I'm busy washing dishes in the kitchen and singing along loudly to Metallica when John walks in from his morning shift at the diner. He's calling out something to me, but all I can hear is Enter Sandman, and I obliviously keep singing along.

"Kathryn!" John has finally shut the radio off and is standing in front of me. "Can you go and check on Koopa in the backyard for me? I'll finish the dishes." He has a mischevous sparkle in his eye, but I ignore it- probably Alex has been memeing at him again.

If it gets me out of dish duty, I'll scale the Empire State Building. I gladly set down my scrub brush, straighten my dress, and dash outside before he can change his mind. The August day is warm and thick with humidity, and it feels like walking into a cloud the second I open the door. Koopa is nowhere immediately visible, and I begin to worry just a little bit. I really don't want to have lost my dad's turtle- not again.

I walk nervously around to the front yard, my trusty Converse squishing down grass that really should be cut. I hope Koopa hasn't wandered into the road or into the woods. Oh God, I hope I didn't step on her. She's still so very, very small. Suddenly, I see a small paper turtle on the ground. It's Koopa's exact size, and on it are the words, 'follow the turtles'. There's another one, a couple of feet away. I slowly follow the papers, around to the driveway. They lead to a dented car with a giant Stanford bumper sticker. Standing in front of it are three girls.

One is tall and thin, wearing shorts and a sweater with the sleeves pushed up. One of them is medium height, with Bedazzled red flipflops. One is taller than the medium one but shorter than the taller one, with dark skin and shining eyes. All three are beaming at me. One of them is holding a tiny turtle in her hands.

I run the last few feet and throw my arms around Theo, Nina, and Harriet. I've missed my best friends more than I could possibly say. Theo was away in Colorado for almost the whole summer, and Harriet's stint at theatre camp in Jersey was too long for any of us to enjoy. But now they're home, and I couldn't be happier.

"Kathryn!" Theodosia gives me a bone-crushing hug. I inhale deeply, her familiar aura of cinnamon gum, orchid perfume, and wet chalk filling my lungs. I missed her possibly most of all.

Harriet squeezes both of us, her hands warm against my back. "I missed you guys. Theatre camp didn't feel right without you two. I kept waiting for one of you to make a joke or finish one of my sentences for me."

Nina laughs and rubs Harriet's back. "Well, they're here now- even though I'm leaving soon."

Several jaws drop as one. Harriet buries her face in Nina's shoulder. "You can't leave! I barely got to see you all summer." Her voice sounds very upset. I'd forgotten how much Harriet loves her stepsister- unlike any fictional character I've ever read.

Nina strokes her little sister's hair. "Oh, Harriet..." She pauses, as if she doesn't know what to say. After a few moments, she just rests her head on top of her little sister's. Her long hair makes a curtain of sorts, surrounding Harriet's face.

I turn to Theo, trying not to intrude upon the sisters' moment, taking in my other best friend for the first time. She looks as happy as ever, and is dressed in mostly black, but with a skirt printed with Monet's Water Lilies. Something about her seems different, though, and I can't quite put my finger on what. "How was Colorado?"

Theo's cheeks flush, and she grins. "Oh, it was amazing! My cousin Tabor is so nice, and his girlfriend and I went to museums almost every day! Her name is Alli, and she takes painting courses at Colorado University, and she has the coolest hair ever, all blue and spiky and-"

"Hair!" The word bursts out of my mouth before I can stop it. That's what I was seeing different- and now I know exactly why. Theodosia's characteristic, long tail of braid is gone. Her dark hair now hangs in a wispy, shadowy bob, with points that barely graze her chin. Her face looks more mature now, and she looks as though she's five years older. "Oh, Theo, your braid is gone!"

She flicks a strand of hair from her eyes. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. My braid almost got caught in the subway train doors, and it scared the heck out of Alli. She drove me straight to the hair salon and asked them to make it a little shorter. They were about to just trim it, but then I just kind of told them I wanted something really different. I closed my eyes and let the stylist go for it. What do you think?"

I wrap my arms around her. "You look so mature and glamorous, like some old movie star or something."

Harriet has resurfaced from Nina's hug. "Come on, guys! Ice cream isn't going to eat itself."

"Ice cream?" I perk up. I am one hundred percent down for ice cream at any time of day. Never mind the fact that we had popsicles yesterday. Never mind the fact that I was assigned a week-long slushie ban after a certain incident with blue raspberry and John's white shirt.

Nina laughs. "Oh, didn't Harriet tell you? We're going to get ice cream and talk about our summers. I know the best ice cream place ever."

I clap and grin. "Hooray!" I absolutely love spending time with my best friends (and Nina, who might be in college but is absolutely and totally awesome), and the addition of my favorite dessert makes it even more exciting.

We all pile into Nina's car, which is more beat-up than I would have expected. Nina seems like she is the very model of a rich college student, but here she is with a dented, paint-chipping Corolla and a sweater that is slowly unravelling. The inside of the car is immaculate, though, with not so much as a straw wrapper left on the floor. Pop hits from five years ago are playing in the background on the radio, and the strand of fake flowers hanging from the mirror spreads the scent of freesia and dust throughout the car.

Harriet is in the front seat, holding Nina's hand between the armrests. Theo and I have perched in the backseat, air conditioner blaring and windows down. New York summers are hot as anything, and the humidity out the window is thick enough to form beads of sweat on my face. Theo must feel much cooler with her new haircut, but my hair is still as long, heavy, and thick as ever, and the back of my neck has grown damp.

When we pull up at the ice cream parlor, we all roll out of the car like clowns in a circus, each girl sweatier and more flushed than the next. Nina's long hair is stuck to her cheeks, and Harriet's eyes have an almost feverish glaze to them. Theodosia has a napkin folded like a fan, and is waving it in front of her face.

The parlor is clean and white, counters polished and golden fixtures each shining in the warm light from outside. There are only a few booths lining the inside, and a smattering of barstools at the counter, each occupied by a chattering customer. The atmosphere is loose and easy, the air filled with laughter and the clinking of spoons against glass dishes. Best of all, despite the old-fashioned appearance, Tyson's is piping air conditioning cold enough to make goosebumps rise on my arms.

"Welcome, ladies, to the best ice cream in the United States." Nina spreads her arms wide, as though all of this was her invention.

Harriet claps, bouncing on the rubbery toes of her bejeweled flip flops. "Is it really the best?" She looks happy to just be with Nina, to be near her sister and out of the heat.

"I don't know; order the banana split and find out." Nina raises an eyebrow, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Her sweater sleeves are pushed up past her elbows, and she looks like she wants to laugh aloud.

We all find a table and then do as Nina says, ordering a banana split with one scoop of chocolate for Theodosia, one scoop of strawberry for Harriet, and one scoop of vanilla for me. When it arrives, we can barely see over it, and I almost dread what a one-person serving would look like. Silently, I think that this is what friends are for- tackling life's challenges (and sundaes) together, one at a time.

"How was your summer at camp, Harriet?" I take a spoonful of whipped cream and raise it in the air.

Harriet grins and pulls the stem from a cherry. "Oh, it was amazing! We did Seussical in the first week, and I was the Amazing Mayzie, so that was fun. Then we did Oliver, and I wanted to be Nancy, but that went to one of the older kids. I was a pickpocket instead, and I got a cool scarf. The last week, we did a version of A Chorus Line, and I got to be Sheila!" She pops the cherry into her mouth.

"That really does sound cool." Theo takes a bite of her chocolate ice cream. "I had a lot of fun with my cousins. Well, I guess Tabor and I aren't really related. He's my mom's nephew, a few years older than I am. We've always been friends, though. His girlfriend is super awesome, too, and we got to be hipsters for a month. You know what was funny, is one day when Alli and I pretended to be celebrities for a whole day."

I laugh and swirl my spoon through my side of the sundae. "That sounds like it must have been awesome." I feel a little envious of the fun times they've had out of the state. It's not that staying home with my family hasn't been fun, because it has, but I definitely miss the fun of a summer that's truly a vacation.

Harriet takes a deep breath and sets her spoon aside. "Also, guys, I've made a decision." All of us sit up and pay more attention, the melting dish of ice cream forgotten. The air conditioning sends shivers up and down my spine, and it's appropriate now to the mood around the table.

Nina reaches over and squeezes her sister's hand. "Go for it, mi corazon." She looks reassuring, the way I imagine having a sister would be.

"I've decided..." Harriet drops her shoulders and runs a hand through her hair. "I'm going to go to California with Nina-"

Theo gasps, dropping her spoon on the table. "You're going to Stanford after all?! But we're all going to miss you so much!" There are tears welling in the corners of her eyes, and one falls, becoming a dark river of mascara along the side of her nose.

Harriet flings her hands into the air, her red nail polish sparkling in the lights. "You didn't let me finish! I was going to say that I'm going to California with my sister for a week. I'm going to help her get settled in, and then fly back in time for school."

I lean across the table and hug her, uncaring that whipped cream has smeared itself across my shirt. "I'm so glad you're staying."

She returns the embrace, and I can feel a small tear run down her cheek and press against mine. Her voice is a whisper when she speaks. "Me, too."

(A/N: Hey, guys! It's Jamie here. So, first of all, sorry for the long time in between chapters. I'm not the greatest at writing filler chapters, but I try my best. Second, you've probably noticed that every 5k reads, I write up a bonus chapter just for you guys. In the past, I've done them on Theodosia and Harriet, but this time, it's up to you. Who do you want to see a bonus chapter on?)