“Don’t jinx me,” I say, heading for the door. I have tons of homework tonight, and it’s already late, but I know Jayla and Nikki are waiting for me downstairs. I’ve been working on being a better friend since Jayla called me out on it, and tonight we’re celebrating a major win for their soccer team.

“It’s not a jinx if it’s true,” Mrs. G calls after me as I bound down her front steps.

Jayla’s car is in the driveway, and both girls wave at Mrs. G when I come out. I slide my cello into the back seat and dive in after it, shivering even from the two seconds it took to walk to the car.

“Hot cocoa,” Nikki says, handing me a cup. It’s from Stacks, my all-time favorite coffee shop for reasons too numerous to count, and I smile when I taste the cinnamon.

“Awww,” I say. “You guys remembered!”

“Like we could ever forget the cinnamon and live to tell about it.”

“No Emily tonight?” I ask.

“I wanted it to be just us,” Jayla says, messing with the radio.

“And Emily had to babysit her brother,” Nikki adds.

“The truth comes out.” Now that their coach knows, Jayla and Emily have been seriously inseparable at school. Jayla even started a new group chat with her in it, even though we mostly still use the old one with just the three of us.

“So where are we headed?” I spin the cup in my hand, letting it warm my fingers.

“Bowling,” Nikki sings.

“Bowling? Why?”

Jayla sighs and I can tell this is a conversation they’ve already had. “Nikki suggested rock climbing, but since we have another game tomorrow and you have your audition coming up, I thought we should do something with a lower risk of hand and foot injuries.”

“Good plan.” I laugh. It feels good to be sitting here with my best friends, not stressing about school or summer programs or nerdy boys that live in my phone or my stepmom’s shop. It’s exactly what I need.

“Plus, it’s black-light night at Bowl-A-Rama,” Nikki says, and I want to question why she has the bowling schedule memorized, but I also don’t want to know.

It takes a while to get there; the bowling alley is halfway across town and we hit every red light on the way. I’m kind of grateful, though. By the time we slide into the parking lot, I’ve completely finished my hot cocoa and part of my history homework.

Nikki and I put our coats down while Jayla pays and gets our shoes. There are not many benefits to us all wearing the same shoe size (7 across the board) except that it’s easy to remember and our footwear choices triple in a pinch.