What if they turn up earlier, while she and Shoshana are sitting there already?

Ishould have said something.

I really should have.

Over and over, Mimi replays the incident in her mind, a video clip on a loop. Raizy’s smirk, Kayla’s confusion. The rest of the class, glued to the drama.

She’s never seen Kayla look so… vulnerable. And yet… Kayla is so different, who says she even cared?

“Mimiii! Phone!” her brother Benny calls.

It had better not be Shoshana canceling their ice cream date. Mimi feels stifled, too hot, she needs to get out, take her mind off Kayla.

It’s not Shoshana. It’s Ella. Ella, who hasn’t called since… since everything had happened.

“Hey,” Mimi says cautiously. She forces a note of lightness into her voice. “What’s up?”

Ella’s not in the mood for small talk. “Mimi, wanna meet in Ice Swirl in, like, an hour? With me and Tzippy,” she clarifies quickly, and Mimi’s heart — which feels like it’s jumped a mile — sinks right down to her toes.

Oh, so this is not about making peace, getting the group together again. It’s about trying to win Mimi over to their side, make it three against one.

“I’m not interested in talking about what happened,” Mimi says tiredly.

“It’s nothing to do with that,” Ella says, sounding a little hurt. “We just wanna chill. It’s been ages…”

Mimi closes her eyes briefly. She’s so not in the mood for this; not interested in sneaking between Shoshana and the others. But… she can’t exactly say no. And what if they turn up earlier, while she and Shoshana are sitting there already?

Better to agree, set a time, and make sure Shoshana’s gone by the time the others arrive.