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Authors: Lurlene McDaniel
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fun.”
“I
think
she’s rich. I’m not sure. But riding in a limo and having designer sheets can’t make up for all the rest.”
Rhonda offered a sympathetic shrug of her shoulders. “Was Marlee the only interesting person at camp?” she asked.
“There might have been one other.”
Rhonda stared at her for a second. Dawn tried to keep a straight face, but the corners of her mouth kept turning up. Rhonda’s eyes grew wide. She blurted, “Dawn Rochelle! You rat! You met a guy, didn’t you?”
Dawn burst out laughing as Rhonda pounced on her. “Tell me everything,” Rhonda demanded.
“Okay. Get off me.” Rhonda obliged and after Dawn caught her breath, she told Rhonda about Brent.
“Lucky you,” Rhonda sighed. “He sounds totally awesome. Are you going to see him again?”
Dawn thought about her answer, because actually she had very mixed feelings about Brent. She really liked being with him, but she also realized that her attraction for him was somehow tied up in his being Sandy’s brother. He was a link to her friend, a living bridge to her memory. She couldn’t explain it to Rhonda—she could scarcely understand it herself. So she told Rhonda the things she could explain. “He’s starting college in the fall.”
“So what?”
“Think about it, Rhonda. I’m going to be a high school sophomore. By the time he settles into campus life and meets college girls, I’ll just be a kid to him.”
“Sort of like my crush on Rob, huh?”
Rhonda’s mention of her attraction for Rob caused Dawn to smile kindly. “Well, Rob does talk about Katie a lot,” she told her friend, trying to let her down easy.
“I know. It was always the impossible dream for me. Sort of like having a crush on a movie star.” Rhonda hunkered down on the bed and gazed thoughtfully up at Dawn. “But let’s not write this Brent off for you too prematurely.”
“Oh, Rhonda—”
“Don’t ‘oh, Rhonda’ me,” the brown-haired girl declared. “What are you going to do if he calls you? Hang up on him?”
“Of course not.”
“Then who knows? There may be hope for the two of you yet.”
Dawn flung Mr. Ruggers playfully at her friend. “Let’s forget camp and think about the rest of the summer. I can’t wait to start my job.”
“We’ll go in together early Saturday. That way I can give you your apron and cap and show you the ropes. It’s fun, and sometimes really cute guys stop in.”
Dawn flopped back on her bed in exasperation. “Is that
all
you ever think about? Meeting guys?”
“No way,” Rhonda said with an indignant sniff. “I also think about fudge ripple, rocky road, French vanilla—”
Dawn squealed and threw a pillow at her friend. Together, laughing and tickling, they tumbled to the floor like playful kittens.
* * * *
By the middle of July, Dawn had settled into a pleasant routine. She slept late, watched a few game shows, did chores for her Mom, read novels, and went to work. Brent wrote, full of news about sibling cancer camp and getting ready for college. She enjoyed getting his letters and hoped her letters to him sounded half as interesting to him.
She loved her job. The ice cream parlor was a tiny little cubbyhole in the mall, just big enough for five small glass-topped tables and old-fashioned parlor chairs. She and Rhonda worked behind a counter that doubled as a freezer case filled with vats of ice cream. She learned to run a cash register and to make milkshakes, hot-fudge sundaes, banana splits, and the Monster Bowl—a giant concoction made up of a scoop of every flavor, swimming in toppings, whipped cream and nuts.
Mostly, people bought cones to go, but sometimes every table would be filled with customers, and Dawn felt as if she were drowning in ice cream orders. Rob and Katie often dropped in, and Dawn could see their happiness spilling out of their smiles.
“You never come see me on the floor,” Katie grumbled good-naturedly during one visit when Rob had stepped
“I
think
she’s rich. I’m not sure. But riding in a limo and having designer sheets can’t make up for all the rest.”
Rhonda offered a sympathetic shrug of her shoulders. “Was Marlee the only interesting person at camp?” she asked.
“There might have been one other.”
Rhonda stared at her for a second. Dawn tried to keep a straight face, but the corners of her mouth kept turning up. Rhonda’s eyes grew wide. She blurted, “Dawn Rochelle! You rat! You met a guy, didn’t you?”
Dawn burst out laughing as Rhonda pounced on her. “Tell me everything,” Rhonda demanded.
“Okay. Get off me.” Rhonda obliged and after Dawn caught her breath, she told Rhonda about Brent.
“Lucky you,” Rhonda sighed. “He sounds totally awesome. Are you going to see him again?”
Dawn thought about her answer, because actually she had very mixed feelings about Brent. She really liked being with him, but she also realized that her attraction for him was somehow tied up in his being Sandy’s brother. He was a link to her friend, a living bridge to her memory. She couldn’t explain it to Rhonda—she could scarcely understand it herself. So she told Rhonda the things she could explain. “He’s starting college in the fall.”
“So what?”
“Think about it, Rhonda. I’m going to be a high school sophomore. By the time he settles into campus life and meets college girls, I’ll just be a kid to him.”
“Sort of like my crush on Rob, huh?”
Rhonda’s mention of her attraction for Rob caused Dawn to smile kindly. “Well, Rob does talk about Katie a lot,” she told her friend, trying to let her down easy.
“I know. It was always the impossible dream for me. Sort of like having a crush on a movie star.” Rhonda hunkered down on the bed and gazed thoughtfully up at Dawn. “But let’s not write this Brent off for you too prematurely.”
“Oh, Rhonda—”
“Don’t ‘oh, Rhonda’ me,” the brown-haired girl declared. “What are you going to do if he calls you? Hang up on him?”
“Of course not.”
“Then who knows? There may be hope for the two of you yet.”
Dawn flung Mr. Ruggers playfully at her friend. “Let’s forget camp and think about the rest of the summer. I can’t wait to start my job.”
“We’ll go in together early Saturday. That way I can give you your apron and cap and show you the ropes. It’s fun, and sometimes really cute guys stop in.”
Dawn flopped back on her bed in exasperation. “Is that
all
you ever think about? Meeting guys?”
“No way,” Rhonda said with an indignant sniff. “I also think about fudge ripple, rocky road, French vanilla—”
Dawn squealed and threw a pillow at her friend. Together, laughing and tickling, they tumbled to the floor like playful kittens.
* * * *
By the middle of July, Dawn had settled into a pleasant routine. She slept late, watched a few game shows, did chores for her Mom, read novels, and went to work. Brent wrote, full of news about sibling cancer camp and getting ready for college. She enjoyed getting his letters and hoped her letters to him sounded half as interesting to him.
She loved her job. The ice cream parlor was a tiny little cubbyhole in the mall, just big enough for five small glass-topped tables and old-fashioned parlor chairs. She and Rhonda worked behind a counter that doubled as a freezer case filled with vats of ice cream. She learned to run a cash register and to make milkshakes, hot-fudge sundaes, banana splits, and the Monster Bowl—a giant concoction made up of a scoop of every flavor, swimming in toppings, whipped cream and nuts.
Mostly, people bought cones to go, but sometimes every table would be filled with customers, and Dawn felt as if she were drowning in ice cream orders. Rob and Katie often dropped in, and Dawn could see their happiness spilling out of their smiles.
“You never come see me on the floor,” Katie grumbled good-naturedly during one visit when Rob had stepped
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