You're Invited (11 page)

Come ready to show off your fashion skills and strut your stuff!

Gifts appreciated. Please see a list of preferred shops at linneysrunway.com

RSVP to Sadie Pleffer, (910) 555-0110 or [email protected]

BACON & ONION SLIDERS

Ingredients:

4 slices bacon

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 lbs lean ground beef

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper

small dinner rolls

Cook bacon in a pan, then remove and set on paper towels. When it cools, crumble bacon. Keep 2 tbsp of bacon fat in the pan and use it to cook the onion for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook it with the onion for 30 seconds. Combine onion and garlic, ground beef, bacon, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper in a large bowl and mix well. Form mixture into 24 small patties and
place in the refrigerator to cool. Cook on a grill or in a pan until cooked through, turning patties as needed. Serve on buns. Optional: add lettuce, cheese, tomato, pickle, avocado, onion, and condiments.

**Dad's favorite, especially when served with Gouda cheese.

**These are like normal hamburgers dressed up to be tiny and fancy.

I
am going to murder Becca.

No, murder's too nice. First I'm going to throw away all her clothes so she has to wear that Dread Pirate Roberts getup all the time. Then I'm going to make sure that every weekly in town knows how much she just loves getting texts for personal full-day tours of the fish cannery on the mainland. THEN I'm going to tell Ryan that she sleeps with a bald, patched, one-eyed stuffed dog she got when she was four. And after that I'll find out exactly what it is that she writes in that shimmery purple-and-silver notebook and I'll publish it online and send a mass text to everyone in school and—

“Vi?” Sadie's holding out the box of mismatched
high-heeled shoes from Goodwill that are serving as centerpieces for That Monster's party.

I refuse to say the birthday girl's name. Kind of like she's Lord Voldemort.

“When is That Monster getting here?” I smack a mosquito on my arm before taking the box from Sadie. The Markses' house is on the back side of the island, on the Intracoastal Waterway. Which means they have a tiny little dock in their backyard, along with tons of mosquitoes and no-see-ums.

“You know I can't stand her either, but we have to act like professionals. Trust me, Mom and I have worked with some total bridezillas, but you just have to find a way to deal with them. Meaning you have to call Linney by her name.”

Sadie climbs up onto the runway she somehow managed to snag from the Sandpiper Beach Daffodil Days Spring Tea Party and Fashion Show and has deposited right here in That Monster's backyard.

“Not a chance.” I plop a sequined blue-and-yellow shoe in the middle of That Monster's table of honor. It's probably the ugliest one in the box. And maybe the stinkiest. “Hey, speaking of your mom, did you invite her today?”

“Of course! I
filled her in completely this time—no more attempted surprises. I told her everything about RSVP.”

“You did?” I add another shoe. It's not quite as ugly as the first one, but it's not pretty either. “What did she say?”

“Well, it's not like I came out and told her it all started so we could prove how worthy I am of getting my job with her back or anything. I told her all the other reasons, like how much fun we were going to have doing it together. She said she thought it was really cute.”

Sadie does a little eye roll when she says the word “cute.” Then she adds as she jumps down from the runway, “But she'll see. She'll see we're not some kid operation. I can't wait!”

“Me either,” I say. “She's going to be so impressed.
If
we get everything set up in time. Not like I want to see her or anything, but just where is The Traitor? She's supposed to be helping us.”

“Becca is—”

“Here I am!” The Traitor (formerly known as Becca) wafts through the Markses' pristine white gate with an armload of dresses. “Sorry I'm late. The store was missing two of the sizes we ordered, so I had to wait until
forever
while they searched. Then I saw that it was three o'clock, so I had to send Lo a text telling her that Vi was totally going to mess up the money.” Bec—I mean The Traitor—drops the pile on the nearest chair and fans herself.

“What are you talking about? I'm not that bad at numbers.” I'm no Lauren, but I pull off solid Bs in math.

“Sorry, but desperate times call for desperate people. Or something. Anyway, OMG, Mama and I passed Ryan on the way over and wait until you see how super cute he looks in a tux. You. Will. DIE! I mean, but not too much, 'cause I saw him first!” She leans against the chair with all the dresses piled on it. The stack teeters for a second and then tumbles from the chair onto the ground. And into the little decorative pond and fountain.

“No! Bec-
ca
!” Sadie's practically wailing.

I drop the box of shoes and race to help pull the dresses from the pond.

“Omigosh, I'm so so so sorry! Look, it's only two of them that got uber-wet. And we still have a half hour before the party starts.
Plennnnnty
of time for them to dry!” She wrings out one of the dresses and then waves it through the air. “See, if I do this, it'll air-dry.”

Sadie pinches the bridge of her nose and takes a deep breath. “Okay, here's what we're going to do. Vi,
you take these inside and ask Mrs. Marks if you can put them in the dryer.”

“Um, they're dry-clean only,” The Traitor says.

“All right. Then, Vi, see if you can borrow a hair dryer and dry them that way. Becs, can you help me get all the accessories and stuff for the dresses out?” Sadie tucks her hair behind her ears. “I really wish Lauren was here. We could use another person to finish the centerpieces and put out the favors and make sure all the guests know to post every picture they take to Linney's—”

“Back up,” I say. “You actually want me to go into That Monster's house?”

“Vi . . .” Sadie's wrapping her hair into a ponytail, which for Sadie means she's really getting down to business. “Please? Linney's not even home. I'm going to text Lauren and beg her to come help.”

“Fine. And good luck,” I grumble as I toss the wet dresses over my arm.

Mrs. Marks is in the kitchen. Sadie said that when she first got here, Mrs. Marks tried to help her set up the tables and stuff, but Linney popped up and pretty much ordered her mom to stay out of our way. So typical for Linney. And get this, she wouldn't even let her mom—
the best baker in town—make a cake for the party. Instead, she ordered a bunch of fancy cupcakes from this new café on Main Street, and then she didn't trust any of us to pick them up. Fine with me. Otherwise she'd be out back, making us all insane.

I show Mrs. Marks the dresses, and she waves me on to a bathroom upstairs. The second I step inside, I know it's That Monster's. It's all done up in this cutesy Paris café theme—black-and-white-striped walls, a tiny little pink-cushioned chair with a metal curlicue back, pretty Eiffel Tower doodads all over the place.

So Not Vi. The whole thing makes me feel like an ogre prancing in a ballroom.

I plug in the pink hair dryer and spread the first dress over the countertop. That Monster picked these basic short dresses in a rainbow of colors. The blue is actually sort of pretty, almost like the ocean right before a storm. But the one I'm drying now is a blinding yellow. I aim the dryer with my left hand and pull out my So Not Vi (but still kind of cute) phone with my right to text Lauren. Sadie's right—we definitely need her. Except I need her for more than just pulling off a great party.

Plz come. The Traitor is outside and I'm in That Monster's house. Help.

I can't
believe B did that to you.
Lauren always knows how to make me feel better.
But is prob good for biz, right?

Or not. Seriously, I can't believe how unsupportive my friends are being. They know how Linney makes my life miserable at school. So why do I have to put up with her during summer vacation too?

S & B won't let her get away w/anything today. Hold on, S is texting me.
Lauren's right. Even if they agreed to this, there's no way they'd let That Monster do anything horrible during the party.

If
they see it coming, that is.

I just know she's up to something. I tried to tell Becca and Sadie that, but they brushed it off. They're so excited about booking this party that they've looked right past Linney's awfulness. It's like they've forgotten all about what she did with that cake at Molly Campbell's party. She tried to sabotage us there, so what's to keep her from trying again? Why else would she ask
us
to plan the party? It's not like any of us are BFFs with her.

I move the dryer closer to the neckline of the yellow dress and type out a response to Lauren.
Wld b better if u were here 2. More of us is safer.

Why are you all ganging up on me?
Oh, right. Sadie's probably bugging her to come over too. Not to mention Becca's hourly texts.

Sry. We all want u here.

But I can't. SATs, 'member?
I can almost hear Lauren sighing all the way from her house. I still don't get why she feels like she has to study for a test we won't need to take for five or six years.

Will make u those baked pita chips u luv so much. Pllllzzzz????

Nothing. I set my phone down and check the dress. It's dry in spots, but still mostly damp. I'm kind of running out of time, so I switch to drying the construction-zone-orange dress.

I rly can't. Sorry. :(

Great.

“
What
are you doing in my bathroom?” Linney's standing in the doorway, hands on her hips. “You're supposed to be outside, helping set up.”

I'm so caught off guard, I whirl around with the hair dryer, blasting hot air right in Linney's face.

“Turn it off!” she squeals, hands in front of her face as her highlighted hair flies up all over the place.

I switch off the dryer and gather up the two dresses
and my phone with my free hand. No way am I sticking around here any longer than I have to. “Excuse me,” I say as I take a step forward. “I have to finish setting up.”

“Where are you going with my hair dryer, Violet?” She holds out one hand while furiously smoothing her hair with the other. And she gives me this look like she's sure I'm trying to steal her stupid pink dryer.

I hand it back to her but my finger ever-so-accidentally hits the on switch. Hot air blasts out again, messing up all her smoothing work. “Oops,” I say as I slide out the door and down the stairs.

“Are they dry?” Sadie grabs the dresses from me the second I walk out the back door.

“Kinda.”

“They're still damp! And they'll never dry out here, it's so humid.” Sadie's voice is getting that high-pitched, almost-freaking-out tone again. She stops and takes a deep breath. “Okay, it's just a minor setback. That's all. We'll put these two at the bottom of the stack, so maybe we won't even need them. Next time, we'll order at least ten extra dresses.” She's making notes in her head, I can tell, even as she bats mosquitoes away from her face. “Lauren's not coming, so we're on our own. You're in charge of the beads and feathers and stuff.”

“Really?” I
ask, but Sadie doesn't answer. She's standing on her tiptoes, trying to see over the gate and down the driveway to the street.

She's looking for her mom.

I push aside my feelings about That Monster and The Traitor (and the fact that I'm really super annoyed that Lauren isn't coming) and reach out to squeeze Sadie's hand. “Don't worry. She'll be here. There's no way she'd miss two parties in a row.”