Free You First by Cari Simmons Page A

shouldn’t feel guilty about wanting to add something to it. Should she?
    She approached the wall, tape in hand. She raised the lion up and . . .
    No, she thought, the criteria for new Wall items thatFinn and I have followed since birth just doesn’t apply here.
    She had no desire to proclaim a long life to knitting. Plus, where was she going to put the label? The Wall had been unofficially sectioned off into zones—birthdays, Halloween costumes, celebrities they were crushing on, LOL kitties . . . there wasn’t a place designated for “Things I Will Likely Never Do Again.”
    Gigi lowered her hand. The logo would have to stay off the Wall . . . for now.
    She tucked the cutout under her pencil cup for safekeeping, turned out the lights, and went to bed.

CHAPTER 10
    As they boarded the bus after school on Friday, Gigi impulsively asked Finn if she wanted to come over. “I mean, I know we’re hanging out tomorrow after your soccer thing,” she said, “but I was thinking about trying out a new cupcake recipe. And since you can’t come to class . . .”
    â€œYeah,” Finn said. “I know. And dude, I’d love to, but . . .”
    â€œBut what?”
    â€œLauren asked me if I wanted to go to the mall. Her mom is driving us, but maybe you could meet us over there?”
    Gigi didn’t want to admit it, even to herself, but the fact that Finn had made plans with Lauren stung— hard . She knew she was being ridiculous. It wasn’t as if Finn was only making plans with Lauren. And there had been plenty of times when Finn and Katie or Finn and Maggie had gone off and done something, just the two of them. Gigi didn’t feel the teensiest bit jealous of them then. So why now? What was so different about Lauren Avila?
    Everything is different about Lauren Avila! that awful voice in Gigi’s head piped up. Forget for a minute that she’s in eighth grade and a star on the varsity soccer team. Lauren Avila is also effortlessly pretty. And everyone likes her!
    It was true. Lauren was tall, with long, lean legs and clear skin the color of honey. Her shiny hair dipped well past her shoulders and had the kind of bounce to it that Gigi thought existed only in shampoo commercials. She glowed without the help of any makeup, and her affection for argyle sweaters—which, by the way, looked fantastic on her—had spawned a copycat trend among the girls of Sterling Middle School earlier that year.
    Becoming friends with pretty, popular Lauren Avila was going to change Finley, Gigi felt certain. Hadn’t it changed her already?
    Or maybe it was changing how Finn saw Gigi.
    â€œThanks for the invite,” Gigi said, “but I’m not really feeling the mall.”
    Finn snorted. “Since when does Gigi Prince ever turn down a trip to the mall?”
    â€œI don’t know,” Gigi said. “Maybe I don’t feel like crashing.”
    â€œIt’s not crashing if I invite you, dude. Just think about, okay? We’re not leaving until six.”
    Gigi came home to an empty house and a note from her mother saying that she had had to cover for another volunteer at Dress for Success and probably wouldn’t be home until seven o’clock. So Gigi couldn’t have gotten a ride to the mall even if she did change her mind about going. Which she hadn’t.
    But if she did . . .
    It might not be a bad idea to hang out with Finn and Lauren together. A trip to the mall would give Gigi a prime opportunity to get to know Lauren. It was not out of the question that she might like her as much as Finn did.
    And hey, it couldn’t hurt if Lauren saw how close Eff and Gee were—that Finley already had a best friend and didn’t need any applications for a new one.
    She called Finn and asked her if she could catch a ride with her and Lauren.
    Finn hesitated, then said, “I don’t know, Gee. It might be kind of