Chapter 3

That night was the annual end-of-school sleepover at my best friend Megan’s house with our other friends Rachel and Olivia. We’d done it every year since second grade. But this year felt different.

Megan and I hadn’t seen each other since last week, which happened sometimes, since we weren’t in the same class. So we had a lot to catch up on, starting with Rachel and Olivia, who had been acting strange lately. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if those two didn’t show up at all.

The four of us had met in preschool and had done almost everything together over the years, like softball and girl scouts. But during the last few months, Megan and I had noticed them pulling away, almost as if they were embarrassed to be our friends.

It all started when they both got new phones for Christmas. Having a smartphone always changes people. For one thing, they check them constantly, as if the online world is the real world. But Rachel and Olivia took it a step further, implying that anyone without a smartphone was somehow beneath them. Including Megan and me. We still had old-fashioned basic phones, which we only used to text each other, or our parents when we needed a ride.

So on top of all that, now I’d have to report Mo’s latest plot to ruin my life. Especially since I knew Megan wouldn’t volunteer at the Humane Society without me. It occurred to me that maybe I could live with her family for the summer. Megan was an only child and it seemed like her parents would do practically anything she asked.

“Good, you’re early,” said Megan as I squeezed through her front door lugging my sleeping bag, pillow, and overnight duffel. “Did you remember to bring two bottles of nail polish to swap?”

I laughed. “Like I own nail polish, very funny.”

I carried my stuff down the hallway to the game room where they had a pool table and a widescreen TV above the gas fireplace. I loved Megan’s house. It was tidy and perfect, the exact opposite of mine.

“Didn’t you read the message with the invite?”

“Since when do I need an invite to spend the night at your house? Hey, where are your parents? I have another idea about this summer and—”

“If you’d read it, you’d know we’re doing a mani-pedi polish swap,” she interrupted, ignoring my question.

“Wait, you’re serious?”

She stared at me expectantly without answering.

“Come on, Megan, you’re joking, right?” I said as I dropped everything in my favorite sleeping location, between the couch and the wall in the far corner of the room.

Now she bit her lip, and it became uncomfortably clear that she wasn’t joking.

“Was this Rachel and Olivia’s idea?”

“I guess,” she finally admitted, “but everyone does it.”

Something weird was going on. Megan never paid attention to what everyone else was doing. That’s exactly why I liked her.

Just then I noticed she was wearing a dress, a short sundress. We never wore dresses.

“What’s with the outfit?” I asked, and took a closer look at her face and hair. “Are you wearing makeup? And did you get highlights?”

Another thing I liked about Megan was her general lack of interest in her appearance, something neither of us had ever cared about. But now she tossed her new streaky waves across her back and grinned as if posing for a selfie.

“Like it?” she squeaked, then covered her mouth and giggled. “My mom took me to her salon this morning for an end-of-the-school-year present. Her stylist, Damien, is phenomenal.”

“Your mother let you do that?”

She nodded. “Isn’t it great?”

Fortunately, she didn’t seem to expect me to respond. I scanned the room still convinced this was some kind of prank. Megan was playing the part of every girl we couldn’t stand at school.

“Oh, and guess what?” she said as she reached into her pocket. “Another gift from my parents. I got it a few days ago.”

It was a smartphone.

“But I thought your parents said you couldn’t have one until high school? Like my parents.”

She shrugged as if it was no big deal. “Someone told my mom that everyone in middle school has them, and that I definitely would need one if I was going to, you know, fit in better.”

Fitting in wasn’t something Megan and I had ever tried to do. How could she have changed so much in one week?

The doorbell rang and she bolted out of the room. I couldn’t believe Rachel and Olivia were early too. Now I’d never get a chance to talk with Megan and figure out what was going on with everyone in my life, including her.

“Oh, hey,” said a voice.

I turned around and froze.

“Agnes, you know Lux, right? She moved here like a month ago?”

Of course, Megan knew I knew about the new girl. Everyone did. And we had made fun of everyone else falling all over themselves trying to be friends with the new girl.

“Am I early?” asked Lux.

She also wore a little sundress and lip gloss, along with strings of necklaces and crystal earrings shaped like tiny chandeliers. Her long, silky hair draped down across her arms in loose waves.

“Right on time,” said Megan, who was grinning so hard I thought her braces would pop out of her mouth. “Olivia and Rachel will be here any minute.”

The new girl’s eyes drifted between my Kettleboro Kamp T-shirt and the plastic flip-flops Mo bought for me last summer at the drugstore with her employee discount. Then she dropped down onto the couch and sighed.

Megan rubbed her hands together. I tried to get her attention by sending a silent Why is she here? signal, but it was as if she was avoiding me.

“Do you want anything, Lux? A soda? Sparkling cider?” Megan asked.

“Nah,” she muttered, like she was killing time in the waiting room of a doctor’s office. “I meant to have my stepfather stop at Sparhawks for a latte. I get so sluggish this time of day.”

She yawned.

“Yeah, me too,” said Megan, chewing on her bottom lip. For a second, I thought she was going to offer to walk all the way to Sparhawks, but then the doorbell rang again.

Suddenly, Lux and I were alone. I didn’t know how to talk to a girl like her. Before tonight, I had assumed Megan didn’t either. But I had no chance to try. Lux was already curled over her phone, grinning at some post, as if I didn’t exist.

Down the hall I heard Olivia and Rachel squeal, “She’s here?”

They also wore short, flowy dresses, strappy shoes, and an array of accessories. Without even saying hello to me, they piled onto the couch and surrounded Lux like crazed fans. And all four of them clung to their smartphones.

Instantly, the room felt smaller and hotter.

When I was at school, I often felt left out of those tight girl circles, as if I’d been born insignificant and didn’t deserve to be in them. But it had never mattered to me much, because I knew I always had these three girls. Especially Megan. Until now.

***

Megan’s parents had gone out to dinner, so Megan ordered pizza on her smartphone and paid with her mom’s card, something I’d never seen her do before. After we ate, I leaned against the wall for what felt like an hour, while they swapped polish and painted their nails, gossiped, shared makeup, played endless rounds of I Never, took selfies, and posted every moment online.

Just like the rest of the sixth-grade class, all three of them drooled over Lux, who seemed to know everything about surviving middle school, including how to get a boy to like you, as if that was the only reason to go to school.

We also found out that Lux was short for Luxembourg, which, according to her, is the best country in all of Europe because her parents were married there. Even though they split up a few years later and now she has her stepfather’s last name. Then she told us that Italy, where she’d lived the longest, was her true home, but that she’d also spent time in France, Brazil, and Russia. And she had an older stepbrother living in Germany, where he used to be a famous professional soccer player.

I was relieved when I heard the electric garage door open.

Now that Megan’s parents were back, I knew we would finally do something fun together, like team charades or superhero trivia. And eat whoopee pies. Her family made homemade whoopee pies for every occasion, which was another reason why I loved hanging out with Megan. Not only were her parents amazing and her house huge and uncluttered, her family did the things a happy family was supposed to do together.

But as soon as her mom and dad walked inside, they called out, “Good night!” and disappeared upstairs. They didn’t even make eye contact with me.

“Movie time?” said Lux.

Immediately, Megan, Rachel, and Olivia spread out their sleeping bags. Except Lux, who wrapped herself in a down comforter that she’d bought in Iceland. The four of them lined up side by side below the television screen and scrolled through the movie guide, while I slipped into my puppies-and-kittens sleeping bag in the back corner of the room.

“Hey, you’ve been so quiet,” Megan yelled over to me. “What do you want to watch, Agnes?”

She knew exactly why I was quiet. I didn’t reply, pretending to be asleep.

“Is she out already?” I heard Lux whisper. “It’s only ten o’clock.”

“Agnes is having a hard time lately,” Megan also whispered. “Her family is kind of a mess these days.”

A mess? I couldn’t believe Megan was talking about me, and about my personal problems. I knew I complained about my family a lot, but didn’t everyone?

“That doesn’t explain why she dresses like that,” said Olivia. “You even said she needs a new wardrobe, Megan.”

She did?

“More like a makeover,” Rachel added, which made them all giggle.

“She doesn’t even wear a bra,” said Lux, “and she definitely needs one.”

How could she know that? I hated the idea of wearing a bra.

“I don’t get what’s up with her,” said Olivia, “but she’ll never survive seventh grade if she doesn’t figure it out this summer.”

Figure what out? My whole body began to sweat.

“What is she anyway?” asked Lux.

Silence. A long, awkward silence.

Then Megan replied, “What do you mean?”

“She has all those freckles, but she’s sort of dark, and her eyes with that hair—I’ve been all over the world, but I’ve never seen anyone who looks like her.”

“I think her dad is Chinese,” said Rachel.

“He’s part Korean,” Megan corrected her, “but he’s American. Her dad was born here. Her mom is white, but she’s kind of different looking too.”

How could Megan do this to me . . . just to get Lux to like her?

I nearly jumped up and screamed. Instead, I squeezed myself into a very tight ball and forced myself not to cry.

“And what about her weird name?” said Lux. “You guys aren’t really friends with Agnes Moon, are you?”