“Oh god! I didn’t know my suit was that transparent when it’s wet!” Laura shrieked. “Oh, Mark, you can’t show those pictures to anyone!”

“Okay, I’ll delete the ones of you. I better do it right now. Is there a computer I can use?”

“Yes, my laptop is in my bedroom.”

“Does it have an SD card reader?”

“Uh huh. I think so. I can plug in the memory card from my camera, so I guess it has that kind of reader.”

“Okay. Can we go do it right now?”

“Yes. Let’s go.”

We went into the house and followed Laura upstairs to her bedroom. Mark sat down at the laptop and found the SD card reader and took the card from his camera and inserted it.

“Here’s what I’m going to do. I’ll copy the folder from my SD card to Laura’s laptop. That copy will have all the pictures. Then we’ll delete the pictures of Laura that are… uh… unwanted?” Laura nodded her head. “I’ll empty the recycle bin so they’ll be permanently deleted. Then I’ll reformat my SD card and copy the folder from Laura’s laptop to the SD card, including the diving videos I took of Parker. If you want you can keep the ones on your laptop, Laura. If not I’ll delete them.”

I knew that wasn’t enough. “Uh, Mark?”

“Yeah?”

“Emptying the recycle bin won’t permanently delete the files from her hard drive. It just changes the file name and releases the file space. If someone got ahold of Laura’s laptop it’s possible that those files could be recovered. What you could do is delete the unwanted files on your SD card, copy the files that are left, the ones that you want to keep, to Laura’s laptop, do a wipe of your SD card then reformat it, and finally copy the files back to your SD card. Laura can keep or delete the files on her laptop.”

“How do I do a wipe of my SD card?”

“Use SD Wipe. It’s a free download. Let’s download it first. Can I use your laptop for a few minutes, Laura?”

“Sure.”

I Googled ‘sdwipe’ and clicked the first link to the page where I downloaded the program to Laura’s laptop. Then I got up.

“Okay, Mark. Now you can delete the files on your SD card that Laura tells you she doesn’t want.”

Laura pulled up a chair next to Mark, and they went through the pictures on his camera and she pointed out the ones to delete. When that was finished, Mark inserted the SD card into Laura's laptop and copied the files from his SD card to her laptop.

“Now run SD Wipe.” I showed him the folder where I’d copied the program. He selected the drive letter for his SD card and that it was to be blanked.

“What’s this ‘Passes’ choice?”

“If you were a spy you’d set Passes to a high number so the SD card is overwritten many times to guarantee no one could find any data. For what we’re doing it’s good enough if you leave it at 1.”

After his SD card was wiped Mark did a full format, then to make sure it would work in his camera he tested it, then he copied the files from Laura’s laptop to his SD card and put it back in his camera.

“You saved my life, guys. If my folks had ever seen those pictures they would’ve sent me to a convent. Since I’m not a convent kind of girl that would have been hell on earth.”

“I smell burgers!” Kyle shouted. “Food!”

“Let’s go down and get something to eat.”

We all agreed and headed outside to where four of Laura’s uncles were manning the grills. We had our choice of chicken, burgers, and hotdogs, or any combination, and of course, seconds. There was a table for dressing up the burgers and hotdogs with mayo, ketchup, three kinds of mustard, three kinds of salsa, pickle relish, guacamole, three kinds of sliced cheese and a bowl of mixed shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sliced and chopped onions, olives, and pickles. Another table had lots of different kinds of salads, spicy and mild chili, and about a dozen kinds of chips. A third table had bottled water, lemonade, limeade, sodas, and several kinds of fruit juice — all non-alcoholic. There was no dessert table. That was because there would be a birthday cake for Laura and ice cream to go with.

I got a burger and a hotdog, put cheddar cheese, guacamole, ketchup, tomato, and lettuce on the burger, put Dijon mustard, chopped onions, and pickle relish on the hot dog, then piled spicy salsa on both of them. I took some potato salad, grabbed a handful of corn chips, filled a bowl with spicy chili, got a napkin, spoon, and knife and fork, and looked around to see where the others were sitting. Mark saw me and waved. They were at a table back in the trees where it was shaded. I walked over, juggling my lunch with my right hand and the cast on my left arm, and joined them.

“Hey, guys.”

“You think you have enough to eat, Curt?” Kyle asked.

“Nope. I’m going back for something to drink.” I looked at Kyle and gestured toward Tom. “Watch that no one steals my food, okay?”

“You got it,” Kyle replied.

I got a big glass of limeade, returned to the table, sat down, and began eating my lunch.

“Good burgers, aren’t they.” Kyle commented.

“Yeah. I like the way you can taste that they’re grilled.”

“Is the chili good?” he asked.

“Yeah. I like spicy food so I got the spicy kind and it’s killer hot and oh, so good. If you’re not used to that the mild one might be a better choice.”

“Thanks,” he replied and headed to the salads table.

“Hey, move your skinny butt over!”

I looked to my left. Tom stood at the end of the bench, grinning. I slid over to my right making room for Tom and leaving room for Kyle.

Tom sat down. He didn’t have any food. “Are you finished eating already?” I asked him.

“Yeah. The line for chicken was short and I love chicken so that’s what I got. A leg and a thigh, my favorite parts. I got some of that green salad to go with. It’s great, it has those little cherry tomatoes and chopped up carrots and cauliflower and avocado. I put a mix of blue cheese and Italian dressings on it. I’m stuffed. Gotta save room for cake!”

“Cake? What cake?” Laura had walked up and was standing in back of us.

“There was a rumor that there might be cake. You know anything about that?” I asked her, then winked and grinned.

“Shhh!” she whispered, “it’s a secret!”

“Okay,” I whispered back and Tom nodded.

“Hey, Laura! Did you get anything to eat?” Kyle asked as he returned and squeezed in between me and Parker.

“Hey, don’t take all the space, Kyle!” Parker joked.

“There would be a lot more room if the two guys next to me didn’t have such big butts!”

“I don’t have a big butt!” Parker and I yelled at the same time. That made us all laugh.

Laura shook her head. “You guys are weird. Kyle, I did get to eat. I had a burger. How were your lunches?”

We all replied things like “Excellent” “Great” “Fantastic” and Laura reminded us that there was a lot more and seconds, thirds, and fourths were all acceptable.

“Okay, guys, enjoy and I’ll see you later.”

I noticed that Parker and Mark were talking to each other, and every so often one of them would laugh at something that the other had said. I leaned over to Tom.

“Looks like Mark and Parker are getting along.”

“Yeah, they seem to be compatible. That’s cool.”

“What about Ray?”

“Ray?”

“Yeah, Ray Curtis. Remember, Laura said his sister told her that he’s gay. I thought she was going to have him get together with Kyle, just to hang out.”

Kyle heard me and leaned over.

“He’s not here yet. He works on Saturdays at Safeway. Laura said he’s going to be here around five, and that she’ll introduce us.”

“Where’s Sara?” Tom asked.

“I’m not sure. I’d guess there’s a family table and that’s where she’s sitting. I’ll look for her when I’m finished eating.”

Tom looked at my plate. It was empty except for some potato salad and corn chips. “Looks like you’re pretty much finished now.”

“I want to finish this potato salad. It’s really good. It has chopped up hard cooked eggs and celery in it and I love potato salad made that way. That's the way your mom makes it. I’m using it like a dip and eating it with these scoop-shaped corn chips.”

“Yeah, it does look good.” Tom sighed. “I’d go get some, but I’ve gotta save space for cake and ice cream. You think she’ll have ice cream? I hope so. I think birthday cake needs ice cream. They go together perfectly.”

I finished off the last of my potato salad and corn chips and stood up.

“Okay, I’m finished. I’m going to dump these paper plates, get more limeade, and wander around. Maybe I’ll see Sara.”

“Good luck,” Tom replied.

As I walked away I heard Kyle comment, “Wow, with Curt gone we’ve got a ton more room. One small step by Curt means one big butt gone, one huge increase in bench space, and more room for the rest of us.” I just grinned, shook my head, and continued to the drinks table and topped off my glass with more limeade.

I walked around the backyard going from table to table. When I saw someone I knew I’d say “Hi!” and we’d chat for a while, then I’d continue to another table. I found a long table in the back. There were about ten rows of portable chairs on a slope on the other side of and facing the table. I assumed this was set up for the birthday celebration. It was very cool because of all the trees, and I wondered if Laura’s dad ever had rock groups come and play music here. It would be for a small audience because I counted ten rows of twelve chairs each, and not much room for any others. It would be like a private concert. I’d love to be invited. I planned to talk to Laura and see if there were ever any concerts.

I saw Sara and Laura off to the left. They were sitting on a big beach towel and leaning against an oak tree. They were talking so I decided not to bother them, but Sara looked up and saw me. She gestured for me to join them. I sat down opposite them with my legs crossed.

“Hi, Sara. Hi, Laura.”

“How are they hanging, Curt?” Laura asked.

I shook my head and laughed at her. “Still the potty mouth, ‘eh, Laura?”

“Hey, I calls them as I sees them!” She stared at my crotch and giggled. Of course, I looked down to see if I was hanging out of my trunks. Of course, I wasn’t, but doing so made me blush and Laura busted up laughing.

Sara poked Laura in her ribs. “That’s not friendly, Laura!”

Laura rubbed her side. “Ouch. I’m just kidding around. Curt and I have known each other and been friends for, like, years. I always kid around with him. Right, Curt?”

“Yeah, and you always know how to embarrass me, too.”

“Yup. Even when we’re just talking on the telephone. Right?”

“I hate to admit it, but yes, that’s right.”

Sara got up, walked over to where I was sitting, and sat down on my right with her legs crossed like mine were. She moved closer to me so our legs were touching.

“Ah ha!” Laura shouted. “So it’s two against one, huh? Bring it on!”

Sara and I started laughing, and we fell back and ended up grabbing each other and held each other until we finally stopped laughing. We ended up facing each other, and I grinned. “Hi.”

“Hi, yourself.”

“Oh. My. God. Get a room!” That was Laura.

“Ignore her, Curt. It’s her sixteenth birthday and she’s just way too full of herself.”

“Ignore whom?” I asked.

“Ignore whom? Ignore whom! I’ll show you two ignore whom!” Laura shouted.

She jumped on top of us.

“Oof!” Sara and I shouted simultaneously.

“Someone with a big butt must be on top of us,” Sara said, “Because I’m being crushed. Help me, Curt!”

“Oh! Ouch! My arm, my broken arm!”

Laura jumped up off of us. I was holding my arm which actually did hurt, but not that much. It worked to get her off of us, though.

“Oh, Curt, I’m so sorry!”

“It’s not your fault, Laura,” I said. “I shouldn’t have been horsing around.” I took a very deep breath and let it out slowly for effect. “It’ll be okay. I just have to be more careful. It’s so easy to forget that I have a broken arm.”

Sara was standing next to me on the right. “Can I help you up, Curt?”

“Yes, please.”

She was pretty strong, and was able to help me up by lifting me with one hand in my right armpit and the other lifting my arm from the elbow. Once I was standing I looked at Laura. She was pale, and had a worried expression.

I rotated my left shoulder. “I’m okay, Laura, really. Don’t worry.”

She walked up to me and carefully hugged me.

“I’m sorry, Curt. I’m really sorry.”

“Stop with the ‘sorry’ already! I’m fine. I’m a rough and tough teenage guy and I can take a hit or two. Hell, if I could take what Don did to me and survive I can take an illegal piling-on by you.” I grinned.

“Oh, am I going to get back at you for that one, Curt! Illegal piling on? I don’t think so.”

“But I think so, cousin dear,” Sara said. “I experienced the whole thing. Curt, you can contact your attorney and I’ll be your witness.”

“Let’s break up this love-fest, guys.” It was Laura’s mom. “It’s time for someone’s birthday party.”

Laura put her finger by her chin and tipped her head to one side.

“Gee, I wonder who’s birthday that might be?”

“If you don’t know, I can cancel the party with a snap of my fingers.” Laura’s mom threatened.

“Oh! It’s my birthday! Okay, let’s do it!”

“Everyone’s gathering at the Bowl. Come on, get going.” Laura’s mom was always pushy, but in a good way. We followed her to what she called the ‘Bowl’, that’s where the chairs were set up facing the long table. When we got there about half the people were already seated.

“See you later, Laura,” I said.

“I’ll be sitting at the birthday girl’s table too, Curt,” Sara told me. “I’ll see you after the festivities are over, okay?”

“Absolutely!”

I saw where Tom, Mark, and Kyle were sitting. Tom stood and waved. I waved back and made my way to join them.

Tom pointed to an empty chair next to him. “I saved you a seat.”

“Thanks.” I sat down.

“Where were you?”

I gestured to my right. “Over there with Laura and Sara, just sitting and talking.”

“Yeah. I’ll bet ‘just sitting and talking’. Tell the truth, Curt. What were the three of you doing?”

“Wrestling.”

“Oh, like I’m gonna believe that!”

I looked at Tom and grinned. “Whatever.”

Laura’s dad had a wireless microphone, and he started by telling us about Laura, and some of it was very funny and I’m sure very embarrassing for the birthday girl. Then it was her mother’s turn, and she had the audience laughing non-stop. Poor Laura!

Then Sara got up and started by talking about Laura’s accomplishments in school.

“Laura was four years old in nursery school. She loved to finger paint, and she created some wonderful art. When she ran out of paper she began painting on the whiteboard. The teacher was not pleased!

“When she was five years old Laura went to preschool. One of the things they learned to do was dance. A dance recital was held for the parents to see their little darlings. At the recital Laura was so eager she came on stage and started her dance while another girl was still doing her dance.”

Now I could see how Sara’s part was going to go. This was like one of those Celebrity Roasts I’d heard about on TV.

“When Laura started kindergarten she saw there were finger paints and she ignored the teacher and started painting, and a bunch of the other kids followed her example. Her mother had to talk to her for over an hour that night to convince her that she had to do what the teacher told her and not what she wanted to do.

“In first grade Laura argued with the teacher that two plus three was six, and she counted it on her fingers to prove she was right.

“In second grade there was a reading assignment, and Laura was waiting her turn because she had memorized her part. But she had to pee… so she did. Right there. In her seat. Because she didn’t want to lose her turn. How embarrassing!

“In third grade a boy walked up to Laura and kissed her, and Laura started crying. I can guarantee that was the last time she ever cried when a boy kissed her!”

Sara continued to count off the rest of Laura’s years at school, one by one, embarrassing event by embarrassing event. Then she started on Laura’s freshman year at Los Arcos High.

Laura started to pretend-bawl, “No! Not that! Please, Sara! Not that! Anything but that!” She got up and grabbed Sara, sobbing into her shoulder. That didn’t stop Sara.

“During her freshman year Laura took Drama. She’s always wanted to be on the stage. So there was this play with a scene where Laura was to cry when she was told that her boyfriend had been killed in a car crash. On opening night, during the scene when she was to cry, she started to laugh. Thus ended a promising acting career. Oh, so sad.”

Sara ended by saying, “Well, that should be enough embarrassing things about our birthday girl, most of which are not true. But some are. You can have fun trying to figure out which are true and which are not.”

She and Laura bowed to the audience, and we applauded and shouted our appreciation for a wonderful performance, and yelled “Encore! Encore!.”

Sara held up her hand, quieting the crowd.

“Alright, as our encore, how about some birthday cake and ice cream?”

We all shouted “Yes!” and she responded, “I caaaan’t HEAR you!” That continued five or six more times, and each time her ‘I caaaan’t HEAR you!’ got louder and louder and our return got louder and louder. Finally she said, softly, “Why are you shouting?”

It was like we’d been prompted because everyone yelled “Cake and ice cream!” Sara shook her head and said, in a stage whisper, “You didn’t have to shout.”

A huge birthday cake was brought out from the caterer’s tent that was off to the left of the table, and it was set in front of Sara. She looked up with a big smile and said, “Oh, for me?” Laura reached over and pulled the cake so it was in front of her and glared at Sara. Sara looked at us and said, sadly, “Gee, I guess not. So, let’s say a big ‘Happy Birthday Laura!’”

We all shouted “Happy Birthday Laura.”

Sara said, “Now it’s time to sing the ‘Happy Birthday to You’ song.”

A man in a suit and tie walked in front of the table and grabbed the microphone from Sara’s hand. He announced, “I am a lawyer. The ‘Happy Birthday to You’ song is copyrighted and any commercial use is prohibited. I hereby declare this audience is so large that this is a commercial use, and you shall all cease and desist!” We started to boo the lawyer.

A clown rushed out with a cream pie and pushed it into the so-called lawyer’s face, grabbed the microphone, and tossed it to Sara. The lawyer fell on the ground holding his head and loudly moaning. Two guys dressed as paramedics rushed in with a stretcher, picked up the lawyer, and carried him off to the applause and shouting of the audience.

Sara started singing the ‘Happy Birthday to You’ song and we all joined in. After we sang the song twice, Laura grabbed the microphone from Sara and shouted, “I want cake, I want cake, I want cake…” and we all joined in.

“Now,” Sara said, “if you can keep it down for a few minutes, we’ll put sixteen candles on this cake and Laura can blow them out.

A caterer came out with a box. It contained sixteen really big candles, the kind that are about a foot long and an inch in diameter. They were all different colors, which was cool. They arranged the candles, and I realized it made the digits 1 and 6 for Laura’s sixteenth birthday. Another caterer came out with one of those lighters that are used for barbeque grills, followed by a guy with a huge fire extinguisher. That caused a big laugh from the audience. The candles were all lighted, and Laura stood and took several deep breaths, stooped down, came back up with a hairdryer, turned it on, and blew out all sixteen of the candles. Laura bowed several times, and the audience mostly applauded and yelled in favor of what she did, but there were a few boos. Laura picked up the microphone and yelled, “Anyone who booed isn’t getting any cake!” and that elicited a few more boos and a lot of laughter.

Laura’s mom walked up and took the microphone. “In our family, the birthday person is responsible for cutting the cake. I don’t mean cutting one piece. I mean cutting it for everyone. Do you all agree that Laura should follow this family tradition today? All in favor say ‘Yes’…” The shout of ‘Yes’ was deafening. “All apposed say ‘No’…” There was only one ‘No’ and that was Laura, who chanted “No! No! No!”

“Well, I guess the No’s have it.” There was a huge round of boos from the audience. Laura’s mom stared at the audience and we quieted down. “If you want cake, I suggest that you don’t disagree with me. Capisci?” There were several seconds of silence. “I see you agree. The No’s have it. We’ll let Laura cut the first piece. And only the first piece.”

One of the caterers came out and handed Laura a knife. She cut a corner piece, and the caterer put it on a plate and handed it and a fork to Laura. Then the caterers took the rest of the cake away.

Laura’s mom announced, “There’s cake and ice cream at the caterer’s tent. Feel free to have as much as you’d like.”

Tom stood up. “I want cake and ice cream. Anyone want to walk to the caterer’s tent with me?”

Mark and Kyle joined Tom and got in one of the long lines at the caterer’s tent. I decided to wait. I saw Sara, Laura, and Laura’s mom at the table, so I walked down to talk to Sara.

“Hi.”

“Hi, Curt. How’d you like the show?”

“I thought it was fun. Is that true about the Happy Birthday song?”

“Yeah, I found out that it is true, but not for singing it at a birthday party.”

“That’s good. I wouldn’t want Laura’s folks to get arrested.”

Laura’s mom heard that and looked up.

“Curt, we don’t plan on getting arrested. So, how are you doing? How’s your arm?”

“I’m doing okay, Mrs. Rosas. My arm still hurts sometimes. I get the cast off in about five weeks.”

“When is the trial?”

“It starts on Tuesday.”

“Well, good luck. I hope everything turns out in your favor.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Rosas.”

I asked Sara, “You want to get some cake and ice cream?”

“Sounds good.”

“I just remembered a question I want to ask Laura, okay?”

“Sure.”

“Laura, are you doing something for Mark’s birthday?”

“Yes. What we’re going to do is when I’ve opened all of my presents I’ll pick up one of the presents that’s left. I’ll announce that the present has Mark's name on the tag and ask him to come up and open it. When he’s opened it I’ll pick up the next present and and announce that it’s also for Mark. The are quite a few presents for Mark. After he’s opened all of his presents we’ll bring out a birthday cake for him. It’s chocolate cake with chocolate icing.”

“Cool. I think Mark’s going to be blown away. Thanks, Laura. And you too, Mrs. Rosas.”

“You’re welcome, Curt.”

Sara and I walked to the caterer’s tent. The lines were short, which I liked a lot. I don’t like standing in line for anything. I got a piece of cake and a scoop of English Toffee ice cream. Sara got a piece of cake but skipped the ice cream. We wandered around looking for Tom and the guys.

“Hey, Curt! Sara! Over here.” They were sitting in a shaded area not far from the pool house, and we joined them.

“Hi, guys. How’s the cake and ice cream?”

“Really good and fair, respectively,” Mark replied.

“You mean fair for the ice cream?”

“Yeah. I got a flavor I don’t like, pistachio.”

“How’d that happen? You got to choose your own flavor.”

“The girl who scooped my ice cream didn’t know the flavors. I asked her the flavor of the green colored ice cream, and she said she thought it was mint chocolate chip. It isn’t.”

“Then go get some other flavor of ice cream.”

“Nah. Too much work. I’d rather eat the pistachio and grumble and groan about it.”

“That’s weird,” Sara said. “If you don’t like something, don’t eat it.”

“I don’t like pistachio, but I don’t hate it. It’s not worth the effort to try to get something I do like when they might not even have it.”

Sara shook her head. “Mark, I repeat, that’s weird.” Then she reached over and tousled his hair.

“Hey,” Parker protested, “don’t mess with my boyfriend’s hair!”

“Boyfriend!” Laura screeched, “When did that happen?”

Mark turned around. “Where’d you come from?” he asked Laura.

“Don’t change the subject. When did you and Parker become boyfriends?”

“Well,” Parker replied, “it’s sort of a trial arrangement. We discovered that we like each other a lot. We’ll see how our trial arrangement works out. Personally, I think it will work out fine.”

“Me too,” Mark added. “I’ve never had a boyfriend. We’re trying to figure out what that means. So this is like we’re going steady.”

“That was pretty quick, you like just met a couple hours ago. How did you get so far so fast?” Laura asked.

Parker scratched his head. “You know, it might seem fast but with guys who are gay if you find someone you like you’d better get it going as soon as possible. The size of the field is limited, and you don’t see a lot of guys running around saying ‘Hey, I'm gay, are you?’ So when you find someone, and you like him, you’d better grab him otherwise someone else will. Then you can decide if it’s working or not. I think with the two of us it is working.”

I thought about what Parker had said. And I got this really great idea. “You know, what we should do is set up a gay teen exchange where guys can create a handle, like an ID, and an avatar, and put information about themselves. For example, ‘I like walks on the beach, I hate country music, I love Harry Potter books but not the movies’. Stuff like that. Their age and city would be included with their handle and avatar, but their other personal information, like their name and address and cell number, would be kept private by the exchange. And it would be encrypted so if it ever got broken into it would just be gibberish. There’d be a message board where people could chat, and a private messaging system where people could send each other emails.”

Parker was looking at me and grinning. “Damn! That is such a good idea. Curt, are you willing to go into it with me and… who else wants to be in on this? It’ll take some money to get the domain name and hosting service, and to design and set up the website.”

“How much money?” Sara asked.

“I don’t know,” Parker said. “Not a lot. A couple thousand tops. We can do the web design ourselves. I took Web Design last semester and I set up websites for myself and some friends. We need someone who knows MySQL to help me design the database and tools for implementing the encryption. Then we’ll need some seed money to advertise the site. We should start small, say just the high schools around here. We can do that by contacting the GSA club at each school. So we might be able to get away without spending big bucks on ads on Google. What do you guys think?”

“That’s a great idea,” I said. “I’ll put some money into the company. I might be able to talk Mr. Williams, that’s Tom's dad, he’s my attorney, to be our… what do they call it? …oh, yeah, our legal counsel.”

“You’re gay?” Parker asked me.

“No, I’m straight. But this sounds like a good idea to me.”

“It sounds good to me too,” Laura said. “I have some money that I could put in. Sara, isn’t Gary a web developer?”

“Yeah, and he knows MySQL because I’ve heard him talking about it.”

“Gary?” I asked.

“Gary’s my older brother,” Sara replied. “He’s a computer science major at UC Davis. You could have him help with the database design and the interface design and with the encryption part as well.”

“I don’t want to tell someone about our idea and have them do it on their own.” Parker interjected.

“Gary wouldn’t do that. What he wants to do after he gets his PhD is be a professor at Davis in the Computer Science department. He might even want to invest in the company.”

“So we’d start a company?” Mark asked.

“Of course,” Tom answered, “we need a company to protect our interests, to be able to sell shares to investors, to be able to contract for a domain name and anything else we need. Like Curt suggested, my dad can help by becoming our legal counsel. There will have to be a Board of Directors, and we’ll need some adults because we’re too young to sign contracts.”

I grinned at Sara. “And here I was thinking this was going to be a simple birthday and pool party today. What have we gotten ourselves into?”

“Well, for me there are two things. First, there’s this startup company. And second, and most important, I’ve met you, Curt. This has been a very good day.”