“Okay,” I said tentatively.

After he stepped away, Sierra smiled. “He seems nice.”

“Why did you do that?” I exploded. “Now I have to meet all these people and, like, make small talk all night!”

Sierra looked surprised. “What? You didn’t want to talk to him? But he’s in your class!”

“That doesn’t mean I need to talk to him!” I protested.

“Do you mean to tell me you would have stood here on line behind him and never said a word?”

I folded my arms across my chest. “Yes!”

Sierra was incredulous. “But why? You know him. You have stuff in common. You’re going to be seeing him for, like, six hours a week for three weeks. Why wouldn’t you want to be friends?”

“Just… I don’t know. It’s so much work!”

“Work?” Sierra laughed. “You think it’s work to talk to people?”

I nodded.

“Even me?” she asked.

“Not really you, or Tamiko. I mean, once I know people, it’s not as much work.”

“But how are you going to get to know more people if you don’t talk to them?”

“Why do I need to know more people? I have you guys.”

Sierra laughed in surprise. “But don’t you want more friends?”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. To learn from? To have fun? What if Tamiko and I were both away? Who would you come here with?”

I looked away so she wouldn’t see the tears that had suddenly sprung into my eyes. I clenched my jaw and willed the tears back into my tear ducts.

“Allie?” Sierra asked quietly.

I turned back to her. “What?”

“Do you like having friends?”

“Of—of course!” I sputtered. “I like having them. I just don’t like making them.”

Sierra frowned, deep in thought. “It’s hard to have them if you don’t make them first! But seriously, for me… I think making friends is easier than having them. New friends don’t expect anything from you. You can keep things easy-breezy. Older friends need reliability, checking in, maintenance—”

“Thanks a lot!” I said, but her comment made me smile.

“You know what I mean. I’m not as good at all the obligations that go along with maintaining friendships, but I can chat with almost anyone.”

She was right, actually.

“Have you ever read about the sixteen personality types?” she asked.

I shook my head as I watched Sam chat easily with one of our classmates. He was just like Sierra—meeting new people was no problem for him.