A little smile twisted Ivy’s lips and she gave me a wink. “Yeah, I teach fifth grade.”
“She’s an amazing teacher,” Lucy gushed. “All her kids adore her. It makes it almost impossible to walk around town with her—it’s always Ms. Winterthis, Ms. Winterthat.”
“Lucy’s exaggerating,” Ivy said, but she was smiling fully now and it was obvious how much her friend’s words meant to her.
“I think that’s amazing,” I said. “I was homeschooled, which was my decision. I preferred to spend my days out on the boat with my parents.” At their confused expressions, I clarified. “My dad was a lobsterman. His family was for generations. And my mom and I helped him on the boat.”
“That’s so cool,” Summer said. Then she dropped her voice. “But don’t let Stanley know or he’ll recruit you for our annual Jumpin’ July Rockin’ Lobster Roll Competition. Which, if the name didn’t tip you off, is a three-part competition where you have to jump rope, play a rock song, and then present a lobster roll for judging.”
My jaw dropped. “Um, how many festivals do you have?”
“The limit doesn’t exist,” Lucy said. “Stanley invents new ones each year.”
Char and another woman came to drop off our food.
“I’m not sure you’re doing a good job convincing thegirl we’re normal,” Char said. She put my burger and fries in front of me. It looked and smelledamazing.
“Well, that was always going to be an impossible task,” the woman beside her said. “I’m Rosie, this one’s omega.” She nodded her head at Char. “She named the cafe after me and now thinks she can put me to work whenever she wants.” She let out a little squeal when Char pinched her butt.
“Omegas,” the alpha said, rolling her eyes. Then she leaned down and kissed Rosie on the forehead. “Stay and chat if you want, darling. Gavin will be here soon.”
Rosie pulled up an extra chair. “You don’t mind me crashing the party?”
“Oh my gosh, you don’t have to ask. Sit down,” Lucy said. “We really need a name for our little posse.”
Ivy held up her hand. “If you suggest the Omega Overlords one more time…”
Lucy turned her bright eyes on me. “What do you think, Olive? Want to be part of the Omega Overlords?”
I covered my laugh with a cough, but the other omegas’ expressions told me I wasn’t very convincing. “I’m not sure I’m the overlord type.”
Lucy huffed and sat back in her seat. “Well, since you all turned down Omega Otters and the Official Omega Squad, I don’t know what you want from me.”
Summer held a hand up to her ear and looked around. “Oh, yep, that’s right. No one is demanding a group name exceptyou.”
Rosie grinned. “Is this the relaxed lunch you were expecting, Olive?”
“I’m quite sure I did not promise a relaxing lunch,” Lucy sniffed. “Just a fun one.”
“Well, it’s definitely that,” I said, digging into my burger and curly fries. It was the best meal I’d had since the pho Summer included in the welcome basket. Although it wasn’t difficult to impress me, the person who subsisted on microwave meals and ramen.
“Pass me the ketchup?” Summer asked, grabbing it from Ivy. “Oh, Stanley cornered Oli when she got here, talking about the Harvest Festival.”
“Oh god,” Rosie said while Lucy gave a loud, exasperated sigh, and Ivy lightly rubbed her forehead.
“Look,” Lucy said, waving her french fry in the air, “I enjoy all our festivals, but no one loves a festival like Stanley. And he always wants us to do some sort of girly craft.”
“Lucy, you’re the craftiest person I know,” Rosie said with a grin.
Summer’s fist came down and hit the table. “It’s theprincipleof the thing. Just because we’re omegas doesn’t mean we like to do feminine crafts or spend time with children. Even though Lucy does tons of girly crafts and Ivy loves children.”
“It’s the principle,” Ivy said.
“Theprinciple,” Lucy repeated. “Which is why we always put together crafts that Stanley will hate. Last year, I led a cross stitch class.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“She taught everyone how to cross-stitch their favorite curse words onto pillows,” Ivy clarified, her lips twisting in a smile.
