Dear Notebook,

I’ve got happy news and sad news. I don’t know which to tell you first.

I guess I’ll start with happy. It’s easier. My happy news is that Kai told me his songs are finally working. And he’s going to change the name of his upcoming world tour from “The Heartbreak Express” to “Down Came the Rain.” He doesn’t care what his managers say. It’s his name on all the albums, so he’s going to start deciding what to sing in them. Then he said that our game inspired him.

So, hooray! I inspired a pop star!

I wish that was all I had to report. But something else happened today. I finally figured out why Shira retook her swim test without telling me. Shira told Willa that Bells and I were excluding her during free swim. She said we hurt her feelings by always pretending that our unicorns were in love and that Shira’s unicorn would be the one to perform the ceremony. So one day when Willa and Shira said they were going to the Art Hut to make mosaic frames, they actually went to the lake, where Shira retook her test.

Carly made our whole cabin sit in a circle and talk it out. Shira explained how she always feels left out at home because she’s in all these advanced college chemistry classes and that she didn’t want Quantifica to feel left out. She said that even though she knew we weren’t doing it on purpose, she hated feeling that way at camp.

I know how it feels to be left out, but I had no idea how it felt to be the person who excluded someone else. When Shira explained her side of things, I almost started to cry. I felt terrible! I apologized a million times, and Shira said it was okay. She forgives me. But I’m not sure I forgive myself. Not all the way.

I wonder if this will hurt my chances of getting the cabin plaque? Sorry, Notebook. I know I shouldn’t be thinking about that right now. I really am sorry about Shira.

Abby