Just as we were finishing diner, Mom’s cell phone beeped, and she picked it up.

“Wow, that’s weird,” she said. “It’s Ashanta. She wants to know if you can do a shoot on Saturday morning.”

I frowned. “I don’t know. I have a game at one o’clock. Would I be done on time?”

Mom quickly texted. “Ashanta says it’s one look, in a park, and the call time is eight a.m. It should only take an hour or two. So you’d be done in time for the game.”

I thought about it. I didn’t like the idea of cutting it so close to my game, but a photo shoot in a park instead of a studio sounded like a lot of fun. And maybe if I made more money, I could keep working on the plane ticket idea with Mom.

“Do it, Devin!” Maisie urged. “Do it! Do it!”

“Okay, I’ll do it!” I said.

“Yay!” Maisie cheered.

I’ll get up extra early that day and go on a run, I thought. I’ll be ready for the game! Ashanta hasn’t steered me wrong yet.

•  •  •

The next morning at school, I noticed that Emma was missing from the classes that we had together. She wasn’t in the cafeteria when I got there, either.

“Has anybody seen Emma?” I asked Frida, Zoe, and Jessi when I reached our lunch table.

“No,” Zoe replied. “It’s weird. I texted her to see if she was out sick, but she didn’t reply. I’m worried that something might be . . . Oh, wow!”

Zoe’s eyes had gotten big, and she was staring past me. I turned to see Emma there. She didn’t look sick at all, but she was wearing glasses.

“Emma! Is this why you were out this morning?” Zoe asked.

Emma sat down next to Zoe and sighed. “Yes.”

Zoe took the glasses off of Emma’s face. “They’re so cute! I love these frames. Turquoise tortoiseshell. Very cool.”

“After school I’m going to practice putting in contacts,” Emma said. “The eye doctor said they’re easy to use and they’ll be better when I’m playing soccer—”

“Wait, what exactly happened?” Jessi interrupted. “One day you didn’t need glasses, and now you do?”

Emma shook her head. “Actually, I’ve been having trouble seeing things in the distance for a few months now.”

“Like at practice yesterday, when you thought I was Grace?” I remembered.

“Exactly,” Emma answered. “Mom noticed me squinting, so she made an appointment with the eye doctor for me. So here I am.” She put the glasses back on and made a face.

“Don’t do that! You look adorable!” Zoe told her.

Emma unpacked her lunch. “I guess,” she said. “I’m just a little upset because it’s so complicated, you know? Now I always have to remember glasses, contacts, eye exams. What a pain!”