Eva and Sophie hardly ever came over junior year, but they were there the night I started getting text messages on Garrett's old phone. We were still best friends, just not the kind on teen TV shows that gathered at each others' houses and did homework for hours after school. Eva had a boyfriend, Sophie had a job, and I had strict parents, so it wasn't worth jumping through scheduling hoops just to flip through pages of old yearbooks on a Monday night, which is what we usually did. We had an excuse that particular Monday night, though. We were supposed to be working on a history project, creating an Instagram page for a famous civil rights activist. After we finished that in about fifteen minutes, Sophie and Eva headed straight for my bookshelves.

"Penny, puberty hit you like a freight train," Sophie said, pointing to a black and white photo of me with straight, shoulder length brown hair, and braces. Most people thought my signature curls were an expression of my Judaism, but really, I got up at 5 AM every morning to take a shower, dry my hair, and spend thirty minutes wrestling with it under a curling iron.

"Oh, it's natural," I would say, and they would believe me, because I celebrated Chanukah and my nose was also larger than average.

"Didn't it though? I don't know what I was doing with my hair. Or with my makeup. Or with my life."

"Did you even wear makeup? This is eighth grade."

"I'm not sure. I probably wore lip gloss." Lipgloss was my other wardrobe staple, next to my elaborate hairdos. All the other girls at school wasted their time on winged eyeliner, but I knew what the real secret was. "Sophie, you still don't wear makeup." I didn't say that as an insult, it was just an observation. She grinned at me, and said,

"If it ain't broke."

"Didn't you say eighth grade was the year you had the crush on Jacob?" Eva said.

"Yeah, because that's the year we were in the same Spanish class. If I close my eyes, I can still see where he was sitting. I don't think he ever noticed me, aside from the whole 'I wrote your initials on my forearm' debacle."

"What is this story?" Sophie asked. I couldn't believe I had never told her, but I actually didn't meet Sophie until sophomore year, which was much later than the rest of my friends. She moved from Seattle, Washington, but from her very first day at the Academy, we knew she belonged. Still, it was moments like those when I would remember she had a lot to catch up on. We really needed to take her through a crash course, a power point presentation outlining all the perpetuated inside jokes and major life events in our friend group.

"You know the one from Africa? The one with the British accent? But who also plays basketball?"

"Oh, you mean the robot you invented?"

"I swear, this is a real person." I grabbed the yearbook off of Sophie's lap, and flipped to a listing of all the freshman that year, stabbing my manicured finger at the page when I found his name. "He's a senior now. Jacob... Fuentes?" I had forgotten his last name.

"Any relation to Cal?" Eva asked curiously, leaning over to catch a glimpse. "Wow, he really was cute. For a freshman, I mean."

"High school boys are only cute to high school girls," Sophie observed. "It must have something to do with the fluorescent lighting in classrooms."

"I doubt it," I said, answering Eva's question. "They don't look alike."

"Maybe one of them is adopted, or both of them," Sophie suggested, always liking to keep an open mind.

"How common is that last name?"

"Hold up, I'm googling it." Eva pulled out her blackberry, because she still had a blackberry, and was always waist deep in my love life.

"I'm glad this isn't a Friday night."

"Why?"

"Because then we would be googling, 'How common is the last name Fuentes' on a Friday night."

"I got it!" Eva had way more excitement than what the situation called for. "It's a Spanish surname, meaning 'mountains'."

"That's interesting," Sophie said, at the same time I said,

"That's unhelpful."

"Ooh, Vic Fuentes and Mike Fuentes from Pierce the Veil. Is there any relation there?" Sophie opened her mouth to rant, but then thought better of it, as there were truly no words to describe Eva's musical ignorance.

"No, none at all. That's a really strange coincidence. Maybe that's why they decided to form a band in the first place? They were just like, 'hey, we've got the same last name, and nothing better to do.'"

"That's kind of what their music sounds like," Eva said. She was ultra-conservative, the ideal Catholic schoolgirl that the Academy was trying to attract, explaining her gospel taste. She was the lead singer in the Academy's worship band, which served as her only after school activity besides youth group, and Garrett.

"I'm not getting anything on how popular it is."

"Maybe it's because your phone is from last decade," I said, but I was joking. Then Sophie came back with,

"Maybe it's because you dropped your phone in a lake!"

"I really doubt that's why. Hey, speaking of that trip, whatever happened with you and Garrett?"

"Yeah, what did happen with you and Garrett?" Sophie said, since she was nosy, and she hadn't heard any of the story yet.

"Basically, we decided we both need to put our relationship first. I mean, not necessarily before you guys, but-"

"Mmhmm, yeah, right," Sophie nodded sarcastically. She was especially sensitive to that topic, being so invested with group relations and all. The vein in her and Jose's head would pop if Garrett and Eva ever ditched us for their own plans. Admittedly I was a little sensitive to that also. People used to tell me I wouldn't understand until I had a boyfriend. It wasn't until I dated Jose that I realized how great my friends were, and how much I would rather their low pressure company. When Jose and I attended parties together, I felt like I had to be glued to his side, and I hated that feeling. I wanted to go around, talk to everyone, tell jokes and socialize like I normally did. I never told him that was the reason. I gave him little else other than, "we should just be friends," which I felt guilty about, sometimes. But I vowed the next time I dated, it would have to be a very special person, who I preferred hanging out with above my friends. And my friends were all very special people, so that was a tall order.

"But definitely before our friendships with the opposite sex," Eva finished, ignoring Sophie's interruption. "I mean, he admitted he needs to stop confiding in London. But I could do better with that to, you know? I don't need to go to Ben for advice. I don't need to tell him everything about Garrett and I's relationship, like I had been doing. It's just not appropriate. And it leads to a lot of temptation." Sophie wrinkled her forehead, and I knew it was because Eva sounded like she was giving a sermon.

"What if Garrett were friends with a lesbian?" Eva didn't know Sophie was gay, leading to a lot of intense, political conversations where Sophie dipped her toe into test the overly religious waters. I didn't like the tension it caused between the two, and the way it made me feel like the divider, but I understood why Sophie was hesitant to say anything. The Academy was a private school, and they reserved the right to expel you if you were, in the words of the student handbook, "promoting a homosexual lifestyle." In a contest between Eva's friends and Eva's moral compass, we didn't know who would win. Eva would tell Garrett, at the very least, and Garrett was a good secret keeper, for about the first thirty minutes. After that, he good be broken with very little interrogation. It was surprising, because otherwise, he was completely loyal, and a good friend. He went around telling everyone Jose was bisexual last year, before we informed him it wasn't really socially correct to out someone.

"Garrett can be friends with as many lebians as he wants. I don't think we know any, though. At least not at the Academy." Sophie and I exchanged a knowing glance. "And he's still going to be friends with y'all, too. Just maybe not in the same way. Some things have to change in our relationship, if we're in it for the long haul." Eva didn't usually give us the gritty details of her love life, I usually got them from Garrett. She was very closed lipped, so I appreciated her temporary openness.

"Are you in it for the long haul?" Sophie pressed.

"I mean, we're juniors. We have to start thinking about things, like the future." I groaned.

"Can we not?"

"Are you going to go to the same college?"

"Sophie, come on. There's no way Eva could know that."

"I mean, we've talked about it. I wouldn't make a decision based solely on him. But if everything works out, with scholarships and all... that would be great."

My dad lightly tapped on the door. I didn't understand why he bothered with the courtesy, considering he didn't even wait for a response before barging in a second later.

"How are you girls doing?"

"The same as we were doing when you came in twenty minutes ago." I didn't mean to be disrespectful. Maybe I did, but both of my parents were extremely difficult people to live with, and my friends made fun of my dad for being so stiffly formal. He also introduced himself to Jose compulsively. Although the two had met in multiple situations, he sitll extended his hand in greeting and said, "Hi, Abraham Shapiro," every time. That was the cost of having a Jewish lawyer as a father. Other than that, there weren't many costs, since he was a partner in the firm.

"Have I met you?" He squinted at Sophie.

"Yes, Daddy- I mean, Dad, this is Sophie." I was also raised to call my parents Mommy and Daddy, which was increasingly embarrassing as I realized no one else did that. It sounded childish, and a little creepy. "She came over here for dinner and you took us to Five Guys, and then she said she was a vegetarian?" Sophie laughed out loud at the memory, but my Dad just stood there in the doorway, shifting the position of his bifocals on his nose.

"I don't remember that, but I'll take your word for it." For someone who at one point passed the bar exam, his memory was remarkably fallible. "Okay, well, nice to meet you, Sophie," as if had already forgotten the conversation we had five seconds ago. I guess once you've defended death row inmates, nothing else really seems important to you, anymore. "Let me know if you need anything."

"We won't," I assured him. He took a solid minute to close the door and completely leave the room. "Don't say anything, Sophie." I knew Eva wouldn't; she was too nice.

"I didn't!"

"You were going to."

"I was going to," she agreed. "I'm sorry, you know I love your dad, Penny. He's hysterical."

"Being told your dad is hysterical is like being told you look sweet in a dress," I said. "It's a nice thought, but it's never what a teenage girl wants to hear."

"Who's texting you?" Eva asked, clearly uninterested in our new conversation topic.

"What?"

"Your new phone just lit up."

"Oh. Well, it can't be any of my friends because I haven't given them my new number yet."

"That and the fact that all of your friends are here right now," Sophie smirked, and I couldn't argue.

"I don't know who it is, but it's someone asking for Jose's number. I feel like I should respond because I have it? Discuss," I instructed them.

"Do it!" Sophie encouraged, while Eva said warily,

"I would be careful. You don't know who it is."

"Sure we do. It's one of Garrett's friends."

"They're obviously not very close, if he hasn't given them his new number. He got his new phone for his birthday, in July."

"Okay, I'm texting back. I'm saying, 'sorry, who is this?'" We waited in eager silence, until the phone vibrated again, only a few seconds later.

"This person needs to get a life," Sophie commented.

"If anyone needs to get a life, I think it's us."

"Well, don't keep us in suspense! What did they say?"

"Oh!" I exclaimed, when I read the contents of the text message. "It's Cal!"

"Oh my gosh," Eva said. "I can't believe this."

"Why?" Sophie asked.

"We were just talking about him the other day," I quickly finished. "And I was just talking to him today, actually. Which is weird, because we've probably gone to school together for three years, and I've hardly ever spoken to him."

"Why is he asking Garrett for Jose's number?"

"He and Garrett are friends," I insisted. "I've seen them talk before. They've talked about hanging out." Eva regarded me skeptically. "I'll text him back, 'I'm not Garrett, haha this is Penny, but I can still give you Jose's number!' And then I'll give him Jose's number.'" I was typing while I was talking, so at the end of my sentence, I pressed send.

"And Jose kind of has that alternate friend group," Sophie pointed out. "He lets all those potheads come to his house and smoke, which is incredibly stupid. He's such a pushover. Penny, tell your ex-boyfriend that he's a pushover. Maybe he'll listen to you, since he's still in love with you."

"Sophie!" Eva chastised.

"What? Was I not supposed to say that? Everyone knows that. I mean, he offered to pay for Penny's phone. And she almost took him up on it. I'm glad she didn't, because that would've been majorly taking advantage of him. Haven't you already played with his emotions enough?" Sometimes I thought Sophie talked just to hear her own voice.

"I can't tell from everything you just said if your on my side or his." She shrugged,

"I like to play devil's advocate. But we knew this already. Anyway, Jose being in love with you is old news. Cal texting you is new news. What are you going to say?"

"Well, Garrett told me he has a girlfriend. Oh, well I guess you guys would know her. He's dating Heather."

"Your old best friend?"

"Yeah, from the year I came to the Academy." Eva joined in 7th grade, the next year, and I already said that Sophie didn't come until we were sophomores.

"What does Cal dating Heather have to do with you texting him right now?"

"It doesn't, really. Except I don't want him to think I'm flirting with him.

"So you don't want him to know the truth?" Sophie teased.

"I don't! Okay? I don't know what Eva told you-"

"Eva didn't tell me anything, so you're digging a deeper hole for yourself."

"We talk in chemistry class sometimes. It's no big deal." I blushed, then giggled, which were two of my fairly standard reactions. "Anyway, I think I'm going to be super nice, because like I said, I like him as a person, but I'll try to cut the conversation short on purpose. I'm sure he doesn't want to be talking to be anyway." My phone vibrated again. Eva and Sophie looked at each other, and Sophie said,

"Aren't you going to get that?"

"Well, yeah, but I didn't want to, like, lounge for it, or anything."

"Don't play games with us, Penny. Just tell us what he said."

"He just said thanks." My phone buzzed again. I smiled, "And now he wants to know what's up. And if I'm about to go to sleep."

"Oh, girl. I don't know much about boys," Sophie said, which took on a whole other meaning for me than it did for Eva, "but he likes you."

"He has a girlfriend! I have to respect that. I'm telling him I'm going to sleep."

"Good for you," Eva encouraged me. Sophie said,

"So, you're lying again. Girl, you're full of bullshit tonight." I shushed her,

"My dad's probably standing right outside the door, highlighting the latest issue of Law Today and hanging onto our every word."

"Law Today? Is that a thing? I don't think that's a thing."

"If it is a thing, my dad subscribes to it. And highlights it."

"If he's hitting on you when he has a girlfriend, then I say, fair game."

"You just admitted you don't know anything about boys, so I can't take your advice. It's a moot point, anyway. I just send the text."

"What did you say?"

"I just told you! I told him sorry, but I was going to sleep, and that I would see him tomorrow."

"Oh," she smiled.

"What?"

"It's just, the see you tomorrow thing. I mean, your relationship is built on lies because you're not going to sleep for at least another three hours. But, that was kind of sweet."

"How is that sweet? It's just a fact. I'm going to see him tomorrow. I didn't even say I was happy about seeing him tomorrow or that I wanted to."

"But you said it before. You've seen him every day for the past three years. But it's different now. What do you think, Eva? You're being awfully quiet."

"I'm just thinking," Eva said. "I feel bad, because I encouraged this the other day. But then I was on the other side of it, with Garrett and London. He didn't cheat on me, but just the feeling that he might...? I would never do that to someone, and I would never wish that on someone else. Penny can make her decisions, though."

"And you'll support her?"

"Of course I'll support her. She's my best friend. And I'd support you, too. Through anything. I know I seem judgemental sometimes, because I want the best for both of you. But I'm sorry. I just- I don't mean to be, that's how I am. That's how I was raised. But I'm trying to grow out of that. It's a process."

"Well in that case..." Sophie started, "I have something to tell you." I put down my phone, not waiting to see Cal's response, because the conversation going on in front of me was more important.