100 Days of Cake by Shari Goldhagen Page B

to FSU like everyone else . . .”
    I’m really glad they are getting along so well, but it’s like I’m watching them from above, like they’re on a TV show, playing the roles of optimistic teens excited about the next phase of their lives. Everything they’re saying is from some script that no one bothered to send me.
    This past spring I gave up Facebook cold turkey because of all my senior “friends” posts. I’m a USF Bull! Just signed up to be all that I can—go army! Don’t hate, but I got into Georgia! Karla said yes!!! Like everyone had to decide everything about the rest of their lives by June 5.
    â€œHave you looked into student loans?” Alex is asking Elle in their TV-show conversation going on beneath me. “It might be worth it if that’s really your first choice.”
    â€œMy dad might make too much money—”
    A crash. Metal on concrete.
    Jimmy has knocked over the big silver garbage cans on the curb and has somehow managed to get his head and upper body stuck in one of the bins. From the opening, his summer-scabbed legs jut out.
    â€œUgh.” Elle sighs. “This is the second time he’s done that this week.”
    She heads over to unstick Jimmy, and Alex turns to me, laughing.
    â€œThis just a normal day for that kid?” he asks.
    â€œYeah, he is pretty much a rabid possum,” I say, and Alex laughs harder, and then I start laughing. The floating/watching sensation is gone; I’m a part of this world again.
    Until Alex asks, “What about you, Mol? What are your big college plans?” Crap.
    â€œI’m just waiting to see how the year goes,” I say, which isn’t a total lie. I’m definitely waiting for something. To change the subject, I tell him about JoJo going totally ballistic a few days ago when a woman on Maury broke up with her man because she found a tooth in the house that he couldn’t explain.
    â€œThe best part? JoJo actually said the same thing happened to her! Like how is this a thing that actually occurs in real life.”
    Alex starts cracking up. “This is why I only cheat on my girlfriends with toothless women; significantly cuts down on the chance of getting caught.”
    â€œAll I know is, I’ve worked with JoJo three days, and I’m already having nightmares about Maury . You were even in one.”
    â€œYou’re dreaming about me now?” Alex moves his eyebrows up and down suggestively. “Exactly what kind of dreams are we talking about?”
    Feeling heat on my cheeks, I swat his shoulder. “It wasn’t that kind of dream.”
    â€œAre you telling him about your dream where I was eatingall your mom’s cakes?” Elle asks, back from a successful Jimmy extraction.
    â€œI was entertaining both of you ladies in Molly’s dream?” Alex puts an arm around each of our shoulders. “Nice!”
    â€œIt WAS NOT that kind of dream!” I say, but I’m laughing now too. “Freaking Jimmy was in it!”
    Alex pulls back his arms and crinkles his nose in faux disgust. “Now, that’s just sick.”
    The two of them tease me about my stupid dream for a solid five minutes.
    â€œCan we please talk about anything else?” I ask. “Alex, how’s the band?”
    Clearly this was the right question. He bursts into the kind of radiant smile usually reserved for toothpaste commercials. “I’ve got a whole newsletter for you. First off, we’ve changed our name. We’re now Headless Naked Ken.”
    â€œI love it!” shrieks Elle. “It’s a complete dig on our plastic culture and unrealistic standards of female beauty.”
    â€œEh, something like that.” Alex tilts his head; clearly none of that had anything to do with the name change. “The other day we were playing in our drummer’s garage and found some of his sister’s old dolls without their