At the next table over, Andy Park sat with his best friend, Ryan Wylie. Andy caught Eleanor’s gaze and gave her a friendly wave. Eleanor looked away quickly, the memory of last night’s cocoa debacle making her cheeks hot, and slid into her chair as casually as she could.

“Do you like Andy?” Katie asked, and Eleanor almost squawked.

“Why would you ask that?” she demanded. Katie blinked rapidly, holding up a Starburst.

“Because I have extra?” she said meekly.

“Do I like candy,” Eleanor repeated, blushing even harder. It could be worse, she thought. She could actually have a crush on Andy, and then this would be mortifying. Since she didn’t have a crush on anyone, it was totally fine, really.

Katie blinked some more. “Do you like Andy?” she whispered, connecting the dots between Eleanor’s embarrassment and the Starburst.

“No,” Eleanor said a bit too loudly. Katie stifled a laugh as Andy and Ryan glanced over.

“I kind of thought you liked Mabel,” Katie confessed, and Eleanor groaned. Katie laughed good-naturedly as Eleanor buried her head in her arms on the table. “It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone. And I promise not to bring maple cookies next time.”

There was nothing to tell, Eleanor wanted to say. There was absolutely no point figuring out who she liked if she was never going to get to go on a date or have a first kiss or even hold hands under the table, was there? So she didn’t know if she liked Andy or Mabel or even whether she liked girls or boys or both or neither.

Katie poked her shoulder. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” she said.

“It’s fine,” Eleanor said into the tabletop.

Eleanor had been Katie’s lab partner all semester. She always felt kind of bad, because Katie was really nice and clearly wanted to be friends, but Eleanor just didn’t have room for the regular kind of friends. The kind you went to the movies and played board games with, instead of researching curses and experimenting with magical concoctions. The kind where you wrote Have a nice summer in their yearbook, instead of Hope we’re still alive in the fall hahaha.

The bell to start class rang, and Mr. Crouch moved to the front of the room, clasping his hands in excited anticipation. “Today is an amazing day,” he declared. Then he paused. “Actually, today isn’t the amazing day. Today is the day we get ready for the amazing day. Saturday will be amazing,” he said, and looked at them, grinning, as if waiting for them to burst into spontaneous applause.

Eleanor put up a tentative hand. “Mr. Crouch? Why is Saturday amazing?” she asked.