I don't get out of bed on Saturday until Janet calls me. It's just past two in the afternoon and I was planning on doing nothing until one of my parents came to yell at me but I guess not.

"Hello?" I mutter, lazily.

"Alisa! We're meeting at Ethan's at four thirty, are you ready yet?!" She half yells into the receiver. "Are you sleeping? Alisa!"

I yawn. "Calm down, I live across the street from him."

She sighs loudly. "Oh come on, you know you're going to procrastinate and be late! That's what always happens to you, even to school."

"Janet, are you talking about yourself?" I ask, a little confused.

She pauses and I hear her clear her throat. "I should go get ready now."

I chuckle. "See you later."

We hang up and I chill in my bed for another half hour before going to take a shower and dressing up in a pair of blue denim shorts and a black crop top. A quick look at the weather forecast tells me that my outfit's appropriate so I pile my hair into a ponytail and head on downstairs.

My mom's doing some yoga in front of the TV but she abandons it when she sees me.

"Ooh, you look nice! Who are you dressing up for?" She winks at me and follows along into the kitchen, taking a seat at the table while I get some milk out the fridge.

"Nobody, but thanks." I make myself a bowl of fruity pebbles and then sit beside her. "How's the yoga?"

"Same old. Tedious but I'm trying to show my students new moves." Then her eyes light up. "You and your friends should come to one of my classes one day!" She nudges my arm and I try my hardest not to pull a face.

"I think we're good." I finish my cereal and lean back in my chair.

She pouts. "Why not? Alex said he'd come!"

My brother has a very warped sense of humour. He likes to tease people – especially our very gullible mother – and gets a kick out of seeing them figure out he's only messing with them. He practically used to terrorise me before he went off to college two years ago and declared suddenly that I was his favourite person on Earth. We're actually pretty close now and he keeps the teasing to a minimum unless I 'had it coming'.

"Sure he did, mom." I stand up and put my bowl in the dishwasher and then check the time. It's coming up to four now and I sigh, knowing I'll have to meet the others soon. "My friends and I are going roller skating."

My mom squints at me. "You're terrible at roller skating, Alisa."

I shrug. "It'll be fun."

"But – okay, just don't come to me upset if your friends laughed at you all day." She stands up and heads back to her yoga.

Janet texts me saying that she and Ella are outside so I get my bag, say bye to my mom and leave. Sure enough, the two of them are having a heated discussion right on the path. I'm a little wary of approaching them because I don't want to be dragged into an argument but then Janet spots me.

"Hey Alisa!" she says and waves. The two of high five and I give Ella a hug.

"What's up?" I ask them and take a step back.

"Well," Ella folds her arms. "We were just debating which house was Ethan's."

I raise my eyebrow. "Is that it?"

Janet throws her hands up. "I think it's that one over there." She points down the street to a house owned by the resident cat lady.

"It's obviously next door to Alisa, that's what she always said. They're neighbours, dummy!" Ella snaps.

I roll my eyes as they begin arguing again. "Not that it's worth the argument, but you're both wrong. Ethan's house is that one." I point right across the road and lo and behold, Ethan's coming out of the door. Janet goes ooh beside me before yelling his name and waving at him. The two of them head on over and I follow, a little less reluctant than I pretend to be.

"Hey girls, you're right on time." He says, holding onto a lollipop. When I frown at it, he winks at me and stretches upwards. "Anthony's inside, Janet."

Her eyes light up and she makes a move toward his house but then freezes. "That's great! Is David there too? Shall we get going? Are we using your car?"

Ethan takes his lollipop out of his mouth. "Dave's meeting us there."

Ella groans. "Whatever, I'm going to use your bathroom – does your house have the same floor plan as Alisa's?"

"Yeah, just the opposite floor plan." He says. "Bathroom's across from the kitchen."

She nods and heads inside. Janet looks between us and the door and then decides it's in her best interest to go seek out Anthony, leaving me alone with Ethan.

"Hey," He says.

"What's up?"

He grins. "So I'm guessing you're taking this us being friends' thing seriously?"

I shrug. "Unless you give me a reason to not be your friend, I don't see why I shouldn't take it seriously."

His grin doesn't falter. "Come on, 'Leese, let's get you a lollipop."

I take a step away from him and eye him up. "That sounds sexual."

"Oh relax, you're overthinking everything." He puts his hands on my shoulders and pushes me inside, humming as he does so.

About fifteen minutes later, we're ready to go. Since he drove here, Anthony takes his car and Janet along with him and Ella offers to go along with them, despite the fact they're already acting like a couple. She seems oblivious to them being into each other even after I suggest that she leave the two of them and come with us instead.

I sit in Ethan's car and start fiddling with the radio. He eyes me up dangerously, especially when I settle on a Lady Gaga song.

"Really, Alisa?"

"Hey, watch the road, you're driving." I say jokingly and lean back in my seat. I see him roll his eyes in the rear-view mirror but grin. "Don't you like Lady Gaga?"

"My girlfriend hates her."

"Well, I didn't ask if your girlfriend liked her, I asked if you did." I say.

He shrugs. "Same difference."

I raise my eyebrow but don't say anything to him. Instead, I sing along with the radio, loudly and out of pitch. He ends up changing the station when I get particularly loud which is pretty funny to me. I'm not tone deaf but I just wanted to see how he'd react.

About twenty minutes later, we reach the roller rink and meet up with David. He and Ethan act like they've been friends nonstop for years, launching into conversation effortlessly. Anthony joins them while I fall back and walk in step with Janet and Ella.

"So?" I nudge Janet whose cheeks are delightfully pink. She grins at me and they get even pinker. "How was the car ride?"

"Uneventful." She says and pats her cheeks until they get back to their normal colour. "We talked about music and video games and guess what?! He told me his favourite pastry is apple pie!"

I gasp. "You love apple pie!"

She squeals. "I know, right?!"

Ella makes a face. "They spoke about donuts for like half an hour." She says.

"I see nothing wrong with that," I say with a half-smile. She rolls her eyes and mutters something under her breath but I don't ask.

We pick out our roller skates and pretty soon we're on the rink, going in circles. Anthony asks Janet if she wants to skate with him and the two of them speed off together, leaving me and Ella behind, going at a slow pace that suits me.

"Are they dating or something?" She asks me.

I shake my head. "No, but it's obvious they like each other." I say. The statement's weighted and she senses it.

"Well, it wasn't that obvious." She folds her arms.

"I mean, he's pretty much all she's been talking about since Wednesday." I chuckle. "And not to mention, she almost ran inside to see him today, remember?"

"I just thought she was being ADD as usual!"

"Well, she's smitten. And I don't think she has ADD."

Ella rolls her eyes and skates faster. "Oh whatever, Alisa."

Pretty soon she gets ahead of me and I attempt to catch up with her. "Ella – shoot, Ella wait!"

She doesn't stop and I end up falling on my butt. Luckily for me, Ethan and David find me struggling to stand up soon enough.

"Are you okay, Alisa?" David asks and helps me up. Ethan stands back with a smile on his face. "Where's Ella?"

I shrug and then seek her out. "She got annoyed with me and skated off." I point to her just up ahead of us, skating with her arms still folded.

"Well dang, we'll stay with you then." He replies.

"You will? Thanks, I'm horrible at this." I pick up a little momentum and start skating. When I turn back to see the two of them, they're conferring something quietly. And then they look up at me with equally devilish smiles.

"Horrible at skating, did you say?" David asks, catching up with me. Ethan loiters a little.

I gulp. "Err... yeah? Why?"

They share a look and before I know it, they both grab one of my arms, loop theirs through and start skating along at top speed.

"Woah! What are you doing?!" I half yell.

"We're teaching you how to skate!" Ethan sings. He has this manic smile on his face and I would faint if it weren't for the fact I was sure they'd drop me if I didn't hold on.

We round a corner and I actually feel myself loosen up when we pass Ella. Instead of being merely grabbed, I link arms with the two of them and we actually start skating together, faster than what I'm used to but fun nonetheless. It all gets a bit much for me when they start trying to skate in a synchronised pattern because I fall down again.

This time it's Ethan that helps me up. He offers me a hand and I stare at it before deciding to grab onto it.

"You're kinda useless at this, you know that?" He says, smiling. I roll my eyes and push his shoulder but neither he nor his smile budge.

Later, we go to this little streets a few blocks away from the roller rink. Ella's in a weird mood but it doesn't dampen our spirits too much.

"Okay, but if the zombie apocalypse did start now –" Everyone groans as David comes up with one of his new scenarios. Well, Ethan and I groan. Janet and Anthony are way too into each other right now and Ella's focused on her phone. "Hear me out, come on!"

Ethan sits back and puts his hands behind his head. "Whatever, go on."

David clears his throat. "If the zombie apocalypse did start, what would your weapon of choice be?"

"Easy," I say and twirl some of my hair around my finger. "A blowtorch."

Ethan laughs. "That's a terrible weapon."

I gasp. "No it's not! I'll set all the zombies on fire and –"

"What happens when the blowtorch runs outta gas?" He asks, smiling.

Ooh. I keep quiet and he chuckles then flips my ponytail. I shy away from him and pout. "Oh yeah? What would you use then?"

"A baseball bat." He says simply. "I could carry it everywhere on my back, it's quieter than a gun or a blowtorch and I have a really good swing. It's fool proof."

I mimic him and fold my arms. He laughs but then he and David launch into conversation about trying out for the baseball team and I'm left out a little. So I turn to Ella who is absorbed and about six months deep into Jessica's Instagram feed. I tap her shoulder and she jumps a little.

"What, Alisa?!" She half snaps. I put my hands up defensively.

"Sorry, I just wanted to see what you were doing."

"Oh." Her shoulders relax as our food comes. I ordered a burger and fries but she only got a milkshake so I offer her some of my fries. "Thanks."

I shrug. "No big deal. What are you up to?"

"I'm snooping. Gathering evidence against Jessica."

"Okay, Nancy Drew?" She rolls her eyes at me but she's smiling. "What did she do?"

"She stole my boyfriend." She says simply.

I pause before deciding to take a bite out of my burger. Ella stares at me and seems to wait for a response so I take my time to chew, wondering what I'm going to say to her when I'm done.

"You know, Josh wasn't... I think you should let her have him." I say, trying to sound reasonable and seem like I'm giving the best advice. Truthfully, I suck at giving advice.

Apparently, what I said goes down the wrong way because her facial expression turns sour.

"What do you mean 'let her have him?' Do you think I'm being dumb for pursuing the love of my life?"

I bite my bottom lip. "I totally did not say that."

"You didn't not say it." She says and then sighs loudly. "You know what, today has been a total bust. I'm gonna call a cab and leave."

"Oh... okay, you forgot your milkshake – bye Ella!" I say as she stands up from the table and leaves. When I turn back to the table, everyone's staring at me.

"What happened?" David is the first to ask.

I tug on the ends of my ponytail. "I, er... Ella's going through a pretty rough breakup right now. She wasn't really feeling social interaction."

"Oh." He says, looking a little lost. "Well... okay. Anthony, Jay have you done Mrs Stark's calc assignment yet? I'm totally lost."

The three of them launch into conversation and I close my eyes, taking a deep breath and trying to seem less embarrassed. A part of me wants to run after Ella right now but I know that's a terrible idea – she's likely to rip my head off. Still, I've gotta check to see if she gets home safely later or else I'll feel bad.

When I open my eyes again, Ethan's staring at me.

"What?" I ask him.

He shrugs. "Nothing."

"Then why are you staring at me?"

Ethan grins. "Can I have Ella's milkshake?"