BooksBarbecue
Back When We Were Friends
Chapters (52)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. Dedication
  4. About the Author
  5. 31
  6. 14
  7. 31
  8. 14
  9. 31
  10. 14
  11. 31
  12. 14
  13. 31
  14. 15
  15. 31
  16. 16
  17. 32
  18. 16
  19. 32
  20. 17
  21. 32
  22. 17
  23. 32
  24. 17
  25. 32
  26. 17
  27. 32
  28. 18
  29. 32
  30. 18
  31. 32
  32. 18
  33. 32
  34. 18
  35. 32
  36. 18
  37. 32
  38. 18
  39. 32
  40. 18
  41. 32
  42. 18
  43. 32
  44. 18
  45. 32
  46. 32
  47. 33
  48. 33
  49. 33
  50. Acknowledgments
  51. Discussion Questions
  52. Booklist

It was only later that night, as I fell asleep, it occurred to me I hadn’t mentioned Jessica to him. And I knew why.

14

october 2000

Eminem blasted from my CD player while we all got dolled up with Jessica, our friendship group’s new addition. Our plan for that Saturday was simple and foolproof. We’d ascertained through Kim’s stalking that Matt got a McDonald’s milkshake every weekend afternoon. So we were all to dress up attractively, but not so attractively that we would “outshine” Kim, head to town, primp up our faces even more with the testers in Boots, and then casually head to Maccy D’s to casually also buy milkshakes and sit there casually, laughing, and looking casually attractive until Matt showed up. At which point, of course, he would see how casual and attractive Kim was, and fall in love with her—despite his failure to do this every day at school. The four of us in my bedroom rapped along happily to a song where you literally hear a woman’s throat get slit. This was Kim’s favorite song as it had her name in it.

“Don’t you think Eminem looks a bit like Matt?” Kim asked, while outlining her thin lips with plum lip liner.

“No,” we all said in unison.

“They’ve both got blue eyes!”

I leaned back against my headboard and fed myself another handful of crisps. “That’s crazy,” I said. “What are the chances?”

Until that moment, Jessica had been sitting silently in the corner, flicking through my copy of J17. But she let out a quiet snort and we shared a fleeting moment of eye contact.

Kim, oblivious, smacked her lips together. “If Matt and I ever had children, the baby would have a three in four chance of having his eyes, because I have brown eyes, and blue eyes are a recessive gene... Oh God,” she shrilled. “Am I an intense person? I am, aren’t I?”

We all burst out laughing, and then Jessica held up the magazine. “You’re just a SAGITTARIUS,” she reassured her. “And look, it says here that today is your ‘red-hot love’ day, so I think Operation Casual is going to be a total success.” She flattened down the page to show Kim her horoscope.

“How did you know I was a Sagittarius?” Kim asked, her plum mouth stunned and open, as we all turned to Jessica as if she was psychic.

She shrugged. “You can just tell.”

“What about me?” Amy settled down on the carpet next to her. “Can you tell what I am?”

“Aries.”

“Oh my God!”

“You’re a witch!” Kim declared with genuine excitement. “Seriously, how did you know?”

Jessica shrugged again. “I’ve just read a few books, that’s all. I can’t chart or anything, not yet.”