Little White Lies by Jessica Burkhart Page A

e-mail him and be like, ‘A bunch of us are going out. Come if you want.’ Right?”
    I blinked. “Riiight. Yeah. Do that.”
    I sat on my bed, not knowing what else to say. I wastorn. Ryan would definitely say yes and Paige would be thrilled. But the idea of Jacob, Callie, and Eric all together made my head pound.
    â€œThis is sooo awesome!” Paige said, grabbing my hand and pulling me up. She dragged me over to her laptop on her desk. “C’mon. Help me figure out what to say.”
    â€œOkay.” I smiled for real. I loved seeing her this happy. Being uncomfortable for a couple of hours was worth it.
    Paige and I shared her desk chair and she quickly closed a file that said
S’s Bday
.
    â€œOooh! Show me!” I said, elbowing her.
    Paige laughed. “No way. The details are super top secret.”
    â€œBut tomorrow’s my real birthday,” I said, sticking out my lip in a pretend pout. “So, don’t you feel that it would be, like, an early present to show me?”
    â€œNope. Guilt won’t work, Sasha Silver. Puh-lease.”
    We giggled and I gave an exaggerated sigh. “Fiiine. Let’s get Ryan to come out with us already.”
    We spent the next hour going over every word in the two line e-mail to Ryan.
    â€œIs it really ready?” Paige asked. She looked back and forth from the computer to me.
    â€œSend. It.”
    â€œOne more read. Okay. ‘Hey Ryan, a bunch of my friends and I are going to The Slice on Friday. Text or e-mail me if you want to come.’”
    â€œIt’s perfect. Now hit send!” I said, laughing.
    â€œBut wait!” Paige said. “How do I sign it? ‘Your friend, Paige’ is lame.”
    I leaned over and typed
~Paige
. “There. Done. Do it.”
    Paige closed her eyes and pressed send. I looked at Paige’s hopeful smile and decided Callie’s idea might not have been too awful.
One
night out wouldn’t kill anyone.

8
BIRTHDAY GIRL
    â€œHAPPY REAL BIRTHDAY!” PAIGE SAID, WAKING me the next morning. She sat cross-legged at the end of my bed. She was wearing my pink T-shirt emblazoned with a silver rhinestone heart.
    I sat up, blinking and trying to tame my bed head. “Thanks! Do I look older? I feel older.”
    Paige nodded. “You look
so
much older. Definitely thirteen.”
    â€œMaybe fourteen with eyeliner?” I asked hopefully.
    â€œDon’t push it.” Paige laughed.
    Someone knocked on the door and Paige got up to answer it.
    â€œHey, birthday girl!” Callie said, stepping inside. She was carrying two giant bags from the Sweet Shoppe. Shewas dressed in yoga pants and a hoodie, her hair in a messy ponytail and she hadn’t put on makeup yet.
    â€œCal! What are you doing here?”
    Callie stepped inside and put the bags on my desk. Both she and Paige smiled at me.
    â€œIt’s your birthday! Duh,” Callie said, shaking her head.
    â€œBut, guys! You’re already throwing me a party. That’s waaay more than enough,” I said.
    Callie and Paige rolled their eyes.
    â€œGet over here and look in the bag,” Paige said. “You know you want to.”
    Grinning, I hopped out of bed. “Well, if you insist …”
    We opened the bags and inside was a variety of scones, muffins, fruit salads, and pastries. There were also containers of cranberry and orange juice.
    â€œWow, this is amazing! Thank you!” I said.
    Paige reached into her closet and pulled out a bag. She produced pink plastic plates and flatware.
    â€œWe wanted to have a best-friend breakfast just for the girls this morning,” Paige said. “You get to pick first.”
    We loaded our plates and sat in the middle of the floor. I’d chosen two chocolate croissants and a blueberry scone. Yum.
    â€œRaise your cups,” Callie said.
    We all did, smiling at one another.
    â€œTo Sasha on her official birthday,” Callie