"Hi, Jack!!" my cousin Katie said.

"Hi, I didn't know you were coming," I replied. "Does Ma know?"

"Yep, I asked her to keep it a surprise," she replied.

"Well, come on in! It's great to see you."

"Thanks. I'm famished. Got anything to eat?" she asked and I smiled. Katie could out-eat a horse, but she always looked like a toothpick. As we got lunch together, Ma woke up, saw Katie, and smiled.

"Hi Katie. It's good to see you!!"

"Thanks," she said, and turned to me. "So, what's the plan for today?"

"Well, I'm supposed to go bowling with some friends of mine, wanna come?" I asked her, glancing at the time so we wouldn't be late, but it was only 11:40.

"Sure, I'd love to!!"

"Well, we're supposed to be there at 2:30, so can you be ready by 2?"

"Sure, but I really need to take a small nap first. I had to get up at 4 this morning."

"Sure, you can use my room. I gotta finish some homework first, so I'll just move my stuff down here, and then I can't bother you with my groaning over my math homework."

"OK, sounds good," she said, and we headed upstairs. At 1:30, I finished my homework, and went upstairs to wake Katie up, but she was already up when I got there.

"Hey, have a nice nap?" I asked her jokingly.

"Yup," she replied, and then added, "can I use your phone? I was supposed to call when I got here."

"Yeah, here you go," I said and handed her the phone. After she called Aunt Sophie, and I checked my e-mail real quick, we decided we should leave in case it took a while to get there.

We got to Lexy's part of town a little early, so we decided to walk there instead of taking a cab.

"Wow!!" Katie said as we walked up to Lexy's door. "Who do you know who lives here??"

"A friend of mine from school. Her names Lexy."

"OOOOOOH, a GIRLfriend?" she asked me teasingly.

"No!" I replied, "A FRIEND!!"

"Sorry, jeez" she said. "You didn't have to yell at me."

"Sorry," I said and rang the doorbell. When her dad answered the door, I asked if Lexy was ready yet.

"Not yet, she's up in her room, come on in, Jack," he responded. "Lexy!" he called. "Jack's here!"

"Be right down!" she replied as the doorbell rang again.

"Want me to answer that? It's probably Jen or Gabe."

"Sure, I gotta get back to work, thanks Jack," Mr. Gold replied. I went to get the door, and when I opened it, both Jen and Gabe were there, and Lexy walked down the stairs at the same time. Jen and Gabe followed me back to where Katie was still standing open-mouthed, looking around herself.

"Uh, Katie? It's probably a good idea to shut your mouth now!" I whispered to her teasingly. Raising my voice, I told everyone, "This is my cousin Katie. She showed up from California this morning as a surprise for me." I pointed everyone out as I introduced them.

"Nice to meet you Katie." Lexy said warmly welcoming her.

"Well, we better get going," Jen said, glancing at her watch. Lexy's little sister, Taylor, came down the stairs then, and saw all of us getting ready to leave. I saw the sad look on her face, and decided to invite her along.

"No thanks," she replied, "I don't think Lexy wants me to intrude."

"Nonsense, I won't take no for an answer. You can help bring up Lexy and Jen's scores on your team." I said and smiled.

"Yeah, come on Taylor. It'll be fun," Lexy added. "But I thought it was guys against girls, Jack. That puts Katie on our side too."

"Wait a minute!! That's not fair!" Gabe and I both said at the same time.

"It was *your* idea," Jen reminded us.

"OK, let's go," I said, and then added, "Cheaters," under my breath. Little did we know what was waiting for us at the bowling alley.