“I guess,” I agreed. “I hate feeling jealous of one of my best friends. And I’m annoyed that she’s turning Molly’s into a rocker hangout.”

My mom smiled. “She has brought in some nice business with all those musical friends of hers. But why don’t you add in some nice Allie touches? What ever happened to your book and ice cream pairings? You did those for the school paper, so why not do some right in the shop? People loved those!”

I nodded, trying to think of more Allie touches I could add to the store. I wished Tamiko were there to brainstorm with me. She always had outlandish ideas, and we were very creative together. Missing her made my heart ache and gave me an idea.

“Mom, is there any chance I could FaceTime with Tamiko sometime?”

My mom tipped her head to the side while she considered it. “I don’t see why not. You’ll just need to set up the call in advance so you’re both in position at the same time.”

I stood, excited, and cleared my plate, then put it in the dishwasher. I couldn’t wait to get upstairs and contact Tamiko to set up our video chat. Maybe she could finally make me feel better. I hated feeling this way about one of my best friends.

CHAPTER SIX TAMIKO TO THE RESCUE

With my Tamiko call scheduled for eight thirty the next morning, I was up as early as a bird. I showered and got dressed, had breakfast, packed my bag for writing class and then work, and was at my computer and ready to go by 8:25. I couldn’t wait to talk to Tamiko!

Tamiko answered my FaceTime call with a big smile—and an even bigger taiyaki in her hands! She was wearing a frilly white babydoll dress that looked like she’d stolen it from a little kid in the 1800s. Plus, she had fixed her shiny dark hair in two long braids. She looked kooky and trendy and adorable.

“Alley Cat!” she shouted, holding the taiyaki aloft toward the camera. “Look what I’m about to eat for dessert! Are you jealous?”

I laughed and felt so excited to see Tamiko again that I was speechless. I missed her so much and was giddy at this proof of her existence, and her sameness, even if she was on the other side of the earth and fourteen hours ahead of me.

The treat looked yummy too. Taiyaki was a hollow, fish-shaped cake, and recently it had become popular to use it as an ice cream cone. The ice cream was scooped into the open mouth of the fish, and you held the fish around the tail while you ate the ice cream. Tamiko was forever trying to get my mom to sell them at Molly’s, but it was a lot of work to bake the taiyaki.