The Girl Who Couldn’t Lie

The Girl Who Couldn’t Lie — page 7 — Priya's stomach lurched as she inspected the invitation that Sami had just given her It was thick purple and sparkly On the front big capital letters proclaimed YOU'RE INVITED TO SAMI'S BAT MITZVAH MITZVAH But on the back it said something so awful that Priya wanted to cry She read the three words one more time Saturday June 30 and swallowed Hard Don't you just LOVE it cried Sami It's going to be the party of the year Mei raised an eyebrow Katie's parents rented out an actual nightclub for her party last month And everyone got free iPhones I think that might've been the party of the year Uh yes but we're actually invited to this one pointed out Sami That's true agreed Mei glancing down at her phone which was definitely not a free iPhone It's going to be amazing Right Priya Sami waved her hand in front of Priya's face Helloooo Priya Why are you still staring at the invitation Priya looked up with a wide fake grin plastered on her face Because it's only the coolest invitation I've ever seen And I happened to see one of Katie's invitations invitations up close when it fell out of her bag 6

The Girl Who Couldn’t Lie — page 8 — Why thank you said Sami proudly I designed it myself But is your bat mitzvah definitely happening on the thirtieth asked Priya As in that Saturday For sure Sami's green eyes narrowed She scrunched up her nose suspiciously and tucked her bright red hair behind her ears Priya Shah You had better not be telling me that you cannot come to my bat mitzvah aka the biggest day of a Jewish girl's life The day I go from girlhood to womanhood I thought you reached womanhood when you got your period last year said Priya desperately trying to distract Sami from her original line of questioning That is not the point declared Sami The point is that you're my best friend in the entire world I mean you and Mei are my best friends in the entire world Mei rolled her eyes beneath her bangs It's cool I'll be the afterthought And continued Sami undeterred not only did you miss my starring role in the school play but you missed Mei's major AquaSplash birthday takeover Priya's face fell I still can't believe I didn't get to swim down the space bowl It's a forty-foot drop Forty-five amended Sami starting to count off 7

The Girl Who Couldn’t Lie — page 9 — all the things Priya had missed on her fingers On top of that you've also missed basically every birthday party anyone in our grade has ever had and ninety-eight ninety-eight per cent of our sleepovers You know I want to come to everything said Priya It's just Gymnastics chorused Mei and Sami We know Olaf thinks I could be the only person from our club to make it to Nationals and qualify for the new Teen Olympics team said Priya Which is major If I get on that team it's basically guaranteed that I'll be in the real Olympics when I'm older I just have to make sure I keep up with all the training sessions and go to all the competitions I hate that they're always on weekends you know I do It would be so much better if they happened on Tuesday mornings and I could miss math Sami cocked her head to the side conceding Priya's Priya's point Fine But all I'm saying is you owe it to me To come to my bat mitzvah It's super important You absolutely have to be there No excuses At all I think she's trying to say she hopes you can make it said Mei No corrected Sami I'm saying that if Priya tells me she can't come I will officially have a 8

The Girl Who Couldn’t Lie — page 10 — fully-fledged breakdown right here in the school cafeteria cafeteria And then spontaneously combust Priya laughed nervously Okay there is no need to be so dramatic I never said I couldn't come Sami's eyes lit up Wait do you mean Yes of course I can come to your bat mitzvah said Priya despite a little voice in her head telling her that now would probably be a good time to STOP TALKING Seriously You don't have a competition that weekend asked Mei eagerly Nope said Priya actively blocking out the voice that had now dramatically reached a crescendo to shout about Junior Regionals A competition that the Teen Olympics scout would be at A competition with prize money that would pay for her entire next year's training A competition that could change her life and was happening on Saturday June 30. She swallowed one last time No competitions at all Sami and Mei high-fived and whooped loudly Priya forced her face into something she hoped looked like a smile and ignored the plummeting feeling in her stomach Today really was an absolutely terrible day 9

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