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called Caroline to tell her I had a date. But hung up when I got her voice mail. Leaving this information on a message seemed jinxy somehow. A recorded declaration of swooning would only come back to bite me later, right?
    5:07: Began a catalog (on a paper napkin) of all the date-worthy outfits I owned.
    5:08: Despaired at lack of date-worthy outfits in closet. Began a catalog (on several paper napkins) of Sophie’s dateworthy outfits.
    5:14: Plotted sister bribery for that pale blue halter dress.
    5:16: Decided the blue halter dress was trying too hard and I should just wear jeans.
    5:18: Called Caroline to confirm. Hung up on voice mail again.
    5:19: Okay, I would compromise with a skirt and top.
    5:20: Realized I’d been in the cooler for fifteen minutes and was freezing. Returned to work. Dad was scooping away and messing up all the orders. I took over and Dad reminded me that
he
preferred to be the backstage operator at The Scoop, before slinking into the kitchen to make a batch of Strawberry Rhubarb.
    5:44: Scooped for a group of shoobees who looked less like individuals than just a tangle of sunburned limbs and expensive sunglasses. Occurred to me that Will might not have beenasking me out for a
date
per se. Maybe he’d just meant for it to be a group thing. A join-the-crowd kind of thing. That’s what a party really
was
, wasn’t it?
    5:53: Called Caroline to confirm suspicion. Voice mail
again
. She was probably too busy making out with Sam (ew) to answer. Hung up. Again.
    6:03: Certain now that I was delusional. Of course Will wasn’t asking me out! It was just a “Maybe I’ll see you at the Beach Club party” invitation. Right? What
were
his exact words? Obviously, goose bumps had impaired my hearing.
    6:06: Considered asking my dad for his impression. Questioned own sanity. Ate extra-large scoop of Maple Bacon Crunch to calm nerves.
    6:10: Worried about having bacon breath at party.
    6:11: He was definitely not asking me out on a date. Wondered if I should even go.
    6:15: Okay, I would go, but I wasn’t dressing up.
    6:17: Wait a minute, Dune Island was
my
turf. Decided I should just call Will and tell him I was going to The Swamp. “And maybe I’ll see
you
there.”
    6:18: Realized I didn’t have Will’s number. Despaired.
    6:19: Went back into the cooler. Breathed in stale fridge smell and tried to get zen. But goose bumps on arms reminded me of conversation with Will, so went back to work.
    6:23: Epiphany! Called Caroline. Actually left a message.
    6:29: Shift (almost) over! Tore my dad away from his backstage maneuvering and hightailed it out of there.
    *   *   *
     
    J ust as I was getting home, my phone rang.
    “Is this The Scoop?” Caroline rasped in my ear. “I’d like one Nutty Buddy, please. Oh, wait, I’ve already got one.”
    “Oh my God,” I said. “We don’t have time for your corny jokes. I’ve got an emergency.”
    “So I heard after about eighteen hang-ups,” Caroline said. “It was the other part of your message that must have gotten mangled in my voice mail. You didn’t
actually
say you want me and Sam to come to a party at the Beach Club pool, did you?”
    “
He
invited me,” I whispered as ran up the stairs and into the screened porch. Kat was on the porch swing eating a bowl of bright orange macaroni and cheese.
    “Ugh!” I said, looking away. I was already queasy, and watching Kat eat fake food as she swung in long, lazy swoops gave
me
motion sickness.
    Kat pointed a bright orange fork at me and said, “That was rude!”
    I gave her an apologetic shrug, then headed up the stairs. Hoping not to run into (and possibly offend) any other family members, I darted down the wide second-floor hallway, then ducked into the steep, narrow staircase that led to my room.
    Meanwhile, Caroline was chattering in my ear.
    “What ‘he’?” she said. “
That
he? The he from the bonfire?”
    “Yes!” I said as I flopped into my unmade bed. I stared through my