Hey y'all!

I'm back, with yet another chapter! Hope you guys like it! Or, as Wolfgang would say, I hope you find it FABULOUS, darlings! Ha ha, I get such a kick out of imitating him. One of the quirkiest characters for sure.

I saw a ZILLION reviews begging for Jess and Darcy. I'm not doing one of those kissing chapters, I'm saving that for when the story is a few more chapters old, ;). But I thought it would be cute to read about when she first started crushing on him.

Shout out to Rebel Belle: I love your story. Keep updating, and thanks for your supportive reviews!

A huge thanks to all the other reviewers as well.

Now, without further ado... chapter 3!

Enjoy!

-Estelle

Megan's P.O.V. (Reading Much Ado About Anne, pg. 77-87)

"Well?" my mom looks at Stanley Kinkaid.

"Hmmmm." he frowns at it lightly, "Much Ado About Anne, book 2."

"7th grade." Becca murmurs, and Cassidy, Emma, Jess and I nod uneasily.

Seventh grade was the biggest strain on our friendships. And also-

'It's when I met Clemmie." Stanley says, "Right? Weren't you in seventh grade then, Cass?"

Cassidy nods wordlessly.

"Well, then. Phoebe." Mrs. Delaney continues hurriedly, sensing the increased tension, "The pages?"

Mrs. Hawthorne waves her hands above The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde like a magician. Emma and Darcy both groan.

"Fine, fine." Mrs. Hawthorne grins. She opens the book and squints at the page, "Page 77."

Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid opens Much Ado About Anne to page 77. A light crease forms on her forehead, "Well, this is a bit tricky. We've crossed out the first couple of paragraphs of that page, but the last one is okay." she flips through the chapter, "But this isn't the type of thing we can leave hanging, so lets start from the third paragraph of page 77 and finish the entire chapter from there. The last page of the chapter is 87, by the way, Calliope."

Mrs. Chadwick dutifully notes it down, "Book 2, 77 to 87...3rd paragraph..." she murmurs to herself.

"Here, Grant." Cassidy's mom hands the book to her soon-to-be son-in-law, "Why don't you read. You and Theo and the Berkeleys will cotton on, this is an easily understandable chapter." she gives us daughters a stern look, "But not the chapter with your best behavior, girls."

"What does she mean?" Simon whispers to me.

I shrug, "No clue. I'll probably get it once Grant starts reading, though."

Grant Bell opens the book to page 77 and his eyes find the paragraph that has been marked, "This one, right?"

Gigi nods, peering at it, "That's the one, dear."

"Don't forget to read the quote!" Mrs. Chadwick barks.

Grant jumps and hurriedly flips to the first page of the chapter to read the quote. Becca and Stewart turn slightly red. I grin at them.

"It's...Jess." Grant announces.

Now it's Jess's turn to groan. I shoot her a knowing smile, "Welcome to my world." I say wisely.

She snorts.

Grant clears his throat and starts to read.

"Jess:

'What do you do when you meet with an irresistible temptation?"

-Anne of Green Gables."

"What does that have to do with the chapter?" I ask.

My mom has a cautious expression, "This is the part...this chapter...this is..." she lets out a breath and turns to Cassidy, Emma and Jess, "This is the, um, Hello Boston part."

All of us groan. The Berkeleys and Theo and Gigi and Grant look confused.

"What's so bad?" Simon asks.

"I wasn't actually a part of it." I say truthfully.

"I wasn't either." Becca pauses thoughtfully, "Well, technically, I wasn't, but kind of indirectly, I was."

"Then who did it?" Theo questions.

We all turn towards Cassidy, Emma and Jess. They shrug.

"Oh. And whose idea was it, whatever 'it' is?" Tristan asks.

All of our eyes turn to Cassidy.

"Was not!" she protested.

Tristan snorts, "Why did I even ask."

Cassidy glares at him. He smiles, though, and her expression softens slightly.

"Now, Grant, read!" Mrs. Chadwick barks, "We cannot take two hours for a chapter of a book!"

"Yes, Mrs. Chadwick." he replies nervously, and we smother our giggles.

'You never quite know which season it is at the Sloanes', either.

"Because of the show." Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid explains.

"Last month, the same week we filmed our Holiday Tea Party, they also filmed Mothers' Day Brunch, and Cassidy's house went from winter to spring in a matter of days.

"Confusing." Tristan's brow furrows as he looks down at his girlfriend, "You don't like change much, do you? How did you manage?"

"To be honest, I don't know." Cassidy replies.

There is one benefit of having your mom in charge of a cooking show, though, Cassidy says, and that's the food.

"Figures." Becca snorts, "Remember the ornament?"

We all laugh.

"What ornament?" Courtney asks.

"Remember that progressive dinner, the New Year of our tenth grade? Cass told you about it." I say, "Well, we all chose secret santas before,and we had to give them an ornament on New Year's Eve."

"And Becca gave me a Heinz Banana Split ornament." Cassidy told her sister cheerily.

"Yup, because you eat like a horse, and never gain an ounce." Jess says.

"And I will forever find it super unfair." Becca adds, sounding half-wise and knowledgeable and half- irritated.

She never buys lunch at the cafeteria at school anymore, and there's always tons of good stuff around when Emma and Megan and I come over to hang out.

I look around for Cassidy's dog, Murphy, but there's no sign of him. I figure he must have been banished to the garage or something. He's kind of excitable, and he'd be going crazy right now trying to keep an eye on everything and everybody if he were in the house. Murphy is very protective of Cassidy and Courtney and their mom.

"That's why we love him." Courtney says to the room at large.

Mrs. Sloane says she's planning an episode just for him, to teach viewers how to bake their own dog biscuits, because he's the one the show has been the hardest on.

"Hmm, I never got around to doing that one." Cassidy's mom says thoughtfully, "It's a good idea, isn't it? Maybe I should schedule it for next month instead of having a rerun..."

"Um, Mom?" Cassidy says, "The book?"

"Hey, Emma. Hey, Jess."

It's Stewart. He's helped himself to a homemade donut and hot cider.

"How did you know?" Becca's brother asks.

Becca snorts.

"Hey, Stewart." Emma replies, politely ignoring his powdered sugar mustache.

"Oh." Stewart flushes a bit.

He pushes his glasses up nervously, "So you're going to be on Hello Boston?"

"Duh, Chadwick, why else were we all gathered there?" Cassidy asks.

"I was trying to make small talk!" Stewart protests.

"Well, it wasn't a very good attempt." Darcy says dismissively, "I'm surprised they didn't throw their napkins at you."

We laugh.

"I would have, if I was there." Cassidy says solemnly.

We nod.

"Cool."

There's an awkward pause, then Becca and Megan appear.

"Super Megan!" I intone, remembering how my mom used to want me to help save the planet. She still wishes, actually, but not too much.

"You got that right!"Gigi beams at me fondly.

"Stewart, wipe that thing off!" snaps Becca, pointing to his upper lip, "You look like an idiot. Can't you do anything without embarrassing me?"

There was some silence in the room.

"Rebecca Louise Chadwick!" it wasn't her mother who spoke this time. The exclamation wasn't sharp or angry, just disappointed. It had come from Becca's dad.

Becca's face was bright red, but she didn't need any encouragement to apologize. She was already feeling pretty low about how she used to act, I guess.

"Sorry, Stewart." Becca says honestly, "I didn't mean any of that. You're not embarrassing, you're a great brother. And I guess, the way I was before, you should have been embarrassed by me."

"It's OK, Bec, it's been a while since that happened, anyway." Stewart shrugs nonchalantly.

The adults nod at this adequate apology, and Grant Bell continues reading.

Her brother's face turns the same shade as Megan's dress. Emma hands Stewart a napkin, glaring at Becca.

"Thanks, Em." Stewart smiles at his girlfriend. She smiles back.

"Hmm...my point of view isn't bad. It hardly has any of my private-ish thoughts." Jess observes.

"What's gotten into you?" Becca taunts her, "Lose Waldo again?"

"Rebecca Louise!" Mrs. Chadwick barks.

"Sorry, Emma. It was rude, I know, I shouldn't have said anything." Becca says dutifully, but sincerely.

Emma waves it off, just like Stewart had.

"Who's Waldo?" asks Stewart, looking around.

"Seriously?" Tristan groans.

"You've got to be kidding." agrees Simon.

"Simon!" I scold, giggling a bit, "Don't be mean."

"It's not mean, Megs, it's honest." Cassidy says earnestly.

"Hey, I'm right here!" Stewart cries.

"Dude, that's kind of the point." Darcy snickers.

Megan tugs on Becca's sleeve, "C'mon, Becca, lay off." she says in a low voice.

"Thanks, Megan." Emma and Jess chorus.

I grin, "No problem. Super Megan, remember?"

But in my heart of hearts, I knew I could've said more to defend them, just like back in sixth grade with Emma's journal, or the Beauty and the Beast play.

Cassidy catches my eye and pats her pocket. I nod, suddenly glad we're going to go through with our plan.

"Uh oh." Theo says, "What plan?"

"You'll find out." Mrs. Hawthorne says tiredly.

"Is this... that one?" Mr. Delaney asks.

The moms nod in unison.

Courtney grins, "I love this chapter already. Go on Grant."

"Let's go over things one more time," announces Mrs. Sloane, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention. As always, she looks gorgeous.

"Aw, thanks Jess, that's so sweet." Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid says, beaming.

She's wearing a mid-calf-length purple wool skirt, a black turtleneck, and a matching purple shawl draped artfully around her shoulders. Like my mom, she's got her hair swept up.

I turn to Becca, and it's clear that we're thinking the same thing : What an outfit.

Cassidy's mom has an amazing fashion sense.

I say as much to Simon, quietly so no one else hears, and he chuckles, "I'm not the expert, Megan, so I'll agree with you."

I roll my eyes, but feel really happy. That is how Simon always makes me feel.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Megan studying her. She's probably wishing she had her sketchbook right now. Mrs. Sloane is her fashion idol.

"Oh, Megan, I'm really glad I inspire you!" Cassidy's mom gushes.

I smile.

"We'll be filming in the living room in just a few minutes." Mrs. Sloane continues, "Those of you who are here to watch us are welcome to do so, but from the hallway only please. We need to keep the room clear for the Channel 5 folks." She smiles at her friend Mr. Kinkaid, who's standing with the dads, and he smiles back.

She checks her watch, then gestures towards the counter-top where the food is waiting. "We'll be taking our places in just a few minutes, but until then, help yourself!"

Cassidy sighs longingly. So do I, actually. I mean, come on, I remember all that food- it was amazing.

Cassidy looks at me, surprised, and I grin sheepishly, "What? I can be hungry!"

I glance over at Darcy. He winks at me and my heart gives a happy flutter.

"Awwww!" the moms chorus.

Jess turns bright red and twists to look at Darcy. He has this huge grin on his face. I can tell he's going to enjoy this as much as Jess isn't.

Tristan whispers something to Cassidy. She laughs softly and shakes her head.

I've known Emma's big brother forever, but about a year ago it was like I noticed him for the first time.

"That sounds so poetic and beautiful!" Simon's mother says dreamily.

"Not something I would know much about." Mr. Hawthorne says, pulling out a mini notebook, "But I think that line has a spot in one of my novels."

Jess's face is beet red. I grin at her sympathetically.

Darcy has this look that's a cross between smugness, amusement, and dreaminess.

I always thought he was really nice,

"Thanks, Jess." Darcy says brightly. Jess scowls.

but I never realized how cute he was, too.

"Aren't I?" Darcy asks cheerfully.

"And very modest." Cassidy says seriously. I snort.

Jess turns redder and buries her face in her hands.

Mr. and Mrs. Delaney exchange a fleeting smile, and Grant continues to read.

He's got the warmest brown eyes,

"Oooohhhh!" the twins chorus, half-sarcastically and half-teasingly.

"They're a Hawthorne heirloom feature." Emma's dad boasts.

just like Emma's,

"See?" Mr. Hawthorne added, as if anybody doubted him.

"Y'know, Nick, nobody argued with you there." Mr. Wong pointed out.

and he's always laughing and joking around.

"Yeah, that part of you is OK." Cassidy grants.

"What about my helpfulness? Pip, the boys' hockey team...?"

"Fine, and that, too."

Plus he's thoughtful and polite and smart too.

"Thanks, Jess." Darcy says again, giving Jess a sincere smile.

She returns it, still red from embarrassment.

As Grant continues reading and everyone's attention is turned back to the book, I see Darcy lean in, quick as lightning, and brush Jess's lips with his. I smile.

Well, most of the time. Except when he's doing dumb gross boy stuff.

All the grown-ups laugh.

"Dumb gross boys stuff!" Jess's little brothers chorus gleefully.

"I remember when Tristan and Simon went through that stage." Mrs. Berkeley says wearily, "And they would manage to finish the entire family's dinner between each other. They're very close in age, you know, so I had it double tough." she turns to Jess's mother, "And I would say you have it thrice as hard, even though there are only two of them."

"Hey!" Dylan -or maybe Ryan- says indignantly.

Simon's mother laughs, "You both are delightful to be around."

I grin at Simon. He smiles sheepishly, "Well, it's not like I can help it, you know."

I giggle and kiss his cheek quickly, "I know."

Emma thinks it's hilarious that I've gotten all tongue-tied around him.

"It's just Darcy." Emma says. Becca and I exchange a glance.

Becca used to flirt with him like crazy. I wonder if we're going to read one of those parts later. For her sake, I hope not.

"It's just Darcy." she always says, and I know it's true, but I can't help it. She doesn't bug me too much, though, just like I never tease her about Zach Norton.

Stewart scowls, "That Zach kid, there's something kind of...you know, fishy, about him..."

"I know." Tristan nods irritably, "I don't like him."

"He's not bad, he's a good friend of mine!" Simon protests, "You both liked him at my party!"

"Well, I don't like him anymore." Tristan says, "He's too clingy."

Emma and Cassidy exchange one glance and burst out laughing.

"He is." Stewart persisted.

"Whatever." Cassidy rolls her eyes. She tugs on Tristan's pant leg, "You got along at Simon's party."

Tristan glares at the coffee table, "Well, I've changed my mind."

"I wonder why." Becca says under her breath, and Simon and Theo snicker.

We keep each other's secrets. That's what best friends are for.

"True that." Becca says to me.

I nod, too. Becca and I keep each others secrets. I can let my guard down with Becca.

Out of the blue I realize that I'm thinking about math, of all things.

"Really, Delaney?" Cassidy asks incredulously, "You're thinking about math?"

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

"That's an interesting thought to get out of the blue." Stanley says thoughtfully.

It occurs to me that this is probably true for people, too. I take a deep breath and start to walk across the kitchen towards Darcy.

"Run, Jess, run!" Theo and Simon and Stewart and Tristan encourage.

We laugh. Becca, however, does not.

"What's wrong?" I whisper.

"You'll see." she whispers back, looking a bit pale.

Just as I do, Becca Chadwick brushes past me and beats me to him.

"Oh." I say.

"I thought you liked that Norton boy, too, at that time?" Theo asks her.

She flushes, "Um, well..."

"Hi, Darcy." she coos, batting her eyelashes.

The guys look amused. Becca looks about ready to puke.

Emma and Jess and Cassidy look revolted.

"Rebecca Louise!" Mrs. Chadwick barks, "You must be yourself all the time!"

"Oh, hey, Becca." he says politely, then glancing over at me, "Hey, Jess."

"Hey." I reply.

Becca ignores me, of course. "How's high school?" she asks, in that fake voice she uses when boys are around.

Theo eyes her.

"Not you." she assures him, "Actually, no one anymore."

"Great!" Darcy replies.

I just stand there feeling stupid as the two of them start talking. All of a sudden, my dress seems babyish and I wish I'd done something different with my hair, rather than pull it back into its usual braid.

"You looked great that day." Becca tells Jess.

In her plaid taffeta skirt and black V-neck sweater, Becca looks perfect, of course.

"I do not." Becca says quietly. She clearly feels horrible right now. I wonder if we're going to read about when I was part of the Fab Four.

I have a sinking feeling in my stomach. What would Simon and Gigi say to how I used to act?

The Fab Three always look perfect. Maybe if I spent ninety-seven hours a day trying on makeup and looking through fashion magazines, I'd look perfect, too.

"You do always look perfect." Darcy says firmly, "You look beautiful no matter what."

Jess blushes.

I back away slowly, right into Carson Dawson, the host of Hello Boston!

"Whoa there, little lady," he says," better check your rear-view mirror when you're driving!" he chuckles at his little joke

"That was a joke?" Cassidy asks in disbelief.

"I'm about as lost as you are, Cass." Grant says, checking the book exaggeratedly. He and Cassidy shake their heads mournfully.

"Some people are just not funny." Cassidy says.

- Carson Dawson is known for chuckling at his own jokes- and I notice that he's a lot shorter than he looks on TV. Not much taller than me, in fact. He's older,too. Up close like this, I can see the wrinkles under his tan. I also notice that he has an abundance of teeth. Very white teeth. He's bearing them at me in his trademark smile.

Whoever was there when the teeth came out try not to look at each other.

"What's so funny?" Gigi asks me.

"You'll see." I manage to say without laughing.

"Pardon me." I manage to squeak.

He chuckles again and trots off towards the living room.

"Girls!" says Cassidy's mother, "We need you on the set. Five minutes till liftoff."

I follow her down the hall, my heart thumping again. Part of me hopes Darcy isn't going to watch us filming, part of me hopes he is.

"I did." Darcy says.

'I know." Jess rolls her eyes.

We pick our way carefully over the camera cables to where the couch and chairs are grouped towards the coffee table. At the far end is one of the three-tiered tea trays we used when we filmed the tea party. It's piled with the same goodies, too- tiny little cucumber sandwiches with he crusts cut off, mini cupcakes, scones with Devonshire cream and Half Moon Farm raspberry jam, crackers spread with goat cheese, little tarts filled with lemon mousse, truffles and homemade cream puffs with chocolate sauce. My stomach rumbles. I was feeling too anxious to eat breakfast earlier, but now despite my jangling nerves, I'm actually hungry.

"How can anyone not be hungry?" Cassidy asks.

Mrs. Chadwick is already seated on the sofa next to Carson Dawson. he must have gotten into the cream puffs or truffles because there's a smear of chocolate on one side of her mouth. An assistant spots it and hands her a tissue.

Cassidy snorts quietly. Becca glares at her.

"Becca will sit here next to me." Mrs. Chadwick announces, as if this were her party and she were the hostess.

"I really must apologize, Clementine." Mrs. Chadwick says, "Rebecca and I were both completely out of line."

"It's nothing, Calliope." Cassidy's mom says nonchalantly, "We all have our bad times."

Mrs. Sloane's smile looks a little strained, "Actually, Calliope, I'm going to have to ask you to move over here to this armchair." She pats it encouragingly,"I'll need to sit next to Mr. Dawson as he'll be directing most of his questions at me."

Mrs. Chadwick looks displeased to hear this. She's used to being the boss.

"Basically." Becca's mom says, "I have a natural leadership ability."

"You got that right." I hear Cassidy mutter to Tristan.

He smothers a grin and rests his chin on top of her head.

She's sort of like the queen bee of Concord. I guess that's where Becca gets it.

"You guessed right." Stewart says, "I'm more like Dad, y'know. We're the quiet folks."

"Yes, we are." Mr. Chadwick confirms.

Becca and her mother send Stewart and Mr. Chadwick identical glares. Everyone else explodes in laughter.

She heaves herself reluctantly off the sofa and into the designated armchair.

"Two minutes!" calls one of the Channel 5 camera crew. The dads and brothers crowd around the doorway, jostling for a good view. Mr. Kinkaid blows Cassidy's mom a kiss, then gives Cassidy a thumbs-up. She scowls at him.

Everyone turns to Cassidy. She looks sheepish, but guilty, "Sorry Stanley."

"It's nothing." Stanley shrugs.

As we all take our assigned seats, Courtney comes in with a silver tray. On it is a large silver tea pot and eleven teacups. She sets it down in the middle of the coffee table and places a teacup in front of each of us. Cassidy sits up straight, on full alert.

"Why?" Tristan and Simon chorus.

"It's a long story." I say wisely.

"And it will explain." Cassidy gestures to the book.

Beside me, Emma's knee starts jouncing up and down and she flicks me a nervous glance. Cassidy, on the other hand, isn't the least bit nervous.

"Of course not." her mother sighs.

Her face is alight with excitement. There's nothing Cassidy likes better than a good prank.

Tristan whispers something in her ear.

Cassidy scowls and replies something, but I can't hear what she says. Whatever it is, it makes Tristan laugh and say something about Annabelle. I'm going to have to ask Cassidy later.

I have no idea how she's going to pull this one off, though. Not with a room full of people watching our every move.

"That's a good point." Mrs. Chadwicks eyes narrow, "How did you manage it?"

Cassidy, Emma and Jess point weakly at the book.

"Ninety seconds!" calls the cameraman.

My palms are sweaty. I'm smiling my fake smile so hard the muscles in my cheek are twitching. I don't dare look at Darcy.

"Why?" Darcy asks.

Jess shrugs, "I looked weird, panicking and sweaty."

"You looked amazing." Darcy corrected her.

Beside me, I see Cassidy slip the garage door opener out from behind one of the couch pillows and drop her arm casually over the back of the sofa.

The adults stared at one another in disbelief.

"No way." Stewart and Darcy said together, looking at Cassidy, "That's it?"

"You'll see. Read, Grant." she replies.

She aims it at the window and pushes the button. Outside, there's a rumbling sound as the garage door starts to go up.

"But wasn't your dog in the garage?" Tristan asks the Sloanes.

Cassidy nodded. Theo, Tristan and Simon blink at each other, then burst out laughing.

Two seconds later Murphy hurtles through the front door, barking wildly at all the strangers in his house.

"What is that dog doing in here!" cries Carson Dawson, "Get him off the set!"

"Murphy, you naughty boy, how did you get out?" scolds Mrs. Sloane, "Courtney- grab him and put him back into the garage- quick!"

Courtney springs into action.

"All right!" Courtney cheers, "Watch how it's done, ladies and gents!"

Darcy and Stewart Chadwick are right behind her.

Stewart and Darcy slap each other a high-five.

"And we join the action!" Darcy crows, "Watch and learn!"

"I am a rescuing machine!" Becca's brother brags, "Grace and strength is what it takes."

Stewart trips over one of the cables and goes sprawling,

Everyone snorts.

"Yeah, I see the grace, mate." Tristan says sarcastically.

"We were better." Darcy gestures at himself and Courtney.

I frown. If I remember correctly, they bumped into each other and made everything worse.

startling Murphy, who duck under the coffee table. In their haste to grab him, Courtney and Darcy collide, and they go sprawling, too.

We all turn to Darcy and Courtney.

"Well, we tried." Cassidy's sister shrugs.

"And failed." Theo adds.

Courtney and Darcy scowl. Jess pats Darcy's shoulder, clearly trying not to laugh.

In all the confusion, I see Cassidy remove the something from her pocket that I gave her earlier. Quick as lightning, she pours a few drops from it into Becca's teacup. Then just as quickly she puts it back into her pocket. She looks over at me and Emma and grins.

A stunned silence falls over the room. I'm just as shocked as the rest of them.

That made it sound so easy, but it was pretty daring.

"Cassidy..." Tristan says faintly, "You didn't..."

"I did." Cassidy says smugly.

"Thank god I didn't drink it!" Becca exclaims, her face growing panicked at the thought.

I lean over and peek into Becca's teacup. There's nothing to see- the few drops Cassidy added are colorless. We left the blue food coloring out this time. Suddenly it strikes me how funny it would be if there really were such a thing as an invisibility potion, and Becca Chadwick vanished- poof!- right in the middle of Hello Boston!

"That would be somewhat amusing, but also rather controversial." Simon says.

I stare at him, "Um, what?"

"Quite right." Tristan agrees, "Nobody would so much as trust the recipes, it would be a down-rate for the show."

"Guys." Jess leans towards the Berkeley brothers, "I hate to break it to you, but that was a joke."

Simon shrugs, "Still."

"That's what happens when your father is a history professor." Tristan explains.

"Now, don't just go blaming this on me, lads!" Mr. Berkeley says jokingly.

I start to giggle. So do Emma and Cassidy. Megan gives us a funny look.

"I kind of felt a bit left out, you know." I shrug, remembering the time. I had just fit in with them, and then I was left out of he loophole all over again. Even though I totally understood why they didn't say anything.

Fortunately, everyone else is laughing at Murphy- everyone except Mr. Dawson, who is still looking annoyed- so no one notices us.

"Ten seconds!" cries his assistant, as the Sloanes' dog is finally corralled and whisked back to exile in the garage.

The lights on the camera go from red to green, and the expression from Carson Dawson's face goes from irritation to toothsome enthusiasm.

"That's a good way to describe it." Emma and Mr. Hawthorne both make notes in their little notebooks.

"You have nice thoughts, Jess." Emma adds as an afterthought.

"And action!" says the Channel 5 cameraman.

"Hellooooooooo, Boston!" calls Carson Dawson, launching into the show's trademark opening cry, "And greetings from the set of Cooking with Clementine. I'm here live this morning with the lovely Sloane in her lovely home in Concord, Massachusetts, where today's upcoming episode was filmed. Isn't that right, Clementine?"

"That's right, Carson," Mrs. Sloane responds, right on cue, "We have something special for our viewers later this morning."

"And what's that, Clementine?"

"It's a mother-daughter holiday tea, Carson. We've made all sorts of goodies-" she waves her manicured hand gracefully towards the tiered trays, and the cameras zoom in on the food-"and we'll show you how you can create an elegant tea party of your own, from the homemade invitations to the homemade treats."

"Sounds like good old-fashioned homemade fun!" gushes Carson Dawson, with a chuckle, "Be sure and stay tuned."

Mrs. Sloane is casually pouring out the tea as she talks, but before she can serve it like we rehearsed, Carson Dawson reaches out and grabs a teacup.

"And thennn" Ryan- or Dylan, possibly- intones.

And not just any teacup.

"The tragedy!" The other twin finishes.

Theo sighs, "Let me guess."

He grabs Becca Cadwick's teacup.

"Yay!" Becca cheers softly, and I give her a rueful grin.

Everyone else groans at the misfortune of Carson Dawson.

"It is a good thing you didn't drink it, Bec." Stewart says.

Beside me, Emma sucks in her breath. Cassidy groans quietly. Her mother gives her a sharp look.

"One lump, or two?" she asks, holding the sugar tongs poised above the bowl.

"Two," Carson Dawson replies.

Two lumps won't even begin to counteract the garlic-laced invisibility potion. My heart starts pounding again, and it's not just my palms that are sweating now.

"Nothing would have counteracted it." Emma says.

"What was in it?" Stewart asks.

"Um, cinnamon, garlic, peppermint, and a few other stuff." Jess says, frowning in concentration, "I'll get back to you on it, because I could be wrong."

"I'd like to introduce some of the guests you'll be seeing later this morning at our tea party," Mrs. Sloane continues, naming each of us by turn as she dispenses sugar and milk into our cups. Becca gives a close-lip smile, hiding her braces from the camera.

We laugh, and Becca glares at us, "Shut up!"

"Sorry, Bec." I say, still smiling.

Emma looks like she's going to cry,

"I did not!" Emma says defensively.

"Hate to break it to you, Em, but you kind of did." Darcy ruffles his sister's hair.

Emma scowls.

and even Cassidy's normally cocky grin is a little uncertain.

"Normally cocky? What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Cassidy turns to Jess.

But it's Emma who answers, naturally, "It means confident or conceited in a bold and cheeky way."

Cassidy processes this. "Um, English, please?" she finally asks.

"It means cheeky and bold and confident." Jess says.

"Um, okay, then."

"I have to tell you, I'm hearing good things about Cooking With Clementine." says Carson Dawson, "Word is that yours is the hottest new show on the Cooking Channel."

Mrs. Sloane smiles modestly, "Well, Carson, it might be a little premature to call it that since only a handful of episodes have aired. And I'd hardly call it my show- I have a lot of help from my colleagues here. Phoebe Hawthorne, our town librarian, is in charge of research, and Lily Wong consults our ingredients."

"You've all been great helps." Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid says, "You too, Shannon. And Calliope, you are a fabulous gardening consultant."

The moms have their emotional moment, and the dads pat their backs. I hear murmurs of 'great idea' and 'yoga class' and 'friends for life' and 'wonderful choice to stay in' and other sniffs about how we've formed a family come out of our mothers.

We 'kids' sit and stare and roll our eyes, even though I think we all secretly agree with our moms.

Megan's mother pipes up, "I'd like to add that it's entirely possible to create a healthy tea party."

I groan, "Mo-om!"

"What?" my other protests, "It's true."

"Yes, Lily, I'm sure it is." My dad says soothingly.

Gigi and I grin at each other.

"Is that right?" murmurs Mr. Dawson, eyeing the goodies on the tea tray greedily. He chooses a lemon tart from the middle tier, and my mind I start reviewing everything I know about chemistry, desperately hoping that citric acid will cancel out garlic. Maybe the lemons will save us.

"I don't think so." Stewart says seriously.

Becca shoves him, "Dork! This already happened!"

"All you need to do is select fresh, organic ingredients, which as you know, Cooking With Clementine is devoted to using."

I squelch a laugh. Cooking With Clementine uses organic food whenever they can, but they draw the line at flax-seed oil and kale and using spinach to moisten banana bread instead of blueberries.

"Is that right?" the host repeats, clearly more interested in his lemon tart than in Mrs. Wong.

My mom grumbles incessantly, "No manners at all, that man, just talk!"

He takes a bite, "Mmmmmm," he says, raising his cup.

Emma reaches over and clutches my hand. I squeeze back, hard.

Carson Dawson pauses. Hope soars inside me. Maybe he's not going to drink it after all.

Cassidy sighs, "But no such luck."

No such luck.

Cassidy slaps Jess a high-five.

"Bottoms up!" he says, winking at the camera, "Or since this is a proper tea part, perhaps I should say 'Tally ho'?" He chuckles at his little joke,

"Oh, goodness, that one was even worse than the first." Tristan sighs.

"Tell me about it." Cassidy agrees.

then puts the cup to his lips and takes a deep sip. So does everyone else except me and Emma and Cassidy. We're too busy holding our breaths.

"But the outcome wouldn't be terrible." Simon points out.

Theo nods, "If he coughs, you should have just tided over with, like, saying he swallowed too fast, then pour him another cup or something."

I exchange a glance with Courtney, "That was the problem."

"What was?" Grant asks. He scans the rest of the page and a huge grin forms on his face.

"What?" Tristan presses.

'Wait and see."

Carspn Dawson sets his teacup down with a clatter. He presses his lips together tightly, and his cheeks bulge out like he's trying to suppress and explosion. His face turns bright purple with the effort. His eyes start to water. Then all of a sudden he leans forward and coughs violently, spewing tea across the table and all over the front of Mrs. Chadwick green dress.

"And a very expensive one, too!" Mrs. Chadwick says irritably, "Didn't even offer to pay for the dry cleaning!"

"Well, Calliope." Mrs. Hawthorne says dryly, "I'm sure he had other worries."

"Like?" Theo, Simon and Tristan chorus. The Berkeley parents and Gigi look puzzled, too.

"Well, I never!" sputters Mrs. Chadwick.

"Oh, my." says Mrs. Sloane weakly.

"Cut!" cries the Channel 5 cameraman.

For a long moment, no one says a word. Not even Carson Dawson.

"Why?" Tristan asks, "I tend to explode when I feel annoyed."

"I know from first-hand experience." Cassidy informs him.

He bites his lip, "Right."

"It's fine." Cassidy assures him.

He can't.

"Why?" Gigi asks.

Nestled in the cream puffs, grinning to themselves, are a gleaming set of very abundant, perfectly white teeth.

There is another stunned silence.

"Oh my goodness!" my grandmother finally breaks it, "You have got to be kidding!"

"You mean all those episodes, when he smiled- they were- they were dentures?!" Mrs. Berkeley exclaims.

We nod, howling with laughter.

Theo and Tristan and Simon exchange one glance and then they're in peels of laughter, too. The adults quickly join in.

"What happens next?" Simon finally gasps.

"That's the end of the chapter." Grant puts the book back on the table.

"That chapter was epic!" Theo says.

"Too right, it was." Tristan agrees, flushed from laughter.

"Except for my stupid thoughts." Jess grumbles.

"I thought they were cute!" Darcy protests.

I chuckle.

Mrs. Hawthorne pulls out the bowl with the chits of paper again, "On to the next one?"

"Really, Phoebe, we should have a break!" Mrs. Chadwick blusters.

"Hmmm." Mrs. Hawthorne purses her lips thoughtfully, "Let's read one more snippet, then take a half-an hour break to discuss and eat and calm down or whatever we want to do. Then we'll continue. It's only 1:15, after all. What do you say?"

We all nod in approval, even Mrs. Chadwick.

"Then, here we go." Emma's mom holds out the bowl to my dad, "Jerry? Want to do the honors?"

"You bet!" my dad says enthusiastically.

He sticks his hand inside and rummages around dramatically, even though there are only six little slips.

He finally withdraws one.

Cue the return of tension among the daughters.

He unfolds the piece of paper and opens his mouth to read the words aloud.