Chapter 1

"Losing" Friends

I rushed into any old seat in my first grade classroom.

My best friend, Cara Dober, had moved away to San Fransisco in kindergarten, so I had no real friends yet. There weren't that many girls in my kindergarten class one year back, and the boys there didn't like me. And the girls, well, they were too cool to be friends with me, so I didn't even try. There were much more girls in the other kindergarten class of 2022, but I hardly ever had time to socialize with them, so friendship was unlikely. But this year was different. There was a whole bunch of girls in Ms. Garner's first grade class this year. Even more than there was boys! Oh gosh, how much I hoped I would make a friend this year.

I was sitting across from a wavy black-haired girl. She was wearing a navy denim skirt, a white tee, and black and white sneakers. I read the name tag on her desk: Emily Bennett. The Emily Bennett girl noticed I was staring at her, so she said, "Hi! Nice to meet you! My name's Emily." Pretending I didn't already know her name, I said, "Hello, Emily. That's such a pretty name. I'm Hannah." I gestured to my name tag, reading, Hannah Baxter. "The name Hannah is also quite beautiful," Emily said. "Thanks," I said, tucking my long red locks behind my ears. Emily clucked her tongue, smiling sweetly. Then, not making eye contact but smiling nevertheless, she whispered, "Come to this address at four o'clock after school. Don't be late." Emily then took out a slip of paper from one of the pockets in her navy denim skirt and handed it to me.

It bore the words: 98 Livingston Street, Evanston, Chicago. "Amazing handwriting!" I shouted when I had read the slip of paper carefully, sounding out each word. Emily grinned shyly. "Thanks," she said. "Boy, do I wish I could write like that," I said, propping my left cheek up with my fist. I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote my address. 9 slm lan evnstn sicgo. With one glance at my paper, Emily sunk into her seat and started blinking profusely. "At least you wrote the number right," she said softly. I sighed. "No, I wrote a six, not a nine," I said. "It just looks like I wrote it right because you're on the opposite side of me." "Oh," Emily said through pursed lips.

There was an awkward silence, surprisingly broken by me. I wasn't really the silence-breaker type. "Well, it's fine," I said, shifting uncomfortably in my seat. "Let's see if you can try and read it." Emily nodded, lips still pursed. She pulled the paper towards her, tilted her head, and read,  "Six- Salem - Lane - Evanston- Chicago," extremely slowly. "That's my address," I said, forcing a grin. "I'd spell out Illinois, our state, but...I can't even spell that," Emily said, sticking out her big front teeth in a sly grin so they rather looked more rabbit than human. 

Suddenly, an odd buzzing noise filled the air. The more Emily listened, the more she realized the peculiar sound was coming from me! "Oops," I said, quickly silencing a watch around my left wrist. "What's that?" Emily asked curiously. "An Apple Watch," I said 

casually. "Whoa!" Emily breathed. "My parents never let me have one of those!" "Don't get excited, it's just for my parents to track me," I said, disappointed I couldn't impress Emily anymore. "They worry a lot." "When'd you get it?" Emily asked breathlessly, still as awed as she was before I told her there wasn't much use of my particular watch. "Last year on my birthday," I said, feeling flattered of the attention. "Wow," Emily cooed. "Who just called you?" "My mom," I said, pretending to feel embarrassed when I secretly had hoped she'd call me. "I - er - gotta go to the bathroom, one sec." I walked up to Ms. Garner's teacher desk. "Oh hello, Hannah," she said, smiling sweetly. "Hi," I said, smiling back. "What can I help you with? We're starting Morning Meeting in a few minutes." "I - er - have to go the - uh - bathroom," I said, eyes 

rounder than usual. "Of course you can go to the bathroom," Ms. Garner said. So far, I loved Ms. Garner. "Thanks a bunch!" I squealed, grinning so big I was in danger of damaging my jaw.

I sprinted out of the classroom at breakneck speed and into the girls' bathroom. First, I scanned the bathroom to see if anyone was in there. No one, unless you counted a squashed cricket over by the sinks. Next, I unsilenced my Apple Watch, so I could be able to hear my mom when I called her. Finally, I pressed my Contacts button on my watch and scrolled through my contacts until I came across the word Mom. I pushed it, and my Apple Watch gave me the option if I wanted to text Mom, or call her. I considered this for a moment, and then pressed the Call button on my Apple Watch. Ring ring! "Hi, honey," my mom said. "What's up?" I sighed with relief. What if she 

hadn't picked up?

"I left my lunch at home," I confessed. "I know," Mom said. "I noticed it on the kitchen counter right after you left. Sorry I forgot to reminder you to bring it." "No, that's my fault," I said, pushing my blue glasses up higher on my nose. "I tried to call you to tell you you forgot it, but you didn't pick up so I assumed you were busy." "That's okay, Mom," I said. "I'll tell the office that's you're stopping by to drop it off." "Thanks, sweetie," Mom said. "Sorry, but now I really have to get back to class or Ms. Garner's gonna start to worry," I said. "But I promise I'll give the office a heads-up. It's on the way." Mom laughed. "Okay, I'll leave you alone. Bye, honey." "See you, Mom." And she hung up. Feeling slightly lighter on my feet, I walked to the office with a new spring in my step. I passed a bunch 

of classrooms, and with each one, I still didn't feel any closer to the office or my classroom than I did back at the girls' bathroom. 

Finally, after what seemed like endless hours, I was somewhere: back at the girls' bathroom. I groaned, and the teachers teaching in the classrooms on either side of me had to shut their doors to keep out the sound. 

My nostrils flared. Why was I lost?