Mei knew nothing about my connection to Miss Fortune Cookie. I was the lesser third, maybe because Mei and Linny were gorgeously Chinese-American, while I was just Boring-American. The three of us-Mei, Linny, and me-made an enviable friendship trio. “Nothing.” I jabbed Linny in the ribs to get her to stop talking. She was somewhat entwined with Darren and therefore distracted. “Mei, don’t you think Erin is a natural at giving advice?” “Exactly!” She had the happiest smile ever, so big it barely fit on her face. Muni, a sort of bus powered by electric wires overhead, jerked to a halt. Or move to somewhere far away like Moldavia.” “The cousin will never stop suspecting the two of them,” I said to Linny, “so Just Friendshas to stop the texting. Should I tell Linny that her favorite knit hat makes her head look like a furry meatball? Or nudge Mei whenever Darren winces at her hyena laugh? Should I have cautioned Darren that taking AP physics would wreck his grade-point average? Absolutely not. I regularly use them to protect my friends from unpleasant truths. Personally speaking, I think nano-deceptions are a good thing. Luckily Darren and Mei were only paying attention each other. “What advice would yougive, Erin?” she asked, winking this time. She takes every opportunity to harass me about keeping my blog a secret. In fact, I-Erin Kavanagh, alias Miss Fortune Cookie-had posted this very letter on my anonymous advice blog, and Linny happened to be the only person in San Francisco to know that, the only person in the whole world, except for some random administrator at WordPress.

What can I do to make her believe me? Just Friends.’” Her boyfriend and I never flirt, but sometimes we text. My cousin thinks I’m chasing her boyfriend. “Listen to this one,” she said, reading off her iPhone, a faint but smirky glint in her eyes. My friends and I were riding home from school on Muni, clinging to an assortment of slippery handholds, when Linny almost blew my secret identity.

You will have much luck and little hardship.

Miss Fortune Cookie by Lauren Bjorkman