Free Whitney by Jade Parker

there — would be talking about for summers to come.
    “Isn’t that dangerous?” Robyn asked.
    “Not if we move everything back so nothing is around to catch on fire — except for the wood of the bonfire, of course. And we won’t make it huge or anything. People do it on beaches all the time. Plus I thought we could have a clambake, limbo dancing — that’s where you have a pole that people try to go under without knocking it off its stand. The pole just gets lower and lower and lower. Then I thought we could hire a live band.”
    “Sounds like a blast. I want to go to this party,” Caitlin said.
    “You probably will, because we’ll need all the lifeguards.”
    “Yeah, but sitting in the tower watching people isn’t as much fun as being down therepartying with them. Maybe we could have an employee party right after and use all the great things you’ve got planned for this one.”
    “My plans haven’t been approved yet.”
    “But they will be. When has the park ever said no to you?”
    “I don’t know —”
    “You made it happen for the employees before.”
    I had. Earlier in the summer, I arranged an employee get-together night. But it had cost the park very little — just some hot dogs and a few other refreshments. What we were planning for the luau would be costly.
    “I’ll see,” I said, not making a total commitment.
    “I think it would be so romantic,” Robyn said. “I’ve never been on a tropical island.”
    Of course, I had. Dad and I had taken cruises, flown to islands on his private jet for long weekends. Yes, we were wealthy. The funny thing was that how much money my family had didn’t seem important to Robyn or Caitlin.
    Caitlin put her elbow on the table, her chin in her palm. “Who are you, Whitney St. Clair — and why do you have so much power?”
    I almost told them, almost told them everything. But I liked being a little mysterious. So I laughed instead. “If I had power, Lisa wouldn’t have told me to go away yesterday.”
    “That ballistic mother was so weird,” Robyn said.
    “Actually, she was a preview for what we might have to deal with when the Spencers’ party takes place,” I said.
    “You think they’ll be that bad?” Robyn asked.
    “Count on it.”
    When we finished eating, we walked around the mall a little longer, trying on different outfits, laughing at one another, challenging each other to get outrageous with clothing choices, but not buying anything. All of it was a strange experience for me. I usually shopped with Aunt Sophie.Well, that wasn’t exactly true. I bought with Aunt Sophie. She wasn’t much of a shopper, but she was a real buyer. She went to stores to buy things, not to shop around. She always knew what she wanted, went in, and bought it. She didn’t goof around.
    I discovered that I liked goofing around. Hanging out with Robyn and Caitlin was way more fun than hanging out with Aunt Sophie. I felt a little guilty thinking that, because I liked Aunt Sophie. But she was my aunt, not my girlfriend. It was strange to think that I might have BFFs again.
    Since I needed plenty of time to get ready for my date, we left the mall late in the afternoon. We were all fifteen; none of us had driver’s licenses, so I provided the transportation. David gave Robyn and Caitlin a ride home. He dropped Robyn off first, then we went to Caitlin’s house. She lived only a couple of streets over. She could have walked from Robyn’s, but David was all about service and taking care of his passengers.
    When David pulled to a stop in front of Caitlin’s house, she said, “Wait here just a sec.”
    David left the back door open while Caitlin hurried into the house. I couldn’t imagine what I needed to wait for. It was a couple of minutes before she came rushing back out. She stepped into the limo and sat on the plush leather seat beside me.
    “Here. It’s one of my favorites.”
    She handed me a necklace with unevenly-shaped aqua stones in a circle. One