I was trying to be happy for Mary Anne, but the truth is, I would gladly have killed to get my hands on that bouquet.

Luckily, I was distracted from those thoughts. The wedding reception was over and people were starting to leave. First Mom's and Richard's friends left. Then my grandparents left. Then Mr. Pike arrived to pick up the triplets and Jeff. Jeff was going to spend the night at the Pikes' house. He could have spent the night with our grandparents, but he was just dying to visit with the triplets. (I think I forgot to tell you that Jeff lives in California with our father now. He moved back there because he simply couldn't adjust to Connecticut.) Meanwhile, Mom and my new stepfather were going to the Strathmoore Inn for the shortest honeymoon on record - they were going to be back the next day. And that day, Sunday, was moving day. Mary Anne, her father, and her kitten, Tigger, were moving into our house, which is bigger than theirs.

" 'Bye, Jeff!" I called as the Pikes drove off. "See you tomorrow!" " 'Bye, Dawn!" he replied.

A few moments later Charlie Thomas, Kristy's oldest brother, arrived in his beat-up second-hand car to take Mary Anne, all of our friends, and me back to Mary Anne's house. We were going to sit around and dish about the wedding for awhile. ("Dish" means "gossip.") Then Mary Anne and I were going to spend one last night in Mary Anne's room at her old house - by ourselves. Mary Anne was nostalgic. I was excited and nervous. I'm not used to sleeping in a house without any adults around.

As my friends and I climbed into Charlie's car, I waved to Richard and the new Mrs. Spier. That's right - Mom was changing her name. She said she wanted to take on the name of her husband. Why? It's beyond me. I wanted the name I'd been born with, which is Dawn Schafer. Mom said it was perfectly all right for Jeff and me to keep our old names.

"Is everybody in?" called Charlie, glancing in the rearview mirror.