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vases. Not exactly the kind of place where I’d expect a big-time TV personality to be staying, but maybe he’s trying to fly under the radar. Or maybe there aren’t a lot of good housing options in town. The hotel where Dad is staying is basically a row of beige boxes.
    When I get to the front desk, a man with a looping gray mustache beams back at me. “How can I help you?” he asks.
    â€œI’m looking for one of your guests. Mr. Ackerson?” I whisper, in case him staying here is a secret.
    The man looks up the name. “I’m afraid he’s not here right now. I can leave a message for him.”
    â€œOh.” Of course he’s not here. He’s probably off doing location scouting or something. “Can I leave something in his room?”
    â€œSorry!” the man says cheerfully. “Can’t do that. But if you’d like to leave it with me, I’ll be sure he gets it.”
    I glance down at the plate. I worked so hard on these. Can I really hand them over to anyone but Chip? But what choice do I have? If I didn’t have to work at the bakery today, I’d camp out in front of the inn all day, but that’s not an option.
    â€œOkay…” I say, handing the plate over.
    â€œOoh, these look delicious,” the man says, the ends of his mustache twitching. “I’ll be sure Mr. Ackerson gets them.”
    That’ll have to be good enough. I thank him and rush back to my mom’s car.
    â€œWell, did you meet him?” she practically shrieks.
    I shake my head and tell her what happened. As we pull away, Mom looks almost as disappointed as I feel.
    â€¢ • •
    In between afternoon cleaning jobs, my phone beeps, telling me that I have yet another new Truth Game questionnaire waiting for me. This one is called “Friends.” Since Mom is deep in thought as we drive across town, I decide to take a look.
    1. Do you have a best friend?
    That’s easy. Marisol has been my best (and, until recently, only) friend for years. Definitely “yes.”
    2. Have you ever told your best friend a major lie?
    Ugh. The truth is, I’ve lied to Marisol more times than I’d like to count. When your best friend’s moral compass is pretty much stuck at north all the time, sometimes it’s easier to hide stuff from her than admit to totally messing up. But I’ve sworn to Marisol that I’ll be honest with her from now on, so I don’t feel totally terrible when I answer “yes.”
    3. Do you ever wish you were best friends with someone else?
    I start to choose “no,” but my fingers hesitate without my brain’s approval. I love Marisol, of course. She’s the only person in the world who’d go along with my crazy schemes and forgive me for being a total idiot sometimes. But I can’t help thinking about how things have felt off between us lately, especially last night. We used to be so in sync, but now…I don’t want a different best friend, not exactly. I wish that she was still a little more like the old Marisol, that’s all. Finally, I choose “I don’t know.”
    4. What’s something about your best friend that would surprise people if they knew?
    I think for a second and then write, “That she’s not as honest as she thinks she is. She’s always going on about being up-front with everyone, but she’s been lying to her mom about dating A. Her mom would freak out if she knew, and I bet A would freak out if he knew their relationship was a secret.”
    5. Dare time! Do something to show your best friend how you feel about him or her. Write about it here in the next forty-eight hours for bonus points!
    That one’s easy. Maybe I can make Marisol some cookies or something and show her that even if we’re both super busy with our own lives right now, she’s still my BFF. Or maybe I’ll make pineapple upside-down cake and hopefully