NeverSeen

Hiding in what precious shade was left, the members of the lunch table sat around roasting in the midafternoon heat, surviving with possibly the best-tasting ice cream in the known world. I slurped on a strawberry cone, while others savored flavors like banana, pineapple, peach, and orange. Falcon and Kael were arguing about whether pear would be a good flavor or not when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I tried not to smile at Tracer. He had a few grape-colored, ice cream dots on his face.

“What?”

“I…I might come. You know. To the dance. Tomorrow.”

I nodded, trying to hide my joy. “Cool.” I turned to the rest of the table. “Who else is coming?”

Kael grinned behind his blond curtain, his eyebrows jumping up high on his forehead. “Well, my mom said no, but I’m going anyway!”

“I can, but I don’t have any nice clothes—”

“Yeah, but isn’t there a theme? Like, vegetables or something?”

Falcon thought a moment. “No, I think it was flowers for the girls, and…I don’t remember what the guys were s’posed to wear.”

“Clothes, I hope,” I muttered dryly. Falcon snorted into his ice cream, and Gator swallowed a huge bite all at once and laughed despite his brain freeze. Tracer almost did a spit-take with his ice cream and slapped his hand over his mouth, muffling his laughs.