Well, I am sorry to hear about Molly’s dad, but she asked me not to say so, so I breeze past it. “You obviously put a lot of work in,” I say instead. “I’ve made, like, twenty posts in my lifetime. I’m impressed.”

“Not really. Mostly I just post videos from my day, or giving my opinion on whatever I’m thinking about. I’m never going to be the type of person who has a proper setup or a brand or anything. Honestly, I only do it because it pays well and I don’t get a lot of pocket money.”

After half an hour or so of hanging out in my room, Molly offers to give me a tour of Dewitt. She tells me which shower stall to use in the bathroom (“The middle ones always get hot faster.”), the unofficial rule around door etiquette (“If you leave your door ajar it’s implying you’re open to people swinging past to chat.”), and the bulletin board by the entrance (“You play piano, right? You can sign up for performance evenings here.”).

I study the board, which is already filled with notices regarding clubs and camps. In its center is a giant drug-use PSA poster, stating LIFE’S HIGHS DON’T NEED CHEMICAL TIES with a cringey illustration of a group of teenagers skipping away from a smoking joint in a field. “I remember seeing something about snow trips,” I say hopefully, searching for a possible sign-up sheet. Winter’s coming up, after all.

“That’s only for fourth and sixth years, unfortunately. Rose tried to drag me along with her last year, but it’s not my thing.” She says it with a laugh, but it vanishes as soon as she remembers who she’s talking about. Tucking shiny black hair behind her ear, Molly changes the subject. “I’ll come by and grab you for breakfast in the morning. You’ll need to be ready at ten past seven at the latest. It’s first in, best dressed, so if we get there too late we won’t get a seat with the rest of the girls.”

I say thank you, but the words don’t seem big enough for how freaking grateful I am. What would I be doing tomorrow morning if I hadn’t met her? Heading on over at 7:13 and awkwardly hanging out at the end of a table full of girls who’d grown up together, had never met me, and wouldn’t want me there?

But I did meet her. And if the whole reason Molly got to know me in the first place was to fill a vacant spot left by Princess Rosemary? Then I owe her one.

Whatever the hell she did to lose Molly as a friend, her loss is my gain.

FOUR DANNI