While we watched a series of brief videos, Sierra’s phone kept buzzing with new notifications. People were snapping her, commenting on her snaps, texting her, e-mailing, the works. Sierra declined each notification automatically, without even reading it. It was like she got so many that she couldn’t even be bothered, whereas if I got a notification—they were few and far between—I would be so excited that I would immediately click to open it.

Instinctively I glanced at my own phone—nothing from anyone.

We were still studying the videos—it turned out that Harajuku was a trendy shopping neighborhood—when we heard someone cough. We both looked up and realized there was a line of eight people waiting for ice cream!

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” I gasped. Sierra and I sprang into action, scooping and swirling, ringing people up, and just flying through orders.

Most of the people were fine once we got going, but I could see that one or two were still annoyed. Trying to make up for the wait, I gave each order a generous helping of sprinkles instead of the tiny “sprinkle of happy” I usually added.

“An extra sprinkle of happy,” I told the customers. “Thank you for your patience while we did our flavor research!”

Luckily, it worked, and they all walked away with a smile. When everyone had been served, I allowed myself a deep breath, and Sierra and I looked at each other in relief.

“Thank goodness my mom didn’t bust us on the phone! She might have fired us both,” I whispered, so that the customers seated at the tables couldn’t hear our conversation.

“I know! Bad employees!” said Sierra, but she giggled, and then I giggled, and soon we both were laughing in relief.

Sierra looked out the big plate-glass window at the front of the store, where some abandoned clutter and trash were visible. “I’m going to go wipe the outdoor tables and check the garbage bin out there.”

I nodded. There was lots to wipe up inside after that brief frenzy. I rinsed out the cleaning cloth and set about making everything neat and tidy again. But a few minutes later, when I happened to look out the window, I gasped. Colin was outside, and he was talking to Sierra! I darted a quick glance at my reflection in the mirror along one side of the store. My hair was mussed. I tucked it back into place, retied my apron neatly, and didn’t try to hide the smile that had bloomed on my face. Colin had come! I hadn’t even had to text him! We were such good friends that he’d just automatically forgiven me and shown up. Yay!