Once Kurl was put on the spot to pick the restaurant for the group’s double date, he balked. His text to Sarah indicated his grumpiness. -If Prince wants to join us, make him pick the place we go. ~KurlSarah sighed. She quickly messaged Elly to let her know how stubborn Kurl was. Elly’s message came back within seconds.-What a big, whiny baby! Dan was right. Kurl is so hardheaded. Fine, text Bent and tell him we need options ASAP. I’m off to the salon for a mani-pedi. I swear field hockey is ruining my feet! Talk later. xoxo ~ EllySarah’s eyes bulged. Text the boy with the beautiful name? She’d never actually messaged him before. And she’d only ever talked on the phone to him after she’d been partying with Elly and her friends. Suddenly nervous, Sarah fumbled with her phone to find Bent’s number. Ever since Elly’s sleepover, she’d kept his number hidden in her archives folder. No way was she going to accidentally call or text him. Especially if she was drunk! Taking a deep breath, she hit his number. The blank text message box appeared. She stared for several minutes at the name Bent written above it. You can do it. You send a million text messages a day.Before Sarah could stop herself, she hurriedly typed her message. -hi. congrats. you’ve been chosen to pick the place saturday. thoughts? ~SarahShe closed her eyes and hit send. She could almost feel her message float out into the cellphone texting universe. She wanted to snatch it back before it reached Bent. Every time she interacted with him, a part of her still felt unworthy. Even desperate. She twiddled her thumbs, waiting for Bent to respond. It was already Friday night. And she had almost had a panic attack when she’d realized, half way through the week, that she didn’t know what to wear for the double date. The field hockey team had played two away games Tuesday and Wednesday. And Thursday night, she’d had to study for her Friday History test. Luckily, Coach Mars had canceled today’s practice since they’d won both field hockey games.A half hour passed. Sarah continued to check her phone every two minutes. After what seemed like forever, she heard a beep. She set down her hairbrush, and rushed over to her phone. It was already four-thirty. She knew most of the boutique stores closed at five. That left her only thirty minutes! Her spa appointment would take up most of Saturday, as it was. She tapped the phone screen to read the new message. And sighed. It was from Pam. -Another cute pic! Enjoy! ~Pam Sarah saw a snap of Pam and Patrick driving in Pam’s car. They were both making silly faces at the camera with their eyes crossed and tongues sticking out. Sarah texted back.-Adorbs! ~S”Ugh!” she groaned, annoyed. She flung her phone into her leather bag. How could Bent ignore her like this? It was so rude! Even Kurl didn’t keep her waiting.She dashed out of the house and hopped into her Jeep. She silently prayed she could find the perfect dress before all the stores closed. Keeping her foot on the gas, she sped through the last yellow light. She managed to find a parking spot along the town’s most fashionable shopping avenue. As she got out of her Jeep, she saw she’d parked in front of a bridal store. An image of a blushing bride was displayed in the window. Her smiling face was framed by a lacy veil. The happy groom stood behind her, with his arms wrapped around her waist. How do you get from this high school craziness to THAT? Sarah wondered. It seemed like an incredibly long journey just to get married. Sarah checked her phone again. She now only had fifteen minutes until the stores closed. Bent still hadn’t written her back. Disappointment flooded through her. She tossed the phone back into her bag. Now she was embarrassed she’d even written him. She studied the bride’s eyes in the image. The bride seemed to be looking over Sarah’s shoulder. Sarah spun around, trying to follow the model’s imaginary gaze. A small store with soft curtains was across the road. The store was called, Happily Ever After. “It’s a sign, literally,” Sarah said aloud.