"You said that we were best friends," I boom. "We were, until you started ignoring me because you were grieving over your breakup," Bree spats back. "So what if I'm grieving," I shout. "You're supposed to help me through it! That's what best friends do!" "I'm starting to wonder if we really are best friends," Bree says. I am stunned at what she just said, and she looks stunned, too. "Well, if we aren't best friends, then I guess I don't need this stupid friendship necklace anymore," I say, ripping off the necklace that Bree gave me and throwing it on the ground. She does the same with her friendship necklace, "Fine!"

  We both give a scream of frustration and storm off. I stomp to my room and sit on my bed with my head in my hands. I lost Chase, and now Bree. What if I lose someone else next?

...

  "Ha ha," Adam laughs. "Victory! I won again!" "Oh, don't act so pompous," Leo says, annoyed. "I let you win." Now I know that's a lie. Leo always loses arm wrestling contests. Now, I would say that it's unfair because Adam is the strongest man in the world, but Leo has lost an arm wrestling contest to Chase before. Chase. I mean, I love Chase to death, but that poor boy couldn't lift a weight to save his life, which means Leo must be really weak. "So, Lyrica," Leo says. "Bree told me that you and Chase broke up. Are you okay?" "I'm fine," I lie, my voice cracking. "You sure," Adam asks. "Because you sure don't sound fine."

  "I'm said I'm fine, okay," I snap. "What's with the hostility," Leo asks. "What do you care," I shoot back. "You don't have to be rude," says Adam. I give a scream of frustration and start running to my room, but I bump into Auntie Tasha. "Sweetie, are you okay," she asks. "Not now, Tasha," I say, running away. I feel bad about being mean to her. I don't know why I'm so hostile all of a sudden. I keep running, but I bump into Uncle Donny. "Lyrica," he begins. I don't give him any time to finish his sentence before I run away. I bump into Daddy. I try to run away, but he grabs me by the shoulders. "Lyrica," he says, his voice full of worry. "What's wrong?" All that comes out of my mouth is "Chase!" I escape from his grasp, run to my room, and flop down onto my bed, burying my face in my pillow.

  "Suddenly, I hear his voice, "Lyrica?" His voice isn't angry. It's calm and concerned. However, I am not in the mood to be nice right now. "What do you want, Chase," I snap, my face still in my pillow. "I heard you crying," he says. "I wanted to see if you were okay." "Why do you care," I sob. He sighs, "Just because we aren't a couple anymore doesn't mean that we can't be friends." I have no response to this. I don't want to keep fighting with Chase or completely ignore him, but I don't want to be just his friend either. I want to be his girlfriend again. But I just can't swallow my pride. I don't know why. I just can't. I take my face out of my pillow. "Okay," I say. "Friends. Let's try it." He walks over to my bed and climbs in with me. He wraps his arms around me and I rest my head on his chest. "This means nothing," I say, but I know I'm lying. He hugs me tighter, and I can hear the pain in his voice when he says, "I know."