Which was weird, considering the fact that in a few hours, I was going to be doing battle with the forces of evil.

But until then, I decided to enjoy myself. I turned my face towards the setting sun, feeling its warming rays on my cheeks, and listened to the roaring of the waves, the shrieking of the gulls, and the chatter of Cee Cee and Adam.

‘So I said to her, Claire, you’re nearly forty. If you and Paul want to have another kid, you had better hurry. Time is not on your side.’ Adam sipped a latte he’d picked up from a coffee shop near where we’d parked. ‘And she was all, “But your father and I don’t want you to feel threatened by the new baby,” and I was like, “Claire, babies don’t threaten me.” You know what makes me feel threatened? Steroid-popping Neanderthals like Brad Ackerman. They threaten me.’

Cee Cee shot Adam a warning look, then looked at me. ‘How are you getting along with your new stepbrothers, Suze?’

I tore my eyes away from the setting sun. ‘All right, I guess. Does Do – I mean, Brad really take steroids?’

Adam said, ‘I shouldn’t have mentioned that. I’m sorry. I’m sure he doesn’t. All those guys on the wrestling team, though – they scare me. And they’re so homophobic . . . well, you can’t help wondering about their sexual orientation. I mean, they all think I’m gay, but you wouldn’t catch me in a pair of tights grabbing at some other guy’s inner thigh.’

I felt a need to apologize for my stepbrother, and did so, adding, ‘I’m not so sure he’s gay. He got very excited when Kelly Prescott called the other night and invited us to her pool party on Saturday.’

Adam whistled, and Cee Cee said unexpectedly, ‘Well, well, well. Are you sure this blanket is good enough for you? Maybe you would prefer a cashmere beach blanket. That’s what Kelly and all her friends sit on.’

I blinked at them, realizing I’d just committed a faux pas. ‘Oh, I’m sorry. Kelly didn’t invite you guys? But I just assumed she was inviting all the sophomores.’

‘Certainly not,’ Cee Cee said with a sniff. ‘Just the sophomores with status, which Adam and I definitely lack.’

‘But you,’ I said, ‘are the editor of the school paper.’

‘Right,’ Adam said. ‘Translate that into dork and you’ll have an idea why we’ve never been invited to any of Princess Kelly’s pool parties.’

‘Oh,’ I said. I was quiet for a minute, listening to the waves. Then I said, ‘Well, it’s not like I was planning on going.’

‘You weren’t?’ Cee Cee’s eyes bugged out behind her glasses.

‘No. At first because I had a date with Bryce, which is off now. But now because . . . well, if you guys aren’t going, who would I talk to?’

Cee Cee leaned back on the blanket. ‘Suze,’ she said. ‘Have you ever considered running for class VP?’