EVERYONE

Kristen had everything. Looks, grades, athletics, money. And she was never mean. So she hated to do what she knew she had to.

"Leesh?" she murmured.

"Yeah?"

"I can't help with your wedding." She expected her friend's face to fall.

"May I ask why?" Alicia snapped.

"I'm going on tour with the Soccer Sisters," she explained hotly. "It doesn't look like you want me, anyway."

"You can drop out; I don't care." Alicia rolled her eyes. "I have the rest of the GLUs to help me. And it doesn't look like you even want to be one. Right, Massie?"

She looked up from her manicure and bit her lip. "If she has to go, she has to go. We should respect that." Normally, her word was law, but today, Alicia was in a nasty mood, and seemed ready to fight to the death.

"That's bullshit. Who came up with the rule that if you miss a Friday night sleepover, you lose 30 Gossip Points? And if you miss three, you lose Pretty Commitee status?!"

"I was young then," she replied.

"We're still young," Claire said softly. "And look at us: we might be in different positions, Massie going out with Derrick, Alicia getting married, Dylan being-" She clamped her mouth shut as Dylan shot her a murderous look warning her not to spill the secret. "Kristen going away on international tour, and me losing my virginity with Cam." She hoped that would distract them from the unifinished Dylan sentence. "But we insist on tearing apart our friendship. That's what destroyed us in middle school, and we never put the pieces back together, not really."

Dylan nodded. "She's right. If Kristen needs to leave, let her. It's nawt like she'll never come back."

"You lost your virginity?" Massie screeched, rushing to engulf her friend in a hug. "Oh, honey, I'm-"

"Nawt my mother." Then she allowed herself to smile. "But thank you." She looked around at the Pretty Commitee with loving eyes. "Please let's stay together. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Done." Massie held up hands in a heart position.

"Done." Alicia made an attempt to smile and added her heart.

"Done." Dylan joined her heart with theirs.

"Done." Kristen hugged Claire and made a heart.

"And done." Claire grinned widely and used a trick she'd learned at summer camp. With her fingers, she made five little entwined stars.