Sarah told them as much as she could about the sleepover. As she did, Erin and Pam would nod with excitement, particularly when Sarah mentioned trying on all of Elly’s mother’s jewelry and amazing outfits. They both thought it was hilarious that Bent first insisted on coming over after he couldn’t reach Sarah on the phone. And then that he slept next to her the whole night. Sarah left out the part about her sobbing in front of Bent. A part of her didn’t feel like sharing those more intimate moments. Not yet, anyway. “That is soooo romantic,” Pam said, fanning her hand in front of her face at her vanity table. Erin made a face. “What the heck. Why’s he so hot man, cold man?” Sarah sat up straighter on Pam’s bed. “That’s exactly what I was thinking! It’s driving me crazy. Like if he likes me, he’d ask me out, right? But he hasn’t. And he even admitted to me at the bonfire party that I wasn’t his type at all!” Pam frowned. “Yeah, it’s weird. Boys are weird.” She smiled. “At least my boy is a sweetie.” Erin leaned her head back against Pam’s headboard. “Tell Sarah about your date with Patrick,” Erin said. She squished one of Pam’s little circular pillows behind her head. Pam continued to fan herself. “Oh, girls. He’s so wonderful. Since we work together every Saturday night, Patrick and I agreed we should keep our relationship a secret from our manager. He’s kind of a prickly guy. He’s unmarried. He might get jealous. I don’t want him to work Patrick harder than he already does.”Sarah placed her new phone on the bed beside her. “Where did Patrick take you?” Pam’s eyes twinkled. “We got hot dogs and sodas. Then we went for a long stroll on the beach. It wasn’t too windy. But he held me the entire time so I wouldn’t get cold.” Erin pretended to throw her pillow at Pam. “Get to the best part. This is just superfluous information.” Pam held up her hands. “Okay, okay, hold your horses.” She rested her arm on the dresser and playfully fiddled with her hairbrush. “Patrick and I ended up making out on the beach…for almost a full half hour!” She burst out laughing. Even Erin exploded in laughter, rolling back and forth on Pam’s bed. “Can you BELIEVE it, Sarah? This is PAM we’re listening to!” She turned her focus back to Pam. “Did you let him do anything…fun? Did he want to touch you in places that made you want to–“”OH EM GEE, ERIN!” Pam hollered. She flushed profusely. “Of course not. He’s a respectable young man. He told me he doesn’t want to move too fast. But he said he can’t help himself. The new lip gloss I’ve been wearing — Sarah, I think you recommended I wear that cherry-flavored lip gloss — he said he can’t get enough of it.” Erin started to clap her hands. “Good job, Pam. Nice work. Buy a million lip glosses and smear them all over your body. He won’t be able to keep his tongue–“Sarah swatted Erin in her stomach. Erin made a soft choking sound, laughing her head off. “Gawwwd, you two! You have to GIVE IT UP sooner or later. I CANNOT be the only non-virgin among us. Besides you have NO idea what you’re missing. The feeling of rocking your hips against his–“”ERRRRRIIINNN!” Pam and Sarah screamed at the same time.Erin slapped her thigh, roaring with more laughter. “Well, anyway,” Erin said, catching her breath. “Whenever you get off first base and wind up stepping onto second, give me a ring. I want to hear all about it.” Pam looked at Sarah. The girls shook their heads. “Aaaaaand, in case either of you were wondering. Trevor and I–“”We know you and Trevor have hit several home runs in the past couple of weeks,” Sarah told her, grinning. Erin paused, juggling the circular purple pillow between her hands. “I…was…going to say…” she cleared her throat. “Trevor told me he loved me yesterday.”Both Sarah and Pam’s eyebrows shot to their hairlines.