Ricky took her to a food stand called Jimmie's for hot dogs because he said you couldn't go to Savin Rock without a stop at Jimmie's. He bought her cotton candy and a frozen custard, which they shared, laughing when it melted, and she didn't even mind when she got some on her skirt. But then, even though there were more rides and other kinds of food to try, he took her hand again and they walked down to the beach. Ricky spread his jacket on the sand for them to sit on, and they looked out at the sea. When he kissed her it wasn't a surprise. Not really. Even though it had never happened to her before. At first she wasn't sure what to do, but his mouth was soft and he opened it a little and it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to open hers too. He tasted like tobacco and frozen custard. The taste made her dizzy. She pressed herself against him; she wanted him to go on doing this forever. But in a minute, Ricky pushed her away.

“No,” he said in a scratchy voice. “You're not the kind of girl I kiss that way.”

“Why not?” she demanded. But he looked at her with a glare that made her turn away.

“You know why,” he said, as if he was angry at her. She wanted to cry, but then he reached out to stroke her cheek very gently, and that made it all right. They turned back to the sea, and there was sand on her face from his fingers.

After a couple of minutes he said, “You're going to be a star, you know,” as if they'd been talking about it for a long time and it was a conclusion he'd come to. He turned to look at her, squinting a little in the sunshine. “It's not just that you have a beautiful voice. What you did today with Aunt Adele—that was what a star would do. The way a star would think. No one can teach you that.”

She thought about saying what she'd done was no big thing. Her brothers went on all the time about how there was nothing worse than a girl who was too full of herself, and when a boy gave you a compliment you were supposed to brush it off and find a way to turn it back on him. But her instincts told her Ricky would be disappointed if she played games with him. And talking about her future as an actress was too important to lie about.

“I do want to be a star,” she said seriously. “On Broadway. And I think I'm the kind of person who gets what she wants.”

“So am I,” he said.

“I know.” He didn't ask her how she knew, because he didn't have to. They understood each other.