take in the fact that her friends had left her out.
âWell, youâre here now!â Olivia patted the chair nextto her. âSit down!â
Before Bailey could, her phone rang. She checked the screen. âMy mom,â she told her friends.
âWhere are you?â her mother demanded as soon as Bailey answered. âI just called your grandmotherâs and you arenât there.â
âIâm at Gianniâs with Olivia and Tess and Vivi,â Bailey explained.
âWell, come home. You know youâre not supposed to go anywhere but your grandparentsâ without permission,â her mother told her.
âI have to go,â Bailey announced. âHave fun,â she forced herself to add. Tears stung her eyes as she headed to the door. She blinked them away. There was nothing to cry about. Her friends were still her friends.
Even though they were avoiding her.
âSorry, Mom,â Bailey said as soon as she stepped into the house. âI just really wanted to see Olivia, and I thought I could catch her on her way out of karate.â
âNext time, ask first,â her mother said.
âI will.â
Bailey thought about trying something else on her list of how to cheer up after a hard day, but her day had been so hard, she was sure nothing would help. Thenshe heard the yips, yaps, and woofs that meant Gus was nearby with his pack of hellhounds.
âIs it okay if I go meet up with Gus?â Bailey asked. When it looked like her mother was about to say no, Bailey quickly added, âWeâll be right in the neighborhood.â
âOkay,â her mother said. âBe back for dinner.â
âI will, probably with Gus,â Bailey promised, then hurried back outside. She really needed to be with a friend right now. She didnât care if Gus spent the whole time talking about monster movies and telling fart jokes.
She quickly tracked him down. He was standing in front of the Averysâ house. They were the ones who had Hans and Franz. George was probably trying to go pick up the wiener dogs, but it seemed like Bruce was having some kind of sit-down strike. When the massive Saint Bernard decided he didnât want to move, everybody had to wait.
âHey!â she called over the dogsâ enthusiastic greetings.
âYou can walk one dog. One,â Gus told her. He handed her Gingerâs leash. The reddish dog was the most obedient one in the pack. Then he stared at Bailey. âWhatâs wrong with you? You look like youâre about to puke.â
It was like the question smashed a wall inside her and all these words came spilling out. âNone of my friends want to hang out with me even Oh because wherever I go Hannah goes and they all think sheâs so annoying because she copies me all the time and itâs like sheâs tofu and I donât know what to do because Hannahâs my cousin and I know itâs a hard time for her but now sheâs making me as crazy as everyone else andââ
Gus held out his hand like a crossing guard stopping traffic. âI thought you just ate a bad hot dog or something. You canât talk about thisââ
âI have to talk about it and I know you hate stupid girly drama but all my other friends are involved in the stupid girly drama which isnât stupid by the way itâs my life and so you have to let me talk about it becauseââ
âHannah, Baileyâs coming with us!â Gus yelled.
What? Hannah?
âGreat!â Hannah called back. She was crossing the Averysâ front lawn with Hans and Franz. The volume of the dogsâ barking went up, and Ginger flopped down onto her back as soon as Hannah joined them. âYou want belly scratchies, huh?â Hannah asked.
She dropped to her knees on the sidewalk. Hans and Franz immediately started competing to see who could lick her face the most times, while Bruce drippeddrool on the top of her
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