Ann Martin - Mary Anne And Too Many Boys

I had just decided to ask Stacey if I could borrow her red sundress when she walked into the bedroom, drying her hair. You can imagine how surprised I was when she pulled the red sundress out of the closet and tossed it on the bed!

"Wow, you must have read my mind," I told her.

"Why's that?" She ran her fingers through her damp hair.

"I was just going to ask you if I could borrow that."

Stacey shrugged and peeled off her T-shirt. "Normally I'd say yes, but I need it myself tonight."

"Oh, sure," I said quickly. "I understand." I really hate borrowing things, and I didn't want to put her on the spot. Then it hit me! "Wait a minute," I said, taking a step toward her. "Why do you need a dress for tonight?"

Stacey plunked herself down at the dressing table and started fumbling with bottles of nail polish. "I'm wearing it out to dinner." She was absolutely calm. I couldn't believe it.

"You're going to dinner? On a date?" I squawked.

She hesitated, just for a second. "Um, yes, that's right."

"Stacey McGill, you are unbelievable!" I sat down on the bed and just stared at her. She refused to look at me and starting painting her long fingernails with a base coat. "You went out last night, remember?" Stacey opened her mouth to say something, but I didn't give her a chance. "Here's a news flash for you. I am going out tonight." I paused. "You are staying

home with the kids. That was our arrangement."

I picked up my towel and headed for the shower, my face flaming. Stacey caught up with me in the hall, and I was glad to see she had ruined her nails by jumping up so fast.

"Look, Mary Anne," she said in a wheedling tone, "I didn't mean to upset you. It's just that Toby and I had such a fantastic time last night that I thought you wouldn't mind if I went out with him again."

"You thought I wouldn't mind?" I said coolly. My heart was pounding in my chest, but I stood my ground.

"You can take off two nights next week," she said. You'd think she was doing me a big favor. "That would be fair, wouldn't it?"

"No, Stacey. It would not be fair. I'm going out tonight, and if you'll excuse me, I need to get ready." I brushed by her and headed for the shower without another word.

"This is very nice," I said later that evening. Alex and I were sitting in a back booth at the restaurant, looking over the menu. The menu was enormous — about the size of a cookie sheet — and I had no idea what to order. The truth is, I felt a little nervous sitting across

from Alex. Going to the boardwalk was one thing, but being all dressed up in a restaurant made everything seem different somehow. Like we were on a real date. The more I tried to figure it out, the more confused I got. This was what I wanted, wasn't it? A "real" date with Alex? But what about Logan?

Alex interrupted my thoughts. "Earth to Mary Anne," he said playfully. The waitress was standing over us, order pad in hand. Ready or not, I had to order something!

"Urn, I guess I'll have the crab cakes," I said, not really caring. "With fries and iced tea,"

The minute the waitress left, we just stared at each other. In dead silence. What in the world were we going to talk about?

"Wow, we got here at a good time," I said at last.

Alex looked blank. "A good time?"

"It's not crowded now. You know, it's not too early and it's not too late." I stammered a little, feeling nervous.

Even Alex couldn't think of anything to say to that dumb remark, and he gazed at a point somewhere over my head. I was very tempted to turn around, but I knew that there was nothing behind me except a giant flounder that was mounted on the wall.

Another long pause. "They sure have a lot of fish on the menu/' I said, thinking of the flounder. I could have bitten my tongue the minute the words were out. Of course they had a lot of fish on the menu. What did 1 expect at a seafood restaurant — pizza?

Alex nodded politely, but I knew he must think I was incredibly boring. Why couldn't I think of anything interesting to talk about like other girls could? I made a mental note to ask Stacey what she talked about on dates, and then I remembered that she was probably still mad at me. She was baby-sitting the Pike kids with Mallory, instead of having dinner with a date in a restaurant — and for just a moment, I envied them!

I think we would have gone on this way forever, except that something really funny happened, and we both cracked up. When the waitress served Alex his lobster, she put a bib on him! It was just like the kind babies wear, except it was adult-sized and had a giant lobster printed on it. Alex didn't look surprised (I guess he had ordered lobster before and knew what to expect), but I was so amazed I burst out laughing! I didn't even try to keep a straight face, and when Alex saw me laughing, he started laughing, and everything was okay.

After the bib incident, we had a million things to say to each other, and we talked nonstop for the rest of the meal.

Later, we hit the boardwalk, where Alex played a ringtoss game, trying to win a stuffed animal for me. After about twenty minutes (and a dozen quarters) he finally did win, and I picked out a big purple hippopotamus as my prize.

"You're sure you don't want a panda?" he said, eyeing the hippo. "Or maybe one of the chimpanzees?"

"Nope." I clutched my prize. "A purple hippo is just the thing."

I don't know what to tell you about the rest of the evening, except that it was wonderful. We spent another hour or so wandering up and down the midway and finally took a ride on the Ferris wheel. Alex grumbled because I had the purple hippo wedged on the seat between us, but I knew he was just kidding.

It was a beautiful starry night, and we pointed out the constellations to each other as we walked back to the Pikes'. (He picked out the Seven Sisters, but I found the Little Dipper.) Neither one of us wanted the evening to end, and Alex made a joke as I headed up the porch steps.

"Oh, Mary Anne," he said seriously. "Can I ask you a favor?"

I turned around, surprised. "Sure, what is it?"

He grinned. "The next time we go out, would you mind leaving your friend at home?"

I hugged the hippo tightly to my chest and waved good night. When I got upstairs to my bedroom, I sat on the window seat and stared out at the ocean for a long time. The next time we go out ... This was what I wanted, wasn't it? Alex was so funny and sweet — of course I wanted to see him again! Then why did I feel so guilty? Because you said you would always be true to Logan, a little voice nagged me.

I heard Stacey moving around downstairs in the kitchen, and I quickly slipped into my nightgown and got into bed. I didn't feel like talking to anyone. It had been a wonderful, exciting, confusing evening, and there was so much to think about. . . .

Chapter 11.

"You're sure you want to go into town today?" It was nine-thirty in the morning, and Stacey and I had just finished cleaning up the breakfast dishes.

"Of course we're sure!" Vanessa said impatiently. "We love Sea City, don't we, Margo?"

Margo nodded, eager to escape a boring game of Candy Land with Claire.

"So can we? Can we please?" Vanessa chanted, practically jumping up and down in excitement.

"Go ahead," Stacey said, seeing my hesitation. "I'll take the boys to the beach as soon as they get changed."

"I'll go with you," added Mal. "My tan's not nearly good enough yet."

"Yippee!" Vanessa hooted, throwing her sun visor in the air.

Looking back, I'm surprised I didn't catch on to the real reason that Vanessa was so eager to go into town. (If you've already guessed that it was because of a certain boy named Chris, you're right.)

It was almost eleven by the time the four of us — Claire, Margo, Vanessa, and myself — stepped onto the boardwalk. It was a cool day, and Sea City was crowded with tourists.