“This is going to be really fun,” Natalia said, hiking her overnight bag higher up onto her shoulder as she and Zoe walked up the path to Seaview House. “I’m just glad to take a break from all the drama and hang out with you and Emma.”

Uh-oh. Zoe took a firmer grip on her sleeping bag, looking down at it instead of Natalia. The idea behind Operation Secret Sleepover suddenly seemed less terrific now that Natalia and Caitlin were about to see each other and find out the truth. With a shaky breath, Zoe opened the door.

“Guys! You’re here!” Emma came running down the stairs, Caitlin trailing behind her.

“I didn’t know you both were coming.” Caitlin’s voice was flat.

“I didn’t know you were coming.” Natalia dropped her bag in the entryway and looked at Emma accusingly.

“Well … surprise!” Zoe broke in. “Emma and I wanted to get all four of us together, to remind everyone how much fun we have as a group.” She wasn’t going to let the others think this was all Emma’s idea. She tried to keep her voice light and cheerful, but she could feel her smile getting strained as Natalia and Caitlin both stared at her.

There was a long, tense silence.

“Maybe I should just go home,” Caitlin said uneasily.

“No!” Zoe said, alarmed. She tugged on Natalia’s arm, leading her farther into Seaview House. “Come on, let’s all try to have a nice time. It’s Emma’s sleepover and she wants all of us here.” Emma nodded fervently. “Give it a chance, please.”

Caitlin hesitated, then looked at Natalia again, her expression closed off.

“It’s fine,” Natalia said stiffly. “Stay.”

“Great!” Emma said immediately, clapping her hands. “Let’s take our stuff up to my room and then we can make pizzas and pick a movie, okay? Dad made his special pizza dough for us to use.”

“Sounds terrific!” Zoe said. She could hear that, just like Emma’s, her voice sounded fake and overly enthusiastic. But hey, she thought, at least we’re trying.

They dropped their stuff and started to set up.

“Wow,” Natalia commented, staring up at the ceiling. “You redecorated! This looks like Zoe’s influence, right?”

“Isn’t it great?” Emma said enthusiastically. “It feels like spring in here now.”

“It’s nice,” Caitlin agreed politely, not looking at Natalia.

Zoe unrolled her sleeping bag near the windows. Caitlin looked at Natalia, then looked away, while Natalia stared stonily in another direction. They both began to unroll their own bags on opposite sides of Zoe’s, as far from each other as they could get while still being in Emma’s room.

Emma and Zoe exchanged a glance. Were Caitlin and Natalia just going to ignore each other all night? They couldn’t get to be friends again if neither of them even wanted to look at the other one. She and Emma needed to make Natalia and Caitlin talk.

“Okay!” she said peppily. “How about those pizzas?”

Out in the kitchen, Uncle Brian and Aunt Amy were sipping glasses of wine and laying out bowls full of toppings for the pizzas: mozzarella cheese, onions, olives, mushrooms, peppers, crumbling pieces of sausage, and even pieces of pineapple. There were four individual-sized pizza crusts laid on the table, each in front of one of the four seats.

“I prebaked the crusts a little, so you can just do your toppings and then put them in the oven for twenty minutes each,” Uncle Brian said after he hugged the girls hello. “Remember to turn the oven off when you’re done.”

“We’re going to go down and join Grandma Stephenson for dinner if you four don’t need us,” Aunt Amy said, adding a couple bowls of sauce to the table. Once everything was set out, she and Uncle Brian headed downstairs, leaving the four girls alone together.

“Yum, pizza time!” Zoe said quickly, sitting down and pulling Emma into the chair beside her, leaving two empty seats next to each other for the others. “Here, Emma and I will take this bowl of sauce, and you guys can take the other one.” If we just distract them from remembering they’re mad at each other, Zoe thought, they’ll fall back to acting the way they usually do together. She spread a couple big spoonfuls of sauce across her crust and sprinkled mozzarella over it.

Caitlin glanced at Natalia warily as they both took seats in front of their pizza crusts.

“What do you think, guys?” Zoe asked, eyeing the bowls of toppings. “Would olives, onions, mushrooms, and pineapple be a weird combination?”

Emma made a face. “Ugh. I’m not sure the pineapple goes with the other things. Pineapple and onion?”

“Nonsense, it’ll be terrific,” Zoe said loftily. “A little dull, perhaps, I’ll admit that. What if I added delicious fresh celery? There’s some in the refrigerator, right, Emma?”

Emma stared at her.

“Just to add some crunch,” Zoe explained.

Emma bit her lip. “How about pickles?” she offered, smirking. “We have sweet or dill. Maybe a little mustard?”

Clearly unable to resist, Natalia chimed in. “I always find that chocolate adds a certain flair to le pizza pie,” she informed them loftily. “Just sprinkle a few chocolate chips across the top to give it zest.”

Caitlin giggled. “Blueberry jam could be delightful, too,” she declared, and Natalia grinned.

Zoe shot Emma a look of relief. Caitlin and Natalia were joking around! They were having fun!

The rest of the pizza making went pretty smoothly—they did not add mustard, pickles, celery, chocolate, or jam, but Caitlin put some pineapple slices on hers along with the sausage and seemed to enjoy it—and by the time they were eating, Zoe felt like things were already beginning to get back to normal. Caitlin and Natalia weren’t talking to each other, but they were both talking to Emma and Zoe. Caitlin had smiled several times, and Natalia was grinning her big familiar grin that Zoe couldn’t remember seeing at all in the last few days.

It’s a good start, Zoe thought optimistically. The plan was going to work!

“Okay,” Emma said, putting down the crust of her last piece. “Shall we make caramel popcorn for dessert and watch a movie?”

Once they had a big bowl of drippy, sweet popcorn, they retreated to the living room. Emma suggested a weepy teen romance that had been a big hit the previous summer and the others agreed to her choice, although Zoe would have preferred something scary or funny. But she didn’t want to start trouble by arguing about the movie, not when things were going so well. They spread out comfortably over the two big couches in Emma’s family’s living room. Once again, Zoe moved fast and made sure to take up enough space beside Emma so that Caitlin and Natalia ended up sitting side by side.

As the girl and boy in the movie kissed on a beautiful golden beach, orchestral music swelling, Zoe let her mind wander.

Grown-up, urban, sophisticated Zoe sat at a conference table in her office beneath one of her most beautiful paintings, smiling at the worried-looking president on the other side of the table. Next to her, Emma shook the hand of another world leader.

“Now, let’s see if we can’t resolve this problem, Ms. President,” Zoe said, cheerfully but firmly. “There’s no need to get the United Nations involved, if you and His Excellency will only talk to each other. The first step to coming to a mutually acceptable agreement is a simple conversation. I’m sure that, by starting with a low-key, relaxed chat, we will soon be able to accomplish world peace.”

Zoe suddenly realized the end credits of the movie were playing.

Caitlin sniffed, wiping at her eyes. “That was so sad!”

“I know!” Emma agreed, reaching for another tissue. “I can’t believe she died, when he loved her so much. And it seemed like she was getting better!”

Natalia had her hands clasped against her chest. “I wonder if anyone will ever love me enough to take me on a road trip and then stay with me through a terminal illness?”

“Let’s hope we never find out,” Zoe said drily.

Natalia playfully stuck out her tongue at her. “You’re like the antiromantic,” she said. “If you were Juliet and you met Romeo, you’d probably—”

“Live to grow up?” Zoe suggested.

Caitlin wiped away another tear. “Thanks for picking this, Emma,” she said. “My mom won’t let me go to this kind of movie. She thinks they’re sappy and a waste of money. She says teen movies lead to brain rot.”

“Maybe you should talk to her about why you want to see them,” Zoe suggested. “She’s a psychologist; tell her you find it healthy for your emotional development to watch sad movies.”

Rolling her eyes, Caitlin laughed. “I don’t think she’ll go for that.”

“Better not take Zoe’s advice,” Natalia said. She was smiling, but there was an edge in her voice. “We know how that turned out last time.”

“Hey!” Zoe said, hurt that Natalia had attacked her out of nowhere.

Natalia grimaced apologetically. “Sorry, Zoe, I didn’t mean your advice was bad, just that Caitlin shouldn’t take it. But it was just a joke.”

Caitlin wasn’t laughing anymore. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked coolly. “I shouldn’t take Zoe’s advice?”

“Well, she told you to be honest and instead you were really mean,” Natalia said. “Obviously, you can’t follow instructions very well.” She twisted a strand of her hair around her finger. “I’m just kidding,” she added.

No, she’s not, Zoe thought. Distracting them into talking to each other isn’t really working. She and Emma had wanted them to talk and have fun, not get into a fight.

“Look,” Caitlin said, folding her arms over her chest. “You asked me what I thought of your design. You kept asking, even when I didn’t want to tell you. I didn’t want to lie to you. We always said we’d be honest with each other. I’m sorry your feelings got hurt, but let’s be clear here. The problem wasn’t Zoe’s advice, and it wasn’t that I took Zoe’s advice and was honest with you. The problem is that you can’t take criticism!”

Natalia bristled. “Oh, it’s all me? You couldn’t even let me do my part of the Egypt project without changing it!”

“I’ve always neatened stuff up,” Caitlin said. “You never minded before. You’re just complaining about it now because I told you the truth when you asked me for it.”

“If I’m so horrible, why are you even hanging around with me?” Natalia asked.

“Come on, you guys,” Emma said, looking back and forth between them. “You’re blowing everything way out of proportion.”

“Emma, I’m going to call my dad,” Caitlin said. “I want to go home.” She was standing very stiff and straight, and her eyes looked shiny with tears. Turning on her heel, she headed for the bedroom.

Emma got up and followed her. “Caitlin, you don’t have to …”

“Yeah, I do. I want to.”

Zoe turned to her sister, who was staring down at the rug. “Natalia, stop her. Don’t let her leave.”

Natalia, without looking up, shrugged. “I’m not sure I want to stop her.”

Caitlin, carrying her sleeping bag and duffel bag, came out of the bedroom and walked straight out of the apartment without looking at them, Emma following her out. Zoe listened to their footsteps getting fainter as they walked down the stairs.

“Natalia, stop her,” she said more insistently. “She’s your best friend, and this isn’t worth ruining your friendship. You’re overreacting.”

Natalia blew out a big gusty sigh. “Stop trying to fix this, Zoe,” she said. “I don’t want your advice.” She got up and went into Emma’s bedroom, closing the door firmly behind her.

Zoe put her face in her hands. Everything had been going so well just a few minutes ago.

After a little while, Emma came back into the apartment and sat down on the couch beside her. “Caitlin’s dad picked her up,” she said. “She’s really upset. Where’s Natalia?”

Zoe jerked her head toward the bedroom. “I don’t think she wants to talk to us for a while.” Her hands were lying in her lap, and she stared down at them instead of looking at Emma.

Emma patted her cautiously on the shoulder. “It’s not your fault, you know,” she said. “I guess they just weren’t ready for us to get them together.”

“Yeah, I guess not.” Zoe finally looked up at Emma. “Remember how I said yesterday that, if this went wrong, I was going to give up and stop trying to give people advice?”

“Oh, Zoe,” Emma said. “You don’t have to—”

“No, I’m serious,” Zoe insisted. “Everything I’ve tried has just made things worse. I’m not good at giving advice. I’m sorry, but I’m not going to do the last show. I’m done.”