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But then Hannah discovered that Avery had stolen an expensive cashmere sweater out of Peyton’s closet, and that had—I thought—ended their friendship.
    What is Avery doing here now? I wondered.
    Avery turned to look at me with narrow, clever eyes, and smiled slyly. Avery didn’t like me. It all started when I wouldn’t do her math homework for her, and her dislike for me had only grown once I started dating Dex. Avery had wanted to go out with him herself.
    “Hi, Miranda. How’s life at that weird geek school?”Avery said.
    “Just fine, thanks,”I said coolly. It was one thing when the kids at my school called it Geek High. It was a joke, an affectionate nickname. It sounded completely different in Avery’s sneering tone.
    Finn and Hannah looked up from the laptop.
    “Hey, M,”Finn said. “How’s it shaking?”
    “It’s shaking just fine. What are you doing here, Finn?”I asked.
    “He’s helping us launch our new Web site. For Match Made,”Hannah explained.
    “Match Made?”I repeated.
    “That’s what we’re calling the new matchmaking service. You know, it’s from that saying ‘A match made in heaven.’”
    “Or a match made in hell,”Finn murmured.
    “Don’t you like it?”Hannah asked, looking at me anxiously.
    “Actually, I really do like it. But who’s the we ? You and Finn?”I asked, hoping, hoping, hoping that wasn’t it. The idea of Finn being involved in a matchmaking service was truly horrific. He would see it as a goal—no, not just a goal, but a personal calling—to set up the most hideous, disastrous dates possible, just to amuse himself.
    “No, not Finn. He’s just helping with the Web site. Avery and I are going to run the business,”Hannah said. “Hi. Are you a friend of Miranda’s?”
    In my shock at finding Avery—not to mention Finn—in our kitchen, I had completely forgotten about Nora. Especially since she’d been so quiet, standing behind me, just inside the kitchen door. Nora looked nervous, her shoulders hunched, one arm wrapped around her torso. It seemed she was trying to take up the smallest amount of space possible.
    “Nora, I’m sorry,”I said, turning to her. “Come on in and meet everyone. Well, you know Finn. This is my stepsister, Hannah, and this is her”—I hesitated for a beat—“friend Avery Tallis. Everyone, this is Nora Lee.”
    “Hi,”Avery said, flashing Nora the same fake smile she’d given me.
    “Nora,”Finn said, lifting a fist like a boxer who’d just won a fight.
    “Hi,”Nora said, raising one hand in a meek wave.
    “Are you hungry? Because I’m starving,”I asked Nora.
    “What a shocker,”Hannah said, rolling her eyes. “When it comes to food, Miranda’s a bottomless pit.”
    Ignoring this disparaging comment, I headed to the pantry and began rifling through it. “We have microwave popcorn, or . . . nope, that’s about all we have. Oh, wait!”I reached into the back of the cupboard to liberate a bag of tortilla chips. “We also have chips and salsa.”
    “Yes,”Finn said, holding his arms out and waving his hands toward him. “Yes to all of it. Make it happen.”
    “Actually, I was asking Nora,”I told him.
    “Nora, you’d like the chips and salsa, and the popcorn. And send Miranda out for hot wings, too,”Finn said. “Because I think you just might be extra hungry today.”
    “Finn!”I said, but Nora just giggled and visibly relaxed. Good old Finn , I thought. Sometimes his constant wisecracking came in handy. To reward him for putting Nora more at ease, I handed over the chips and salsa to him.
    “But don’t even think that I’m getting you wings,”I said.
     

    Nora and I headed to my bedroom with a bowl of freshly popped popcorn. Willow tagged along with us, but Finn stayed with Hannah and Avery to finish work on their Web site.
    “Your stepsister is so gorgeous. And she seems really nice, too,”Nora said, once we were settled on my bed, the bowl of popcorn between us. Willow sat on my