Chapter 1
“Mart! Hey Mart! Look at this!” Jess ran up to Martina in the hallway, phone in hand and giggling. She showed her a couple of pictures from Instagram, depicting a girl with black, curly hair and light brown skin posing in their local park. But it was the outfit that caught Martina’s eye. She was wearing a matching crop top and skirt with vibrant golds, reds and greens standing out in checkered patterns.
“Oh my gosh, what is she wearing? It’s so…”
“Weird!” Jess burst into more giggles as she finished Martina’s sentence. “Like, what was going through her mind to make her think that this was a good idea? Oh I’m going to put on the ugliest outfit ever and post a picture on my public Instagram account with the cringiest pose ever!” she mimicked, putting on a high-pitched voice. Martina laughed.
“Give her a break, Jess, she probably doesn’t know any better.”
“No she’s our age, Mart! Our age and posing like that!” she scoffed. The girl had her hands under her chin and was smiling sweetly at the camera. Martina took Jess’ phone to get a closer look at the girl. “You know her? I’ve never seen her before.”
“She’s one of the new girls. Nicki showed me her profile when I was at her house the other day.”
“Of course she did, Nicki knows everyone in middle school.”
“Everyone in the high school too! Nicki’s already famous there, I swear!”
“Nicki and Madison. We’re meeting them on the field at lunch today, right?”
“Yup, tell Bel.” The bell rang and Jess took her phone back and waved Martina goodbye. “See you then!”
__
“Jess did you show the others what we found yesterday?” Nicki said, nudging Jess as they sat down on one of the picnic benches.
“Ugh don’t tell me it’s that Instagram thing!” Bel groaned. “It’s kind of old now, honestly.”
“Oh come on Bel! It’s funny!” Jess said.
“Not when you hear about it two hundred times in the space of two periods! Move on, seriously!”
“Oh Jess have you been torturing poor Bel? She’s already had to go through double maths without you piling on!” Martina joked, putting an arm around Bel.
“Sorry but I can’t get over her!” Jess giggled. “Hey Nic, what’s her name again? Does she have a TikTok?”
“Doubt it! Anyone that pathetic probably hasn’t even heard of it. Her name’s Skyler Achebe. She joined last week I think.”
“Can she dance?” Madison asked, unwrapping her sandwiches.
“Does it matter?” Nicki unzipped her lunch bag and looked at her wrapped tuna and sweetcorn sandwiches in disgust. “Hey, Mads what do you have?”
“Peanut butter I think. Why?”
“Let’s swap. Please?”
“But I love peanut butter!”
“So do I! Gimme!”
Madison sighed and handed over her sandwiches, reluctantly accepting Nicki’s in return. “I think I’m allergic to tuna anyway,” she grumbled under her breath. Jess laughed scornfully.
“You were allergic to cabbage the week before, Mads, you have no allergies!”
“Well it’s not my fault Nicki’s au pair makes her horrible sandwiches!”
“Not my fault either!” Nicki protested, mouth full of peanut butter. “Veronica’s so stupid—she never listens to anything I say. You saw it at our sleepover, Jess, right?”
“Oh yeah! Those mango smoothies are the easiest thing in the world to make, even Mart couldn’t mess them up!”
“Which sleepover was this?” Madison turned to Nicki.
“Hey, I’m good at cooking!”
“Sure, sure,” Jess scoffed, patting her head condescendingly. Martina swatted her hand away, rolling her eyes and laughing.
“Oh guys! That reminds me! Guess who’s birthday’s coming up?” Jess grinned and did jazz hands. “Meaning my party is very very soon and I need my besties to help me decide what I’m doing. It cannot be as boring as it was last year.”
“It was only boring last year because you weren’t friends with me then,” Nicki smirked, earning herself a poke in the shoulder from Jess.
“Bowling?”
“Mart, that’s exactly what we did last year!” Jess groaned. “Come on, I want fresh, new ideas! Bel? Nicki? Help?”
“I actually like bowling?” Bel said. “It’s fun!”
“No it’s boring!” Nicki pretended to yawn and flopped down on the table. “B-O-R-I-N-G! I’d literally rather do anything else.”
“Well, Nicki, do you have any other ideas?” Mart asked, annoyed.
“Actually, I do. Let’s have a proper party. A big one, with the whole year!”
“Even that Skyler girl?” Madison giggled. Nicki rolled her eyes fondly.
“Shut up Mads, that joke’s old now. Anyway, like I was saying, we could have it at that big hall by the park, the Prewett?”
“Oh my gosh, great idea! I love it!” Jess squealed, throwing her arms around Nicki. “You always come up with the best things, Nic!”
“I know. I’m pretty awesome,” Nicki smiled smugly at Martina. “But, hey! Don’t look so blue, Mart. Maybe the party could have a bowling theme?” The others laughed, including Martina, but the cheer didn’t quite reach her eyes.
