Between Us by Cari Simmons Page B

desk. She flipped open the notebook where she made her lists. Making a list always made her feel more relaxed. But she couldn’t think of a list she needed.
    Then inspiration hit her. How My Life Would Be Better If Hannah Wasn’t Here she wrote. She knew it wasn’t nice, but the list was just for her. She hadn’t been able to vent to her friends, but she could vent on paper. She wrote the number one, and her hand began to fly across the page.
    A knock pulled her out of her thoughts. She grinned when she heard two more quick knocks, followed by a pause and two slow ones. It was her and Gus’s secret signal. She rushed over to the window and pulled it open. “Hi.”
    â€œHey,” Gus answered, jamming his hands into the kangaroo pouch of his sweatshirt. “I wanted to see if you were still in the middle of a meltdown.”
    She sighed. “I think I’m completely melted.” It wasn’t really true, but it wasn’t like she could tell him how much she wished Hannah would just go back where she came from.
    Gus shuffled his feet. “Okay, so what was the deal? Olivia doesn’t want to hang out with you because she’s afraid you’ll bring Hannah?”
    â€œNot just Olivia—Tess and Vivi too!” Bailey burst out, since he’d asked. “Don’t tell Hannah.”
    Gus snorted. “Yeah, I was planning to text her as soon as I got home to say everybody hates her.”
    â€œNot hates her,” Bailey said, feeling a little stab of guilt. “She’s just annoying some . . . a lot . . . of the time.”
    â€œShe seems okay to me. She’s great with the dogs, and everybody at the shelter likes her,” Gus answered. “You should hear what she says about you. She’s always going on about how great you are, how nice you are to her. She says it’s been so much easier starting a new school because of you.”
    The little stab of guilt turned into a big one. Bailey tried to ignore it. “Yeah, well it’s costing me all my friends.”
    â€œThere’s still me,” Gus told her.
    But only when you aren’t with Hannah, Bailey thought.
    â€œGuess what? I made myself a list like the ones you do,” Hannah told Bailey two days later in homeroom.
    Bailey was glad Hannah hadn’t mentioned that when they’d walked to school with Olivia that morning. Olivia had a Bailey-style list going too—a list of the ways Hannah was taking over Bailey’s life.
    â€œWhat’s the list for?” Bailey asked, trying to sound interested, trying to be interested. After she’d talked to Gus, she’d thought about how hard Hannah’s life was right now. Bailey felt like her life was falling apart, but it was Hannah’s parents who were getting a divorce, Hannah who was at a new school in a new town.
    â€œYou’ll see in a few minutes,” Hannah answered.
    Maybe Bailey could talk to Hannah about some of the things her friends—and, yes, Bailey herself—found annoying. She’d have to be really careful how she said it. She didn’t want to hurt Hannah’s feelings.
    Ms. Brower, their homeroom teacher, walked into the class. Hannah pulled a list out of her backpack and gave it a little wave in Bailey’s direction before smoothing it out on her desk.
    As soon as Ms. Brower finished calling roll, Hannah raised her hand. “I’d like to know the rules for starting a club at school. Our website didn’t give all the details.”
    Bailey stared at her cousin. Hannah wanted to start a club? How had that happened? Bailey hadn’t said anything about wanting to start one.
    â€œFirst, there’s a form you’d have to fill out for Principal Lopez, and if she approves it, you’d have to show that there are enough students who’d want to join. You’d have to have a minimum of five to start.And you’d need to find a teacher or