You’re Invited Too (14 page)

I nod.

“No more calls from the police. Ever,” Dad adds.

“Of course,” I say. As if I'd ever want to relive
that
again. “So . . . what exactly does this grounding mean?” I ask carefully. I need to text Sadie and find out how everything went with her mom.

“No cell phone, no computer, no TV for a week,” Mom recites as if she's said this a hundred times before. Which she probably has, for my brothers. “You go to school and the marina, and then you come straight home. And definitely no driving that golf cart. We'll have to discuss
that
later.”

“But how will I talk to my friends about RSVP stuff? And my day planner.”

“They can call you the old-fashioned way.” Dad points to the (boat-shaped) landline phone resting on a side table. “Or you can talk to them at school. We'll print out your planner.”

“How will I do my homework? I need my laptop for that.” This grounding thing is lot a more complicated than I thought it would be.

“We have a perfectly fine computer in the kitchen you can use,” Mom says.

I cringe. That computer is so ancient, I could take a shower in the amount of time it takes to boot up. “What about Halloween?”

Dad frowns, and I know he's thinking twice about making me miss Halloween. Not only is there trick-or-treating—which I admit I'm getting a little too old for—but there's a party at the pavilion by the beach, complete with a costume contest, a monster-mash dance, and even bobbing for apples. It's like Charlie Brown's Halloween come to life. And Becca's parents lead a ghost tour of all the supposedly haunted places on the island. Which is
not
something I'd be attending (I don't do ghosts), but still.

“Lauren?” Mom asks. “Did you hear me? No Halloween.”

I nod. “Can I call Sadie? I want to make sure she's okay.”

“Not right now,” Dad says. “I'm sure she's fine, and she's probably having the same talk with her mom.”

“And the house phone is
only
to be used for your business,” Mom says. “Not for chitchatting with your friends.”

As if I “chitchat.” Okay, maybe I do. Sometimes. But not anymore. Chitchatting Lauren is going the same way as dancing Lauren and video-game-playing Lauren. I suppose I deserve it, though. Besides having to use the dinosaur computer and losing my phone, this grounding thing's not so bad, though. With my new focus on the things that matter, I won't be watching TV anyway. And the only places I need to go are to school and the marina. I'm sure my friends can cover any business-related trips for a week.

“Will you call Becca's mom and let her know that Sadie and I aren't coming back to the party?” I ask. Mostly, I don't want Becca and Vi to worry about us.

“Already done,” Mom says.

“I feel as if we should say this will never happen again,” Dad says.

“Of course it won't,” I reply.

“Right,” he says.

Mom and Dad follow me upstairs to collect my computer. I delete all of the “fun” reminders from my phone and hand that over to them too. After they leave, I drop onto my bed and stare at the ceiling. It's white, like the rest of my room. And there's not a single boat-related thing in here. It's like my refuge from my family.

After everything that's happened tonight, I feel weirdly calm. Almost good, actually. Like maybe I was trying to do too much before. And now that I've decided to cut out all of the unnecessary stuff, I'll have more time what's important—school and getting into the right college.

Nothing else.

Rank each item on a scale from one to five hearts

(one heart is “blech” and five hearts is “super scrumptious!”)

Name:
Vi

Cake Flavor:
dark chocolate peanut butter

Appearance:
Like it just came from a fancy bakery in New York.

Texture:
Kind of crumbly. (Texture can make or break a cake!)

Flavor:
I need to get this recipe & add something to make it less crumbly. Pudding, maybe? Or applesauce?

Overall:
YES!!!!!!! (But fix the crumbles.)

Name:
Sadie

Cake Flavor:
carrot

Appearance:
Sooo pretty with the curled shredded carrot bits on top.

Texture:
Spongy, which is weird but pretty good actually.

Flavor:
I didn't expect the icing to be cream cheese! But it was still good.

Overall:
I think this might not be the best choice for a wedding because it's not universally loved. Might be more practical to go with chocolate, which is a total crowd pleaser.

Name:
Becca

Cake Flavor:
raspberry lemon

Appearance:
Looks delectable.

Texture:
OUCH!

Flavor:
OUCH!

Overall:
DOUBLE OUCH!!!!!

Name:
Lauren

Cake Flavor:
Boo. We miss Lauren. Xoxo, Becca