𝐋𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤

Prologue

Talia

Ava stands tall above us, and even though Nicole is easily taller than her, she is still intimidating.

"I'M not scared of grade seven." She boasts.

She appears brave at first glance, but when you look closer, you can see that her lower lip is quivering ever so slightly. I pretend not to notice. Instead, I merely joke about it.

"Sure...." I reply slyly, as if I don't believe her, which I don't.

"Oh come on, Talia!" Ava laughs along with everyone else and playfully punches me on the arm.

Ouch. That kind of hurt. I suppose I kind of deserved it. I should know better by now than to make fun at Ava's expense.

"I'm actually pretty nervous." Nicole admits, always the most honest out of the four of us. "Think of all the scary things that are going to happen!"

"Well, it's not like we're actually going to middle school." I sigh. "We'll still be in the same building, just in a different grade. But-" I smile at Nicole. "I'm still nervous too."

Honestly? I kind of do wish we would go to another school. I have two reasons: One, my younger brother, Austin, goes to this school. And he can be very annoying. And two, this school seems kind of....childish now. I don't know. Going to middle school would make me sound so mature. Wouldn't it?

Nicole probably agrees with me. We usually have very similar opinions. But I'm not so sure about Ava and Lillian.

Speaking of Lillian, she doesn't seem to be joining in on our conversation. I reckon she's the most nervous of all of us. Eventually she'll admit it.

"I'm terrified!" She suddenly bawls.

I called it! 

Ava rolls her eyes. "Don't be such a baby."

Nicole and I glance at each other. We were just talking yesterday about how mean Ava is sometimes. This was just the proof.

Sometimes it's fun to have all these secrets with Nicole. She and I have always been closer than close, with our inside jokes and all.

But sometimes it just feels like Ava and Lillian are jealous of that. I'd probably be jealous of us too if I were them, so I don't blame them.

But still, there are only so many dirty looks a girl can take.

I start playing with my hair as I wait for Lillian's and Ava's argument to be over. Nicole follows suite, trying and failing to weave her short blonde hair into a suitable braid. I giggle at her attempts and she makes a face at me. That's the nice thing about having a best friend. You can be as ridiculous as you like. 

Soon enough, the argument is over, but they're still glaring a bit at each other. I decide that I'd rather not spend time with them when they're like THIS. I stand up and stretch, looking pointedly at Nicole.

"I'm going to head home." I announce. "I'm hungry."

"Yeah, I should get home too."

Nicole gets to her feet beside me. Good, she got the hint. Nicole starts walking away. I head in the opposite direction. Once I'm out of Ava's and Lillian's sight, I speed up and change direction.

"Hi."

Nicole smiles at me and I grin back.

"I had to get away from them." I sigh. "I don't know about you, but when they argue, I feel left out for some weird reason."

She laughs. "You feel left out of the argument?"

"Yes."

She laughs once again and motions for me to follow her into her house. I step into the home and sigh in relief when I feel the air conditioner.

"Wow, I forgot how nice it is to not be in the sweltering heat."

"You think?"

I walk past the large mirror in the hall and frown at my reflection. My normally wavy brown hair is now very, very frizzy. Probably from the humidity outside. I try to pat it down, but it just springs back up.

"Now who's having trouble with her hair?"

Nicole smirks and I huff in frustration.

"Humph."

But before I can come up with a more snappy reply, our phones ping at the same time. I raise my eyebrows at Nicole and she shrugs. Neither of us seem to know who it could be from, so we snatch our phones from our pockets to check. I gasp. It's an email from the school! That could only mean one thing...

"The class lists are posted!" Nicole cries gleefully.

"We HAVE to go see them."

"But my parents aren't home."

"I guess we'll have to walk."

We both groan. Nicole's house is far from the school. Too far, in my opinion.

"That'll take us thirty minutes!"

"Not if we run."

It's the best idea we have, so we rush out the door, briefly saying goodbye to Nicole's older brother, Bernie. We run as fast as we can, and when we're too tired to do that, we speed walk.

Nothing can stop us from going to see those lists. Nothing except...

"Ugh, I don't think I can even walk anymore, never mind running."

Nicole collapses onto the grass and shields her face from the sun with her hand. She looks completely and utterly exhausted. I am too, but do you see ME collapsing? I don't think so.

"Come on!" I urge her. "Get up! Don't you want to see what class you're in? Don't you want to see what teacher you have? Don't you want to see if we'll be together?"

"Of course I do." Nicole scowls at me. "But I'm too tired."

"Being tired never stopped the great ones!"

"WHAT great ones?"

She's got me there. I give up and sink to my knees.

"Fine, just a five minute break."

But five minutes ends up being half an hour.

"Thanks a lot, Nicole." I groan. "I'll never know what class I'm in."

"Don't be so dramatic."

She swats at me, then sighs.

"Fine, let's go."

I almost leap with joy. But I probably celebrated too early, because I end up practically dragging Nicole to the school, with no help from her whatsoever. She definitely owes me.

When we finally make it, we're the only ones there. Nicole straightens up, letting go of my arm. We break into a run.

I'm the faster one, so I get there first. I scan the many papers for my name. Oh! I spot Nicole's name. She's in Mr. Ester's class. I've seen Mr. Ester in the hallways. He seemed nice.

Nicole sees her name as well and claps excitedly.

I continue to look for my name on this list, because how could I not be put with Nicole? We're always together. Always.

Nicole sees Lillian's name a second before I do. She's in Mr. Ester's class too. Nicole smiles, but I'm sure she'd rather it was me or Ava. She adjusts her glasses, eyebrows furrowed.

Oh, wait. Ava's in that class too. Now I'm SURE that I'm in this class.
And then I see it. My name! I sigh in relief. Despite what I kept telling myself, I was worried for a moment that I might be in a different class.

I hug Nicole happily.

"We're in the same class!" I cry.

But she looks confused and upset. Why does she look like that? Does she not want me in her class?

"What's the matter?" I demand, getting annoyed.

She doesn't speak. Instead, she raises her index finger and points at my name. Then she trails her finger up to my teacher's name. Except it's not Mr. Ester.