“Hey!” said Liz, grinning ear to ear.

“Hey!” I said back.

“Hey,” said Jeremy.

And then “Hey,” Drew whispered into my hair.

Stay cool, Levy. Stay cool.

“Let’s give it up for Stevie D.! Stevie D., all the way here from Maui,” said Phil.

Stevie took a bow and was greeted with a big kiss from Dara.

“And next up we have Illona. Illona from Little Rock, Arkansas. I’m sure you’ll all like this one she’s picked for you. Let’s hear it for Ben E. King’s ‘Stand By Me.’” Jeez, the selection here seemed like pretty old stuff. But I didn’t care. I wasn’t planning on singing. I was just concentrating on breathing through my nose right now and feeling Drew’s nearness.

After Illona went up, Dad and Kathy did a duet by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton — “Islands in the Stream.” Barf city. Especially because Kathy knew all the words by heart and was gazing up at Dad the whole time with this moony look in her eyes. But I was determined not to let her ruin my night. I shoved four pieces of gum in my mouth and tried to chomp out my tension, being careful to keep my mouth closed.

Then Liz shoved the book of songs at me. She had found a section called NEW ADDITIONS! at the back of the book. She pointed to a song by a Canadian singer named Hailey Burke — “Lost and Found.” I loved that song. It was on her second album that had just come out, and Phoebe and I both had it. When nobody was home, we just put it on repeat and danced and sang at the top of our lungs. But that was different than doing it here in front of everybody. Especially in front of Drew.

Liz’s eyes were shiny and wild. I looked at her, with her turquoise off-the-shoulder sweater, her blond hair tumbling down her back in soft waves, and gold hoops dangling from her ears. She had on matching turquoise eye shadow and her cheeks were glowing.

“Pleeeaase?” said Liz, coquettishly. “We’ll all be up there together, Sam.”

Heidi and Dina leaned in, too. “Come on, Sam! It’ll be fun!”

Dina had on a creamy-looking sweater poncho, and Heidi was in a clingy red sweater dress. These girls knew how to sass it up. And probably knew how to sing, too. I didn’t want to be the only lame-o who wasn’t singing. Mostly because Phoebe would kill me when I reported back to her later. I shrugged my shoulders. Liz took it as a yes.

“Yay! I’m putting you in,” she said, and sashayed her way up to Phil with a slip of paper that had our names on it. Dina and Heidi clapped and cheered, “Yay!”

Before I could protest, Dad and Kathy were standing over our table, both beaming.

Oh, no! Please don’t make me and Jeremy do a number with you. We are not the Von Trapp family. Please please please please please.

“Did you see what Kathy made me do up there?” said Dad, pulling her into his hip.

“I didn’t make you, Judd!” she giggled and squirmed. I wished I hadn’t bitten off all of my nails that morning with Margie. At least Margie was more interesting than Ricecake.

“I thought you sounded great up there, Mr. and Mrs. Levy,” said Dina carefully.

I was just about to jump out of my seat and yell, “No! That is not Mr. and Mrs. Levy!” but Dad must’ve sensed it because he blurted out really quickly, “All right, kids. Well, that’s enough fun for one day. Us old folks are headin’ upstairs. See you in the morning for another run at that mountain!” And then he swung around with Kathy still attached to his hip.

“Have fun!” said Kathy, tucking her hand in Dad’s back pocket as they walked away.

“Your mom’s really smiley,” said Drew.

Sorry, but that was too much.

“Not my mom,” I snapped.

“Whoa. O-kay,” he said, reaching for his glass. Jeremy just shook his head.

Liz came back with a devilish grin on her face. “We’re in!” she announced, smoothing out her corduroy miniskirt.

Some guy in a loose flannel shirt and jeans was up there now, singing a Billy Joel song. He was horribly off-key and he wouldn’t take his eyes off the screen. Poor dude. That was going to be me in just a few minutes. I wanted to catch laryngitis. Or maybe I could burn myself slightly on the candle …?

Then Phil took the mike. “Next up, we have Liz, Heidi, and —”

He didn’t even get to finish calling our names before the girls were up on their feet, skipping to the front of the room.

“Go get ’em, girl!” rumbled Drew, and then he squeezed my knee.

Liz got on the microphone. “Sam, to the front of the room. Sam, please report to the front of the room.”

Great. Just what I needed. More attention. Get up, Levy! I smushed my wad of gum into a napkin and walked to the front of the room with my head down. I tried to hide myself behind Dina, but she was a good three inches or so shorter than me. Story of my life.

The music started. First the violins. Then the piano. Then:

You were lost

In the shadow of a tree

Under a rock

Right next to me

Liz’s voice was firm and sweet. She swayed her hips from side to side. Damn, she was good. Dina and Heidi followed in line. I could hear Dina warbling a little, but she kept going. The drums kicked in underneath, then the piano. Heidi punched me on the arm. Well, when in Rome …

I’m learning, every day

How to saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

I wasn’t exactly smooth like the other girls, but I tried to just focus on the lyrics. I thought of Hailey in the video, singing as she walked through a wide-open field. Then I pictured myself and Phoebe spinning on her living room floor in our socks. I could do this. As long as I didn’t look out at all those faces. I closed my eyes and just let the music take over my body.

You’re beautiful, yes it’s true

And I’ll never let you go now that I’ve found you

I’ve found youuuuuuuuuu

And now I could feel my shoulders draw back, and the lights on my cheeks, my voice melting into Hailey’s and Liz’s and … I couldn’t believe it but I was doing it! If Phoebe could see me now!

When the song ended, Drew jumped to his feet, hooting and whistling. “Now, that’s what I’m talking about!” he yelled. I could feel my face turning crimson.

“Encore!” yelled the guy with the goatee, standing up, too.

“Thanks, folks. We’ll be here all night. Seriously, we love you,” said Liz, blowing a kiss to the audience. More applause. I didn’t know where or how Liz got her confidence, but it sure was awesome. I was starting to really like her. We made our way back to our seats. Drew was still standing up, clapping.

“Did we do okay?” asked Liz, looking right at Jeremy.

“Yeah, it was fun,” he said blandly. My brother, the romantic.

“You looked fine, ladies!” said Drew. I was too embarassed to look at him. Then he turned to the guy next to Heidi and said, “Hey, Trey. You wanna do this?”

“Sure.”

“Do what?” asked Liz.

“Well, Trey and I brought some stuff so we could go outside in the hot tub and party a little,” said Drew.

Hot tub? There was a hot tub here? How did they know that?

“What kind of stuff?” asked Heidi with a giggle.

“You know, my friend Jack D,” said Drew, tipping an imaginary bottle back into his mouth.

“But we didn’t bring any stuff to wear,” moaned Dina.

“I’ve got a couple of pairs of boxers and some T-shirts in my bag,” said Drew. “You’ve got some, too, right, T?”

“Yup.”

“You guys have towels in your rooms, I assume?” Drew asked me and Jeremy.

“Yeah,” said Jeremy. I wondered if he was thinking what I was thinking. The two of us in a hot tub. Together. Wasn’t that a little ooky? And ever since the cast party at Dave’s, I’d been pretty nervous around alcohol. I’d never even tasted whiskey.