at practice did you really curse out mr g omg he must

have flipped

From Dan: please come back vi is going full vi

also i cant watch infinity galaxy without u but if i dont

watch it soon i dont know what ill do

She was suspended for two days, with her mom set to pick up homework packets on her behalf. She couldn’t attend practice. And she couldn’t bring herself to respond to the Ermines.

The only person she could talk to was the person she’d always talked to about everything.

She texted Skyla:

Hi

porch

cant. im in trouble

so i hear. did u really push over a table and chair

Without warning, Marianne began to cry. she wrote,

lol no, just cant hack it in mr garcias class.

got a c- on the test. couldnt take it anymore.

oh nooo im so sorry

The tiny dots indicating Skyla would type something else pulsed on the screen for too long. She’d probably written something and stopped, thought better of it, and started again. But what?

Marianne wrote,

they probably wont let me do quiz quest anymore. and without the extra credit i need an a+ on the final to pass. an a+. you know thats not possible. i dont know why I even tried.

She wiped away her tears and then rubbed her hands off on her jeans.

She put down the phone, changed into her PJs, and slid under her covers. The sun was still out, but so what?

The next text from Skyla read,

I told you—I will study with you

just let me!

why did you like julies comment during regionals

Marianne felt a sob pour out. She put a hand over her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them, she saw:

What??? I did???

she said omg this is going to be hilarious and you liked it. just seemed really mean i dunno i cant stop thinking about it

omg no

I get it it’s because you don’t want to be friends with the dumb girl.

wait not dumb i learned that’s a really bad word

what?!?!? porch! now! if ethan and norah flip i will personally tell them to relax

k fine

They stood at their railings. Marianne rubbed her forehead. It was like there was something spiky inside there that couldn’t get out.

Skyla looked like she’d been crying, too. She spoke first, her words spewing out: “You think I don’t want to be friends with the ‘dumb’ girl? It seems like you don’t want to be friends with the loser who studies every night! But that’s just what weekdays are like for most people, okay?”

Marianne had never felt like she was pressuring Skyla all those times she wasn’t studying and Skyla was. She never wanted Skyla to feel like she couldn’t go be her own person or be proud of her school stuff or anything like that. But maybe this whole time Skyla had felt that pressure.