them worked in the library until it closed, and then they walked out to the front of the school together. Alex saw Tommy waiting for her right in front of the school. She walked toward the car, their dad’s sedan, and then stopped.
“Max, do you have a ride?” she asked.
“Um, my stepmom’s supposed to pick me up,” Max said, looking at his phone. “I tried texting her, but she’s not answering.”
“Where do you live?” Alex asked.
“In Magnolia Terrace,” Max replied.
“I know where that neighborhood is. Tommy will give you a ride home,” Alex said, and motioned for Max to follow her.
He flashed her a grateful look as they approached Tommy’s car.
“Can you please give Max a ride?” Alex asked her brother. “He lives in Magnolia Terrace.”
“Sure, hop in,” Tommy said.
Alex sat shotgun, and Max climbed into the back. It took only a few minutes to get to Max’s home, a white ranch house in a quiet neighborhood. Alex couldn’t help noticing that the grass was a little long in the front yard.
“Okay, thanks,” Max said, and darted inside.
“Who was that?” Tommy asked as he pulled out of the driveway.
“My social studies project partner,” Alex explained. “He’s nice but a little strange, and I wonder if something else is going on. I can’t quite figure him out.”
Tommy laughed. “If I know you, Alex, you won’t stop until you do!”