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sisterly interest. Or her nervousness. Claire didn’t get nervous around anybody, least of all me. My heart sped up at the thought ofwatching Josh from the sidelines. Or of him coming over to talk to us. Maybe I could chat him up about all I was learning about photography. Maybe he didn’t mind that I’d had an all-consuming crush on him in sixth grade.
    Not to mention now.
    Marcus appeared from out of nowhere and sidled up to his locker, interrupting my thoughts. I wondered if he could do coffee tomorrow instead.
    “Hey,” he said quietly, like he was trying to get away with talking in class.
    I knew I should probably introduce him to Claire, but part of me didn’t want to. What if I did, and Marcus liked Claire more than me?
    “Whoever it is will understand, I’m sure,” Claire said. “Come on, we have to go.”
    Marcus kept his eyes down and started rearranging his books in his locker. His shoulders slumped and he already looked rejected. How would I introduce these two, anyway? Loner Marcus and my gabbing, popular sister? It didn’t compute.
    “Don’t you have ballet?” I blurted.
    “No, it’s Tuesday.” She rolled her eyes like I should have known that. And yeah, if my brain hadn’t been on autopilot, I would have. I’m that girl that knows her whole family’s schedule because I don’t have enough going on in my own life.“Come on, you know you want to.” She grabbed my books and slid them into my locker.
    I did want to. But I also wanted to hang out with Marcus. I just couldn’t explain that to Claire. Her eyes bore into me. She hadn’t even glanced in Marcus’s direction, which was quite a feat, considering his proximity.
    I stared straight into the cavern of my locker and said, “I don’t think I can go.” But even as the words came out of my mouth, I couldn’t figure out who I was saying them to.

CHAPTER SIX
     
    Marcus closed his locker, then turned and walked away without another word.
    Claire tapped her foot. “Oh, come on, Loey. We have to hurry. I want to say hi to Josh before it starts.”
    Marcus was almost at the exit. Why was she doing this? Why now?
    She took a step in the other direction and pulled at my hand. “Come on. Let’s go.”
    I couldn’t do it. Suddenly I didn’t want to go to the game.
    “Marcus!” I yelled, just before the door clacked shut behind him. He paused on the other side of the threshold. “Sorry,” I said to Claire. “Can we do it another day?” I gave her hand a squeeze and plunked on my lock. Avoiding her eyes, I ran for the door and didn’t look back.
    When I caught up to Marcus, he kept his face straight ahead. “Let’s go,” he said, and started walking.
    I followed him through the parking lot without a word. Not a Glad you decided to come or Thanks for choosing me . Nothing.
    Which made me wonder . . . did I make the wrong choice?
    My sister was my sister . We’d always looked out for each other, and the more I thought about it, maybe she really needed me today. Maybe all her other friends were busy too and she really didn’t want to go to the game alone.
    By the speed of Marcus’s march, he clearly had no idea I was still wavering. I felt like I should apologize for almost jilting him, but really, if I needed to apologize to anyone, shouldn’t it be Claire? It was pretty nice that she wanted to include me when she knows I’m not exactly popular.
    But the more I battled it over in my mind, the clearer it became. Claire didn’t need me. She’d probably already forgotten she’d ever invited me.
    I was lost in my thoughts as Marcus and I plodded over the backfield and cut through someone’s yard to reach Main Street. Even though I’d grown up in Alder Grove, I hadn’t realized how close downtown really was. I’d always thought I needed rides to get anywhere besides school.
    Marcus had a long stride and I could barely keep up. His loose black T-shirt and jeans would likely still fit himtwenty pounds from now. We made an odd