of one of the courtyards, trying to do some last-minute studying for a chem exam, while rain poured, just a few feet away, over the lip of the overhang and down into the muddy strip of grass between the buildings.
“Avani has reached seventy-five percent lake-house insanity,” Carrie said. “She sent me a packing list for Gabriela, to make sure she’s ‘fully able to participate.’”
“Wow.” I sat silent for a few moments. “But . . . that’s kind of good, ri—”
“No, it’s not good. This weekend will be a nightmare of unparalleled proportions.”
“I disagree. How is it gonna be bad?”
“Not sure,” Carrie said. “I’m really not sure. But she’s making us all drive together in one car, and you know it’s twenty miles away, right? We’re going to be trapped there together, totally subject to all her drama.”
Carrie slumped down like a deactivated robot, but I was smiling. She began a story about last year, when Avani had completely freaked out because Carrie had to leave a few hours early.
“Okay, okay, okay, but . . . it’s ’cause she’s worried about losing you.”
I tried to press things further, telling Carrie that if she’d just reassure Avani that they were still good friends, then things would be better, but Carrie cut me off and started asking about my homecoming plans.
“This makes me think Avani will try to corral us into it again,” Carrie said. “And I’m thinking I should just swoop in and plan something first.”
“What? Last year was fun.”
“Uhh, was it? If we hadn’t bought into her homecoming plans, she wouldn’t have been able to deliver us up like little bunny rabbits to Lyle Brashear’s horrible party.”
We had all intended to go to homecoming together: me and Avani, Ken and Jessie, and Carrie (sort of) with Pothan. But at the last minute, as we were literally on the way to the dance, Pothan got a text saying they were locking people in, not letting them leave, and he simultaneously got all these pictures from Lyle Brashear’s immense bacchanalian anti-homecoming party.
Pothan and Avani huddled together in the back of the limo for a few minutes, debating things, before agreeing to redirect the driver to Lyle’s place instead.
“So you didn’t love Lyle’s?” I said.
“I liked that homecoming dress. And if I’d known I was only getting dressed up so I could stand around watching Lyle play drinking games, I’d have just stayed home. Anyway, maybe this year I’ll do my own thing.”
“I can’t imagine what kind of party you’d plan,” I said. “It’d be insane.”
She hit me on the shoulder. “I’m not insane all the time. It’d be nice! But maybe we could do something a little more exciting: go to a show or something.”
Then she got a call, and she said, “Yeah, yeah, I’m over between buildings eleven and twelve,” and a guy and a girl, members of the Ninety-Nine, swooped in with a bag of sandwiches.
They nodded hi to me, and I nodded to them, and we ate together quite happily while they talked about some band they all wanted to see.
Over the next two weeks, Avani reached what Carrie would probably call 100 percent lake-house craziness. Jessie and Carrie bore the brunt of it. She wanted them to come a day early—Gabriela wasn’t allowed, obviously—to help make decorations. She wanted to plan their outfits for each day. She wanted each person to take charge of one meal.
I thought it was delightful, and I tried to convince them that this was real friendship. She did this stuff because she loved them. I also texted Avani a few times and asked if she needed any help, but each time she was like, “Thanks! I’ll tell you if I think of anything.”
Meanwhile I’d told Dave to invite Mari, and although I knew it’d work out, my stomach was in knots, worried that Mari would try to talk to Avani. In a world where people get murdered or starve to death every day, this was a pretty minor problem, but I couldn’t sleep for thinking every night, How am I going to do this? My mind went around in circles, first saying, Well, worst comes to worst I’ll just show up with them, then saying, Oh, shit, but that’ll ruin everything, and then saying, Well, whatever, is Avani going to get mad and send everybody home?
Then of course there was Henry. I had held off on asking him to the lake house, hoping Avani would forget, because I felt awkward about the two of