Merit gave me a look that said, This baby doesn’t understand. My heart raced. Merit McDonald was giving me secret looks. Could he possibly like me? Did you get burner phones for girls you didn’t like?

“Anyway,” he said, “just make sure you keep it in your backpack when you aren’t using it.”

I nodded seriously.

“Because if you get caught, that implicates me too. If anyone gets suspicious about you, they’ll get suspicious about all of us.”

“And then Merit can’t text his girlfriend,” Emma said in a singsong voice.

My heart sank.

“I don’t have a girlfriend, Emma,” Merit said as he pulled into a parking spot.

“Yeah, okay. Tell that to Sophie Parker,” Emma said.

Not only was Sophie Parker the prettiest girl in school, she was a senior. Merit was cool, but he was only a junior. Sure, he was a cute, smart football star, but could he get Sophie Parker? I wasn’t sure. As if clearing up the situation, she walked up to the car only seconds after we pulled in. Merit rolled the window down and gave Sophie a smile that I had never seen Merit give anyone. That wasn’t a good sign.

I mean, if I was really honest with myself, I had to admit that any flirtation Merit was sending my way was probably in my head. I was a freshman. He could get a senior girl. But next year I’d be a sophomore, higher up the food chain. That would help, right? I just had to bide my time until then, keep him from falling in love with Sophie, and, most of all, keep him from demoting me to the role of “sister.”

As Sophie kissed Merit on the cheek, I realized I was staring. Emma sighed. “Come on, Iris. We have to get to school.”

I shot her a look. “Bye, Merit,” I said.

He threw me a wave but never took his eyes off Sophie. Sophie was amazing. She had big boobs and a tiny waist and wore fake eyelashes and hair extensions and had these perfectly pink glossy lips. In comparison to her, my tinted ChapStick and the tiny bit of mascara my mom let me wear seemed babyish and ridiculous.

I got out of the car and fell in beside Emma, putting on my backpack. I glanced once over my shoulder, to see that Sophie had her arms crossed on Merit’s windowsill and her chin resting on her hands. She was inches from his face. I hated her with every fiber of my being.

Emma and I walked up the steps and along the sidewalk that led from the high school building to the middle school building. The high school was unadorned brick, while the middle school doorways were flanked by huge wooden cutouts of flowers that said, Juniper Shores Middle Picks YOU.