Gia immediately sweeps me into a hug, and I know she thinks he dumped me, but I let her do it anyway, let them usher me inside and onto the couch. My mom is out picking up the food, and their attention is on me, waiting for me to pour out my heart. It takes me a minute to figure out what to say, and Gia takes the opportunity to jump right in. “Do we hate him?” she asks.

I laugh and squeeze her hand. “No, we don’t hate him. He’s great. It turns out I’m just … not his fangirl anymore.”

Shannon’s eyebrows shoot to the sky. “Wait. You broke up with him?”

It’s hard not to exchange glances with Kiki, but I know if I do, Shan will pick up on it immediately and demand the truth. And while I finally feel safe figuring out my shit with them, I don’t know what to say until Jasmine and I figure out where we go from here. “I did. I … realized I’m looking for something else.”

“Wow.” Shannon looks at me—really looks at me—and the corner of her mouth curls into the tiniest hint of a smile. “You really did change this summer.”

My mom lets herself in then, the sound of the door saving me from having to respond. I jump up and take the bags from her hands, giving her a peck on the cheek and scurrying into the kitchen. I’m pulling out the takeout containers when I hear footsteps and see that Shannon has followed me.

“I’ll be out in a second,” I tell her, searching the cabinets for paper plates.

“I know.” She glances into the living room, where my mom is chatting with Kiki and Gia, and turns back to me. “Look … I’m sorry I was kind of shitty, telling Jasmine and everything. That wasn’t cool.”

Thank God there’s nothing in my hands but plastic cutlery, because at the sound of Shannon Salter saying the word “sorry,” forks and spoons go clattering to the countertop. “Did you just apologize?”

“It happens occasionally.”

“It doesn’t, though. We’ve been friends for more than ten years and I don’t think it ever has.”

“Okay, well, shut up, because I’m making it good.”

I shut up. How can I not?

“I thought … I thought you were gonna disappear on me, okay?”

“For Chase?”

She crosses her arms. “Of course for Chase. You finally got the guy, Lara. You weren’t gonna need my fashion advice or makeup tips or even car rides. I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but he was smitten as fuck. Any idiot could see it. And, well, every idiot knows you were smitten with him, so.”