The next day, Alyssa passed me a note during English class saying this…
Callie, thanks for the advice. It really helped!
When I turned to her, she looked happier than I’d seen her in a long time.

At lunch, I saw Mallory and Mitch sitting at a table talking to each other. I thought this was weird since Mallory, like me, also hadn’t spoken to Mitch in about a year.
I never told Mallory that I had started hanging out with Mitch again, but only because I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.
But Mallory didn’t think the same way. When I sat at the table, Mitch had already gone back to the table where he usually sits.
Mallory had the first word, “You were with him yesterday?”
“Yeah, that’s where I was at the beginning of the practice. Sorry,” I said.
“Don’t be. I was just…” Mallory trailed off.
“What?” I prompted her to continue.
“You hung out with him last week, too?” she asked.
I took a deep breath, “Yeah, why?”
“You never said anything about it,” she said.
There was that tone again…