Maybe having one another—not being alone—would make a difference, too. And, no, I don’t know for sure yet that these other girls are Outliers, but even thinking that they might be, that I could be with people just like me, has made the ground feel steadier underfoot.

“I’ll do it,” Ramona says, stepping up and waving Becca away with warm, sisterly annoyance. Like freezing up is the kind of thing that happens to everyone all the time. “You sit.”

Becca shuffles away and takes Ramona’s spot at the edge of the circle, then hugs her long legs into her chest and presses her mouth against her knees. Becca is too far away for me to be able to read exactly what she’s feeling. But whatever it is: she looks like she hates herself for it.

“Okay, two truths and a lie,” Ramona says, like she’s flipping through her mental Rolodex in search of the rules.

Teresa raises her hand. “This isn’t going to have anything to do with, um, s-e-x or something, because—and I know this is going to sound weird and stupid . . .” She stares down into her lap. “I can’t talk about that stuff. I know that my grandma isn’t here to actually hear me, but it would take six minutes off her life.”

And the way Teresa says it is like it’s an established thing—this six-minute rule and her grandmother’s life. Like she’s already cost the old woman hours.

“It doesn’t have to be about sex,” Ramona says, but Teresa is still frowning. And, in fairness, we all know that everything with people our age eventually becomes sort of about sex.

“No sex then,” Kelsey says, like we are dumb for not coming up with this obvious solution. “No truths or lies about sex. Period,” she says. “No one should have to be any more uncomfortable than we already are.”

And there, in Kelsey’s unexpected compassion, is the potential. For all of us. If we stick together.

“Fine, whatever,” Ramona says, annoyed. Like she was specifically looking forward to talking about sex. And, meanwhile, I am stupidly surprised that not mentioning sex will be so hard for everyone else. Because it will be so completely easy for me. “Now, can I explain how to play?”

“Yes, please,” Teresa says, beaming.

Teresa isn’t the kind of girl who would ever have been part of a group even if she had gone to school with other kids. So being in here with this group is probably her first chance. The truth is it’s my first chance in a long time to be a part of a group again. Maia and those girls are like another life.

“All right, we’ll start with . . .” Ramona looks around, points to red-haired Trident Gum Elise. “You. You say two things about yourself that are true and one thing that is a lie.”