"You're not actually gonna make Autumn do all the work, right?" 

Bailey looked at me, concerned and uncertain as she, Farah, and I walked to our next class together. I shrugged at her, acting more casual than I felt.

"I'm not making her do anything," I said. "It's her choice. I'll take the freebie essay and spend my time on more fun stuff." 

"I'd be more concerned she makes a mess of the essay on her own. I'd at least ask to see it the day before it's due," Farah said. "To make sure." 

"Yeah," I replied non-committally. 

In all honesty, I didn't expect Autumn to mess up the essay. Despite the stereotypes that existed about pretty, popular girls, she definitely wasn't dumb. In fact, I was willing to bet she was smarter than all her friends, and smarter than me. 

Maybe I'd check up on her, if I had the guts to do it. But the way I felt right now, that chance was a very slim one. I'd probably end up chickening out, and convince myself that was okay since Autumn didn't need help anyway. 

In hindsight, I wished I'd somehow manoeuvred Farah into working with her, since Farah could handle it much better. She'd insist on doing the work, too, no matter how intimidating her partner was.

"Hey, girl, wait up!" 

I looked over my shoulder at the sound of Jasmine's voice and halted for a moment, allowing her to catch up to me. Farah and Bailey had blatantly ignored Jasmine and didn't pause, so I ended up walking next to a smiling Jasmine while Farah and Bailey went on ahead. 

Jasmine hooked her arm into mine in a very sudden, friendly gesture I hadn't expected. "We're having a party after the football game this week, too. It's at my place — oh, and a little smaller than last time, but you should come!" 

"Yeah, sounds like fun," I agreed before really thinking about it. 

Then, I did think, and realised I had to think of an excuse for my parents again for why I'd be staying out so late. This time, I shouldn't use Bailey's gaming nights as an excuse again. It was too risky because I doubted I'd get so lucky that things didn't end up with my mom via Bailey's mom twice. 

Jasmine's smile widened. "Awesome!" 

We arrived at our next classroom and she let go of my arm. The teacher hadn't arrived yet, so we had to wait in the hallway for a bit, which we did. We stood a few feet away from the other students, and suddenly, we were also in the weirdest group composition ever. 

Jasmine standing with me, Bailey, and Farah. The contrast between Jasmine's dolled up, feminine miniskirt and high heels, and Farah's shapeless t-shirt and oversized jeans was especially striking. Bailey's Batman t-shirt suddenly looked childish next to Jasmine

I saw Jasmine glancing at it, too, before turning to me. "You can catch a ride with me after the game."

I felt Bailey and Farah's raised brows as I smiled at Jasmine and thanked her. Jasmine appeared to feel it to, as her gaze flickered to Farah and Bailey next. 

"You two can come too if you want," she offered. "Celia can pass you the address." 

Bailey bit her lip, hesitating as she usually did. "Uh, thanks," she replied shyly. "I'll check if I can." 

"I already know I can't, no thanks," Farah replied flatly, crossing her arms.

Jasmine gave her a disdainful up and down that seemed to be a quiet 'whatever, I don't care anyway' in response to Farah's cold tone. Then, she smiled at me again.

"See you later, Celia." 

Flicking her long, brown hair over her shoulder, she walked away.

Immediately after she was outside of hearing range, I frowned at Bailey and especially Farah. 

"What the heck?" I asked. "Why are you so rude when she invites you to come over for a party?" 

"Excuse you," Farah immediately retorted, frowning back at me. "Did sitting with her once and dating Jem give you amnesia? She's been rude to us plenty of times."

"Yeah, the looks like we're less than her," Bailey quietly added. "She did it just now, didn't you notice?" 

"Maybe she kinda ignored us before, but she hasn't been mean," I defended Jasmine. 

That was more Autumn's area. Though, to be fair, Autumn's mean streak seemed to mostly be targeting me lately. 

"Not to your face, no," Farah said sharply. "And she's friends with all kinds of people who've never been nice to us. And what, now you're saying you want to be all buddy-buddy with them because they give you attention?" 

"I remember you sighing about prom, and Autumn and her friends who always want to draw attention to themselves just a few days ago," Bailey added, making it feel even more like they were ganging up on me. 

I crossed my arms. "Well, excuse me for wanting to go to a party. You could also see a party as a chance to get to know some new people," I lashed out. "And Spencer will be there too. If you want to date him, maybe you should stop sitting on your ass like a princess, shooting him pining looks and actually go talk to him, too." 

Next to being the most hesitant and careful person on the planet, Bailey also possessed the best hurt puppy look. She used it on me now, and I immediately felt guilty. 

"Really, Celia?" Farah asked, before pressing her lips together disapprovingly. 

"Sorry," I murmured to the clearly upset Bailey. "I just think it wouldn't hurt you to just talk to him, you know? I can tell you like him." 

"Yeah, you're right," Bailey muttered back. "It's okay."

It didn't feel like things were okay, however. When our Physics teacher arrived and let us into the classroom, Bailey sat next to Farah again, while we usually had an unwritten rule that we switched around who sat alone throughout the day when we had classes together. They were definitely judging me for what I'd said. 

At first, I mostly felt guilty for snapping at Bailey and worried that I was somehow ruining our friendship by hanging out with Jasmine, Jem, and their friends. It was true that they had ignored our presence at best, and made bullying or snide remarks at worst.

But why wouldn't that be able to change? Jem wanted to date me, and Jasmine had been nice to me lately. We couldn't all stay stuck in the past, and I was happy to make some new friends in school. I was even more happy to date Jem, which I'd never, in my wildest dreams, had imagine would actually happen. 

Bailey and Farah were getting in the way, putting me in a difficult position with their caution and unwillingness to just be teenagers like everyone else and go to parties, get out there. They were holding me back for no reason. 

The longer I thought about it, the more pissed I became. Bailey and Farah didn't want to be friendly with Jasmine, fair enough. They wanted to be rigid, that was their choice. But they weren't going to stop me from making new friends or entering new circles. They hated change, but they were just going have to accept it was going to happen. Had already happened.