Ethan and I left the kitchen and joined our friends at the table by the front window. Andres, I saw, had already polished off a banana split. I laughed and rolled my eyes at him, and within seconds, I felt the in-sync-ness of our group again. Phew. Back to normalcy.
“Okay, peeps, we have a new mission,” Tilly announced. “Find Lanz a date.”
Or not.
“Tilly, per favore—” Lanz laughed, his cheeks flushing.
I coughed. “What?”
Tilly stared at each of us in turn, as if she couldn’t believe we could be so oblivious. “For the school’s spring carnival? It’s in two weeks. We go with dates, ergo, Lanz needs a date.”
“Va bene, Tilly. I am fine without a date.” Lanz met my eyes for a millisecond and then he looked away. “I don’t even know what this spring carnival is.”
“Basically a school-wide beach party,” Andres said as he dove into a second sundae. “It’s at the Marina Springs pier. There are games and rides. A surfing contest. It’s a blast.”
“Except when you’re stuck scooping ice cream,” I said. “I have to work the Once upon a Scoop booth.”
“Not this year,” Tilly said. “Don’t even think about ditching us. You talk to your mom, or I will.”
I swear, if Mom hadn’t just disappeared into the kitchen, Tilly would’ve already started in on her.
“I’ll talk to Mom, but I’m not holding my breath.” I hated watching the carnival from the sidelines, but with Mom’s stress level in the red zone, I didn’t have much hope of her relenting. “If I don’t go, then Ethan and Lanz can hang out, and Lanz won’t need a date.” I felt a mysterious relief as I said it.
“But … Tilly’s right,” Lanz said. “You should come, Malie.”
“See?” Tilly nudged me. “It’s unanimous. You’re coming. So. Lanz. Date.” She scanned the parlor, looking for prospective candidates among the dozen or so kids from school hanging out there. It was a cloudless day with record-breaking heat, and it seemed like half the town had decided to head for the beach. Of course, everyone was getting ice cream first.
“I know somebody,” Ethan said. “Eve Hunter. She’s one of the Invention Convention kids. She’s great—funny, smart.” He turned to Lanz. “I can introduce you.”
“I didn’t know you knew Eve.” I glanced at Ethan in surprise. “She’s in my bio class.”
Ethan shrugged. “Sometimes we’re in the lab at the same time. Anyway, Lanz, what do you say?”
“If Lanz said he doesn’t want a date, he doesn’t want one,” I said. “Don’t push him into it.” Every eye at the table turned to me, questioning. Why had I just said that? What was it to me if Lanz asked someone to the carnival? I wished that somebody would change the subject. This whole date confab was getting on my nerves.
A second later, Lanz broke the silence. “Sì. Yes, I will meet this Eve. If she likes, I will take her to the carnival. Only … there is a problem. What if she doesn’t want to go with me?”
“She will,” we all said together. We’d all seen the way girls looked at Lanz as they passed him in school. Even now there was a group of girls eyeing him over their milk shakes, giggling and whispering to each other. His personality and his smile were infectious, and he had the accent working in his favor. There wasn’t a single girl who would’ve said no to Lanz Benucci.
My stomach flipped at the thought. I stood suddenly. “You guys figure it out. I have to get some toppings from the kitchen.”
Ethan stood, too, giving me a peck on the cheek. “I’m heading out. Lanz, I’ll introduce you to Eve on Monday.”
Lanz nodded. “Grazie.”
As I walked to the kitchen, Tilly dropped into step beside me, her eagle eyes scoping my face.
“Spill it.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said lightly.
“What was that weirdness over the whole Lanz-bringing-a-date thing?” She stuck her hand on her hip. The goddess braids crowning her head added to her no-nonsense demeanor. “We’re talking about the carnival, not an arranged marriage.”
“I was not being weird!” I protested as I poured fresh blueberries into a metal display bin. “I just think it’s ridiculous to force him to ask somebody. I mean, if there was a girl he was interested in … fine. But shouldn’t it happen more … organically?”
Tilly snorted. “Look who’s talking. If Andres and I hadn’t coupled up, you and Ethan never would’ve gotten together. Your first kiss only happened because you guys got so bored watching us kiss.” As if on cue, Andres snuck up behind Tilly and tickled her waist. She squealed and ducked away from him.
I stiffened. “It wasn’t that predictable.” Only … had it been? I remembered the awkwardness I’d felt when Tilly and Andres had taken their friendship to the flirt level, and how many times Ethan and I had ended up as a twosome, more by default than by chemistry.
“All I’m saying,” Tilly went on, “is that you two didn’t happen organically, but look how it turned out. You’re two peas in a pod. You couldn’t be any more alike if you tried.”
I felt oddly unsettled by her words. The way she described Ethan and me, our relationship sounded about as exciting as a pair of worn socks. Was that the way it was supposed to be? Ethan was my first and only boyfriend, so I didn’t have much else to go on. Except for Tilly and Andres. I glanced at them now. Andres had his arm slung loosely around Tilly’s shoulder while she scrolled through her phone. He smiled down at her in this half-adoring, half-amused way. Every few seconds, she’d nudge him playfully with her shoulder.
“You’re right. He should ask someone.” I said it partially because I wanted the conversation to be over, and
