Sunday is meant to be a day of rest. But not that Sunday. I spent the morning in a state of complete worry. Worry that left fingernail marks in both palms from squeezing my fists as I paced back and forth in my room. By noon, I had reached one simple conclusion: I was an idiot. Only an idiot could have believed he’d survive the parade with his meat-eating secret intact. A merely dim-witted guy would have seen through that wishful thinking in an instant. A somewhat intelligent young man would never have gotten into this predicament in the first place. There was no denying it. I was an idiot. No, not just an idiot. I was a blubbering, completely stupid, total loser of an idiot. There’s a difference. And it’s not subtle.

By afternoon, I couldn’t stand the sight, or smell, of my room. I ran to Ben’s house. I didn’t run for the exercise but to avoid being seen by Becca.

Ben pulled me into his room. “Dude, you are SO screwed.”

That was not the encouragement I came looking for. “Shut up.”

Ben sprawled across his bed. “Classic, man. Classic. You convince her you’re a vegetarian and then show up dressed like a rack of ribs. You should have seen the look on your face when you realized she was standing there.”

I tried to suffocate Ben with his pillow, but it only covered half his face. “Why didn’t you tell me she was with you?”

Ben slid his head out from under the pillow and sat up. “Dude, you don’t have a cell phone.”

There’s nothing worse than being told the obvious.

“Besides,” he continued, “she and Jackson showed up right before you got there. Their float finished early, so they came back to watch the rest of the parade with us.”

I flopped onto my back. “I’m such an idiot. How did things get so out of control?”

“Well, you did lie to her about being a vegetarian.”

“Shut up.”

“And wore a meat costume in front of the whole town.”

“Shut up.”

“And then flexed your meaty ribs right in front of her.”

“I said shut up!”

“I guess things just happen.”

Ben is the worst giggler ever.

“What am I supposed to do now?”

The giggles stopped. “I don’t know, dude. Really, I don’t know.”

Yeah, neither did I.