Pink & Green is the New Black by Lisa Greenwald

smirk.
    Mrs. Ramal brings over a sizzling platter of pancakes and we dig in. Well, I try to dig in. Normally I just eat and eat until I’m so stuffed it’s hard to walk. But today is different. Today it’s hard to eat around Yamir, and he notices.
    â€œLuce-Juice, not hungry for the Ramal family favorite?”
    â€œI’ve already had one pancake.” It’s kind of a lie because I’ve only had a few bites, but I doubt he’s going to look at my plate that closely.
    Sunny gives me a strange look and Yamir keeps eating.
    â€œWell, I’m out of here. Basketball practice.”
    â€œHow do you plan to get there?” Mrs. Ramal asks him.
    â€œClint’s pops is driving us,” he says, and just like that he’s out of the kitchen. It’s like our conversation last night never happened.
    All at once I feel like the tires on my old bicycle. The day we got the bike they were sparkly, shiny, full of air. Now they’re deflated and dusty in the corner of my garage. I shouldn’t rest so much of my happiness on Yamir. If things are good, I feel great. And if they’re bad, I feel horrid.
    It’s an unpredictable, broken, dangerous, seesaw way of living.
    As we’re finishing breakfast, Sunny’s phone rings. It’s Evan.
    â€œHold on a second. Let me ask Lucy,” she says. “Evan wants to know if we want to go to the mall with him and those twins?”
    â€œWhat twins?” I ask.
    â€œYou know, the new ones. Travis and Gavin or something?”
    I think about my options. Do I want to go to the mall with them and probably have an okay time while thinking about Yamir most of the day? Or do I want to go home and spend all day thinking about Yamir and doing nothing?
    My first option is way better. Plus, it’s so nice that Sunny is including me. She’s way better than she was last summer, when I felt left out.
    â€œSure. Sounds good.”
    Sunny gets back on the phone. “We’re in. My mom will drop us off by Dreamer’s Bar and Grill in, like, an hour.”
    â€œI’m the chauffeur, the chef, the butler, the maid,” Mrs. Ramal says under her breath. “At least I know I’m needed around here.” She laughs, so I know she’s not mad.
    â€œThe pancakes were delicious as always,” I tell her. “You can open up a bed-and-breakfast one day. I mean, when Sunny and Yamir are all grown up.”
    She smiles. “I’ll consider it. Thanks, Lucy.”
    Sunny and I go upstairs to change—and I realize I have no clothes here. We came straight from the spa, and I didn’t expect to go to the mall today.
    â€œI need to borrow clothes again,” I tell her.
    â€œTake whatever you want.” She’s in the bathroom putting on eyeliner. She’s not very good at it, so it takes her a while.
    â€œWhy are you being so nice to me?” I ask her when she gets out.
    â€œHuh? What do you mean?”
    I sit down on her bed. “I mean, you let me tag along with you and Evan, you lend me your clothes, you were quick on your feet suggesting that sleepover because you knew I didn’t want to go to Scotty’s with that group.”
    â€œMy brother’s a doofus. So I guess I feel partially responsible for all your suffering. Plus you’re my best friend, and Ilove you.” She throws a hooded sweatshirt at me. “Here, wear this. I know it’s your favorite.”
    It’s just a simple gray hoodie, but she’s right—it is my favorite. Something about the way it’s worn in and how it’s not light gray but not dark gray either.
    â€œCan I do your makeup before we go?”
    Sunny glares at me. “Lucy. Hello. This is not last year. I don’t need a confidence boost. I’m feeling pretty good these days.”
    â€œI know.” I go to her bathroom and grab her makeup bag. “This is for me. I’m a ball of stress, and I think doing your