Fitting In

In 3rd grade, Irene was told that she must go to China with her family because of her father's work. But she was also told that they would be back in America 3 years later and that they would come back home every winter. But Irene still doesn't want to go. She had friends she cared about and they didn't want her to go either. Eventually, Irene went to China. But after a semester at her new school, she found herself becoming friends with a couple of her classmates, especially her deskmate, Rowan Feng. Soon enough, it was winter. She was super excited to see her old friends after almost a year, but she found that her place in the friend group was took from her.
This is a story that starts when Irene is just a 3rd grader, how she grew up, how she and Rowan became not just friends, and, how she re-fitted into the friend group.