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care.
    They look so cute with their round little eyes,
    they look like pals, but it’s all lies.
    We were friends, or so I thought.
    Shows the kind of friend I’ve got.
    There was total silence for a few seconds as everyone puzzled over the poem. Dana glanced over at Janelle, who had a strange look on her face. Then the bell rang for recess, and the students bolted.
    “Kickball!” yelled Trey. “Jay, bring the ball!”
    “Well,” said Mr. B. He looked at Dana, still standing beside her desk with her paper in her hand. “That was different, Dana. Lots of, umm, emotion. Is everything okay?”
    “I think so.” I hope so.
    Dana quickly made her way to the back of the room where the girls had gathered, pulling on jackets and snacking on celery, crackers and chocolate-chip cookies. If she could just get Janelle alone for one minute, she could explain everything. She could still fix this.
    “Our dog would never bite anyone,” Avery was saying.
    “No way,” added Allie, shaking her head.
    “My grandma has the cutest little dog,” said Gina. “I just melt when he looks at me with those little puppy eyes.”
    “Does Dana even have a dog?” asked Julia.
    “I don’t think so,” answered Janelle.
    She didn’t think so? Janelle knew Dana didn’t have any pets. Did she think Dana wouldn’t have told her if they’d gotten a dog? And why were they talking about her as if she wasn’t even there?
    Before Dana could tell them about Buddy and explain what had happened earlier that morning, the girls had already started talking about something else. And there was no way Dana was going to be able to talk to Janelle by herself without it being awkward.
    Dana slipped down the hall toward the bathrooms. Dana, Dana, would things ever be normal again-a? She saw a group of girls from grades seven and eight pointing at something on the bulletin board and stopped to see what was so exciting. She peered over heads and shoulders, and when she read the posting her heart leaped. This was her ticket back to the way things were supposed to be. She knew it.
    “I put my name on the list,” said Dana, bounding back into the classroom. She was so excited, she couldn’t stand still. “Is anyone else going to? Did you, Amber? McKayla? Nelly, come on—the list is up. Put your name on it!”
    “What list?” Janelle asked. “What are you talking about?”
    “The volleyball sign-up list. We talked about this all through grade five, how we could finally play on the volleyball team this year, and now the list is up! It’s in the hallway. There are tryouts next week. Come on!”
    Janelle’s smile faded. “Dana, I can’t…”
    “What do you mean? You love volleyball. Your cast is off. We’ve—” Dana stopped. The cast had only been off for four days. She sucked in her breath. “You don’t think that by next week…” She faltered. “No, I’m sorry, Nelly. I just got too excited. I didn’t think it through. Never mind. It doesn’t matter. I’ll take my name off.”
    Janelle shook her head. “Don’t be silly,” she said softly. “You can still play.”
    “But we were going to do it together.”
    “I know.” Janelle sighed. “But you can still play. You should play.”
    Dana watched as Janelle turned to put her lunch bag away. She walked slowly and still had a definite limp. Why had she brought up volleyball in the first place? What was wrong with her? “Janelle…” she called after her.
    Julia moved in beside her. “You know, Dana, I don’t think a real friend would have put her name on that list in the first place.”
    “But we were planning to sign up since last year. You don’t understand.”
    “I don’t think you understand. Things have changed, Dana. Can’t you see that? Can’t you see how sad you’ve made her?”
    Can’t you see how sad this makes me? “Nelly said—”
    “That’s another thing I’ve been meaning to talk to you about. Why do you keep calling her Nelly? Her name is