The next day I try my hardest to avoid Amanda at school. I’m so angry with her I can hardly speak.  She keeps trying to talk to me, but I just cut her dead. I know I’m being childish, but I can’t help it.  How could she let her boyfriend talk to me like that? How could she not have stood up for me? I know some girls lose interest in their friends when they get a new boyfriend, but I honestly never thought Amanda would be like that.

And let’s face it – we’re more than just friends, aren’t we? We’re sisters too – even if nobody else knows it.

“Latoya!” she shouts as I head out the gates at the end of school. “Latoya, wait!  You can’t avoid me forever.”

I just put my head down and walk even faster. I keep right on going until I bump into someone and almost fall over.

Oh, no. Oh, please no. It’s Connor – Amanda’s boyfriend. He’s coming to meet her at the school gates like he usually does.

“Whoa!” he says, catching hold of my shoulders as I wobble. “Watch where you’re going.”

“You watch where you’re going,” I say rudely. “Haven’t you done enough?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice quite a crowd of Grade 10s gathered around to watch us. They all know there’s some drama going on between Amanda, Connor and me.

“Hey, wait a minute,” Connor says as Amanda walks quickly up to us. “I haven’t done anything.  You’re the one who needs to get out of Amanda’s life. Boyfriends come before friends, remember?  Everyone knows that, right Amanda?”

Amanda just stands there, opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish.

“And that’s all we are, right Amanda?” I say sharply. “Just friends? You can always make new friends, but boyfriends are forever.”

“Hey, I’m glad you’re finally starting to realise that!” Connor looks pleased. He puts his arm around Amanda. “Come on, babe. Let’s get out of here.”

“No, wait!” she says loudly, stopping dead.

“What’s wrong?”

“I can’t just leave Latoya here like this. She’s having a really hard time at the moment.”

Connor clicks his tongue impatiently. “What does it matter to you? She said it herself – boyfriends come before friends.”

Amanda swallows hard. “But that’s just it,” she says at last. “Latoya is not just my friend, Connor.  She’s my… she’s my…”

“Yes …?”

All the kids who are standing around watching us seem to lean forward at the same time.

“She’s my sister!” Amanda says at last. There’s a loud gasp from the crowd. I stare at her in disbelief.  What has she done?