“Iris, you’re going to get in trouble for that phone,” Emma said. “It’s totally not worth it. Merit just has one to seem cool, and he’s really just a huge nerd who can play football. He’s probably using his phone to play Wordle or something. He’s the last person you need to act cool for.”

That surge of guilt pulsed through me again. I was not only lying to my mom, but I was also being a bad example for Emma. This multifamily household stuff was tricky. I’d never had anyone younger looking up to me. “Emma, you’ll get it when you’re older,” I said. “It’s a dumb rule.”

Before she could respond, my best friend, Chloe Montoya, ran up to me, squealing. “Oh my gosh! Is it true? Were you in Merit McDonald’s car?”

“Chloe, I think you know Merit’s sister, Emma?” I said, smiling at her while simultaneously throwing darts at her out of my eyes.

“Oh, sure,” Chloe said. “You’re in sixth grade, right?”

“Seventh. And I’m going there now.” Emma rolled her eyes like we were too much and headed off toward her classroom. Maybe she did have it more together than the rest of us.

Chloe and I turned and started walking toward the high school building. “How do you already know about me being in Merit’s car?”

“Um, you’ve been scooped!”

“What? Whoa. That JSS works fast.”

“Are you guys, like, a thing?” Chloe asked right as Jessica Frazier ran up too. “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Does his car smell as good as he does?”

Apparently good news traveled fast, and, as I had hoped, no one was even thinking about my dad anymore.

I wanted to be cooler than this, but I wasn’t. So I squealed right along with them and said, “It does! It totally does!”

“What is he like?” Jessica asked. “Wait, does he like you?”

Dabney Collins, my other best friend besides Chloe, ran up. “Who? Does who like Iris?”

“Merit McDonald!” Jessica and Chloe squealed simultaneously.

Dabney put her hand over her heart. “You have won freshman year. I bow down to you.”

I shook my head, but I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face. “It isn’t really like that,” I said. But I kept my tone and body language noncommittal in a way that meant, He totally likes me; I’m just not telling you.

“You have to tell us everything…” Dabney paused. “You know, later.” She couldn’t say at the sleepover in front of Jessica because we hadn’t invited her.