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face.
    â€œNo, you dummy, one at a time. Ice cream, then nothing but carrots all day. Then more ice cream and a ton more carrots. And from all the carrots? Her skin actually turned orange. ”
    â€œIt literally did,” Abi said, laughing. “She looked like she had a spray-on tan, except she picked the wrong shade.”
    â€œIt’s not funny,” Jules said. But she was giggling.
    â€œGirls, to me your friend sounds like she had some eating issues,” Val commented. How much had she been hearing, I wondered, as Val turned off the oven and stacked some plates on the table for us. “I certainly hope you didn’t eat like that this summer.”
    â€œOh, don’t worry about us ,” Makayla said, laughing. “We ate everything! And seconds! And thirds!”
    â€œOmigod, that chocolate cake they had at camp.” Jules gasped dramatically. “I’m going to starve without it, I swear.”
    Val smiled. “Yes, I heard about that cake from Abi, so I thought I’d make chocolate cupcakes for you girls fordessert. After pizza.” She put one arm around Abi’s shoulder and one arm around mine. “Oh, I missed my girls so much,” she cried.
    â€œWe missed you too,” Makayla said. Then she threw her arms around Val and squeezed the three of us, which made me feel like a limp piece of lettuce inside an overstuffed sandwich.
    â™¥Â Â â™¥Â Â â™¥
    When we’d finished our pizza, Abi announced, “All right, dahlings, time for fun and games!”
    Looking back at everything that happened, this probably should have been a giant neon warning sign for me. Seventh-grade girls don’t do “fun and games” unless there’s a trophy involved. At least, we didn’t; all the girls I knew were ultra-competitive.
    But I was just so glad to be back with my friends. They weren’t even fighting anymore. We were having a sleepover at Abi’s, the way we always did—pizza for supper, then one of Val’s amazing desserts. And it was so nice how she let us bring the cupcakes upstairs to Abi’s formerly pink bedroom, which was now black and white and full of so many clashing animal-skin patterns it made me kind of woozy.
    The five of us sat cross-legged on the floor, trying not to get chocolate frosting on Abi’s new white shag rug.
    â€œOkay, so here’s the game,” Abi announced. “It’s called Truth or Dare.”
    â€œTruth or Dare?” Marley repeated, licking some frosting off her pointer finger.
    â€œWe played it in camp this summer,” Makayla explained. “It’s the most fun ever. The way it works is—”
    â€œYou don’t need to tell me,” Marley interrupted. “I do it with my cousins. And I’m not sure.”
    â€œAbout what?”
    â€œIf it’s such a good idea, frankly.”
    Makayla shrugged. “We played it with counselors. As a bonding thing.”
    â€œIt’s really fun, Marley,” Jules said. “Don’t worry.”
    â€œI’m not worried ,” Marley said. “I just don’t know if I want to play .”
    Abi shrugged. “Fine. Then don’t.”
    A secret conversation started then between Abi’s eyes and Makayla’s eyes. Jules’s eyes might have been in on it too; I couldn’t tell for sure.
    â€œHey, guys,” I said, trying to sound casual. “Can you explain the rules to me? I’ve never played Truth or Dare.”
    (This wasn’t a lie; I’d never played it before. I knew the rules, though; pretending not to was just a way to change the subject.)
    â€œOkay, Lia,” Abi said, happy that she could explain something. “So we sit in a circle, right? And let’s say I start. I turn to the first person on my right, who in this case is the beauteous Mak—”
    Makayla did a diva smile and wave.
    â€œâ€”and I ask her, truth or