"Wash your hands, Shelley," Aunt Ruby said.
"I did! I did, I did!" Shelley held up her hands for inspection. "Just before Tess got home. I had to go to theloo."
She beamed at all of us, clearly proud of her first attempt to speak British.
"Okay. Everybody get some pizza, and then let's sit down and explain this to Tess," Aunt Ruby said. She was smiling, but I'd known her all my life. I could see the worry beneath the façade.
After Uncle Mike gave up and just handed Jack an entire box of pizza, we all sat down and each took a slice or two. Aunt Ruby had already poured out water, lemonade, and tea, and Shelley gave everyone napkins.
I shoved a big bite of pizza—pepperoni, artichoke, red onion, and black olive—in my mouth to avoid having to say anything until I had a chance to find out what was going on.
"First, Tess, why don't you tell us about your date?" Uncle Mike gave me a stern look. "Ruby says you refused to tell her where you two went."
I chewed and swallowed before I choked on indignation and mozzarella. "I told her! We went to Atlantis. We really did. Tell her, Jack."
"Atlantis!" Shelley leapt up out of her chair, staring at me. "You went to Atlantis without me?"
"Well—"
"Oh, she did not," Aunt Ruby said briskly. "Tess, enough already."
Uncle Mike looked back and forth between me and Jack but said nothing.
"Jack. Tell her," I demanded.
He gave me a blank look. "Tess, what are you talking about? How in the world would we get to Atlantis and back for a date?"
I froze. "What?"
There was no way I'd imagined an entire evening. I had the green dress with a blushberry stain on it to prove it.
His lips quirked, and I glared at him. "Not funny, Shepherd. Tell them the truth."
"Okay, okay." He patted Aunt Ruby's arm. "Yes, we went to Atlantis for dinner. After it took me months to finally put this first date in motion, I needed to do it up right."
We told them all about the portal, and the palace, and the gardens, and Aunt Ruby and Shelley exploded with questions. Uncle Mike was quiet but he listened intently.
When we'd finally answered all their questions, Shelley threw me an anguished look. "I still can't believe you went to Atlantis without me."
"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t even know we were going before it happened."
Jack took a sixth or seventh slice of pizza out of a box. "You can go with us the next time," he said mildly, and Shelley lost her mind.
"YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" She jumped up out of her chair, unable to contain her excitement, and started racing around the table, only stopping for long enough to give Jack another hug.
But Uncle Mike was frowning. "I don't know about this, Tess. I don't like the idea of your molecules being transported by magic portals, and I don't want to take a chance on Shelley traveling that way, either."
"You only warned me about helicopters," I reminded him.
"This is worse! Magic portals." He shook his head. "What's next? Transporters like on Star Trek?"
"That would be fun!"
He didn't appreciate my humor.
"Look, Uncle Mike. The portal didn't disassemble our molecules. We were still us. It was like stepping through a short tunnel, but with lots of sound and lights."
"The Atlanteans have been traveling that way for thousands of years," Jack said. "It's safer than flying in an airplane."
