As he pulls me along, my hair hanging limply and making my T-shirt wet, I realize I lost my rainbow barrette.

And maybe my best friend.

Chapter Eleven

When we get to my house, Micah finds his bike and leaves without even saying good-bye.

My parents start asking questions the minute I walk in the door.

“How’d it go?”

“Did you have fun?”

“What’s Sierra like?”

“Are her parents nice?”

“Why didn’t Micah come in with you?”

“What happened to your hair?”

“I’m tired,” I tell them. “It was fine.” They don’t push it when I walk away and start up the stairs.

Ivy is sitting on the top step with George.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“Waiting.”

“Why?”

“I want to know how the party went. What was it like?”

“Not you, too?”

George cranes his head forward for a pat. I rub behind his ears, and he starts to purr.

What I really want is to go hide and not talk to anyone, but I can tell Ivy has been waiting all this time for me to come home and share.

“C’mon,” I say. “Let’s go to my room.”

We sit on my bed, and Ivy gets comfy with George.

“It wasn’t a big deal,” I say. “It was just like a birthday party but without presents. We swam and ate junk food.”

“Did you play Spin the Bottle?”

“What? No.”

“I thought that’s what you did at middle-school parties.”

“Not this one.”

“Well, what did you play?”

“It’s middle school, Ivy. You don’t play anymore.”

“Then what did you do all night?”

I see myself stuck at the end of the pool with Evan. I imagine again how we looked to Micah, talking and laughing and then . . .

“Nothing,” I say. “It was actually really boring.”

“Getting older sucks.”

“Don’t say sucks. It sounds weird coming out of you.”

“Whatever. I just don’t want to have to stop having fun and stuff.”

“Just because you get older doesn’t mean you have to stop having fun. And don’t say whatever, either.”

“Well, you never have any fun. All you do is worry about everything.”

George pads over to my end of the bed and starts circling. I press him down to make him stop, and he stops purring and looks at me.

“You aren’t even nice to the cat!” Ivy says.

“I am, too!” I rub George’s ears to make him purr again. “I just don’t like it when he circles around forever.”