Alexa immediately started to sweat in panic. She knows, she thought. Somehow she knows I know.

“Sure.” She couldn’t believe how normal her voice sounded.

“What’s a Boda Borg party?”

“A what?” Alexa was momentarily disoriented, wondering if Boda Borg was some kind of mob term. Then she remembered that it was a real-world gaming environment that had been all the rage for a while in middle school. Not for Alexa—she wasn’t a gamer, real world or fake. But some people got into it.

“A Boda Borg party. Katie mentioned that someone named Riley is having one? She was distraught over not being invited. And naturally when you’re new to town you can’t expect to get invited to everything right away, I told her that. I told her it was nothing to get so upset about. But try explaining that to an eleven-year-old.” Sherri sighed. “It’s hard starting over, no matter what age you are.”

It won’t be for me, thought Alexa. Not in L.A. But she felt hurt and angry on Sherri and Katie’s behalf.

“Boda Borg parties are the worst,” she said. “They’re chaotic and stressful and the traffic getting there is always terrible and nine out of ten times a kid throws up on the car ride home. Believe me, Katie is lucky to miss it.”

37.

Rebecca

“You sure you want to take on Canobie Lake?” Rebecca asked Alexa two days after Alexa had brought home the coupon and the idea.

Alexa shrugged. “Why not? I’m free all day.”

“Sister bonding time!” Rebecca couldn’t hide her delight. She went to hug Alexa but Alexa grimaced and ducked and said, “Calm down, Mom, it’s just Canobie Lake.” When she was clear of the hug she said, “Hey, is Morgan going to some Boda Borg party?”

“No,” said Rebecca. “Not that I’ve heard about. Why?”

“No reason.”

Rebecca called Sherri to make sure it was okay for Alexa to take them to Canobie. She told Sherri that Alexa’s driving record was clean, which mostly it was. She didn’t mention the speeding ticket Alexa had gotten the year before on Hale Street. Everybody went too fast on Hale Street—it was impossible not to.

One of the benefits of dating a childless teacher was that on a summer day he was likely to be free. While the girls were getting ready to go, she snuck upstairs and called Daniel, suggesting an impromptu date.

“I’m in!” he said. “Where do you want to go? The beach? Plum Island? Salisbury? Jenness?”

“I was thinking a faraway beach, like Wingaersheek or Crane’s—” Most people from Newburyport who went to those beaches did so by boat and stuck to the boaters’ only sections; they wouldn’t see anyone if they went by car.