in your sleep. I think you have a recurring dream that you go to the beach with him. Because all last night, you kept telling Todd Romero to stop splashing you.”
Rachel giggled again. This was awful. I didn’t wantmy friends to know that I dreamed about Todd Romero splashing me!
That was when Ava stood up for me. She aimed her finger at Angelina and shook it in her face. “It’s rude to repeat what people say in their dreams. I mean, it’s totally against girl code.”
Angelina lowered her head like she felt bad and apologetic. “I didn’t mean to be rude. I just can’t believe you have a boyfriend.”
I couldn’t hold in my frustration. “Shhh. Stop talking about this right now.”
“Nobody heard us,” Lucia said. “It’s okay.”
But it was not okay. Because people had heard—Lucia and Rachel. “No more!”
“Can I ask you a question?” Angelina whispered. Her voice sounded sad and filled with regret.
“I guess,” I huffed.
“What’s girl code?” she asked.
That was when Lucia, Rachel, Ava, and I all gasped in disbelief. We knew Angelina was clueless when it came to clothes and trends. But we had no idea she was clueless when it came to girl code.
“Girl code is the bond by which we live,” Ava said as she smoothed her hair and sat up very straight.
“It means friends are more important than anything,” Lucia said.
“It means we treat each other like sisters,” Rachel said. “And we keep each others’ secrets.”
“Also,” Ava said, “we don’t crush on the same guy.”
“Oh,” Angelina said. “That sounds reasonable. I can do that.”
Knowing what I knew, I really hoped she could.
It startled me to hear a crunching sound. But when I looked up, I saw my mom in her bathrobe walking across the lawn toward us.
“You’re sure you want to stay out all night?” she asked.
“Totally,” I said. Because that was the only way Todd and Jagger could crash our pj party.
“If you want to come inside for any reason, use this flashlight.” She handed me a mini light that she’d given me to take camping.
I tucked it inside my sleeping bag.
“So when are Todd and Jagger coming?” Angelina asked.
“Shhh,” I said. My mom wasn’t even back inside the house yet. “Don’t ruin this for us.”
“Yeah,” Ava said. “Zip it.”
“Sorry,” Angelina said. “I didn’t realize I was being loud.”
“Well, you were,” Ava said.
“Okay. Let’s drop this and look at the stars,” Lucia said.
I thought that was a pretty good idea. After settling into our sleeping bags, we stared up into the sky.
“Is it weird that I see squids when I do this?” Rachel asked.
“No,” I said. I didn’t want Rachel to think she was weird.
“There’s Ursa Major. And there’s the North Star. And I think that’s Venus,” Lucia said.
It was a dark and cloudless night in Santa Fe and the stars shone brightly. I concentrated on the tip of Lucia’s pointer finger. All the smaller stars winked at us while we hunted for the famous ones.
“How did you learn all the names of the stars and where to find them?” Angelina asked.
“My dad told me,” Lucia said. “We stargaze all the time. We think it’s fun to look for nebulae together.”
Angelina didn’t ask any follow-up questions. And the silence that followed while we stared into the starry sky made me feel a little bit sad for my cousin.
8
I was very lucky that Todd Romero and Jagger Evenson were so sneaky. Under the cover of darkness, late in the night, they crawled beneath the trampoline and lay in the grass. Todd reached up with his finger and poked the mesh near my face.
“I’m here,” Todd whispered.
“Hey,” Jagger said.
I couldn’t believe I’d fallen asleep. I’d been so excited that they were going to sneak over that I’d tried to stay up as long as I could. But at some point I’d surrendered to sleep while staring at the dark sky filled with sparkling stars, and conked out.
“Hi,” Angelina
Rachel giggled again. This was awful. I didn’t wantmy friends to know that I dreamed about Todd Romero splashing me!
That was when Ava stood up for me. She aimed her finger at Angelina and shook it in her face. “It’s rude to repeat what people say in their dreams. I mean, it’s totally against girl code.”
Angelina lowered her head like she felt bad and apologetic. “I didn’t mean to be rude. I just can’t believe you have a boyfriend.”
I couldn’t hold in my frustration. “Shhh. Stop talking about this right now.”
“Nobody heard us,” Lucia said. “It’s okay.”
But it was not okay. Because people had heard—Lucia and Rachel. “No more!”
“Can I ask you a question?” Angelina whispered. Her voice sounded sad and filled with regret.
“I guess,” I huffed.
“What’s girl code?” she asked.
That was when Lucia, Rachel, Ava, and I all gasped in disbelief. We knew Angelina was clueless when it came to clothes and trends. But we had no idea she was clueless when it came to girl code.
“Girl code is the bond by which we live,” Ava said as she smoothed her hair and sat up very straight.
“It means friends are more important than anything,” Lucia said.
“It means we treat each other like sisters,” Rachel said. “And we keep each others’ secrets.”
“Also,” Ava said, “we don’t crush on the same guy.”
“Oh,” Angelina said. “That sounds reasonable. I can do that.”
Knowing what I knew, I really hoped she could.
It startled me to hear a crunching sound. But when I looked up, I saw my mom in her bathrobe walking across the lawn toward us.
“You’re sure you want to stay out all night?” she asked.
“Totally,” I said. Because that was the only way Todd and Jagger could crash our pj party.
“If you want to come inside for any reason, use this flashlight.” She handed me a mini light that she’d given me to take camping.
I tucked it inside my sleeping bag.
“So when are Todd and Jagger coming?” Angelina asked.
“Shhh,” I said. My mom wasn’t even back inside the house yet. “Don’t ruin this for us.”
“Yeah,” Ava said. “Zip it.”
“Sorry,” Angelina said. “I didn’t realize I was being loud.”
“Well, you were,” Ava said.
“Okay. Let’s drop this and look at the stars,” Lucia said.
I thought that was a pretty good idea. After settling into our sleeping bags, we stared up into the sky.
“Is it weird that I see squids when I do this?” Rachel asked.
“No,” I said. I didn’t want Rachel to think she was weird.
“There’s Ursa Major. And there’s the North Star. And I think that’s Venus,” Lucia said.
It was a dark and cloudless night in Santa Fe and the stars shone brightly. I concentrated on the tip of Lucia’s pointer finger. All the smaller stars winked at us while we hunted for the famous ones.
“How did you learn all the names of the stars and where to find them?” Angelina asked.
“My dad told me,” Lucia said. “We stargaze all the time. We think it’s fun to look for nebulae together.”
Angelina didn’t ask any follow-up questions. And the silence that followed while we stared into the starry sky made me feel a little bit sad for my cousin.
8
I was very lucky that Todd Romero and Jagger Evenson were so sneaky. Under the cover of darkness, late in the night, they crawled beneath the trampoline and lay in the grass. Todd reached up with his finger and poked the mesh near my face.
“I’m here,” Todd whispered.
“Hey,” Jagger said.
I couldn’t believe I’d fallen asleep. I’d been so excited that they were going to sneak over that I’d tried to stay up as long as I could. But at some point I’d surrendered to sleep while staring at the dark sky filled with sparkling stars, and conked out.
“Hi,” Angelina
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