Best Frenemies by Cari Simmons Page A

minutes between school and home to catch up.
    â€œI know,” Cassidy said. “But it’ll fly by before we know it. There’s always lunchtime. And besides,” she said, picking the notebook up from beneath Alice’s toes and fanning her feet with it. “We’ll be able to catch up this way, right?”
    â€œYeah . . . ,” Alice said, but they’d already been having a hard time keeping up. “How are you going to have time to write in the notebook, with all this rehearsing?”
    â€œWe’ll figure something out,” Cassidy said. “We always do. Besides, you’re plenty busy yourself, right? It’s a good thing! We might not be able to write as frequently, but we’ll have more stuff to catch up on.”
    â€œYou’re right,” Alice said, but she just couldn’t help feeling a little bit gloomy. She knew it was ridiculous, and tried to get herself psyched for Cassidy’s accomplishments, but the fact that she couldn’t feel as enthusiastic as she knew she should just made her feel sadder. What kind of friend was she?
    â€œDon’t sweat it,” Cassidy said, nudging Aliceplayfully. “In fact . . . ,” she said, and got up and cued something on her computer. “Don’t stop believin’!” She started hopping around the room, singing loudly to the eighties song that apparently was part of the musical, pointing at Alice as if the song was about her. Bagel nosed open the partially closed door and began zooming around the room, yipping at an ear-bleeding volume while Cassidy performed. Alice suppressed the urge to let a Nikki-style pout creep over her face. I kind of hate this song, she thought.
    â€œHow was Cass?” asked Mr. Kinney, who was washing dishes when Alice got home.
    â€œFine,” Alice said. She didn’t feel like talking about all the new and exciting ways she and Cassidy were growing apart.
    â€œYou got a phone call,” her mom said, too focused on her crossword puzzle to look up.
    â€œA phone call?” Alice said, wondering aloud who could have called. She was just at Cassidy’s.
    â€œYeah,” Mrs. Kinney said, right as Alice read the name scrawled on the yellow pad next to the phone.
    â€œNikki Wilcox?” Alice said, full of disbelief.
    â€œI know, can you believe it?” her dad asked as he tried to magically fit two more plates into analready-full dishwasher. “Nikki Wilcox. Nikki Wilcox! THE Nikki Wilcox. Just one thing. Who’s Nikki Wilcox?”
    â€œDon’t mind him,” Alice’s mom said, still not looking up. “He had some coffee-flavored ice cream, and now he’s out of control.”
    Alice rolled her eyes. Her parents were strange. Her friendship with Cassidy was strange. Nikki Wilcox—and the fact that she had called Alice—was strange. And the strangest thing was, Alice was going to call Nikki back, and was kind of excited to do so. She needed someone to talk to. Even if it was Nikki Wilcox.

CHAPTER 11
ENEMY TERRITORY?
    It was Monday afternoon, and in a freak twist of North Shore weather, the sun peeked merrily through the clouds while a warm October rain drizzled down. Of course strange weather would be over Alice’s head, because who should she be walking down the street with but Nikki Wilcox?
    Just the week before, Alice had felt like she was saying good-bye to Cassidy, for the time being, anyway, as she disappeared into the world of rehearsals. Simultaneously, Alice found herself talking to the one person in school she would have never expected to. But whatever weird feelings Alice had about this moment, she had to keep them to herself. Between her and Cassidy’s busyness and the fact that Alice wasn’t sure how Cassidy would react to Alice hanging out with Negative Nikki, she couldn’t quite bring herself to tell her best friend about her new possible friend.
    On Friday, after Alice had come home