It’s amazing what a sleepover with Micayla Walcott can do. It’s basically a miracle panacea—it can cure anything. That’s what Micayla is for me. We stayed up until two in the morning, had a beach bonfire, played truth or dare (mostly just truth, actually), and talked and talked and talked.

So what if she’s a year-rounder now? So she’ll be on Seagate when I’m not. She’s still Micayla and I’m still Remy. And yeah, things change, but deeper things stay the same. That’s a relief.

We’re on our way to Breakfast by the Boardwalk to meet with Mrs. Paisley and Mr. Brookfield, and then we’re going to pick up the dogs. I can’t wait to observe Paul and Andi in action. Lovebirds in love because of their dogs. Can you get a better story than that? I don’t think so.

When Micayla and I get there, Claire, Mr. Brookfield, and Mrs. Paisley are already there.

“Don’t worry, Bennett and Calvin are with the dogs,” Claire says, running up to us. “Oscar’s mom had to take the triplets for an early pediatrician appointment, so Bennett went to get him, and Calvin decided to pick up Marilyn Monroe on the way.”

“Awesome.” I smile. “Thanks, Claire.”

“Just didn’t want you to panic.” She looks at Micayla and then back at me. “You two are okay again? Back to being BFFs?”

We nod.

“Thank goodness. That was getting so annoying,” Claire adds, rolling her eyes.

We all join Mr. Brookfield and Mrs. Paisley at the table, and Callie, one of the waitresses, brings over hot chocolates and the bakery basket.

“So tell me about this mysterious scream,” Mrs. Paisley says, leaning over, her hands folded on the table. “And how come I’ve never heard about it? Don, I’ve known you for thirty years.”

“I know.” Mr. Brookfield laughs, picking a croissant out of the basket. “I guess I always figured no one would care.”

“I care, Don.” Mrs. Paisley smiles, and it’s funny that she keeps calling him Don. I never even knew his first name.

So Mr. Brookfield tells her the story, and she keeps saying “Wow” and “Incredible” and “You’re famous.”

As he’s telling the story, I get a new idea, and it’s genius.

I wanted Mr. Brookfield to be the voice and mascot and announcer of Seagate Halloween, but I don’t think that’s enough. I think everyone needs to scream!

“So what’s your idea, Remy?” Mrs. Paisley asks. I quickly whisper to Claire that I just had a major epiphany and am making a slight change to the original idea. I want her to be prepared, because she’s a major inspiration for my idea.

I tell them my old idea and they seem intrigued, so I know they’ll love my new idea. “And the best part will be a Seagate Scream Contest!”

Claire looks at me and smiles, but it’s actually more than a smile. It’s more like she’s beaming in this super proud way. Her face looks different from how I’ve ever seen it before, and I almost want to take a picture so that I can show her how happy she looks.

You don’t really know what pride looks like until you see it on someone else.

She tells them her idea about the Sunday night scary movies, and Mr. Brookfield’s eyes light up. I bet he’ll just sit quietly in the back while people watch, not making a big deal out of it at all.

“Well, I love all of this. We’ll start showing the Sunday night movies next week,” Mrs. Paisley suggests.

“Great!” Micayla says. “We can make posters telling people about the Scream. And everyone will want to know more about it and get even more excited.”

We spend the rest of breakfast going over how Mr. Brookfield should dress and where he should sit and who should introduce him and all these other exciting logistics.

To be honest, even though I love Seagate Halloween so much, it always made me a little bit sad because it’s over Labor Day weekend, the last weekend of the summer, and that means the end of Seagate for me until next summer.

But this summer, it feels different. I’m excited about it. It almost makes the end of summer tolerable.

It’s funny how you can want something to stay the same so, so badly, but then little changes happen, and you realize how great the new thing can be.

When we walk up to Rascal’s house later that morning, we notice that Atticus is on the front lawn. Paul and Andi are sitting on the front porch, next to each other on a wicker love seat, while the dogs chase each other.

“Look at them,” I say softly to Claire and Micayla.

“Totally in love,” Claire says.

“Rascal and Atticus could be stepbrothers very soon!” Micayla laughs. “Stepdogs!”

We all start laughing, and that’s when Andi and Paul notice us.

“They’re ready for you,” Paul says. “Can you watch them until about five today?”

“Sure,” I say, putting their leashes on and making a note of the time change.

“Great.” Andi smiles. “We’re going on a day trip to the wineries in Ocean Edge.”

“Sounds fun,” Claire says, and when I look up, I notice that Andi and Paul are holding hands. Our little doggie day care is a matchmaker!

We spend the rest of the day with all our dogs—Marilyn Monroe, Oscar, Rascal, Atticus, Tabby, Potato Salad, and Palm.

Everyone’s happy. Claire, Micayla, and I sit on the side and people-watch and dog-watch and take everything in. Bennett and Calvin engage in the longest game of Frisbee in Dog Beach history. Then we all go to Ping-Pong and watch a few games, the dogs happily sitting on the side and watching too. And then we get the biggest table at Daisy’s and enjoy breakfast for dinner.

All of us together. It’s hard to imagine things getting any better than this.

But every time I look at Bennett, I get a flickery feeling—like someone turning a light switch on and off really fast.

It’s not exactly a bad feeling, just a new and strange one. But I’ve realized that sometimes great things come from new and different. Just look at Claire—she didn’t want to be here, and I didn’t want her here, and now we’re friends. I never expected it, and I pretty much resisted it, but it happened, and now I can’t imagine Seagate without her.