)Ava(

"Hey,wanna sit with us?" travels through the room. I turn around. The voice has come from Autumn. She's really popular, so that will boost my status, and instead of the "pretty nice girl and mostly cool except for that 7th grade math book which officially makes her a geek" to "Semi-cool girl that is friends with a chatty, bubbly,popular girl". But, I think, if I fail to "please" her, then that's a automatic pass down to nerd again... I suddenly realize that the cafeteria is silent, as they are waiting for the moment of judgement,and I make the choice. I walk over to the table.

(Hope this is ok. Also can ava have the same math class as alana? Because I realized that they both have math first period for seventh grade.) 

Autumn~

Ava sits down at our table, and I nod my approval. Everyone stares for a minute, but then they go back to their regular chaos. My friends start talking to Ava, introducing themselves.

Everyone's seeming to like Ava, so I decide it would be good to have an official trial for her. And what better for a trial than our sleepover on Saturday?

"So, Ava... Want to come over to the sleepover this weekend?" I ask. I'm pretty sure she'll say yes--like I said, everyone knows what a privilege it is to be here. 

||Moriko||

"Oh!" I smile.  "S-sure, i don't mind!"

She sits and begins eating.  After a moment of awkward silence, I say, "S-so... the meatloaf today is especially gross, huh?"

Alana nodds, poking at the charred mass of goo on her plate.  "Y-yeah."

More silence.

"So- so what kind of things do you like to do?"

((Wow, that was short...))

____

By the way, I think the way you do the "popular crowd" is really accurate and interesting. 

Alana~

"So- so what kind of things do you like to do?" Moriko asks me after a bunch of long, awkward pauses. 

I shrug. "I like reading. And I guess writing is pretty fun. I don't really do it for a hobby, but I always like the writing activities in English. And I draw sometimes... What about you?" 

Diana-

I've always felt iffy about lunch. I have my group of weirdos, but they don't really know me. And I've grown tired of them anyway. So I go to my weird habit of sitting down at random tables. I find a perfect one, separate from the rest. A person sits alone at it,(jinx that's Aidan if it's ok) which seems kind of depressing. I would never sit alone. So I decide to save this lonely kid. 

I walk over, and sit down, not even asking if the seat is saved. I can tell it isn't. I don't say anything; I don't need to, but I feel their eyes on me. I start eating. I can sense their confusion. It seeps out of their dark clothes and hair. I prefer to avoid wearing all black, but sometimes it happens. The people who do wear all black are usually unhappy anyway. And I'm not unhappy. I'm just sick and tired and unenthusiastic because nobody cares. But I'm happy enough.

I look up at them from my salad and smile. Their eyes look regretful. And I don't care why. But it's interesting. "I'm Diana." I say, not caring if they answer or not. "But if you're going to bother to talk to me call me Dy."

Aidan-

I glance over at the person sitting next to me. They seem nice enough, if looks are any indication of their personality. I like their style, at least. I pull out an earbud. "I'm Diana. But if you're going to bother to talk call me Dy," they say. I pause for a moment. I don't think we have any classes together. Maybe they're in 7th grade?

"My name's Aidan," I reply. Not quite enough to intiate a conversation, but not so little it'll dissuade Diana if they want to start talking. "I use any pronouns. You?"

"Oh! I use she/her pronouns, thanks!" Diana says. I nod. To be honest, I don't really know what to do next. I don't talk to people that often, not if I can help it, and it feels like ages since I've had friends who weren't online.

So I close my sketchbook and turn to face Diana, who's talking again. "How's your day been so far? I know that's kind of a weird question to ask but-"

"You're Asher's sister, aren't you?" I ask. I know it might come across as rude, but that's just kind of what I do. I blurt out weird stuff, and that's usually enough to scare off anyone who's trying to make small talk with me. And anyways, I'm pretty sure she is his sister. They have the same facial features, and their eyes look really similar.

Diana doesn't seem all that surprised, but maybe a little disappointed. "Yeah," she says, and I don't press. Rowan and I were never at Evergreen at the same time, and I will forever be grateful for that. It was too much constantly being compared to him when he wasn't around; I can't imagine what it's like for Diana.

We lapse into silence. I pick at my instant ramen and go back to texting my friends online. Even though we're not actively talking, I do enjoy Diana's company. I'd sort of forgotten how nice it was to sit with someone at lunch, even though I wouldn't go back to that old group of girls for the world.

Diana gets up to throw her trash away, and I look up at her and offer a small smile. She smiles back and turns around, and I mouth the words "thank you" at her back. I hope she knows.

<I hope this was okay! I had a lot of fun writing this :)> 

)Ava(

Sure! I say, knowing the following three things. 1) I'm already in, 2) She seems well-intended, and 3) this is obviously a test. C'mon. ALL the signs point to it. Every one semi-staring (When people are staring but trying to hide it.) and the more popular girls next to Autumn share a secret glance. I'm not that dense. "What time is it?" I ask. "I have piano from 2-3, so I can't make it if it is early." Instantly, I realized that was a dumb thing to say, because 1) I have no idea of their opinion on music, and 2) Sleep-overs are called that for a reason. But if Autumn invited me herself, I don't think she will make her choice seem foolish. I stay silent,waiting.  

Autumn~

I nod again. "It's at 5." Then the bell rings. Everyone turns to leave, but I grab Ava's arm. 

"Hey!" She turns around. 

"Sorry. But I need to talk to you." We start walking out of the cafeteria.

"Ok. Since you're gonna be joining our group now--" I pause to stop myself from adding "if you pass the trial" "--You're going to need to understand how complicated it is."

She gets a look in her eyes that says "what could be so complicated about it?" And I sigh. "Our group has many different parts. The section of it I manage is the one you just agreed to have a sleepover at. So everyone in it is a BFF now. Got it?" She nods. "But WHOLE group is actually managed by Sophie. She's an eighth grader. Do NOT talk to her until she talks to you. And she probably won't talk to you very much. I've been in her group since 2nd grade and I have had a grand total of 5 short conversations with her. Luckily, they were good conversations, and now I'm the queen of my grade." I smile proudly. "Anyway, you'll get to know everyone at the sleepover. Don't worry, it's pretty chill. We'll probably just watch a few movies, tell some ghost stories, stuff like that. And it'll just be my part of the group. Nobody else. Just 8 other people." I say the last few sentences to convince myself it won't be too hard to get Ava into this group. The piano lesson shouldn't be too much of a setback, as long as she doesn't say she's part of math club. I wave goodbye to Ava and head to my next class.