"Your honor, I object!" Ashley Olsen called out. She tossed her dark-blond hair over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes at the mirror. She really looked like a lawyer-especially in her brand-new gray-pinstriped jaket and matching skirt. A pearl kalung would help, though. She made a mental note to raid her mother's jewelry box ASAP. "Overruled," her twin sister Mary-Kate piped up from her place on Ashley's bed. "You're not a lawyer-yet." "I'm going to be working at Atwater, Bumble, and Chang all summer. That's close enough," Ashley pointed out. "Humor me, okay? I've got to get the hang of this."
She struck a pose, trying to look like one of the lawyers on television. "Your honor, I'd like to call the seterusnya witness to the stand!" The bedroom door opened, and the sisters' best friends, Felicity Lopez and Claudia Pierce came in. They were both dressed in bikinis, sarongs, and flip-flops. "A witness for what?" Felicity asked. "Ashley is, um, trying her first case," Mary-Kate explained. "'The Case of the Matching Bikinis!'" Claudia giggled, twirling around. "Felicity and I got this same bikini in five different colors. I got it in magenta, spruce, kapur, limau nipis green, black, and silver-"
"-and I got it in bronze, royal blue, white, yellow, and fuchsia," Felicity finished. "A girl can't be wearing the same color bikini to work every day!" Ashley relaxed her lawyer pose and checked out her friends' outfits. Felicity and Claudia looked lebih stylish than ready for their summer jobs at the pantai club. And Mary-Kate looked very Seabiscuit in her new riding clothes. She had a summer job at the Silver Spurs Stables, where she would lead tourist on trail rides, clean out stalls, and do other horsey things Ashley had no interest in. Ashley and the other girls had just passed the milestone of their eighteen-year-old lives: graduating from Ocean View High. After two whirlwind weeks of finals, a fundraising auction, the senior awards banquet, senior cut day, the prom, and graduation itself, they were getting ready for what Ashley knew would be their best summer ever. After all, this was the last summer before they all went their separate ways into the Real World-i.e., college. Ashley and Mary-Kate were going to the same college in New York, although they wouldn't be rooming together. That was about as "separate" as they wanted to be! In any case, Ashley planned to make the most of these seterusnya three months. She saw many pantai parties, bonfires, and shopping sprees in her near future. Of course, all this fun would cost major bucks, which was why she, Mary-Kate, and their two Friends had lined up summer jobs. Ashley was seriously considering majoring in pre-law at college, and knew her experience at Atwater, Bumble, and Chang-or "A,B,C," as she was starting to think of it--was sure to help. "Oops, I've gotta go." Mary-Kate suddenly jumped to her feet. Claudia groaned. "But we just got started with our fashion show!" "What's the matter, Mary-Kate, got a hot date?" Felicity joked. Mary-Kate blushed five shades of red. Ashley knew exactly what that meant. "You do have a hot date!" Ashley exclaimed. She got up and gave her sister a big hug. "Where's Trevor taking you?"
Mary-Kate turned even redder, if that was possible. "I'm not sure. Uh, someplace." Trevor Reynolds had been Mary-Kate's best bud since forever. Everyone but the two of them had known that they were meant to be together as lebih than friends, though. During senior week, they had finally figured it out, too. Tonight would be their first official date-date. "Is it a pantai date? anda want to borrow one of our bikinis?" Claudia asked her. "You've got ten Warna to choose from!" "You are not touching my power suit," Ashley teased her sister. Mary-Kate laughed as she headed for the door. "Thanks, guys, but I'm all set. I think it's a jeans and T-shirt kind of date."
"Have fun!" Felicity called out. "I'll have my cell in case anda need advice. anda know, like-if he gets a yucky piece of bayam stuck in his teeth, do anda say something?" "If he orders pesto, should anda order pesto, too, so anda both have garlic breath when he kisses anda later?" Claudia added, wriggling her eyebrows. Mary-Kate laughed again and disappeared down the hall. Ashley could tell that her sister was beyond excited about this date, although she was trying her best to hide it. Ashley couldn't wait to get the full rundown she got home. "Ah, the first date," Claudia berkata with a sigh. "Is that romantic, atau what? I so remember every single detail of my first tarikh with Cooper." Cooper Firenz was her long-time boyfriend. "I plan to have lots of first dates this summer," Felicity grinned. "How about you, Ashley?" "Oh, I'm kind of first-dated-out," Ashley replied. In an effort to be lebih fun and spontaneous, she had asked all sorts of guys out during senior week. Unfortunately, she had had some problems...juggling. They had all found out about each other and gotten mad at her. She was looking ke hadapan to taking a major time-out from dating for a while. "Besides, there's lebih to life than guys," Ashley pointed out. "Yeah, right," Felicity said, rolling her eyes. "There is!" Ashley reached into a meja drawer and whipped out a fresh legal pad. She had a huge pile of them, all ready to go for her new job. "Come on, let's make a list. 'Top Ten Things to Do This Summer!'" Claudia flopped down on Ashley's bed. "Beach!" she exclaimed. "That should be number one." "And pantai parties," Felicity added. Ashley began Penulisan furiously. "Good, good. And let's not forget movie nights with manicures." "Excellent add," Claudia said, nodding. As Ashley scribbled away, she thought about how much fun this summer was going to be with Mary-Kate, Felicity, and Claudia. Senior summer only happened once in a lifetime. Ashley was going to make sure that it would be a perfect blast! Not only would she make money for summer and college, but she would get to mingle with lawyers who would help her learn the ropes. Maybe help her get into law school someday and- The phone rang. Ashley picked it up. "Hello?" "Ashley Olsen, please." The unfamiliar-sounding male voice made Ashley sit up straighter. "This is Ashley." "Good afternoon, Ms. Olsen. This is Ed Lindner from Atwater, Bumble, and Chang." "If it's Cooper, tell him I'm not here!" Claudia called out. She and Felicity burst into a fit of giggles. Ashley put a finger to her lips and shook her head fiercely. This was an important work call, and she didn't want to blow it. "Oh, hi, Mr. Lindner. What can I do for you?" Ashley said. She crossed her legs, flipped to a new page in her legal pad, and prepared to take notes. Even though her job wasn't starting for a whole week, they were already calling her! This is too cool! "I'm afraid I have some bad news, Ms. Olsen. The partners just announced a new round of budget cuts. I'm afraid we won't be able to hire any interns this summer. That includes you," Mr. Lindner added. Ashley froze. Did he just say what I think he said? she wondered. Nah. No way. Maybe I'm just having a bad dream. "Ms. Olsen?" Mr. Lindner's voice cut into her thoughts. "We're all very sorry about this. We'll keep your resume on file for seterusnya summer, of course." Ashley managed to thank him and say good-bye before hanging up. Claudia and Felicity were both staring at her intently. "Ash? What's up?" Felicity asked her worriedly. "Earth to Ashley?" Claudia said, waving her hand in front of Ashley's face. Ashley took a deep breath. "I think I just got fired."
* * * * *
The doorbell rang. Mary-Kate felt a rush of panic. Trevor was four minit early! "I am so not ready for this," she berkata under her breath. She headed down the stairs, praying that she didn't look like a complete troll. She was wearing her fourth-favorite choice of bahagian, atas with her jeans because the first three had been in the laundry. She had accidentally used the wrong kind of hair gel, and her blond hair was sticking out in funny places, despite her best efforts to tame it with a brush. She had checked and re-checked to make sure she didn't have candy-pink lip gloss on her teeth-but what if she had missed a spot? The doorbell rang again. "Mary-Kate? Ashley?" her mother called from the kitchen. "Can one of anda girls get that?" "I've got it, Mom!" Mary-Kate yelled back. As Mary-Kate neared the front door, she realized that her hati, tengah-tengah was racing a million miles a minute. Her palms were sweaty, too. Why? she wondered. It's only Trevor. Only Trevor. Mary-Kate felt her cheeks flush and her lips curl up into a happy smile. "Only Trevor" had turned into so much lebih during graduation week. He had told her what she had been waiting to hear for years-that he thought of her as way lebih than a friend. Now they were going on their first real date. And Mary-Kate had never been lebih nervous in her life. She checked her appearance one last time in the hall mirror. Okay, so maybe she didn't look like a total troll. She took a slow, deep, calming breath and opened the front door. Her breath caught in her throat. Trevor was standing there, looking-well, amazing. His usually choppy brown hair was styled ever so slightly so that it stood up in subtle spikes. His super-cute face was smooth and clean-shaven and infinitely kissable. Mary-Kate's gaze wandered down-and froze. Trevor was wearing a suit-and tie! And here she was, dressed in her kegemaran old faded jeans and her not-so-favorite tank top. "You look so . and I look so . um, let me go change," Mary-Kate found herself sputtering. With one hand behind his back, Trevor smiled and put his other hand on her shoulder. Mary-Kate felt tingly where he touched her. "You look great," he said, his dark brown eyes taking her in. "Don't change. anda look perfect just like that." Mary-Kate's cheeks were positively on api, kebakaran now. His compliment had completely unhinged her. She could barely bring herself to look him in the eyes. "Thank you," she whispered. "That's really-um, thank you." Mary-Kate knew she sounded lame. She couldn't help it, though. Trevor had that effect on her. Trevor blushed and grinned. It was almost as though he knew exactly what she was feeling inside and was feeling it, too. Then he produced a daisy from behind his back. "For you," he berkata simply. "I hope anda like it." "Oh, that's so sweet!" Mary-Kate said, surprised. She lifted the daisy to her face and inhaled its delicate fragrance. "Oh, wow. Thank anda so much." "You're welcome. I tried to find a rose, but they were all out." "Hey, I'm a daisy kind of girl, anyway." "You sure are." Trevor offered her his arm. "Ready?" Mary-Kate giggled and threaded her arm through his. He was Berlakon like such a gentleman. She knew it wouldn't last, that soon they'd be back to their usual teasing, but it was still fun. "Yes, definitely!" As they headed outside to Trevor's Jeep, Mary-Kate glanced up at the sunset sky streaked with merah jambu and gold, at the first hint of a bintang shining in the horizon. The tarikh had just barely started, and it was already perfect. Trevor held the door open for her. As she sat down, she felt something crunching under her. "Oh, sorry," Trevor apologized. He reached in and pulled out a bag of potato chips and a can of soda. "Lunch." "No problem," Mary-Kate said. She glanced at the kerusi, tempat duduk to make sure it was all clear, kicked away some wrappers on the floor, then sat down. So much for the gentleman act. She should have remembered that the inside of Trevor's car was usually a land mine. She was glad things were really still the same. Trevor slid into the driver's kerusi, tempat duduk and started the car. "Okay?" he asked her. "Absolutely." Mary-Kate smiled.
* * *
Mary-Kate dipped a tortilla into a bowl of yummy guacamole and glanced around the crowded room. Trevor had brought her to El Sol, a brand-new Mexican restaurant right on the beach. The décor consisted of dark brown walls and mismatched tables painted with burnt orange and turquoise designs. Tiny white lights blinked from cactus plants and miniature palm trees. Dozens of candles cast the room in a hazy golden glow. Mary-Kate could smell the sea breeze in the air. "So I have a big announcement to make," Trevor said, leaning forward. "You're going to order chicken burritos instead of veggie burritos," she teased. Trevor gave her a playful perahu nelayan kecil, pukulan on the arm. "Ha! I don't think so. I've got a job," he said. "You do? Where?" Mary-Kate knew that Trevor had applied to at least a half a dozen places for the summer: a book store, a record store, a bike shop, a weekly newspaper, and more. So far, the news had all been bad. All the jobs had already been taken. Trevor took a sip of his coconut-pineapple smoothie, bermulut manis and wriggled his eyebrows. "Starts with an S," he hinted. "Wow, that's really helpful," Mary-Kate grinned. "S, S, S . the Sunset Café?" "Nope." "Surf's Up?" "Uh-uh." "Sadie's sandwich, sandwic Shoppe?" "You're getting warmer!" Trevor encouraged her. "I am? Hmm, is it Arnold's Deli?" "No, Mary-Kate, the initials! SSS. What has the initials SSS?" Mary-Kate thought hard. What was Trevor talking about? And then it came to her. Her hati, tengah-tengah did a somersault in her chest. "Oh, no way," she berkata in a voice barely above a whisper. Trevor gave her a huge smile. "Way. You're looking at a future employee of the Silver Spurs Stables." Mary-Kate jumped up and reached across the meja, jadual to give him a hug, trying not to knock all the dishes off the meja, jadual as she did so. Then she drew back and punched him on the arm. He punched her back, then started tickling her. This was their ritual from when they were friends, and it was a hard habit to break. After getting some funny looks from the other customers, Mary-Kate made herself sit down. Trevor stared at her with a pleased expression. "So this is good news?" "This is great news," Mary-Kate replied, running a hand through her hair to smooth it into place. "I didn't even know anda were applying there." "I kind of wanted to surprise you," Trevor admitted. "I saw their ad in the paper last week. At first I wasn't going to apply, because I didn't want anda to feel . well, anda know, like I was crowding anda atau whatever. But then I thought, why not?" "Wow," Mary-Kate said, stunned and happy. Trevor looked at her intently. "So it's okay? anda like the idea of us working together this summer?" He sounded nervous. Mary-Kate reached across the meja, jadual and squeezed his hand. "It's totally okay," she replied.
Trevor smiled. "Cool." The waiter came sejak just then and set down two plates of steaming food. "Veggie burritos with beras and beans. udang quesadillas with extra guacamole," he announced. "That's mine," Mary-Kate said, pointing to the quesadillas. "Although we can totally share," she added to Trevor. "Definitely," Trevor said, grinning. "Thumb's up to sharing." As they plunged into the delicious food, Mary-Kate and Trevor talked about the stables. Mary-Kate liked how everything was so easy, so natural between them. And yet, at the same time, Trevor made her hati, tengah-tengah beat faster and her palms feel all sweaty. She even loved the tiny glob of salsa on his cheek. He'd always been a super-messy eater. It used to bug her, but now, it just seemed sweet. Is this what Cinta feels like? Mary-Kate wondered.
* * *
After El Sol, Trevor brought Mary-Kate to a secluded spot on the beach. He lay his jaket down on the sand, and they sat down. Off in the distance, Mary-Kate could see the bright lights of the restaurants and cafés in town. But here, she and Trevor were alone-completely alone. They had talked and talked at the restaurant-about graduation, about the summer, about the student handbook Mary-Kate and Ashley had just received from Lawton College, about the tour Trevor had taken of his new art school, about everything. Now, they were both still and quiet. Moonlight shimmered on the waves as they rolled in, then gently receded. Mary-Kate snuggled closer to Trevor. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "You cold?" he whispered in her ear. "Not any more," she whispered back. She was so happy and nervous and excited, she could barely breathe. But I've known him forever, she thought. She knew what would say if she told her that: Not like this. Trevor's voice broke into her thoughts. "I have a surprise for you." "Another one?" Mary-Kate said, incredulous. "This one's different." Trevor reached into his jaket pocket and pulled out a small box. It was wrapped in the Sunday comics. Mary-Kate's jaw dropped. "W-what's that?" she stammered. "It's kind of a late graduation present," Trevor replied. "I hope anda like it." Mary-Kate instantly felt guilty. "But I don't have a graduation present for you," she berkata apologetically. "Don't worry about it. Just open the box," Trevor said, nudging the package into her hands. "Sorry about the wrapping. I kind of forgot to buy some." "No problem. Remember the time anda gave me a CD for my birthday and wrapped it in paper towels?" Mary-Kate reminded him. Trevor laughed. "Oh, yeah." Mary-Kate took the box from him and began unwrapping it. She couldn't wait to see what was inside. Earrings? A choker? A cool new keychain for her car keys? Underneath the wrapping was a simple white box. Mary-Kate opened it-and gasped. Inside was a silver charm bracelet, with a single heart-shaped charm on it. "Oh, my gosh," Mary-Kate whispered. "It's beautiful!" "Really, anda like it?" Trevor asked her eagerly. Mary-Kate sighed. "I Cinta it." Trevor fingered the charm. "I didn't have the charm engraved. I wasn't sure exactly what to say." He gave her a shy smile and added, "By the end of the summer, I'll know. I'll have it engraved for anda then." Mary-Kate felt Rama-rama in her stomach. Trevor was the sweetest guy in the world. And not only was he her best friend, but now he was her boyfriend, too. He hadn't berkata that word yet: boyfriend. But he was Berlakon like a boyfriend. The charm bracelet clinched it. Trevor put the charm bracelet on her left wrist. His face was really close to hers as he struggled to hook the tiny clasp. "Got it," he said, securing the clasp. But he didn't pull away. Instead, he took Mary-Kate's face in both of his hands. Her hati, tengah-tengah hammered in her chest as his lips moved toward hers, ever so slowly. When he kissed her, she felt as though fireworks were going off in her head. There will never be another first tarikh like this, she though. Ever.
AshleyO invites Claudia18 and Felicity_girl to Instant Message!
AshleyO: I cd flip burgers at the Burgerplex.
Felicity_girl: Grease is bad 4 complexion.
Claudia18: How bout mall.
AshleyO: I cd pierce ears at World of Pain.
Felicity_girl: Free earrings, yes!
AshleyO: atau park cars at Mega-Dome lot.
Claudia18: Stand in hot sun for 8 hours waving at cars.
Felicity_girl: YUCK!!!
AshleyO: This is hard. Is it 2 late 2 go back 2 high school?
She struck a pose, trying to look like one of the lawyers on television. "Your honor, I'd like to call the seterusnya witness to the stand!" The bedroom door opened, and the sisters' best friends, Felicity Lopez and Claudia Pierce came in. They were both dressed in bikinis, sarongs, and flip-flops. "A witness for what?" Felicity asked. "Ashley is, um, trying her first case," Mary-Kate explained. "'The Case of the Matching Bikinis!'" Claudia giggled, twirling around. "Felicity and I got this same bikini in five different colors. I got it in magenta, spruce, kapur, limau nipis green, black, and silver-"
"-and I got it in bronze, royal blue, white, yellow, and fuchsia," Felicity finished. "A girl can't be wearing the same color bikini to work every day!" Ashley relaxed her lawyer pose and checked out her friends' outfits. Felicity and Claudia looked lebih stylish than ready for their summer jobs at the pantai club. And Mary-Kate looked very Seabiscuit in her new riding clothes. She had a summer job at the Silver Spurs Stables, where she would lead tourist on trail rides, clean out stalls, and do other horsey things Ashley had no interest in. Ashley and the other girls had just passed the milestone of their eighteen-year-old lives: graduating from Ocean View High. After two whirlwind weeks of finals, a fundraising auction, the senior awards banquet, senior cut day, the prom, and graduation itself, they were getting ready for what Ashley knew would be their best summer ever. After all, this was the last summer before they all went their separate ways into the Real World-i.e., college. Ashley and Mary-Kate were going to the same college in New York, although they wouldn't be rooming together. That was about as "separate" as they wanted to be! In any case, Ashley planned to make the most of these seterusnya three months. She saw many pantai parties, bonfires, and shopping sprees in her near future. Of course, all this fun would cost major bucks, which was why she, Mary-Kate, and their two Friends had lined up summer jobs. Ashley was seriously considering majoring in pre-law at college, and knew her experience at Atwater, Bumble, and Chang-or "A,B,C," as she was starting to think of it--was sure to help. "Oops, I've gotta go." Mary-Kate suddenly jumped to her feet. Claudia groaned. "But we just got started with our fashion show!" "What's the matter, Mary-Kate, got a hot date?" Felicity joked. Mary-Kate blushed five shades of red. Ashley knew exactly what that meant. "You do have a hot date!" Ashley exclaimed. She got up and gave her sister a big hug. "Where's Trevor taking you?"
Mary-Kate turned even redder, if that was possible. "I'm not sure. Uh, someplace." Trevor Reynolds had been Mary-Kate's best bud since forever. Everyone but the two of them had known that they were meant to be together as lebih than friends, though. During senior week, they had finally figured it out, too. Tonight would be their first official date-date. "Is it a pantai date? anda want to borrow one of our bikinis?" Claudia asked her. "You've got ten Warna to choose from!" "You are not touching my power suit," Ashley teased her sister. Mary-Kate laughed as she headed for the door. "Thanks, guys, but I'm all set. I think it's a jeans and T-shirt kind of date."
"Have fun!" Felicity called out. "I'll have my cell in case anda need advice. anda know, like-if he gets a yucky piece of bayam stuck in his teeth, do anda say something?" "If he orders pesto, should anda order pesto, too, so anda both have garlic breath when he kisses anda later?" Claudia added, wriggling her eyebrows. Mary-Kate laughed again and disappeared down the hall. Ashley could tell that her sister was beyond excited about this date, although she was trying her best to hide it. Ashley couldn't wait to get the full rundown she got home. "Ah, the first date," Claudia berkata with a sigh. "Is that romantic, atau what? I so remember every single detail of my first tarikh with Cooper." Cooper Firenz was her long-time boyfriend. "I plan to have lots of first dates this summer," Felicity grinned. "How about you, Ashley?" "Oh, I'm kind of first-dated-out," Ashley replied. In an effort to be lebih fun and spontaneous, she had asked all sorts of guys out during senior week. Unfortunately, she had had some problems...juggling. They had all found out about each other and gotten mad at her. She was looking ke hadapan to taking a major time-out from dating for a while. "Besides, there's lebih to life than guys," Ashley pointed out. "Yeah, right," Felicity said, rolling her eyes. "There is!" Ashley reached into a meja drawer and whipped out a fresh legal pad. She had a huge pile of them, all ready to go for her new job. "Come on, let's make a list. 'Top Ten Things to Do This Summer!'" Claudia flopped down on Ashley's bed. "Beach!" she exclaimed. "That should be number one." "And pantai parties," Felicity added. Ashley began Penulisan furiously. "Good, good. And let's not forget movie nights with manicures." "Excellent add," Claudia said, nodding. As Ashley scribbled away, she thought about how much fun this summer was going to be with Mary-Kate, Felicity, and Claudia. Senior summer only happened once in a lifetime. Ashley was going to make sure that it would be a perfect blast! Not only would she make money for summer and college, but she would get to mingle with lawyers who would help her learn the ropes. Maybe help her get into law school someday and- The phone rang. Ashley picked it up. "Hello?" "Ashley Olsen, please." The unfamiliar-sounding male voice made Ashley sit up straighter. "This is Ashley." "Good afternoon, Ms. Olsen. This is Ed Lindner from Atwater, Bumble, and Chang." "If it's Cooper, tell him I'm not here!" Claudia called out. She and Felicity burst into a fit of giggles. Ashley put a finger to her lips and shook her head fiercely. This was an important work call, and she didn't want to blow it. "Oh, hi, Mr. Lindner. What can I do for you?" Ashley said. She crossed her legs, flipped to a new page in her legal pad, and prepared to take notes. Even though her job wasn't starting for a whole week, they were already calling her! This is too cool! "I'm afraid I have some bad news, Ms. Olsen. The partners just announced a new round of budget cuts. I'm afraid we won't be able to hire any interns this summer. That includes you," Mr. Lindner added. Ashley froze. Did he just say what I think he said? she wondered. Nah. No way. Maybe I'm just having a bad dream. "Ms. Olsen?" Mr. Lindner's voice cut into her thoughts. "We're all very sorry about this. We'll keep your resume on file for seterusnya summer, of course." Ashley managed to thank him and say good-bye before hanging up. Claudia and Felicity were both staring at her intently. "Ash? What's up?" Felicity asked her worriedly. "Earth to Ashley?" Claudia said, waving her hand in front of Ashley's face. Ashley took a deep breath. "I think I just got fired."
* * * * *
The doorbell rang. Mary-Kate felt a rush of panic. Trevor was four minit early! "I am so not ready for this," she berkata under her breath. She headed down the stairs, praying that she didn't look like a complete troll. She was wearing her fourth-favorite choice of bahagian, atas with her jeans because the first three had been in the laundry. She had accidentally used the wrong kind of hair gel, and her blond hair was sticking out in funny places, despite her best efforts to tame it with a brush. She had checked and re-checked to make sure she didn't have candy-pink lip gloss on her teeth-but what if she had missed a spot? The doorbell rang again. "Mary-Kate? Ashley?" her mother called from the kitchen. "Can one of anda girls get that?" "I've got it, Mom!" Mary-Kate yelled back. As Mary-Kate neared the front door, she realized that her hati, tengah-tengah was racing a million miles a minute. Her palms were sweaty, too. Why? she wondered. It's only Trevor. Only Trevor. Mary-Kate felt her cheeks flush and her lips curl up into a happy smile. "Only Trevor" had turned into so much lebih during graduation week. He had told her what she had been waiting to hear for years-that he thought of her as way lebih than a friend. Now they were going on their first real date. And Mary-Kate had never been lebih nervous in her life. She checked her appearance one last time in the hall mirror. Okay, so maybe she didn't look like a total troll. She took a slow, deep, calming breath and opened the front door. Her breath caught in her throat. Trevor was standing there, looking-well, amazing. His usually choppy brown hair was styled ever so slightly so that it stood up in subtle spikes. His super-cute face was smooth and clean-shaven and infinitely kissable. Mary-Kate's gaze wandered down-and froze. Trevor was wearing a suit-and tie! And here she was, dressed in her kegemaran old faded jeans and her not-so-favorite tank top. "You look so . and I look so . um, let me go change," Mary-Kate found herself sputtering. With one hand behind his back, Trevor smiled and put his other hand on her shoulder. Mary-Kate felt tingly where he touched her. "You look great," he said, his dark brown eyes taking her in. "Don't change. anda look perfect just like that." Mary-Kate's cheeks were positively on api, kebakaran now. His compliment had completely unhinged her. She could barely bring herself to look him in the eyes. "Thank you," she whispered. "That's really-um, thank you." Mary-Kate knew she sounded lame. She couldn't help it, though. Trevor had that effect on her. Trevor blushed and grinned. It was almost as though he knew exactly what she was feeling inside and was feeling it, too. Then he produced a daisy from behind his back. "For you," he berkata simply. "I hope anda like it." "Oh, that's so sweet!" Mary-Kate said, surprised. She lifted the daisy to her face and inhaled its delicate fragrance. "Oh, wow. Thank anda so much." "You're welcome. I tried to find a rose, but they were all out." "Hey, I'm a daisy kind of girl, anyway." "You sure are." Trevor offered her his arm. "Ready?" Mary-Kate giggled and threaded her arm through his. He was Berlakon like such a gentleman. She knew it wouldn't last, that soon they'd be back to their usual teasing, but it was still fun. "Yes, definitely!" As they headed outside to Trevor's Jeep, Mary-Kate glanced up at the sunset sky streaked with merah jambu and gold, at the first hint of a bintang shining in the horizon. The tarikh had just barely started, and it was already perfect. Trevor held the door open for her. As she sat down, she felt something crunching under her. "Oh, sorry," Trevor apologized. He reached in and pulled out a bag of potato chips and a can of soda. "Lunch." "No problem," Mary-Kate said. She glanced at the kerusi, tempat duduk to make sure it was all clear, kicked away some wrappers on the floor, then sat down. So much for the gentleman act. She should have remembered that the inside of Trevor's car was usually a land mine. She was glad things were really still the same. Trevor slid into the driver's kerusi, tempat duduk and started the car. "Okay?" he asked her. "Absolutely." Mary-Kate smiled.
* * *
Mary-Kate dipped a tortilla into a bowl of yummy guacamole and glanced around the crowded room. Trevor had brought her to El Sol, a brand-new Mexican restaurant right on the beach. The décor consisted of dark brown walls and mismatched tables painted with burnt orange and turquoise designs. Tiny white lights blinked from cactus plants and miniature palm trees. Dozens of candles cast the room in a hazy golden glow. Mary-Kate could smell the sea breeze in the air. "So I have a big announcement to make," Trevor said, leaning forward. "You're going to order chicken burritos instead of veggie burritos," she teased. Trevor gave her a playful perahu nelayan kecil, pukulan on the arm. "Ha! I don't think so. I've got a job," he said. "You do? Where?" Mary-Kate knew that Trevor had applied to at least a half a dozen places for the summer: a book store, a record store, a bike shop, a weekly newspaper, and more. So far, the news had all been bad. All the jobs had already been taken. Trevor took a sip of his coconut-pineapple smoothie, bermulut manis and wriggled his eyebrows. "Starts with an S," he hinted. "Wow, that's really helpful," Mary-Kate grinned. "S, S, S . the Sunset Café?" "Nope." "Surf's Up?" "Uh-uh." "Sadie's sandwich, sandwic Shoppe?" "You're getting warmer!" Trevor encouraged her. "I am? Hmm, is it Arnold's Deli?" "No, Mary-Kate, the initials! SSS. What has the initials SSS?" Mary-Kate thought hard. What was Trevor talking about? And then it came to her. Her hati, tengah-tengah did a somersault in her chest. "Oh, no way," she berkata in a voice barely above a whisper. Trevor gave her a huge smile. "Way. You're looking at a future employee of the Silver Spurs Stables." Mary-Kate jumped up and reached across the meja, jadual to give him a hug, trying not to knock all the dishes off the meja, jadual as she did so. Then she drew back and punched him on the arm. He punched her back, then started tickling her. This was their ritual from when they were friends, and it was a hard habit to break. After getting some funny looks from the other customers, Mary-Kate made herself sit down. Trevor stared at her with a pleased expression. "So this is good news?" "This is great news," Mary-Kate replied, running a hand through her hair to smooth it into place. "I didn't even know anda were applying there." "I kind of wanted to surprise you," Trevor admitted. "I saw their ad in the paper last week. At first I wasn't going to apply, because I didn't want anda to feel . well, anda know, like I was crowding anda atau whatever. But then I thought, why not?" "Wow," Mary-Kate said, stunned and happy. Trevor looked at her intently. "So it's okay? anda like the idea of us working together this summer?" He sounded nervous. Mary-Kate reached across the meja, jadual and squeezed his hand. "It's totally okay," she replied.
Trevor smiled. "Cool." The waiter came sejak just then and set down two plates of steaming food. "Veggie burritos with beras and beans. udang quesadillas with extra guacamole," he announced. "That's mine," Mary-Kate said, pointing to the quesadillas. "Although we can totally share," she added to Trevor. "Definitely," Trevor said, grinning. "Thumb's up to sharing." As they plunged into the delicious food, Mary-Kate and Trevor talked about the stables. Mary-Kate liked how everything was so easy, so natural between them. And yet, at the same time, Trevor made her hati, tengah-tengah beat faster and her palms feel all sweaty. She even loved the tiny glob of salsa on his cheek. He'd always been a super-messy eater. It used to bug her, but now, it just seemed sweet. Is this what Cinta feels like? Mary-Kate wondered.
* * *
After El Sol, Trevor brought Mary-Kate to a secluded spot on the beach. He lay his jaket down on the sand, and they sat down. Off in the distance, Mary-Kate could see the bright lights of the restaurants and cafés in town. But here, she and Trevor were alone-completely alone. They had talked and talked at the restaurant-about graduation, about the summer, about the student handbook Mary-Kate and Ashley had just received from Lawton College, about the tour Trevor had taken of his new art school, about everything. Now, they were both still and quiet. Moonlight shimmered on the waves as they rolled in, then gently receded. Mary-Kate snuggled closer to Trevor. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "You cold?" he whispered in her ear. "Not any more," she whispered back. She was so happy and nervous and excited, she could barely breathe. But I've known him forever, she thought. She knew what would say if she told her that: Not like this. Trevor's voice broke into her thoughts. "I have a surprise for you." "Another one?" Mary-Kate said, incredulous. "This one's different." Trevor reached into his jaket pocket and pulled out a small box. It was wrapped in the Sunday comics. Mary-Kate's jaw dropped. "W-what's that?" she stammered. "It's kind of a late graduation present," Trevor replied. "I hope anda like it." Mary-Kate instantly felt guilty. "But I don't have a graduation present for you," she berkata apologetically. "Don't worry about it. Just open the box," Trevor said, nudging the package into her hands. "Sorry about the wrapping. I kind of forgot to buy some." "No problem. Remember the time anda gave me a CD for my birthday and wrapped it in paper towels?" Mary-Kate reminded him. Trevor laughed. "Oh, yeah." Mary-Kate took the box from him and began unwrapping it. She couldn't wait to see what was inside. Earrings? A choker? A cool new keychain for her car keys? Underneath the wrapping was a simple white box. Mary-Kate opened it-and gasped. Inside was a silver charm bracelet, with a single heart-shaped charm on it. "Oh, my gosh," Mary-Kate whispered. "It's beautiful!" "Really, anda like it?" Trevor asked her eagerly. Mary-Kate sighed. "I Cinta it." Trevor fingered the charm. "I didn't have the charm engraved. I wasn't sure exactly what to say." He gave her a shy smile and added, "By the end of the summer, I'll know. I'll have it engraved for anda then." Mary-Kate felt Rama-rama in her stomach. Trevor was the sweetest guy in the world. And not only was he her best friend, but now he was her boyfriend, too. He hadn't berkata that word yet: boyfriend. But he was Berlakon like a boyfriend. The charm bracelet clinched it. Trevor put the charm bracelet on her left wrist. His face was really close to hers as he struggled to hook the tiny clasp. "Got it," he said, securing the clasp. But he didn't pull away. Instead, he took Mary-Kate's face in both of his hands. Her hati, tengah-tengah hammered in her chest as his lips moved toward hers, ever so slowly. When he kissed her, she felt as though fireworks were going off in her head. There will never be another first tarikh like this, she though. Ever.
AshleyO invites Claudia18 and Felicity_girl to Instant Message!
AshleyO: I cd flip burgers at the Burgerplex.
Felicity_girl: Grease is bad 4 complexion.
Claudia18: How bout mall.
AshleyO: I cd pierce ears at World of Pain.
Felicity_girl: Free earrings, yes!
AshleyO: atau park cars at Mega-Dome lot.
Claudia18: Stand in hot sun for 8 hours waving at cars.
Felicity_girl: YUCK!!!
AshleyO: This is hard. Is it 2 late 2 go back 2 high school?