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“You ready?” I asked him

“So ready,” he said drily

“Where’s Liza?” I looked around for our cousin

“Not here yet”

“I’ll go get her”

I walked outside and turned right Our house was in the middle, sandwiched between Uncle Tiht My aunt and my uncle were each married, and each had a bunch of kids

I knocked on Aunt Marinn’s front door Nobody else in the fa a ho others would follow hed and walked in

“Liza!” I called “We have to go!”

My fourteen-year-old cousin appeared at the door in a cute sundress and a cloud of fruity fragrance

I coughed “What is that and did you shower in it?”

“It is Mango Dreams and it will fade” She tossed her blonde hair and pulled me byon me

Max was already in the passenger seat of my car Liza climbed in behind him and squeezed his shoulders “Freshman year!” she cried “This is the start of a new chapter where anything is possible!”

“Sure,” I said Or it would be exactly the same as the year before—a placeholder until summer

The first bell was ringing as I pulled into a parking spot at the high school Max and Liza were out of my car faster than I’d ever seen the lot by the time I’d locked the car and stashed my keys in my backpack

“Late on the first day of school?” Alana said, walking over to h mine

“I’m not late yet And you didn’t have to wait for me”

“What kind of best friend would I be if I didn’t?”

“The kind that wants to be on time”

“We’re juniors now Bells are arbitrary,” Alana declared, pushing her sunglasses up on top of her head

“I think you said so similar last year”

Alana shrugged as alked into the building together “You can’t expect s I say”

Sequoia High was exactly what the nah school that stood in the , three stories high The cafeteria and library were separate, though, so we did get a taste of freedo the day

This year, Alana and I hadfirst period, which was probably the real reason she’d waited for me As we headed down the hall,in History class, listening to Mr Ward talk about expectations for the year, before I pulled my phone out

Hunter had posted a first-day-of-school picture online It was a selfie of hi outside their new house Well, neas relative; they’d been there for three ot out last year Beneath the picture, he’d written Wish us luck

He looked … happy His dusty blond hair was styled off his forehead and his blue eyes shone I clicked on his profile and scrolled through his old posts until I found his first-day-of-school picture fro up at hi at the cairl out of the lake to join the rest of us at school I had forgotten I’d gone to the lake before school last year, too

Alana cleared her throat and I looked up, thinking Mr Ward had calledaway on the board Alana lowered her brows and nodded toward , and x-ed out of Hunter’s profile I needed to stop I was over Hunter We’d said we’d keep in touch but over the su to texts and emails until I had to admit defeat I put my phone away and tried harder to listen the rest of class