“Sure. I’ll text you?”
I nodded and headed toward my friends.
“Fancy seeing you here,” I said, smiling pathetically. God, I hoped I hadn’t messed things up too badly.
Fabián crossed his arms. “What are you doing here, Parvin?”
Ruth crossed hers a second later. “Yeah.” She scowled.
I led them over to an empty corner of the auditorium. “I came to apologize. Y’all were right. I was being dumb and didn’t even know it. I’m really, really sorry for how obsessed I got with this whole Homecoming thing.”
“And?” Ruth asked.
“And . . . um . . . I owe you Hot Cheetos for a month?”
“And you’ll make an effort to be a better friend?” she asked again.
“Yes, of course!”
“And—”
“Okay, Ruth, stop before you make Parvin promise to cross-stich a laptop cover or something.” Fabián sighed.
“First off, it’s an iPad cover, and it took three weeks without help! Also, my mom wants you to come over for dinner tomorrow night, and since you’re trying to be a better friend, you have to.”
I nodded, even though Mrs. Song always made me feel on edge.
Fabián faced me. “Parvin, I accept your apology, but you’re not off the hook that easily.”
I hung my head. “I know—I’ll go to Costco and get some Cheetos and—”
“Not that.” Fabián shook his head. “You gotta stop this whole Homecoming mission thing, okay? I hate it. It’s stupid. And it probably won’t even work.”
“Well,” I began. And then I told them everything. How Matty had asked me out, how Wesley had revealed that there was nothing I could have done to stop him from dumping me, and how I still hadn’t talked to Amir.
“So your plan did work,” Ruth pointed out. “Even though you didn’t need it in the first place.”
“Parvin, what are you gonna do?” Fabián asked.
I shrugged. Good question.
■ ■ ■ OBSERVATORY 5:00 P.M.
“Knock-knock?” I called out from the bottom of the stairs. Our observatory was in a deserted courtyard toward the back of the school. I’d never seen anyone go inside it.
“Come in,” Naomi called out. I climbed up the steep ladder leading to the main part of the observatory where the telescope was. When I reached the top, Naomi was sitting there, her books spread out by the base. Her locs were twisted up and secured into place with a colorful scarf, and she wore round glasses I’d never seen on her before. On her shirt were the words BLACK GIRL MAGIC in silver letters.
“Parvin! Hey!”
“Hey, Naomi.” I gave a small wave. “Hope you don’t mind me stopping by.”
“Not at all.” She pushed some of her books aside so I could sit down.
I looked around the observatory. It wasn’t that big—maybe about the size of my bedroom. I could still hear kids talking at picnic tables nearby through the metal frame and the crunch of leaves as students walked home.
“This is pretty awesome,” I said. It felt like the inside of a metal treehouse.
“I know, right?” Naomi said. “I was just prepping for the PSATs. What’s up?”
I guessed I’d have to take that test next year, too. I was not looking forward to it.
“Well . . . I wanted to run something past you,” I said, staring down at my feet. I’d only come up with the idea this morning. I had to make sure I could even pull it off. No matter how much I planned and schemed for people to notice me, I couldn’t forget the people I already had, like Ruth and Fabián.
“Okay, what is it?” she asked, closing her book.
“Can I look through the telescope?” I asked, stalling for time. I still didn’t know how to word my request properly just yet.
She laughed. “Sure, though you’re not going to be able to see anything until it’s dark.”
“That’s okay,” I said. I’d never looked through a telescope before.
Naomi peered into the scope and started adjusting some wheels and dials. I could see the color-coded notes she’d been taking next to her books, complete with flash cards. No wonder Ruth was smitten.
“Here,” she said, stepping away from the telescope. “You can at least see the moon right now.”
I bent over the telescope and peered in. The craters and crags on the moon’s surface looked huge, all the details I’d seen from afar suddenly magnified.
“Pretty cool, right?” Naomi said behind me.
“It’s amazing,” I breathed.
I unglued my eye and turned to Naomi. “Do you know what the Pleiades are?” I blurted out.
“The Pleiades? Like, the constellation?” she asked, surprised by my question.
I nodded. “That’s what my name means in Farsi. The Pleiades.” I’d never told anyone that before. I could barely get non-Iranians to pronounce my name properly, much less spell it right. People always got so hung up on where my name came from that no one ever thought to ask what it meant.
“That’s so unique!” Naomi lit up. “I wish I had a constellation for a name.”
“Thanks.” I smiled.
Our conversation stalled, and we sat there in the quiet, only it didn’t feel awkward.
“Do you have Homecoming plans?” I finally asked. I was scheming again. Oh, how I missed scheming!
“Well . . . ,” Naomi began, folding her long legs underneath her. “I was hoping to ask Ruth. Do you think she’d go with me?”
“She would love to go with you.”
“Cool,” she replied, looking hopeful.
Excellent. Phase one of the plan was already in motion, so I could give my friends the best Homecoming entrance ever.
Naomi held up her flash cards. “Want to help me study?”
“I have never helped anyone study in my entire life,” I confessed. It was usually Ruth or Fabián who helped me study. Or, I thought with a pang, Amir.
She handed me the cards. “Don’t worry—I’m a flash-card genius.”
I smiled. That was probably true.
Ruth would be so happy to have a date to a school dance where she could wear the pink dress of her dreams. I couldn’t wait for her to text me after Naomi asked her out. All I needed to do was double check that Fabián and Austin were going together. I’d noticed
