“Uh, it depends. There’s still a class system, so, like, if he’s within her class or above, it’s cool. But if he’s below, it’s a THING. I don’t know.”

“How old is she?”

“Twenty-five.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, things are different over there. Not in a bad way—like, I’ve visited and it’s super awesome—but in a . . . different way.”

The door opens and my mom walks in, all businesslike in her lawyer suit.

“Hello!” she says, then stops and looks at me, then at Nik. “I’m Aviva’s mom. You must be Nik?” I look at Mom and wonder why she’s being so formal. It’s Viv.

“Hi!” he says, standing up. “Nik, yes, Nikhil. Family name.”

“I’m going to go put my bag down. Do you kids want any snacks?”

“We’re good,” I say, then realize we should leave before she says anything embarrassing. “Hey, I’m going to show him BB.”

“Okay!”

I nod to him and get up. He follows me into my room. I keep the door open because . . . I don’t want to deal with a curious mother right now.

“BB?” Nik asks, looking around my, uh, slightly dorky room. “Oh. BB-8?”

“Yeah,” I say slowly, seeing my very Star Wars–themed room through his eyes. Posters, toys on the bookshelves, books on the bedside table. Okay, I’m a bit obsessed. “He’s my hamster.” I point to the little spinning hamster, and Nik smiles and waves to him.

“Nice to meet you, BB!”

“He says hello.” I smile, then sit on my bed.

“So I take it you like . . . Star Trek?” I glare at him. “I’m kidding. Which movie is your favorite?”

“Seven because of Rey. I had Leia and Padmé before, but Rey is just like . . . she’s badass, right?”

“Totally. In eight she has that awesome lightsaber scene in the red room.”

“Yeah! I was actually watching eight last night . . .”

“I haven’t seen it since theaters.” I look at him with complete surprise on my face. “What?”

“You’re a disgrace.”

He smiles and says, “Well, put it on then.”

“Let’s start where I left off.”

As I’m opening my laptop, he says, “So, question.”

“If it’s who shot first, I have an answer for you.”

“What?”

“Oh God, you’re so not a fan. What’s up?”

“Do you . . . do you think what we’re doing to Jessica is right? Revenge and all that?”

I start up the DVD, but press pause and look at him. “I don’t know. Do you think what she’s doing to us is right?”

“Not at all.”

“Yeah, so why not do it back to her?”

“Because we’re better than her?”