Page 78 of I Don't Need Your Protection

I sense Raven narrowing her eyes and Sophie and Carly being a bit suspicious, but I don’t look at them. I want to give Clarissa a chance. She seems pretty genuine and nice to me.

“So, Luna, Jemma, and I are having a sleepover this Saturday,” she tells me. “And we’d love for you to come. Don’t worry, my parents will be home, so it’s not like we’ll have boys over or whatever. Just us girls having a good time.”

“Really? Me?”

She nods, giving me a kind smile. “Warner’s really into you and we want to get to know you better, too.”

I’m about to say something, but Raven cuts in. “Don’t you want to get with Warner?”

She laughs, waving her hand. “That ship sailed long ago, Raven. He and I decided we’re better off as friends. He’s like a brother to me.”

Raven narrows her eyes like she doesn’t believe her.

I stab my elbow into her rib. “Sure, I’d love to come to the sleepover,” I tell Clarissa.

Clarissa claps. “Yay!” Luna and Jemma smile as well. “I’ll text you the details later this week. This will be so much fun!” She bends forward and gives me a quick hug. “Talk to you later.” She and the others give me more smiles before walking to the popular table.

I stare after them, smiling as well. I’ve been to sleepovers many times, but those were with my friends. I’ve never been invited to a popular girl’s sleepover before.

My smile drops when I take in the expressions on my friends’ faces. Sophie and Carly look concerned while Raven looks ticked off.

I sigh. “Come on, guys. I think she’s trying to be nice.”

Raven frowns. “What game is she playing?”

“Raven, please keep an open mind,” I say. “She seemed pretty genuine to me. Don’t you think, guys?” I direct the last part to Sophie and Carly.

Sophie shrugs. “I guess she did. But Clarissa never invites us low people to her sleepovers.”

“Well, she did once,” Carly corrects. “Amara was a scholarship kid freshman year and now she’s part of Clarissa’s crew.”

“Really?” I ask.

Carly shrugs. “Most people either forgot that little detail or don’t care. It doesn’t matter what she used to be. Now she’s popular.”

“Did becoming part of Clarissa’s crew change Amara?” I ask. “I mean, is she still the same person she was?”

“Maybe she changed a little. She didn’t have friends freshman year and now she’s popular,” Sophie says. “I don’t know. It’s not like she talks to us. She was a ‘loser’ for like two seconds before Clarissa took her under her wing.”

Carly pokes me in the shoulder. “Maybe that will be you one day.” She sighs. “And then you’ll abandon us.”

“Never. Besides, I don’t really want to be popular, but you can’t have too many friends, right?”

Raven scowls. “Who needs friends like Clarissa?”

“Maybe Addie’s right,” Carly says. “Maybe we should drop whatever grudges we have against Clarissa and let Addie draw her own conclusions.”

Sophie shrugs. “Most people don’t really change, but some do. Maybe Clarissa is one of those people.”

Raven lifts a brow.

“You never know,” Sophie says. “Besides, it’s at Clarissa’s house. Her parents will be around. What can go wrong?”

Raven thinks about it for a bit. “Okay, I’m done being the bad cop. I want you to have a good time, Addie. But text us if you need help.”

“I will.”

As they talk about other things, I smile. I’m excited for the sleepover. Even though Raven, Carly, and Sophie are my best friends and nothing will change that, I wouldn’t mind having more. And getting close to Clarissa will help me get closer to Warner. And that’s what I really want.