She has gone to sleepaway camp for the past few summers, which generally makes me miserable because I miss her so much. At her camp you can’t have computers or phones, so she can’t e-mail me, let alone text me, and I hate not being able to talk to her. Casey sometimes sends postcards, but it’s not the same thing.

I spun around and Casey charged at me, hugging me over the counter.

“So how much did you miss me?” she asked.

“A lot!” I said.

“I need to know everything that I missed this summer!” she said.

I blinked. “Seriously? You missed nothing, Casey. You know that!”

“Really?” she asked. “I was hoping something exciting might have happened.”

“Um… no,” I said.

“Well, you got a job!” she said, grinning. “Spin around and let me see your uniform.”

I spun around, pointing to the DREAM TEAM on the back of the shirt.

“Nice, nice,” she said.

“Casey!” Kelsey squealed, coming back from the kitchen.

She was so happy to see Casey, she almost dropped the tray she was carrying.

“I have returned!” said Casey dramatically.

“Wow, you look different,” said Kelsey.

I looked at Casey. She did look different.

First of all, she was wearing a little makeup, which was surprising because I knew her mom hadn’t let her wear any before the summer. She also seemed to be a few inches taller.

She was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, but she looked… well, more put together or something, not like she just threw clothes on, which I knew for a fact was what she usually did. And they were usually clothes she had stashed under her bed. She had on a cute pair of sandals, and her toes were painted purple with glitter. Her hair, which was usually in a ponytail, was down and bouncy and curled like she’d just had it styled.

“Did you just get your hair cut?” I asked.

“No, but I used a blow-dryer,” she said.

“You used a blow-dryer in August?” I asked.

Normally, I only blow-dried my hair when it was freezing cold and Nans was yelling that I couldn’t possibly go outside with wet hair or it would freeze on my head.

“I have been dying for those sandals!” said Kelsey. “But Mom won’t let me get them. Did your feet grow too or can I borrow them?”

“Kelsey, are you taking the shoes off poor Casey as soon as she returns to our fine town?” asked Dad, who was grinning.

He loved Casey and came out from the kitchen to say hello the minute he heard her voice. “Hey, Case. Did you have any big summer adventures?”

“I did!” said Casey very seriously. “I had some monumental softball games.”

Then she burst out laughing. “It was great. I had a lot of fun, and it was nice to get away.”

I’ll bet, I thought.