"You know, I really am proud of you, Kimber. You're adjusting so well to all of this. You just fit right in with this group of friends. I'm so happy for you," my dad said, placing some wood in the firepit we got from the community sale. "I know you're stressed about seeing Darlene on Monday, but this will hopefully take your mind off some of that."

"Well, my mind was off of it a second ago before you brought it up," I said.

He gave me an awkward smile. "I'm so sorry, dear."

"It's okay. I'm just going to try and focus on having fun with the new friends I made somehow."

"Stop being so hard on yourself, you're a good kid. You're nice to be around. I'll go grab the marshmallows and the skewers," he said, running back into the house.

One by one, Opal, Brayden, and DJ arrived. We started roasting (and then burning) the marshmallows for our smores. While we sat there, laughing and getting pumped for the Fourth of July Carnival tomorrow, I couldn't help thinking about Rachel. It was so hard not to talk to her. Not to say, "I'll give you one more chance, even though you stabbed me in the back and ruined my life."

I thought about the summers we'd spend talking on the phone for hours or going to the mall all day. She missed our birthday party, and in a month I'd be missing her sweet sixteen party. She'd been talking about it all year and we were both so, so excited for it. I went with her to pick out her dress. We went to the party store to buy decorations. I toured the event locations with her and her family.

Three months ago, we were dancing in the empty ballroom we decided on. We'd been friends since we were six, and now we were both going to be sixteen. Rachel was like my third sister. We knew everything about each other.

She wasn't one for outdoors, but she'd love Opal, Brayden, and DJ. I wished she was here having fun with us. We went to the local fair every year, and I know she'd absolutely love the carnival tomorrow.

"Remember when the mayor almost lit himself on fire when he was setting off the fireworks?" Brayden said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"No, I don't," Opal said.

"Yeah, I think some of us were too little," Brayden said.

"That, or it's a conspiracy theory. Maybe you dreamt it. Or it was aliens," DJ said.

"Shut up, DJ! There's no aliens. Aliens aren't real," Opal said.

"That's what they want you to think!" DJ said.

I tried to catch my breath from all the laughter. When everything went down a month and a half ago, I never thought I'd feel good again. I never thought I'd feel a true sense of happiness ever again, even when my twins were born. But this: being here with these people, this felt good. This felt normal. This felt like it was supposed to be this way.

"You good, Kimi?" Opal asked me.

"Yeah! That was just really funny," I said, my gut hurting from laughing so hard.

"Alien invasions are no laughing matter, and apparently I'm the only one in this group that's prepared for when that happens," DJ said.

"DJ, if aliens actually invade earth someday I'm giving you a thousand dollars," Opal said.

"And what good is cash money gonna do me during an alien invasion?" he asked.

"You tell us. You're apparently the expert here," Brayden said.

When the sky was full of stars and the backyard was filled with fireflies, we started to pack up because the mosquitoes were eating us alive. We put the fire out and I called my sisters for a bit before going to bed. They showed me pictures of rolling green fields and our family members. I showed them the video I secretly recorded of DJ going over his "twelve step plan" for survival when aliens attempt to take over earth. They got a kick out of it.

Then, the next day was the carnival. It opened at noon, the parade was at three, the hot dog eating contest was at five, and the fireworks were at nine. I slept in and made sure to do some gaming on the couch so I could rest up for the big day ahead.

I chose to wear my shorter wig today and put on a red tank top with white shorts. This was my first time wearing a different wig in front of my new friends. If they accepted me being a teen mom with twins, I hoped that they'd accept me being bald, too. I texted everyone ahead of time that my hair would look different today before we met up on the corner by the church so they wouldn't be too surprised.

"Oh, I like it!" Opal said, reaching out and touching my hair when she saw me. "You got it done this morning?"

Okay. I can do this. I can tell them. I looked around at my three friends, who were waiting for my answer.

"Well...uh...this hair and the one that you've seen me with...they're actually wigs. I-I don't have hair," I said. "Sorry to drop so much stuff on you guys. I know you just met me and all—"

"So you don't have hair? Big deal. It doesn't make us think any different of you," Brayden said.

I noticed that DJ was beginning to raise his hand.

"Yes, DJ?" I asked.

"Umm...is it okay to ask why you don't have hair? Because if it's like a private thing, that's cool too," he said.

"I just have alopecia. That's all. I got it before middle school. I don't like to tell people right away or walk around in public without my hair on because people always think I'm, you know...sick."

"Oh...okay," DJ said. "So do you guys want funnel cake or corn dogs first?"

"I want the fried Oreos!" Opal said.

"They've got fried Oreos here?" I said, practically salivating.

"Girl, you just wait," Opal said.

We raced into the carnival. I took in all the sights of the food stands and the games set up. A guy dressed as Uncle Sam was walking around on stilts. Everyone was racing to get their picture with him.

"Ohmygosh, we have to play the balloon dart game! They've got stuffed axolotls! They're my favorite!" I said, pointing to the stand. "I suck at throwing though, so nobody tell my dad that I'm spending the entire fifty bucks he lended me on this one game."

"I mean, as the best pitcher on the baseball team, I'm sure I could win one for you," Brayden said.

"Aww, thanks Bray, that's really sweet," I said.

"Aren't there like, less than a hundred kids in your highschool? I thought you were the only pitcher on the baseball team," Opal said.

"Shhh!" DJ said back to her.

I tried to hide the fact that I was blushing as we walked over to the balloon game stand. I'd only been in one other relationship before, and that was a whole mess, so I wasn't too keen on what was flirting and what was not. But if I was getting an axolotl plush, a win was a win.