At Lizzie’s house, even as they worked on the decorations for the dance, Sarah still had spots of spaghetti sauce in her hair. Every time Peter, Lizzie, or Olive tried to point it out, Sarah ignored them. So finally, they all gave up and glued hearts and cupids and sprinkled glitter.
Sarah eventually said, “Well, I think we did it. I mean, I guess we won’t know until one of them actually proposes, but”—she shrugged and smiled—“I think we got the point across!”
Olive said, pushing up her glasses, “Yeah, I think this plan went off with a BANG.” Lizzie, Olive, and Peter giggled.
“You really used your noodle, Sarah,” said Peter.
Lizzie added, “Hopefully something will PAN out.”
All four of them—even Sarah—collapsed into giggles.
Finally, Peter said, “When do you think they’ll do it? Or how? And do you think they will?”
Sarah said, wiping yet more spaghetti sauce off her face, “Of course they will. Why wouldn’t they?”
Lizzie stayed quiet. She thought Sarah might just want them to do it and wasn’t thinking straight. She wasn’t sure at all that the plan had worked. But the idea of being a bad friend again kept her mouth shut.
“I’m not sure when or where they’ll do it, but I hope it’s soon,” Sarah said.
Olive grinned. “What about in a week?” she said.
All three of them looked at her. Sarah said, “Sure . . . ? A week would be fine.”
Olive pushed up her glasses, excited. “What if we could provide the perfect, most romantic place? With all the right people there? What if we had the perfect lab conditions for a proposal to happen?” She waved around the heart she was gluing.
“Cool . . . ,” Sarah said, still looking confused.
Peter said, “OH!” all of a sudden. He’d clearly understood what Olive was getting at.
And a second later, Lizzie did too. She, Peter, and Olive said at the same time, “The dance!”
Sarah said a second later, “THE DANCE! Oh my gosh, that’s perfect! That’s the PERFECT place for this to happen. And it’s next Saturday!”
Peter’s eyes shone. “We could actually get people together! And make them happy! But how do we make sure it happens? I mean, do we give them another note?”
The room was silent as they all thought about it. Lizzie was secretly relieved . . . maybe this would end the whole thing. There was no reason to keep pushing this, no reason at all. And with this stumbling block, the whole ordeal could be over.
Then Sarah’s face slowly brightened. “I’ve got it.” She beamed at them. “I know exactly what to do.”
“Well?” Olive asked, pushing up her glasses.
“Lizzie,” Sarah said.
Lizzie jumped at her name. “What?” she said.
“You,” Sarah said.
“Me what?” Lizzie felt unease growing.
“YOU COULD SING! You could sing a song and say beforehand—‘This would be a perfect song to propose to someone to!’ ” Sarah bounced up and down in her seat.
Olive’s face broke out in a huge grin. She said, “Yes, these are the exact conditions that would do it. I think this is a good idea.”
Peter nodded, smiling big. “This is a GREAT idea,” he said. “It’s perfectly romantic.”
They all looked at Lizzie expectantly.
But Lizzie’s head was buzzing like a swarm of angry bees had gotten in. She could hardly talk. Why would they ever think that was something she would want to do? Did they not know her at all? Didn’t they know how mean it was even to ask her?
She opened her mouth and then closed it. The answer was no, of course. Of course she didn’t want to do that. For many reasons. But she couldn’t seem to speak.
“Uhhh . . . ,” she said. Though it was more of a sound than a word. Just as she gathered up her courage, the front door opened.
“Kids!” her dad called.
“We’re home!” her mother boomed.
“In here,” Sarah yelled back. Lizzie still hadn’t spoken. Her parents walked in and her mom came up behind her, rubbing her back.
“The decorations are really coming along!” she said, and squeezed Lizzie’s shoulder.
“Mr. and Mrs. Garrison. We have the best idea for the dance,” Sarah said.
“Yes?” Mr. Garrison asked, smiling.
“Well, you know how my mom and Sheriff Hadley are together, right?” Sarah said.
Lizzie’s mom lifted her hand from Lizzie’s shoulder, and Lizzie turned around to look at her. Her face was shocked. Her dad’s face was too. Had they not known?
“Oh, honey, how do you know?” her mom asked.
Sarah said, “I figured it out.”
“Are you okay?” Lizzie’s dad asked.
Her mom looked at Lizzie. “OH, so this is what was happening a couple of weeks ago around your first singing lesson.” Lizzie nodded.
Sarah grinned. “I’m so happy about it!”
Both of Lizzie’s parents smiled relieved smiles. Her mom patted her chest where her heart was. “Oh, I’m so glad to hear that. So glad,” she said.
“In fact, I WANT them to get married. And we think the dance would be the perfect place for the proposal to happen,” Sarah said. “And . . . even better . . . we think Lizzie should sing at the dance.” Her eyes shone, and Lizzie stared at her in disbelief.
She had hope, though. Her mom and dad would SURELY know this wasn’t something she would do. This wasn’t something she would ever WANT to do EVER.
But the worst thing happened instead.
Her mom looked at her dad and her dad looked at her mom. And then at the same time, her dad WHOOPED and her mom said, “YES! I LOVE this idea!”
Her mom put her hands on Lizzie’s shoulders again. “This is such a GREAT idea. Lizzie can show off what she’s learned at her singing lessons—her teacher says her voice is lovely—and Colin and Ana can get engaged! It’s just a matter of time, really. And I can’t think of a better place for it to happen!” she said. “Lizzie, I’ll call Mr. Samson and get you in this week to practice whichever song you’re going to sing. Sarah, this is a fantastic idea!”
Lizzie shook her head but couldn’t speak. She was too close to bursting into tears. She glanced up and saw Gloria in the doorway, frowning. Lizzie shook her head. She was probably mad that Lizzie would have the spotlight.
And Lizzie would do anything to give it to her.