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“Marvelous meat loaf?” Jenae read the day’s lunch special from the sign above the cafeteria entrance. Her tone made it clear she gave the meal zero chance of living up to its name. “It’s the last day of school. They could at least serve pizza!”

Maribel shrugged. It didn’t matter what was on the menu. She couldn’t eat. Her stomach was a fluttery mess. She couldn’t even think straight. When she was younger, the approach of summer vacation filled her with excitement. This year was different. Rather than anticipating the fun-filled, homework-free days of summer, she was dreading the end of the school year.

It was all because of Evan. She’d rather go to school year-round than wait two whole months to see him again.

After paying for their food, they carried their trays to a table where their friends Nic, Aaron, and Annalise were already sitting.

“You’re going tonight, right?” Annalise asked both girls, her voice squealy with excitement.

Jenae nodded vigorously, but before Maribel could answer, Aaron chimed in. “Of course they’re going. They put so much work into this party.”

As co-captains of the school’s environmental club, Maribel and Jenae had organized a beach cleanup the previous weekend. Along with a handful of other volunteers, they’d picked up nearly twenty pounds of litter from Casker’s Cove, the site of tonight’s beach bonfire. The event—celebrating the end of the school year—was going to be epic. Still, Maribel bit her lip and wrinkled her nose.

“I’m not sure,” she said.

Her friends turned and stared at her. Aaron’s eyes widened in surprise. “Are you kidding, Mari? You cleaned every last candy wrapper and bottle cap off the beach so it would be perfect for the party.”

“That’s not the only reason,” she couldn’t help pointing out. “We want to keep trash off the beach, so it won’t pollute the lake and kill the fish and other marine life.”

“Yeah, yeah, we know.” Nic pushed his glasses farther up on his nose. “You two want the whole world to hug the trees, kiss the fishes, and all that jazz. But let’s get real. You have to go to the bonfire. Everyone’s going to be there.”

Without thinking, Mari turned and scanned the cafeteria. She spied Evan sitting with his friends at a table in the corner. She wondered if he would be at the bonfire.

“Yeah.” Mari turned back to the group. “And everyone’s going to have a date. Except me.”

Jenae flashed a sheepish grin in Aaron’s direction. The pair had started dating only recently, while Nic and Annalise had been a couple for most of the school year.

“You’ll hang with us,” Jenae told Mari.

Mari knew Jenae and the others would make sure she didn’t feel like a fifth wheel. Still, it would be better to have a date. Her eyes sought out Evan once again. She couldn’t help it. She’d spent months staring at him from across classrooms and cafeterias. She had tried to keep her crush a secret, but her friends caught on long ago.

“Evan’s an idiot if he doesn’t want to go out with you,” Annalise said, and the others nodded in agreement.

Mari shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t think I’m on his radar. Even though I put myself in his path whenever possible.” She blushed when she thought of all the times she hovered at the water fountain near his locker so that she could “accidentally” cross paths with him when he approached. “I’m invisible to him.”

“You know . . .” Annalise leaned forward. “Girls don’t have to wait for guys to do the asking.”

The rest of the group echoed Annalise’s comment. “Yeah,” Nic said. “We don’t live in medieval times.”

“I know, but—” Mari hesitated. The thought of asking Evan to the party turned the fluttering in her stomach into a total tsunami. “What if I ask him out and he says no?”

“He won’t.” Jenae rested a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “And if he does, well, at least you’ll have two months to get over it before school starts again.”

“I guess you’re right.” Mari watched as Evan lifted a piece of not-so-marvelous meat loaf to his mouth. His marvelous mouth. A mouth she’d imagined kissing a million times.

She looked back at her friends. They all flashed encouraging smiles in her direction. Aaron gave her two thumbs-up. He was the newest member of the group, and Mari didn’t know him as well as the others. But he was fun to be around, and Jenae said he was a good boyfriend. Seeing the two together made Mari a little envious, though she was happy for her friend.

“Go for it,” Aaron said.

Mari looked over her shoulder again. Evan had already finished his lunch and was exiting the cafeteria. She turned back to her friends. Then, gripping the edge of the cafeteria table for support, she announced, “Okay. I’ll do it.”