There were few things funnier to Hye-jin than watching Amalia’s new morning routine. Every morning, Hye-jin would wake up to Amalia’s five a.m. alarm, refreshed and ready to face the day. She would keep her eyes closed and feel the excitement bubble up in her until she’d finally hear a guttural groan from the right side of the room as Amalia rolled over to turn off her alarm. Initially, Amalia had gotten up, put on a tired smile, and grabbed her clothes to get changed in the bathroom so as not to disturb the sleeping Scarlet. She had genuinely seemed to enjoy it then, but the thrill of seeing her boyfriend before classes started had worn off rapidly. By day four, Amalia was a broken woman, tumbling out of bed in a heap of regret and Hye-jin was relishing all of it. By day five, Hye-jin made a point to say a chipper good morning when Amalia passed by. This morning, day eight, Amalia returned her greeting with an uncharacteristic suggestion of where Hye-jin could shove it. Hye-jin grinned as Amalia disappeared into the bathroom.

However, that was the only joy Hye-jin really got from her friends’ resolutions. The only times outside of class that Hye-jin saw Amalia were during those mornings. Hye-jin didn’t see Will at all, even though she once scoured the whole campus to find him.

Scarlet’s resolution was better, but only marginally. Since Amalia was MIA — studying, working out, and possibly applying for CEO positions with Will — Hye-jin was forced to accompany Scarlet in her efforts to meet new people. This experience ranged from uncomfortable to downright painful, depending on whom Scarlet had in her sights. They’d had a great time bonding with some kids from their year in 11C, but when Scarlet had tried to befriend the business club, Hye-jin had half a mind to find Leo and breathe in whatever toxic fumes he was probably inhaling behind the library that day. Lucas slowly became a permanent fixture during these social outings when Scarlet decided to harness his infinite connections and easy charm to balance out the strong aura of boredom and resentment Hye-jin seemed to project.

It had been something of a miserable weekend. During the week, Scarlet’s social time had mostly been limited to lunch and Hye-jin had to stick with her or risk eating alone. When the weekend rolled around, though, Lucas had suggested Scarlet hang out with him and some of his other friends. Hye-jin had been invited, but Hye-jin knew Lucas’ friends as well as she liked to, which led to her spending almost the entirety of the weekend by herself. By Monday, Hye-jin had gone from being alone to being lonely and then to being bored out of her mind, which was why she immediately agreed when Scarlet asked if she wanted to eat lunch with Scarlet, Lucas, and the twelfth-graders.

Hye-jin increasingly questioned her decision as lunch approached and felt the urge to turn around and run as they got to a small group of teenagers sitting in the back left corner of the dining hall. Lucas, sitting in their midst, was a welcome sight. He flashed them a warm smile as he waved them over. Hye-jin nervously slid into a chair beside Tina Kazlauskas, while Scarlet sat across from her. Everyone at the table was a twelfth-grader. Hye-jin, who regularly hung out with twelfth-graders, felt a little silly for being nervous about that. But the twelfth-graders were basically adults and had achieved a level of coolness and friendship amongst each other that the eleventh-graders didn’t expect to ever achieve. She looked up and down the table and saw Isra Saab holding court and tossing her head back in laughter at a joke someone had told her. Hye-jin looked over at Scarlet for help or commiseration, but Scarlet had started a conversation with the twelfth-grader beside her — Some kid with an actual, honest-to-god beard. Hye-jin swallowed.

Then, someone leaned across the cold wall that Tina Kazlauskas seemed to have built to ward Hye-jin off. Gloria Hunter’s gleaming smile met Hye-jin’s confused and possibly frightened stare.

“Hey, you’re Hye-jin, right?” she asked.

They’d met before — it wasn’t that big of a school — but Gloria Hunter had a kind of air around her that made it feel like you were being recognized by a celebrity whose work you perhaps didn’t enjoy personally but whom you knew was a big deal. Hye-jin knew for a fact that Scarlet hated her.

“Oh, yeah,” said Hye-jin, “That’s me. You’re— You’re Gloria?”

Gloria nodded beatifically.

“You’re friends with Scarlet, right?” said Gloria.

Hye-jin confirmed she was. Tina seemed to be drawing up plans to rebuild the wall Gloria had torn down.

“We love Scarlet,” said Gloria, smiling that brilliant smile.

Scarlet looked over, having heard her name but little else over the chatter coursing through the dining hall. Gloria turned her beaming grin to Scarlet.

“I just told your friend that we love you,” said Gloria.

Scarlet made a face that was meant to convey flattery but conveyed to Hye-jin that she badly needed to get out of whatever was happening. She had been downgraded from ‘Hye-jin’ to ‘your friend’.

“That’s so sweet,” said Scarlet.

She turned back to her conversation with the bearded twelfth-grader, leaving Hye-jin alone with the sharks. Gloria fiddled with her blonde hair and Hye-jin wondered if she’d ever manage to pull off a plaid headband the same way Gloria did, or if that was another thing only people like Gloria inherited. Just like skiing holidays and the ability to play golf.

“So what do you do for fun?” asked Gloria.

Hye-jin wracked her brain for answers but it wouldn’t supply any. What did she do for fun? She looked over at Scarlet, chatting away with the bearded guy and shooting occasional glances at Lucas.

“Uh,” Hye-jin said intelligently, “I guess I—”

Hye-jin became painfully aware of the fact that she didn’t really have any hobbies. Lucas looked over at an oblivious Scarlet.

“I, um, read?” she supplied.

Gloria’s face lit up like an LED lamp as she did an unconvincing impression of someone who was interested in anything Hye-jin had to say.

“What’s the last thing you read?” asked Gloria. “I’m always looking for recommendations.”

Mr. Morville’s syllabus. The label of my shirt that told me not to wash it at forty degrees though I did anyway and it turned out fine. Your friend’s clear signs telling me to go away.

“I don’t… remember,” said Hye-jin.

She was going to follow it up with an anecdote about how Amalia worked in the school library, so Hye-jin would sometimes sit beside her, reading whatever Amalia thought was the worst book she’d seen this week. Amalia would shush her in the midst of giggles when Hye-jin read particularly awful passages out loud. Sometimes Will would sit with them and they’d reenact certain scenes until Amalia turned away with her face submerged in her sleeve to repress laughter.

Before Hye-jin could, Gloria laughed.

“You’re so funny,” she said.

Hye-jin saw Lucas and Scarlet’s eyes meet. Both of them smiled. Lucas patted bearded guy’s shoulder and included himself in his and Scarlet’s conversation. Hye-jin looked back at Gloria’s expectant blue eyes.

“Thanks,” said Hye-jin.

Scarlet decided to hang out with Lucas and the twelfth-graders after class so Hye-jin trudged to their dorm in Mizushima Hall alone. Unsure about what else to do by herself, she got out her textbooks and did her Math homework. After that, she started on her essay for English and had almost finished her first draft, when Amalia returned early from her evening run.

“Hey, stranger,” said Amalia.

Hye-jin mustered up a smile.

“I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages,” said Amalia, undoing her ponytail.

Hye-jin held back how very much she felt the same way.

“How was your day?” asked Amalia.

“Okay,” said Hye-jin, “Scarlet dragged me with her again.”

Amalia laughed and disappeared into the bathroom, though she kept the door open. Hye-jin heard the sink running.

“Oh boy,” she said, “Who was it this time?”

“Twelfth-graders,” said Hye-jin, distastefully.

Amalia turned off the sink and returned barefaced with a faded shadow of mascara around her eyes. She made a sympathetic face.

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” she said.

Hye-jin responded with an unconvincing ‘yeah’.

“At least it wasn’t tenth-graders,” said Amalia.

Amalia didn’t realize that it very well could have been tenth-graders if the latest subject of Scarlet’s obsession were two years younger. Hye-jin didn’t tell her that because she realized how petty it sounded the second she thought it.

“I guess,” said Hye-jin.

Amalia looked worried, so she added: “They were pretty nice.”

Amalia was mollified and Hye-jin asked her about her day while they got ready to go to bed. Amalia said it had been quite productive and Will had been pleased with the amount they’d gotten done in a day. She didn’t go into detail, though Hye-jin guessed she could probably look at Will’s schedule to see everything they’d been up to. She climbed into her bed and submerged herself in her thick blanket while Amalia turned off the light and blindly stumbled to her side of the room.

“Good night, sweetheart,” Amalia sing-songed.

“Good night,” said Hye-jin, muffled by her sheets.

She heard rustling from Amalia’s bed and then silence settled on their room. It wasn’t curfew yet, so Scarlet wouldn’t come back for at least half an hour. Hye-jin wondered what Scarlet’s evening had been like. Had she befriended every twelfth-grader by now? Had they decided to adopt her into their year? Was she braiding Gloria’s hair or trying on her plaid headband? Were she and Isra Saab best friends now? Had Lucas and Scarlet decided to break off as a duo just like Will and Amalia?

Hye-jin wondered what she would do if they did. She thought back to Leo’s strange reaction to Scarlet’s resolution and realized she’d barely seen him all week as well. Had Leo figured out what was going on way before Hye-jin had — that they were being abandoned? Why hadn’t he told her? Maybe they could have started a group of their own.

But Hye-jin knew that Leo had not sought her out for a reason. Her friends were all oh-so-busy for a reason. Gloria interrupted her for a reason. Hye-jin tossed herself to her side to escape her thoughts, but they settled over her like the dark blanket of night. She felt a tear roll down her cheek and hated herself for it.

There was a rustle on Amalia’s side of the room. Hye-jin sat up.

“Mafia?” she asked, using the nickname she’d coined when they’d first become friends.

Amalia made a sleepy noise of acknowledgment.

“I actually hate the twelfth-graders,” said Hye-jin.

Amalia breathed a laugh.

“Yeah?” she asked.

Hye-jin mumbled a quiet ‘yeah’.

It was silent for a bit and Hye-jin almost thought Amalia had fallen asleep, when she heard another rustle. Quiet footsteps sounded across their floor and suddenly Amalia stood beside her bed, leaning her head on an elbow she’d propped up on Hye-jin’s elevated bed.

“Was it bad?” she asked.

“Yeah,” said Hye-jin.

Amalia sighed.

“I had to talk to Gloria Hunter,” said Hye-jin, “About my love of reading.”

This startled a giggle out of Amalia and she gently bumped Hye-jin’s shoulder.

“You weirdo,” she said, “Please tell me you didn’t tell her what you read.”

Hye-jin broke into giggles as well.

“I didn’t get the chance to,” she said, “The girl does not know when to shut up.”

This contributed to their nighttime hilarity, but when their laughter faded away, Hye-jin felt the next day looming again. Amalia seemed to sense this.

“I’ve got library duty tomorrow at lunch,” she said, “If you want, you can come by and hang out with me and Will.”

Hye-jin sniffled.

“Who wants to hang out with you boring old nerds,” she said, ignoring how badly she wanted to.

Amalia flicked her shoulder gently.

“It may be boring,” she conceded, “I think we’re planning on doing homework the whole time.”

Hye-jin shook her head.

“I’ll come by,” she said.

Amalia patted her shoulder before heading back across the room. Hye-jin buried her face into her pillow and tried not to get her hopes up too high. She didn’t fall asleep until Scarlet snuck in, decidedly after curfew, and went to bed.