“Agreed,” Kylie and Frankie said simultaneously, which caused them to crack up at each other.

“I think things are getting a little too serious at this particular meeting,” Matt said, shoving another handful of chips into his mouth. “Hey, Danny, wanna see me finish off these chips while I’m doing a headstand?”

“Don’t,” Becca said, knowing deep down that Matt was probably joking, but she couldn’t help but say something. “You’ll choke if you do that.”

“You’re no fun,” Matt said, a small smile creeping up the side of his mouth in a way that told Becca he was never really planning to attempt the headstand. “How am I supposed to get into the circus when you won’t even let me practice?”

“The circus will let you in automatically because you’re a clown,” Becca said, which made everyone burst out laughing.

“Hey, good one,” Matt replied, impressed. “I’m rubbing off on you, I see.”

“Whatever.” Becca rolled her eyes but still smiled.

Despite the strange way they were brought together, Becca found that she was thankful for her new group of friends. It was good to know they all had each other’s backs, no matter what.

“Hey,” Kylie said suddenly, the smile fading from her face. “Do you guys hear that?”

Everybody fell quiet, and Becca strained to hear what Kylie was talking about. Sure enough, from somewhere far below the treehouse, there came a voice, strained and desperate.

“Guys,” the voice said, getting louder. “I’m here. Open up. I said open up!”

“That’s Miguel,” Frankie whispered as they leaned over to open the door on the floor of the treehouse. “He sounds so upset!”

“What’s wrong, Miguel?” Matt called down through the opening, just a few seconds before Miguel climbed into the treehouse, collapsing on the floor once the door was closed again and wiping sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

“Nacho.” Miguel panted, still struggling to catch his breath. “He . . . he . . . sorry, I ran the entire way here, my legs feel like Jell-O . . .”

“It’s okay, Miguel,” Kylie said, looking at her friend in concern. “Slow down. Tell us what happened to Nacho.”

Becca realized for the first time that Nacho wasn’t with Miguel, which was extremely unusual—usually, the snake could be found with Miguel wherever he went. Of all the friends, Miguel was the one who was the most interested in animals, and his pet snake was no exception. Nacho had braved the heart-pounding summer school incident along with the rest of them, and in turn, he had sort of become a part of the group in his own right.