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cousin goes to Mountain Crest Academy.”
    “No, I don’t play any sports besides biking. I was in the art club. And it was a public school.”
    They stared at me like I was an unknown, exotic species dredged up from the ocean floor. Had they never met someone from public school? Someone who didn’t play sports with a stick or go on ski vacations in a family condo?
    Safe to say no.
    “But I was only there for a year, really,” I added, trying to regain my comfort zone. Maybe I wasn’t used to being the center of attention, but they were perfectly nice. Their faces showed nothing but curiosity. I couldn’t blame them for that.
    “Does your dad get transferred a lot? There was a girl here last year who came from Singapore,” Nikki said.
    “It’s just me and my mom, but yeah,” I said, thinking of her easel. “It’s sort of like a job transfer.”
    “Don’t worry,” Kellie said, her bright smile and cheerful tone setting me at ease. “We’ll make sure you meet everyone here. We like to help, right, girls?”
    Cherise nodded enthusiastically. I stared at them in amazement. They just might have been the friendliest popular girls I’d ever encountered.
    “Can we get back to the game, people?” Nikki pleaded. “We have a whole other page to get through.”
    But as she was saying it, a tall kid in a plaid shirt and blue skate shoes approached. He was dark-skinned, with close-clipped hair and the kind of body I imagined you got from, I don’t know … bench-pressing economy cars, maybe? He carried himself like he had his own clock, his own map, his own laws of gravity. Everyone at the table turned to stare.
    “Hey, that’s Tre Walker,” Cherise hissed. “You know, the son of Edwin Walker?”
    “Oh my God, I love his movies,” Nikki said, clapping her hands together excitedly.
    “No, you idiot. He was the star forward of the Detroit Pistons like ten years ago,” Cherise said. “My dad told me that they were moving to town. He just became coach for the Suns.”
    Kellie laughed at the mix-up, a tinkling, charming laugh that was practically a melody unto itself. “I think he’s a junior, right? I’m totally gonna invite him to my party next weekend. It’s been a while since we had a celebrity around here.”
    The kid—Tre—was still walking past us and he caught me staring. Our eyes locked for a moment, and he smiled slightly before turning away.
    Then there was the sound of Valley Prep’s version of a bell, which was a few harp notes projected over the loudspeaker system. No joke. This school managed to beclassy in every possible way. We all gathered up our stuff and stood to leave.
    “I like your skirt,” Kellie said, taking in my outfit with a sweeping gaze. “Supercute. Where’d you get that?”
    Nice . Here I’d been worrying about my clothes, but it was totally fine.
    “It’s vintage,” I said.
    “It would look good with chunky heels, or those new Prada platform pumps. There’s a great store in Scottsdale that sells vintage Gucci and Chanel bags, like, from old ladies? Have you been there yet? I’ll take you there one day. You can find some good stuff.”
    “That would be great!” I could feel my eyes lighting up like an anime character’s.
    Okay, take it down a notch. Nothing kills the moment like lameocide .
    “Oh my God, you guys, did you see the new sweaters at Neiman’s?” Nikki said as she dropped her barely touched lunch in the garbage. “They just got the winter collections in.”
    “We need to go tomorrow afternoon,” Kellie said. “Can you guys do it?”
    “I can,” Nikki said.
    “Me too,” Cherise said.
    “What about you?” Kellie asked me with a hopeful expression on her face. “Are you free tomorrow?”
    Of course I was. I was free in perpetuity! Never mind that I was still sweating in the September heat and notreally thinking about woolen goods. Shopping would be fun. It was a girl bonding experience.
    “Tomorrow,” I repeated, like I was thinking