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Tony gulps his drink while Emma, Jacob, and Zach stare at one another. I take another bite.
    Bryan and I have been on the same team forever and ever: Us versus All of Them. When he’s like this, though, it doesn’t do me any good at all.

CHAPTER 4
    H alf an hour later, Mom drives me to the sleepover in silence. She isn’t not speaking to me in an angry way; she’s just lost in her own thoughts. I want to ask if she’s made up her mind about Reece—if she’s at least willing to think about it—but I know her well enough to wait this out.
    We pull up in front of Piper and Noah’s house. It’s only a few blocks away, but Mom is paranoid and doesn’t like me walking anywhere after dark. She puts the minivan in park and leaves the engine idling while I reach back and pull my stuff from the seat behind me.
    “All right, he can come,” she announces.
    I don’t pretend this hasn’t been on my mind or start a new argument with her by asking “Who?” or “Where?” or, above all, “Why?” I just say, “Thank you.”
    The darkness and streetlights make her face glowy and shadowy at the same time and her dark brown eyes—which allfive of us kids inherited—look almost black. “I have to tell you, though,” she says, “it disappoints me that with you and Bryan, it’s always everyone else who comes first. The rest of us would love to have time with you too, sometimes.”
    I hate it when she acts like we’re some kind of Brady Bunch. We aren’t two families who came together to form one big, happy family. Instead, when I was five and Bryan was nine, Mom moved us here to where she’d grown up in Washington State, divorced our father, married Tony, and had three children with him in one shot. Bryan and I were half of her original family; now we’re the leftovers.
    Mom pushes a blond curl behind her ear. “And truthfully, I wish you wouldn’t let your brother influence you so much when he’s home. Especially concerning Tony. He’s a good dad and he doesn’t deserve the attitudes.”
    Before I can stop myself, I mutter, “He isn’t our dad.”
    “But he wants to be. He tries . I know you don’t even remember living in New Zealand, but believe me, Nicole, we are a million times better off now than we were with Patrick.”
    She’s right that I have no recollection of our lives before, but she’s wrong about Tony trying so hard. His own kids come first with him. They always have and always will. “I guess I should go,” I say, gesturing toward the house.
    “Say hi to everyone for me.”
    “I will.”
    I carry my purple overnight case and matching sleeping bag across the sidewalk, and let myself in. My family has been close with the Crownes for almost as long as I can remember. Mr. Crowne and Tony are law firm partners, Mrs. Crowne and my mom are good friends, Piper has had a hopeless crush on Bryan for years, and, of course, Noah and I hang out all the time.
    In the front room, rolled-up sleeping bags and backpacks are piled up all over, and I can hear voices, laughter, and music coming from farther back in the house. I set my things down and make my way to the living room. Tonight is pretty much guaranteed to be a typical Piper party where we’ll all sit around talking, and nothing even remotely wild will happen if she has anything to say about it.
    “Hey, everyone!” I call out over the music as I breeze into the room.
    About half the girls from our team are here, lounging on couches, chairs, and the floor. They turn to look up at me, and in that instant, their faces become a blurry background for the stare that my former best friend is aiming my way.
    Alejandra’s here. She’s on that chair right in front of me, even though Piper specifically told me that she wasn’t invited. At least, I thought that’s what she’d said.
    I was sure of it.
    I look away quickly. From the sofa, Piper’s eyes meet mine. “I’m so glad you’re finally here, Coley,” she says, standing to give me a quick