I ended up going over to Luna's. She was unpacking the last few boxes in her room. There was a line of stuffed animals sitting across her bed.

"I just found the box they were in!" Luna told me excitedly. "It was in the basement by accident. I put my name on it and everything, but it ended up in the basement."

Most of the stuffed animals were old; fur faded or ratty or both, embroidered features coming undone, and a few seemed to be missing eyes or noses. Normally it would have given me the creeps. With Luna, though, I imagine they were just worn out from being played with a lot.

Luna told me all their names. I immediately forgot most of them (names aren't my strong suit).

We walked into town and got ice cream. It was sunny and hot today, perfect ice cream weather. While we were out there, Erin emailed me (I had my iPod touch on me, and there was free WiFi at the ice cream place). She told me she was sorry about not being able to hang out; something had come up and she forgot to get in touch with me earlier.

Luna saw me checking my email and asked me who I was emailing with.

"My friend Erin," I told her.

"Oh," Luna said. "How old is she?"

"Eighteen. She just graduated high school."

Luna looked impressed.

"Are all your other friends older than me?" Luna asked.

I didn't want to tell her I didn't have any other friends — it was embarrassing somehow. So I changed the subject. "Hey, maybe the three of us could hang out sometime? You'd like Erin. She's really nice."

"Okay," Luna said doubtfully. "But she's a lot older than me."

"So what? She's older than me, too. Look, we'll still get along."

Luna shrugged. "Alright, Jack."

I was feeling pleased with myself for having avoided her question until I realized that now I was going to have to find a way to get the three of us to hang out. I don't think Erin would want to hang out with Luna, and I'm not sure I want them to meet either. Erin might not be able to keep her mouth shut about my being paid to hang out with Luna.