Penny drifted back over to our table with the check. We both stopped for a moment, watching Vicki in unison. I had to say something to get her to stop moping.

“Penny, isn’t Vicki like, the prettiest person ever?” I asked enthusiatically.

“You couldn’t be any more right, Mara,” she said with a genuinely toothy grin, “Like Scarlet Johansen.”

“Exactly!” I shouted, “So why should she be sitting here moping about some stupid boy, when she could be starting wars, like Helen of Troy. That sounds like a fun career choice, huh Vicki?” Vicki glared. Penny and I laughed. I saw a glimmer of a smile on the corner of Vicki’s lips. Pretty soon all three of us were laughing.

“So, Victoria darling,” I said, “Now that I’ve eaten pie for both of us, do you want to go to the 8:30 screening of Barbarella at the underground movie house? We can stop and get tacos on the way to bring with us.”

“Doesn’t that one guy work there?” Vicki asked suspiciously.

“That’s a possibility,” I said, averting my eyes.