Page 68 of No Words

Chapter Twenty-Two

Ichoked on the mouthful of shrimp I’d just swallowed.

Looking concerned, Will asked, “Are you all right?” and patted me lightly on the back while signaling a passing server for water.

“Well, you’d probably be number one,” Jasmine said, mistaking my suddenly streaming eyes for dismay, “if Timothée Chalamet hadn’t been spotted on a beach in Ibiza with Harry Styles earlier today.”

“Oh, please.” Cassidy looked disdainful. “Everyone knows Harry and Timothée are just friends.”

The server arrived with the water Will had requested. I thanked her and, taking the glass, quickly gulped down enough liquid to keep from dying at the table from asphyxiation.

Dying of embarrassment was another matter.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Will asked me.

I nodded vigorously, still unable to speak. Scanning the crowd, I finally found Bernadette seated a few tables away with young fans of her own. She was too engrossed inconversation with them, however, to notice the distress signals I was sending her with my eyes.

“Well, that’s good,” Will said to me. “I know we’ve got some of the best seafood in the world here, but you might not want to inhale it. Now, who did you say is trending?” he asked the girls curiously.

As Jasmine sucked in her breath to reply, I felt my life flash before my eyes.

But fortunately an enormous burst of static came from one of the nearly four-foot-tall speakers sitting not far from us, and everyone’s attention shifted to the stage, where Chloe stood in front of five of her fellow dance team members—the stage was too small to accommodate more—each in a power pose, their pom-poms on their hips.

“Um, hello, may I have everyone’s attention?” Chloe asked into the microphone she was clutching. “Hi, welcome. I’m Chloe Price, co-captain of the Little Bridge Island High School Snappettes. We’re so honored to be here helping out during this first-ever Little Bridge Island Book Festival. Are you enjoying yourselves so far?”

This was met with cheers and applause from not only everyone on the deck as well as inside the restaurant but even farther down the pier, where people who weren’t attending the book festival had stuck around after sunset to continue enjoying the warm night air and ocean breeze. Now they were also gleefully watching the stage at Cracked, which was suddenly covered in cheerleaders.

Chloe looked encouraged by this positive response, andsaid into the microphone, “Great! Well, we couldn’t be happier to have all of you here, and to show you our appreciation, we wanted to perform a piece we’ve been working on. It’s called ‘Dances to Songs About Writing and Books.’”

What. The. Kitten.

I threw Will a quick, questioning look. He smiled and leaned over to whisper in my ear, “Chloe begged me to allow them to perform this. And after what I did to you at Novel Con, I’m not exactly in a position to judge someone else’s artistic choices, am I?”

I tried to grin back at him but failed, not because I didn’t agree with him—I did—but because his warm, sweet-smelling breath had tickled my neck, causing gooseflesh to rise on the backs of my arms, and other parts of me—parts I didn’t want him anywhere near, but also very definitely did—to snap to tight attention.

Fortunately, he didn’t seem aware of any of this, since his gaze was on the stage, where Chloe had laid down her microphone, lifted a pair of pom-poms, and moved into formation with her fellow dance team members just as the loud bossa nova music from inside the restaurant suddenly went silent.

I’m certain the only expression I was able to make after that was one of utter astonishment, especially as the first chords of “Kitty Katz to the Rescue”—the theme song from the short-lived animated television seriesKitty Katz, Kitten Sitter—boomed from the speakers near us.

Then the Snappettes dropped their pom-poms, placed their hands upon one another’s shoulders, and broke into aperfectly synchronized kick line to the riotous, high-pitched all-girl band chords of:

Which li’l kitty is the head of her class?

Which li’l kitty’s got lots of sass?

Which li’l kitty is tons of fun?

Which li’l kitty is number one?

Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty,

Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty,

Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty,

Kitty Katz!

I could hardly believe what I was hearing, much less seeing. But there it was, right onstage in front of me.