makeup will calm me down.â
Sunny rolls her eyes. âFine. Anything for you. But not too much.â
She sits in the swivel chair at her white vanity table and faces me. It only takes a few brushes of blush, and Iâm calmer.
Things may be weird with Yamir, but at least I have Sunny. After all weâve been through, Sunny is still by my side. Best friends are more important than boyfriends, anyway. Everyone needs a best friend, and Iâm so glad sheâs mine.
Lucyâs tip for surviving eighth grade:
Do your homework, but make time for fun too.
When we get to the mall , Evan and the twins are already there.
âHello, ladies,â Evan says, like heâs a fifty-year-old man. Heâs like a miniature dad, but I guess thatâs what Sunny likes about him. Even his long-sleeved polo looks like something my dad would wear.
We say hi, and Sunny and Evan do this shoulder-nudge thing they always do. Itâs kind of cute and less awkward than a kiss when others are around.
âLucy, you know Travis and Gavin, right?â
I nod. âDo you guys ever go by Trav and Gav?â
They look at me a little oddly at first, but then they laugh.
âYou guys are in band, right?â I ask them.
âYup. He plays sax and I play clarinet,â one of them says,pointing to the other. Theyâre identical, and I donât think I should even try to tell them apart. Iâll never succeed.
âCool. I play the flute.â
âIâve seen you around,â one of them says, and Iâm not sure what to make of that. I guess itâs nice to be noticed even by someone youâve never spoken to.
We wander around, and then the boys decide to go to the arcade.
âWeâll wait for you out here,â Sunny tells them. âWeâre not really into video games.â
As soon as theyâre far enough away, Sunny turns to me. âTravis likes you,â she says. âEvan just whispered that to me.â
âIs he the one who plays the sax or the clarinet?â
Sunny bursts out laughing and I do too. Iâm not sure why that was funny, but it was.
âYou canât tell them apart?â Sunny asks.
âNope. Can you?â
âUm, kind of, but only because Travis always wears plainer T-shirts and Gavin always wears something with a sports team on it.â
âOkay. Iâll try to keep that in mind.â Soon weâre both out of control cracking up, unable to stop. That always happens with Sunny and me. It starts with something just a little bitfunny and then it turns into something completely hilarious.
The boys come out of the arcade because they ran out of money and find us sitting on the bench, laughing.
âWhatâs so funny?â Gavin asks. I know itâs him because heâs the one wearing a Knicks T-shirt.
âTheyâre always laughing,â Evan explains. âGirls. You know how it is.â
I look more closely at Travis as we walk. Heâs wearing a red hoodie. His hair is long in the front, and itâs a mixture of red and brown. Could he be cute? Iâm not sure. But itâs funny how once you hear that someone likes you, they immediately seem cuter.
âSo, whereâd you guys move from?â I ask Travis when weâre on our way to the food court. Gavin seems to only be interested in talking to Evan about sports, and I can tell that itâs annoying Sunny. He just keeps going on and on about some game that happened in 1994. We werenât even born yet!
âChicago,â he says. âMy dad got a new job.â
âOh, my sister goes to Northwestern,â I tell him. âDo you miss it?â
He shrugs. âKinda. I miss my friends.â
âYouâll make friends here,â I tell him. âJust give it a little while.â
âI know. I just need time to adjust, I think.â
Wow. I never knew boys thought about this kind of stuff. Travis seems unusually
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