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sounds good to you girls?”
    “Pizza!” said Chelsea. “Double cheese and pepperoni.”
    “How about if I have one delivered?” said her mom happily.
    “Sounds good.”
    Mrs. Landers reached over and touched Chelsea’s still damp hair. “Did you girls go swimming? I didn’t see you out by the pool.”
    “We went swimming in the ocean,” Chelsea proudly told her.
    Mrs. Landers looked surprised. “You swam in the ocean? That’s, uh, very interesting.”
    “And it was really cold.”
    Her mom nodded. “I’ll phone in the pizza. Why don’t you go get cleaned up.”
    “You have a pool?” asked Carlie as they walked toward the stairs.
    “Yeah.” Chelsea pointed toward the glass windows in the family room. But the shades were pulled and Carlie couldn’t see outside. “It’s out there.”
    “Cool,” said Carlie.
    Chelsea looked slightly surprised. “Don’t tell me you want to go swimming again?”
    “Sure!” said Carlie. “Why not?”
    So for the rest of the afternoon, Carlie and Chelsea swam in the pool, ate pizza, drank pop, sunned themselves, and just had plain old fun. When they got too hot outside, they went up to Chelsea’s room and started playing video games. Chelsea beat Carlie at most of them. Still, Carlie didn’t mind. She was just glad to see Chelsea happy and acting like a normal girl.
    “What’s up with the bracelet?” asked Chelsea, pointing to the special bracelet that Morgan had made for her friends. “What do the letters mean? LYNAY? Is that like your middle name or something?”
    “It’s an acronym,” said Carlie as she adjusted the bracelet. “It has to do with our club.”
    “So what do the letters stand for?”
    Carlie wondered if someone like Chelsea would even get it. Not that it mattered since it was supposed to be a secret anyway. “We’re not supposed to tell. It’s for club members only.”
    Chelsea rolled her eyes. “You and your dumb club.”
    “It’s not dumb.”
    “Well, why do you have secrets?”
    “All clubs have secrets. It just makes it more fun.”
    Chelsea looked at the letters. “Let’s see … I think it stands for Last … Year’s … Nerds … Are … Yutzes.”
    “Real nice.”
    “That’s it! Last year’s nerds are yutzes. I’ve solved the mystery!” Chelsea laughed loudly.
    Despite trying to appear offended, Carlie started laughing with her. “Well, that should include you too, Chelsea. Last year’s nerds are yutzes. What are yutzes anyway?”
    “I don’t know. It just sounds like it fits.”
    “I hate to interrupt the party,” said Tia Maria as she tapped on the door, “but it’s time to go now.”
    “This was fun,” Carlie told Chelsea as she stood up.
    “Yeah, I’m glad you came over,” said Chelsea as she followed them downstairs. “Even if I
didn’t
invite you.”
    Carlie wasn’t sure how to respond to that.
    “But I would’ve invited you,” said Chelsea quickly. “If I’d known you, that is.”
    “Well, thanks for everything.” To Carlie’s surprise, she was almost sad to leave. It almost felt like she’d spent a day in paradise, actually living out the “lifestyles of the rich and famous.” She was afraid she could get used to this.
    “Can you come back again tomorrow?” asked Chelsea eagerly.
    Carlie could see Chelsea’s mom standing behind her daughter vigorously nodding her head.
    “I’m not sure,” admitted Carlie. “But I can ask my mom and call you later.”
    So the girls exchanged phone numbers, and Carlie and Tia Maria got in the little red car and started driving across town.
    “Sounds like you two hit it off pretty well,” said her aunt.
    “Yeah, I guess so.”
    “I know that Mrs. Landers was hugely relieved to see Chelsea coming out of her slump.”
    “Yeah, Chelsea was acting pretty weird when I first got there. I can see why her mom was worried.”
    “Well, I owe you one, Carlie. And if you still want me to talk to your mom about school clothes, I’ll be glad