“Um, okay. I know I said I wanted to go through with this plan, but I am not wearing this!”

“Well, I mean, you can just say stuff they wouldn’t like. It doesn’t have to be true stuff, either.”

“You mean like lying?”

“More like acting, I’d say.”

“Well, I do like acting.”

“She wants me to what?”

“I’m sorry, I really tried to talk to her but she wanted me to give you the invitation first.”

“Now what am I gonna do? What if she treats it like a date?”

“You know you can always say ‘no.’”

“I can’t do that! That’d be rude!”

“Well, I mean, if there’s one thing I know about Isabelle, it’s that she does this stuff for her parents to like you. I know Uncle Beau doesn’t care, but I guess parental approval is a big thing for rich people.”

“So you’re saying, I could get her parents to hate me?”

“I think we might be on to something!”

“Hi Connor! Kiss kiss?”

“Uh, no thanks.”

“Alright, suit yourself. I forgot poor people prefer high-fives.”

“I, uh… I gotta go!”

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“O-M-G, Renee! Isn’t he the cutest?”

“I guess? I dunno. Why are you even here? Shouldn’t you be in school?”

“Oh, I’m coming in late today~! I asked Mayhew to stop the limo here so I could invite Connor over next Saturday. Could you be, like, the best cousin ever and ask him for me? I’d really appreciate it!”

“Uhh… Okay?”

“Hey, Renee, can I ask you a quick favor?”

“Sure. I don’t see why not. I mean, you’re my best friend.”

“Ohmigosh this  means so much to me I really appreciate it!”

“So what’s the favor?”

“So you’re cousins with that girl Isabelle, right?”

“Yeah. Do you like her or something.”

“No, actually it’s, um, quite the opposite. I’m really not interested in her; in fact, I’m really not that interested in girls at all. I just don’t know what to do. It seems rude if I just told her ‘I prefer guys’.”

“Maybe just avoid her? She goes to a different school than us, so it shouldn’t be hard.”

“She has my number! And she won’t stop texting me! It’s gosh darn frustrating and kind of annoying as heck!”

“I’ll think of something. Don’t worry about it.”

“Ohmigosh I’m so happy! Thank you!”

“No problem, it’s not like she… goes… here…”

“Umm, is something wrong?”

“Hiiiii Connor~!”

“Oh, fiddlesticks.”

“Renee, honey, I am so, so sorry. It was wrong of me to make such a rash decision for you when you’re well on your way to being an adult.”

“Mom, it’s okay, really. Sorry I yelled at you a lot lately. I won’t go out for a week.”

“You’re not grounded, hon. I was actually thinking you’d benefit from having someone who has, um, similar concerns to yours.”

“Huh? Like who?”