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“You’re not spending the day playing tonsil hockey with Wes?” Anna asked.

“Tonsil hockey?” I frowned as Anna and Cress both laughed. Anna really had a way with words sometimes. “No, I’m not playing tonsil hockey with Wes. He’s off campus rowing today.”

“Oh yeah,” Anna said. “I think I remember him mentioning that. Damn, it’s a shame the regatta isn’t here. I do love me some buff boys in rowing uniforms.”

“Of course, you do.” Cress giggled.

“If it makes you feel any better, Wes told me the school’s hosting a regatta here next weekend,” I said. “You’ll be able to see plenty of rowing boys then.”

“Really?” Anna sat up, and her eyes started to sparkle with excitement. “It’s like all my Christmases come at once.”

“You have a strange idea of Christmas,” I said.

“You say that now, but just wait. It’s going to be a hot guy present fest.”

“Is the uniform really that good, Cress?”

“It can be.” She looked thoughtful as though she was remembering regattas of the past. “It’s pretty formfitting, so it depends if the guy has the body to wear it or not.”

“And Wes totally has the body.” Anna nudged me with her shoulder.

Blood rushed to my cheeks, so I ignored her and continued to focus on Cress. “So, why were you asking about my plans for today?”

Thankfully she chose to answer me rather than point out my glowing red face. “Oh, I was hoping for a favor,” she said. “The dance team is painting our booth for the Halloween carnival today, and I thought I could convince you to come give us a hand. Anna’s already agreed to help, and there will be good tunes and pizza…”

“You had me at pizza,” I replied with a smile.

She beamed in response and clapped her hands. “Thanks, Isobel. You’re the best.”

“It’s no problem at all.” It sounded way more enjoyable than being holed up in my room all day doing homework. Plus, I’d been too nervous about my driving lesson to eat breakfast this morning, so I was starved.

“Okay, so, I need to go into town to grab the pizzas, and I want to pop by the shops to get some snacks too. Do you guys want to come?”

“Definitely,” Anna said. “It’s been forever since I’ve been to the supermarket, and my deodorant has been spraying nothing but air for about a week now.”

“Huh, I thought you smelled more than normal,” Cress said.

Anna poked her tongue out.

Cress turned to me. “How about you, Isobel?”

“As long as I don’t have to drive, I’m down.”

The girls both laughed.

“No, you don’t have to drive,” Cress said as she grabbed her car keys.

The three of us headed into town and stopped at the supermarket first. Anna insisted she needed to ride in the shopping cart, and Cress and I took turns pushing her around the shop. We loaded the cart up with so many snacks that only Anna’s head and arms were poking out from under the mountain of food.

“Don’t forget my deodorant,” Anna said. “You guys are going to have to choose one for me because I’m buried.”

“You were the one who insisted on being in the cart,” Cress said.

“Yeah, because that’s where all the tasty snacks belong.”

Cress and I groaned.

“Do you think she’ll ever be less arrogant?” Cress asked.