"Bye, Vi! Don't forget--we're going to the Cat Cafe later!"

"Bye, Jess!"

Violet ran all the way to school and pushed open the door to her homeroom. Jade glanced up from chatting with Reese, Lila, and Carley. "Vi!" she called. "Come sit with us!"

Violet's heart skipped a beat. When had Jade started using that nickname?

She sat in the empty seat between Reese and Jade. 

"You're late," Jade laughed. "You're never late."

Violet checked her watch. "I'm late? It's still homeroom!" Right?

Reese rolled her eyes. "Jade's kidding. You're not late."

"Yeah, it's just you usually get here before anyone else." Jade nudged her playfully with her shoulder and Violet glanced away for a moment to hide her blush. It had to be Jade. Of all people, I had to have a crush on Jade.

"Soooo..." Lila drew out the syllable. Violet braced herself for whatever teasing comment about someone having a crush on someone else came next.

"Aidan has a crush on Jade!" Lila exclaimed. Violet didn't completely register what she'd said at first--she'd started training herself to ignore any comments that included the words like, crush, or date. She just leaned down to grab a book when what Lila had said set in.

"Wait, what?!" she demanded. "Aidan?!"

"Yep!" Lila said. "I mean, he told me not to tell anyone, but--"

Carley groaned. "Lil, when someone says 'don't tell anyone' and you immediately tell someone, what do you think they mean?

Lila shrugged. "So, Jade? What do you think?"

Jade made a face. "I think ew."

Lila pouted. "Aw, but you two would be so cute together!"

"No, we wouldn't!" Jade protested.

"You totally would," Reese argued.

"Carley?" Jade appealed

"Nope," Carley said, pushing her chair away from the table to emphasize her point. "I'm staying out of this."

"Vi?" Jade asked pleadingly. Violet snorted a laugh. 

"Absolutely not," she said. "I agree, ew."

Lila scowled at her. "You're just saying that because you like Jade better than you like us."

Violet turned bright red and pretended to drop her pencil under the table so that she could dive after it.

She came up to Jade saying, "I can't wait for summer vacation. I'm going to Cape Cod."

Reese grinned. "Me neither. I'm going to the Grand Canyon!"

"You're going to boil to death," Carley warned her. "But I can't wait for summer vacation either--I'm going to my cousin's wedding! Lila, what're your plans for summer?"

Lila stuck her nose in the air. "Not talking to you guys right now."

"Aw, c'mon," Jade protested. "Just because we don't agree with you about Aidan, you won't talk to us?"

Lila's annoyed facade broke and her face split into a grin. "Fine, my family's going to Disneyland."

"I'm just staying home," Violet admitted, feeling a little left out.

"Oh, no you're not!" Jade said. "I'm going to ask if you can stay with us at Cape Cod, and even if you can't, I'll text you every day! And call you every day!"

Violet shook her head. "I don't have a phone, remember?"

Jade shrugged. "Then I will send letters every day. You cannot stop me. I am the unstoppable friend demon!" She collapsed into giggles and gave Violet a quick side hug.

Violet laughed with her, trying to cover up her blush. 

It was going to be a long day.