Ali’s stomach clenched. “What?”

“I forgot my parents are taking me out to lunch today, which means we can’t eat together.”

Ali hadn’t expected Emily to invite her to eat lunch with her. Being invited to eat with the popular kids was the fast track to becoming popular. That had never happened to her before.

“They take you out to lunch?” Ali could count on one hand the number of times her parents had taken her out to eat.

“We’ve been doing it since kindergarten,” Emily explained. “It’s my dad’s way of making up for all the hours he works and all the traveling he does. Today we’re going to my favorite Indian restaurant, Thandi. Have you ever been there?”

Ali shook her head.

“Anyway, we’ll eat together tomorrow, okay? We need to work on our science project.” She didn’t wait for Ali to respond before she hurried back to her seat. Emily’s parting words made her frown. Maybe the only reason Emily wanted to eat lunch with her was to work on the project. Careful, Ali, she told herself. There’s no fast pass to popularity. Still, it was a start.

Ali slipped into her seat. “Hey, Cassie.”

Cassie turned. It was clear she was not having a good day. “Hey.”

“I practiced my powers last night,” she whispered back, surprised when Cassie’s response was a lukewarm “Good.”

Before Ali could say anything else, Ms. Ryder started talking. Ali tried to pay attention, but all she could think about was how fantastic Gigi’s party was going to be and how wonderful it was that Emily wanted to eat lunch with her, regardless of the reason.

Cassie was sitting by herself when Ali arrived in the cafeteria.

“Where are Alfie and Murray?” she asked.

She received a shrug in response.

Ali stopped unpacking her lunch. “Are you mad at me or something?”

For a second, she was sure Cassie was going to tell her off. Then Cassie’s chin began to quiver. Her voice was thick when she responded. “I was worried you’d eat with Emily and abandon me too.”

Ali’s first inclination was to deny the accusation, since getting along with people was important, but decided against it. After all, if Emily hadn’t gone out to lunch with her parents, Ali would have sat with her. But would she have sat with Emily if she’d known Cassie had no one to sit with? She liked to think the answer was no.

“You haven’t told me where Alfie and Murray are.”

“They went to a Dungeons and Dragons game that some guy in grade eight is hosting in Mr. Corby’s classroom this week. I could have gone, but how boring would that be?”

“Less boring than sitting all alone?” offered Ali with a quick grin.

“Yeah, well, maybe. How’s your project with Emily going?”