We drove for a bit before Rissa looked at me in the rearview mirror. “So, tell us about you, Trisha. I’ve seen you around, but you never talk to anybody.”

Panic, panic. “I just moved here last year. Haven’t really had a chance to get to know anyone yet. You know how crazy it is settling in at a new school.” All truth.

“Yeah, that can be hard,” Amy said. “Rissa wouldn’t know, but I’ve moved.”

They stared at me in the mirror like they were expecting me to continue, but I didn’t have anything else to say. What else was I supposed to tell her? I didn’t do this often enough to know.

“How many other girls are meeting us to play basketball?”

“Just one,” Amy said. “You’re our fourth for two on two. Thanks for coming to play.”

Rissa took a turn down a familiar street. It wasn’t my street, but it was one nearby. No way one of these rich girls lived this close to me.

After weaving around parked cars for a couple blocks, Rissa swung into the drive of a small tan house with dark brown shutters. It was only a one story. Amy swung her door open, Rissa just popped over hers. I scooted to Amy’s side and slid out. My bike was sitting in the grass by the drive.

Apparently Kevin had been here and left already. Another girl I’d seen in the gym this morning was warming up at the hoop hanging off the garage. Rissa waltzed over toward her.

I couldn’t believe I was here. It was so strange seeing the cool girls right in front of me in their natural habitat instead of at school. And I’d actually been invited. I’d never cared before but, somehow, today it felt different. The urge to fit in welled up and nearly overwhelmed me, scaring me with its sudden grip on my emotions. I’d never fit anywhere before, with any humans, but I’d had an excuse, knowing I wasn’t one of them. Now I wasn’t fitting very well with my own kind either. I needed to choose who my own kind were. And right now, between Starren being so controlling, Wade being a murderer, and the Council ordering Wade’s hits, the humans seemed like a better fit for me. Which meant I actually needed to start trying, to stop pretending that I was going to be part of the fae someday.

I still had to work with Starren and Wade to get that chance at a normal life, but I was also going to do real human stuff, like play basketball. “Can I use your phone? Mine got smashed yesterday.”

“Sure.” Amy pulled a new iPhone out of her pocket. So not fair. “How did you smash your phone?”

I’m sure I looked like an idiot, but no immediate answer came to mind. “Ah, I fell on it?”

“Okay, well glad you didn’t get hurt. Just sit mine with my gym bag when you’re done and come on over.” She walked toward the other girls and tossed her bag on the ground out of ball range.

I dialed the Inza’s number. No answer. Shoot, it was Wednesday. Dan was still at work and Nina had a meeting at church. And shoot again. I’d totally forgotten I was grounded. But this could work. The beep for the answering machine sounded. “Nina, it’s Trisha. Just calling to tell you I went to play basketball with some friends. I know technically I’m grounded, but you really wanted me to make friends and I’m trying. I should be home before you are, but if not, don’t worry. Bye.” I hit the end button. Hopefully Nina and Dan were just so glad I was out with friends that they wouldn’t say anything.

After sitting the phone carefully on the bag, I headed toward the basketball hoop.

“Trisha, this is Addison,” Amy said, nodding toward an African-American girl in a red and blue school colors t-shirt.

“Hey.” She was smiling at me and it actually looked real. Girls my age did not smile at me. What was going on? Maybe I should be legitly worried.

“Hey,” I answered, giving her my best smile back.

“Amy,” a woman called from the porch. I looked that way. She looked a lot like Amy, just without the black/blond hair. “Are you girls coming in to eat?”

“Any of you hungry?” Amy asked us. I waited until Addison said yes, then I nodded. “Coming,” Amy called back to her mom.

I followed the girls in. They were talking about some new store at the mall I’d never heard of. When I’d first moved in, Nina had tried to take me to the mall for weeks. She finally gave up about two months into my stay. But who wanted to go shopping with their mom, foster or otherwise? Maybe I’d go if these girls asked me. Maybe.

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The entranceway of the house was filled with pictures. So many family pictures. Nina had started a collection of us, but it was only a year old, not seventeen or eighteen like this one. Amy, her mom, a guy I guessed to be her dad, and a kinda cute guy a couple years older than us filled the entire hallway.

“Amy’s older brother, Steven. Hot, isn’t he,” Addison whispered to me.

“Oh yeah,” I answered, even though compared to Wade he wasn’t that great. Wade, with his dark blond hair and those green eyes… No. Not going there. But I could do this, talk about guys and stuff. I could be one of them.

We piled into the kitchen. Amy introduced me to her mom, Francine. She had a vegetable tray, Oreos and milk sitting out on the counter. We all went straight for the food.

I looked around at the other girls laughing and talking as they dunked their Oreos. So this was what life was supposed to be like. This was what Nina was always trying to do for me with the snacks and telling me to invite kids over from school. Maybe I should have let her do it for me. Maybe I’d have my own group like this if I had. But then, maybe this was going to be my group now.

Snacks all consumed, we headed back outside.

“So, teams,” Rissa said once we were back at the court. “I say Amy and Trisha, since Amy is the best one here and no offense Trish, but we don’t know how you play.”

“No offense taken,” I answered. They were about to find out just how bad I was. I’d always been clumsy, but it had gotten worse over the last year. So much for gracefulness being in the fae DNA.

“Great. Addison, that leaves you and me.”

“Let’s get it on,” Addison said. She laughed and swiped at the ball Amy had scooped up from the ground.

“Okay then, you against me, Trisha,” Rissa said. “Rock, paper, scissors for which team gets the ball first.”

The words weren’t even out of her mouth before she started, leaving me scrambling to catch up. I picked scissors, my default choice. It beat Rissa’s paper. She shrugged. “I had you pegged as a rock girl.” She tossed me the ball.

Amy patted me on the back. “Now that’s what I’m talking about. You and I are going to get along just fine. Take it out behind the tape.”

I looked to the ground at the court that had been taped on the cement and headed out of bounds. Addison was instantly all over Amy, and Rissa came straight for me. Now how was I supposed to get the ball to Amy? After a moment, Amy broke free of Addison and shot across the homemade court. I threw the ball hard. It bounced off the cement straight into her hands and she drove toward the basket for a layup.

“Oh yeah, look at that,” Amy crowed.

Rissa turned to me and looked me over, then grabbed the ball off the ground and tossed it to Addison, who went behind the line. I moved toward Rissa, staying just far enough away to make her feel like I wasn’t a threat, but close enough to stop her from getting any easy points. Amy stuck to Addison like glue.

It took a moment, but Addison found an opening and tossed the ball toward Rissa. I jumped forward, hit the ball before it got to her hands, knocking it toward Amy who barely had time to turn and catch it, going in for two more points.

“Why aren’t you on the basketball team?” Addison asked.

“I don’t play much,” I said, not sure how to answer.

When had I become so coordinated? Something had changed since the last time I’d tried a sport, more than two years ago, before Dan and Nina. Some fae puberty thing?

“Well, you should,” Amy said.

We went back to playing. We played hard for twenty minutes or so, Amy and I creaming the other two until Rissa and I both went up for a rebound at the same time. She slammed into me, knocking me back against the corner of the garage and to the ground. My arm screamed in pain as it brushed across the cement, peeling off layers of skin.

“Trisha, are you okay?” She moved in close, looking me over. “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to, seriously.”

Amy dropped to her knees beside me. “What hurts?”

I hid my arm behind my back. Heal, heal quick. It was going to heal either way; it just needed to do it quickly before the girls saw it happening. I could lose everything I’d caught sight of today. “Nothing too bad, I’m fine.”

“Let me see.”

“Nah, it’s okay, let’s just get back to the game.”

Amy looked at me quizzically. “Okay, if you say so.” She turned and went after the ball, which had flown out into the yard with my not so graceful landing. And this was why I didn’t have friends. Stupid, stupid. I needed to be more careful.

We went back to playing, but with far less intensity. I played carefully and it wasn’t long before Addison and Rissa were catching up. How long did I need to play before they didn’t know that I was leaving because of the fall? I went another fifteen minutes before calling them to a halt.

“I better head home guys,” I said after Rissa made a crazy three point shot.

“Really?” Addison actually sounded disappointed.

Probably because they wouldn’t be able to play two on two anymore, but still, it sent the warm fuzzies through me.

“No one answered when I called, I left a message, but you all know how that goes.”

“Sure do,” Rissa said. “Who can we get a hold of to take her bike home?” she asked the other two.

“Actually, I don’t live too far from here. I can ride.”

“Oh yeah? What street do you live on?” Amy asked.

That wasn’t really something I wanted them all to know, but how did I get out of answering? “Truit.”

“Nice. Close enough you can come play again. You should think about joining the team at school, you played great today.”

“Thanks,” I answered then headed for my bike, trying to get away before they asked anything else. I wiped at my nose with my shoulder. I wasn’t going to cry. Nope. Wasn’t happening. I’d only spent one afternoon with them. I’d be fine without them. It wasn’t worth someone finding out about me. The Council wouldn’t go for that and I’d end up changing my permanent address to Faerie.

“Sure you’re okay after that fall?” Amy called after me. “I don’t want you getting half-way back and something starts to hurt. Especially since you don’t have a phone.”

“I’m fine, thanks. And tell your mom thanks for the snack, it was great.” I hopped on my bike and took off, not caring which direction, just needing to get away. I pedaled hard for a few blocks, then slowed to catch the street names. Not far from home at all, maybe fifteen minutes. I’d drag it out as long as I could. Maybe by then I’d be able to get these emotions under control. And hopefully the tears would be dry.