Be Real, Macy Weaver

Best friendships were tricky. One day you were in. The next, you were out. At least, that was the case with Mia. And Darby. And Payton. Macy Weaver avoided looking over at any of those flakes as her teacher wrapped up the last few seconds of fifth grade.
“Remember to read at least one novel this summer to keep those brains ticking,” Ms. Parker said, fanning herself as she wandered around the warm room.
Outside, the groundskeeper hummed along atop his ride—on lawn mower. Inside, Mia and Darby whispered to each other, while Payton snuck her phone out to text under her desk.
Macy didn’t pay attention to any of that. Instead, she focused on drawing a large rainbow on her wrist. It wasn’t exactly neat, and some of the colors ran together a little bit—-but it was there.
As Ms. Parker finished speaking, Macy’s eyes flicked over to the ticking long hand moving its way around the wall clock. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting, until—yes!—dismissal.
Jumping out of her seat, Macy smoothed down her six crooked braids, then she tapped the rainbow on her wrist for good luck and darted from the room.
All around her, hope bloomed. The days were warmer. Brighter. Girls huddled near water fountains, and boys shot fake hoops in the air. Lockers slammed extra loud. The last day of school had finally arrived.
It wasn’t easy dodging through fifth graders in short--sleeved tees, high--top fades, and dingy house--key necklaces, but Macy made it work. She hopped over forgotten textbooks and ducked under falling banners that warned the students to always practice good citizenship—until finally—
“Matching tats!” Macy waved her arm in the face of her newest best friend, Josie Miller. Forget Mia. Forget Darby. And definitely forget Payton. Josie was the kind of girl who stuck around.
There were times, these last few weeks, that Macy didn’t think she’d make it to this moment. But class time was over, her final textbook was turned in, and Macy Weaver and Josie Miller were still best friends. This was a huge win. For the first time in all the years Macy had been in school, she’d finally get to spend her entire summer break with a best friend, doing whatever it was best friends did.