kitchen window, so the enticing fragrance never made its way to the beach.
I must have glanced up toward the front window of the shop a billion times in hopes that he would be standing out there, but he never showed and I found myself profoundly disappointed. And now I was disappointed in myself for being disappointed. I mean what was I thinking? No matter how hot or charming he was, nothing could change the fact that he was a Freely.
There was no time for body surfing, skateboarding, or biking today. Mimi and I had been persuaded by Gertie to help decorate the high school auditorium and quad area for the summer barbecue. Gertie was in charge of the decorations, so naturally she chose a Hawaiian theme.
I had to admit that after three hours of hanging long strands of cheesy plastic flowers, and setting up pineapple centerpieces on tables, the place looked pretty festive, especially considering the school auditorium usually looked outdated and gloomy.
We stood in the doorway and took one last look around. “Well, Gertie, you’ve done it again,” I said. Gertie tried hard to fight back a smile. “Never in a million years would I recognize this place as the smelly, dank school auditorium.”
Gertie released the smile. “It does look splendid, doesn’t it?”
Mimi put her hand on Gertie’s shoulder. “It’s beautiful, Gert, just beautiful.”
Gertie spun around and headed to the door. “I just remembered I need to help Bill get the audio equipment.” She glanced back at us over her shoulder. “Can’t very well have a dance without music!”
After three hours of decorating followed by three hours of making cinnamon rolls for tomorrow’s customers, I hardly felt in the mood to go to a dance. Of course I had no choice in the matter. It was an Angel Beach tradition.
Two hours into the party, Zach and I found ourselves trying to devise a plan of escape. “It’s like watching a rerun of the same show once a year, on the same date, and at the same place.” Zach took a bite of his burger.
I took a sip of the lemonade that had too much lemon and not enough sugar. My lips twisted from the sourness. “Well, let’s see, the evening started the usual way with Mrs. Brackmeyer yelling at her husband for not wanting to dance with her. Mike Forrest did his usual burning of the first tray of hamburgers then promptly blamed the barbecue for being too hot. Gertie held her gripe session with the usual victims telling them how much work it was to bring the whole event together. And Jeanette, my on-again off-again friend, has pissed off every guy in town by promising them a dance and then spending the whole night with Alex Trayton.”
Zach lifted his burger to his mouth then stopped before taking a bite. “Speaking of Jeanette, here she comes.”
I groaned. “Damn, is Alex with her?”
“Nope.” He continued with his hamburger.
Jeanette threw her leg over the bench and plopped down next to me. Jeanette was one of those lucky girls who had sprouted a chest way ahead of anyone else. On top of that she had beautiful skin and blue eyes. Even though she mostly just used guys for free dinners and movies, she was still every guy’s dream girl. Even Zach had had a crush on her in junior high, until she’d called him little guy one day. That was all he needed to turn off the crush switch.
Jeannette reached over and grabbed one of Zach’s potato chips. He scowled at her as she popped it into her mouth. “So, Coco, have you seen the new boys? I haven’t seen them yet because, so far this summer, my mom has had me imprisoned in my house. She only let me out to come to this lame event.”
“I saw your text. How did you get grounded?”
She waved her hand. “It was so stupid, and my mom blows everything completely out of proportion. All I did was climb out of the bedroom window to go down to the beach for a midnight bonfire. She caught me on the way back in when her yappy, little poodle heard me open the
I must have glanced up toward the front window of the shop a billion times in hopes that he would be standing out there, but he never showed and I found myself profoundly disappointed. And now I was disappointed in myself for being disappointed. I mean what was I thinking? No matter how hot or charming he was, nothing could change the fact that he was a Freely.
There was no time for body surfing, skateboarding, or biking today. Mimi and I had been persuaded by Gertie to help decorate the high school auditorium and quad area for the summer barbecue. Gertie was in charge of the decorations, so naturally she chose a Hawaiian theme.
I had to admit that after three hours of hanging long strands of cheesy plastic flowers, and setting up pineapple centerpieces on tables, the place looked pretty festive, especially considering the school auditorium usually looked outdated and gloomy.
We stood in the doorway and took one last look around. “Well, Gertie, you’ve done it again,” I said. Gertie tried hard to fight back a smile. “Never in a million years would I recognize this place as the smelly, dank school auditorium.”
Gertie released the smile. “It does look splendid, doesn’t it?”
Mimi put her hand on Gertie’s shoulder. “It’s beautiful, Gert, just beautiful.”
Gertie spun around and headed to the door. “I just remembered I need to help Bill get the audio equipment.” She glanced back at us over her shoulder. “Can’t very well have a dance without music!”
After three hours of decorating followed by three hours of making cinnamon rolls for tomorrow’s customers, I hardly felt in the mood to go to a dance. Of course I had no choice in the matter. It was an Angel Beach tradition.
Two hours into the party, Zach and I found ourselves trying to devise a plan of escape. “It’s like watching a rerun of the same show once a year, on the same date, and at the same place.” Zach took a bite of his burger.
I took a sip of the lemonade that had too much lemon and not enough sugar. My lips twisted from the sourness. “Well, let’s see, the evening started the usual way with Mrs. Brackmeyer yelling at her husband for not wanting to dance with her. Mike Forrest did his usual burning of the first tray of hamburgers then promptly blamed the barbecue for being too hot. Gertie held her gripe session with the usual victims telling them how much work it was to bring the whole event together. And Jeanette, my on-again off-again friend, has pissed off every guy in town by promising them a dance and then spending the whole night with Alex Trayton.”
Zach lifted his burger to his mouth then stopped before taking a bite. “Speaking of Jeanette, here she comes.”
I groaned. “Damn, is Alex with her?”
“Nope.” He continued with his hamburger.
Jeanette threw her leg over the bench and plopped down next to me. Jeanette was one of those lucky girls who had sprouted a chest way ahead of anyone else. On top of that she had beautiful skin and blue eyes. Even though she mostly just used guys for free dinners and movies, she was still every guy’s dream girl. Even Zach had had a crush on her in junior high, until she’d called him little guy one day. That was all he needed to turn off the crush switch.
Jeannette reached over and grabbed one of Zach’s potato chips. He scowled at her as she popped it into her mouth. “So, Coco, have you seen the new boys? I haven’t seen them yet because, so far this summer, my mom has had me imprisoned in my house. She only let me out to come to this lame event.”
“I saw your text. How did you get grounded?”
She waved her hand. “It was so stupid, and my mom blows everything completely out of proportion. All I did was climb out of the bedroom window to go down to the beach for a midnight bonfire. She caught me on the way back in when her yappy, little poodle heard me open the
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