It was a quiet morning at Ray's Diner. Flo was helping Randy in the kitchen while Ally was refilling saltshakers. But she wasn't doing a very good job.
"Oh no." Ally moaned. "This is the third time I overfilled a shaker!" She began cleaning up the mess. "I have to keep my mind on my work and stop thinking about—"
Mateo burst into the diner. "Hey, Ally!"
"Ahh!" Ally was so startled, she spilled even more salt!
"Oops, sorry to scare you," Mateo said. "I'm just really excited! Aren't you?"
Ally sighed. "What is there to be excited about?"
"The lunar eclipse on Saturday night! Remember? I sent you that article about it."
"Oh, right." Ally shrugged and went back to cleaning up the salt.
"I thought you'd be excited to see the lunar eclipse and . . ." Mateo trailed off, peering closely at her. "Oh. It reminds you of home, is that it?"
"No, we don't even have a moon," Ally said.
"Then what's wrong? You don't seem like yourself," Mateo said.
Ally looked at Mateo in confusion. "If I'm not myself, who would I be?"
"It's just an expression," Mateo said. "It means you're not acting like you usually do."
"Oh!" Ally blurted out what was bothering her. "I was so happy when Julius asked me to go to the movies with him. But I haven't heard from him since that night. I guess he changed his mind about our date."
"That's weird," Mateo said. "Because when I saw him two days ago, he said he was really looking forward to going on a date with you. Maybe he got cold feet."
Flo came into the dining room. "Who has cold feet?" she asked.
"Julius does," Ally said. "Mateo says that's why he hasn't called me to set up a date yet. But I don't know what the temperature of his feet has to do with anything."
Flo laughed. "He's probably just nervous, Ally. Maybe he thinks you changed your mind about the date. Hey! I have an idea! What if you go on a double date with Mateo and Bethany? That way neither of you will feel a lot of pressure. What do you think?"
Ally frowned. "A double date? How about a single date first?"
"A double date means two couples go out together," Mateo said.
"Silly me!" Ally giggled. "That's a great idea, Flo. That should make all our feet nice and warm!"
Ally was beginning to feel better when Barry ran into the diner.
"Have you heard of the TV show Food Truck Rally?" he asked breathlessly.
"Sure," Mateo said.
"I haven't," Ally said. "What is it?"
"It's a reality show with food trucks," Barry said. "The idea is that six food trucks compete in a one-day cook-off around a theme. The winning truck gets five thousand dollars!"
"It sounds fun," Ally said.
Barry nodded. "Well, guess what. They picked Sandville as the location for a new episode. The theme is Out of This World, and they want Rolling Ray's to compete!"
"Papi is going to be thrilled!" Mateo said.
Barry nodded. "I hope so."
Just then Mateo's phone rang. "It's my dad. We'll find out right now what he thinks." He started a video call with Ray. "Hey, Papi. We have some exciting news!"
"I do too!" Ray said. "You go first."
Barry leaned in toward Mateo's phone. "Rolling Ray's has been invited to compete on the next episode of Food Truck Rally."
"The prize is five thousand dollars," Mateo said.
Ray looked upset. "Gosh, kids, I'm sorry, I can't do it. I finally planned a vacation for myself—a fishing trip with my high school buddies. I leave tomorrow. Mateo, your mom will come and stay with you and Ally while I'm gone."
Mateo sighed. "Well, you deserve a vacation, Papi. I guess we have to turn the TV show down."
Barry looked upset.
"Maybe we don't have to say no," Ally said. "Barry has been running the food truck all by himself and doing a great job. Mateo, you and I can help him with the cook-off."
"Yeah!" Mateo nodded. "Bethany and Kate can probably help too."
"An all-kid team!" Barry said. "The show loves teams with a gimmick. And so do the fans."
"Great!" Ray smiled. "And if you win, you kids can split the prize."
"Wow," Ally said as Mateo hung up the call. "We're going to be on TV. I can't wait to be a star!"