Maddie's Camp Crush

by Angela Darling

  At lunchtime she absently stabbed at her salad with a fork and kept looking at the boys’ side, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. Gabriel noticed and waved to her, and she smiled back. Then she quickly stopped herself. Had anyone noticed?

  “Veggie burger number nine,” Emily announced. No, things were back to normal.

  After lunch, the girls headed back to the cabin for siesta. It was a hot day, the kind of day where the air feels heavy, so the girls lazed on the porch steps, too sticky and tired to do anything but talk. Libby pulled out a notebook with a glittery pink cover and a purple pen.

  “Okay, we’re rating the Charles bunk now,” she announced.

  Charles bunk? That was Gabriel’s bunk. “Rating what?” Maddie asked.

  “Boys, of course,” Libby replied.

  Maddie was confused. “I thought you did that the other night.”

  “Weren’t you listening at lunch?” Libby asked. “Last night we were talking generally. Then we got the idea to rate the boys in each cabin.”

  Maddie started to feel excited. Maybe now she could finally talk about Gabriel with her friends.

  “Okay,” Libby began thoughtfully. “Charles bunk is Evan, Scott, Gabriel, Kyle, Ryan, and Seth.”

  “Evan is definitely last,” Liza said.

  “Why is he last?” Samantha asked, puzzled. “He’s got nice eyes.”

  “He’s cute, but he never talks to girls, he only jokes around with the boys,” Liza pointed out.

  “Then Scott should be on the bottom too, because he’s really quiet,” Amelia said.

  Libby nodded. “Good point,” she said, jotting something in her notebook.

  “You can be quiet and still be cute,” Samantha said. “And nice.”

  “Maybe,” Liza said. “But to be crush-worthy, you have to be friendly and talk to the girls.”

  “That’s why Gabriel should be number one,” Amelia said. “He talks to girls and he’s super cute.”

  Maddie was stunned. “What?” she asked, a little too loudly, and Amelia cocked her head.

  “Oh no, do you like him too?” Amelia asked innocently.

  Maddie blushed. It hadn’t occurred to her that someone else would have a crush on Gabriel. But of course they would! He was amazing.

  “He’s really awesome,” Amelia pressed on. “You do like him, right, Maddie?”

  Maddie couldn’t speak. She didn’t know what to say. It would be weird to admit that she liked Gabriel too, wouldn’t it?

  “Are you okay, Mads?” Liza asked.

  “Yeah,” Maddie muttered. “Just tired.” Then she got up, walked into the cabin, and flopped down on her bed.

  Maddie buried her head in her pillow. She didn’t feel like crying, exactly; she just wanted to melt into the mattress and disappear, at least for a while.

  She heard Amelia sigh. “All I said was that maybe she’s not the only one to like him. Geez!” Then she heard Liza’s voice float through the open window.

  “You have to be careful around her,” Liza scolded. “Her dad just died. Just take it easy on her, okay?”

  A swell of frustration rose up in Maddie’s chest. It was cool of Liza to stand up for her, but hearing it made her realize that the death of Maddie’s dad had been on Liza’s mind all along. She thought everything was back to normal here at camp, that everyone was treating her like they always had. But maybe she was wrong. Had she been in some kind of bubble, not noticing the whispers and stares?

  Maddie wiped a tear from her eye. It had felt so good to feel normal again—but now it felt like nothing would ever be the same.

  chapter 7

  AFTER SIESTA, MADDIE LEFT THE CABIN WITH HER guard up, studying the campers and counselors to see if they were looking at her differently or whispering about her. But when she went to archery in the field near the boys’ camp, she found that having to focus so hard on the activity took her mind off things. She listened to the counselor and breathed slowly and deeply each time she pulled back the bow, concentrating. The effort paid off, and she got three bull’s-eyes, the most she’d ever got in one session.

  At arts and crafts, she sat with Liza, Libby, Emily, and Samantha as a counselor named Kathy showed them how to make beaded necklaces. The room got quiet as the girls thoughtfully picked out which beads they wanted to use.

  “Pink, pink, and pink,” Libby said, plucking beads from the organizer tray.

  Emily started to choose one of every color. “I want to do a rainbow one,” she said.

  Samantha held up a sparkly lavender bead. “Isn’t this one pretty? Maybe I’ll do all different shades of purple.”

  Maddie and Liza reached for the blue beads at the same time. They grinned at each other.

  “They remind me of the water,” Maddie said, and Liza nodded.

  “Me too.”

  Stringing the beads was nice and peaceful, and Maddie soon felt calmer and more relaxed. When she was done, she put her finished creation around her neck, and Liza did the same.

  “We’re like twins,” Maddie said with a grin.

  “Right,” Liza agreed. “Only with different color hair and different color eyes.”

  “Hey, twins don’t have to look alike,” Maddie pointed out, and they both laughed.

  Maddie felt even better as the day went on. Emily ate her tenth veggie burger, and Liza started joking around about drama class. She held up a piece of meatloaf on her fork.

  “I can’t believe that Alyssa keeps making us pretend that we’re bacon frying in a pan,” she said. “I bet she’s going to make us act like meatloaf next.”

  “How do you act like meatloaf?” Maddie asked.

  Liza slumped back in her chair and closed her eyes. “Maybe like this. You just . . . loaf.”

  Everyone started cracking up. Emily stood up perfectly straight with her arms at her sides. “I’ve got one!”

  “What are you supposed to be?” Libby asked.

  “An ear of corn!” Emily replied, and everyone cracked up again.

  Maddie smiled to herself as the girls ate their dinner. It was nice just talking and hanging out and not having to worry about the boys or how they looked. It was kind of like how it used to be. Except, of course, that Maddie never really stopped thinking about Gabriel completely. She wondered if she gave him a bracelet she made, if he would wear it. There was a girl at school who gave one of the boys a friendship bracelet to wear and it was a pretty big deal. Maddie would never have the nerve, though. Would she? She picked at her food and thought about it.

  At the evening program that night some of the counselors told a spooky story, and then Maddie and her friends headed to the mess hall to grab some milk and cookies and hang in the quad. Maddie was about to settle down on one of the benches, oatmeal cookie in hand, when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

  She whirled around and saw Gabriel standing there.

  “Hullo,” he said. “You did a right good job of beating me this morning. How did you get to be such a good boater?”

  It took Maddie a moment to realize that he was actually trying to have a conversation with her, and she got a little flustered.

  “Well, yeah, I guess, I’ve been, um, doing it a long time,” she replied.

  Gabriel sat down on one of the large rocks in the quad, and it felt natural to Maddie to sit down next to him. She spotted her friends on the bench, pointing at them and giggling, and Maddie blushed a little, but she stayed put.

  “Actually, my dad is the one who taught me how to kayak,” Maddie said. “He was really very good at it. Canoeing, too.”

  “You’re lucky,” Gabriel said. “My mum and dad hate the water. I learned how to row at school.”

  “Wow, that’s cool,” Maddie said. “We don’t do anything like that at our school. Just basketball and soccer and stuff.”

  Gabriel shook his head. “I still can’t get used to the whole ‘soccer’ thing,” he said. “It’s always been ‘football’ to me.”

  Maddie wanted to ask him a lot.
She figured he was from England, but then what was he doing here? And why did his mom sound American? But those questions felt kind of personal, so she steered the conversation back to boating.

  “I remember I was pretty bad at first, but Dad showed me the right way to hold the paddles and how to keep my balance,” she said.

  Gabriel nodded. “Balance is definitely key.”

  They talked some more, but soon they heard the mess hall bell ring, the signal that meant downtime was over.

  “Well, see you,” Maddie said shyly.

  “Right. See you,” Gabriel said.

  When she got to the bunk, all of the Hannahs were hanging out on the porch, waiting.

  “Maddie!” Liza screamed. “He likes you!”

  “Shhh!” Maddie said, but she was secretly pleased, and her friends didn’t stop. The other girls joined in, chanting, “He likes you! He likes you!”

  “And I knew you liked him,” Amelia said, pointing at her.

  “Well, I guess,” Maddie said, and suddenly everything felt weird again. “I mean, we just talked, that’s all.”

  “But he doesn’t talk to other girls alone like that,” Liza pointed out, and Amelia looked a little stung by the comment. “That means that he likes you.”

  “All that means is that he wanted to talk,” Maddie said. “Like we’re talking now.”

  Libby dramatically put a hand to her face. “Ah! Zee poor girl! She is so blind!” she said in a bad French accent.

  “Libby’s right,” Emily said matter-of-factly. “He definitely likes you.”

  “Okay, okay, he likes me, whatever,” Maddie said, hoping to end the conversation quickly. “Come on, we’d better go in before Tara gets here.”

  Liza shuddered, pretending to be afraid. “Beware the wrath of Tara!”

  The girls trooped inside the cabin and got ready for bed. Maddie got under the covers and closed her eyes as the nighttime sounds of chirping crickets and croaking frogs filled the cabin. Normally these sounds lulled her to sleep, but she couldn’t help thinking about what her friends had said.

  Maybe Gabriel did like her. But what did that mean? How was it different from the way she liked her other friends, or the way she liked someone like Brandon, even?

  It’s all so complicated, she thought, but the crickets and the frogs won out, and she finally drifted off to sleep.

  chapter 8

  DEAR MADDIE,

  I hope you are having fun at camp. Things have been pretty quiet here except that the Taylors got a new dog, a Chihuahua, and it yips and yelps all day long.

  Grandma and Grandpa told me that they’ve written you several letters. Did you get them? I know you are busy but they would love to hear back from you.

  Curled up in her bed during siesta, Maddie read the rest of her mother’s letter. The third week of camp had just started, and she hadn’t written a single letter in reply to any of her relatives. Her mom was right—she’d been really busy. During siesta she always felt too sleepy to do anything useful, and she’d been using most of her free periods to practice tennis with Libby. Playing tennis twice a day wasn’t her favorite thing in the world, but Libby said she was getting better, and she knew she would impress her mom by the time summer was over.

  Maddie groaned loudly. “I wish we could just text everybody. It’s so much faster!”

  “I don’t know,” Emily said. “I kind of like writing letters. It’s more personal.”

  Liza looked up from her bed. “Still haven’t written those letters yet, Mads?”

  Maddie shook her head. “No, and now Mom’s getting on my case.”

  Liza sat up. “I have an idea. Remember a few years ago, we picked those flowers and squashed them, and then we glued them to cards? My mom went crazy over hers.”

  Maddie nodded. “Those came out nice. Maybe we could pick some flowers today during free time. I saw some growing along the edges of the soccer meadow.”

  “Tomorrow, okay?” Liza asked. “Emily said she’d help me finish up this birdhouse I’m making in arts and crafts. I’m trying to finish it before the end of the week.”

  “Sure,” Maddie replied. “Tomorrow. That means I can nap for ten whole minutes now and not worry about writing letters.”

  Then she leaned back on her bed, putting the pillow over her head, and a folded piece of paper slipped out of the pillowcase. Maddie touched it—it was the note from her father. She still hadn’t opened it. Sometimes she took it out at night to see if it smelled like her dad, but it didn’t. But she could see a smudge of blue ink on one side of the note, like it always was with Dad’s letters. He was left-handed, so his hand always had blue or black ink smudged on it.

  It’s one of the curses of a creative mind, he would say, and Maddie smiled, remembering.

  “Come on, Mads! Archery time!” Liza said, playfully shaking her, and Maddie quickly slipped the note back under the pillowcase. Maybe she’d read it soon, but not now.

  The next day was another blur of camp activities. After instructional swim in the afternoon, Maddie went back to the cabin to change for free time.

  “Maddie, we’re hitting the courts, right?” Libby asked.

  “Sure,” Maddie replied. She and Libby had been practicing regularly, and they’d gotten into a routine. As she tied the laces of her sneakers, she had a nagging feeling that she might be forgetting something, but she brushed it off.

  It was another bright, hot day, but thankfully the tennis courts were mostly shaded in the afternoon. Maddie and Libby always found an open court; not many campers used their free time to practice tennis. They either relaxed, hung out, or played impromptu games of football in the soccer meadow.

  Libby jogged to one side of the court, and Maddie took her place at the other.

  “Okay, I’ll serve,” Libby said. “You’re doing a lot better, Maddie. Just remember what I said, and keep your eyes on the ball.”

  Maddie focused on Libby, determined to return the ball. Libby swung, and Maddie watched the ball come toward her. She followed it as it veered to the right, brought her racket back, and swung.

  Smack! The ball hit the racket, and Maddie sent it soaring across the net . . . and out of bounds.

  “Rats!” Maddie cried.

  “It’s okay,” Libby told her. “You’re making contact. But I think you turned your wrist a little when you swung, so the ball went wild. Let’s try again.”

  Maddie nodded, trying not to get frustrated. Even after taking tennis lessons in the spring, she always seemed to have the same problems.

  Libby served again, and Maddie kept her eye on the ball and focused on her grip at the same time. The ball soared over the net and over Maddie’s head, and even though she ran back as fast as she could, she just couldn’t get to it in time.

  “Rats!” she cried again.

  “That was a tough one,” Libby said. “When you play you have to be able to get anywhere on the court really fast. My instructor told me to jump rope when I work out to build up speed and coordination.”

  “Do we have any jump ropes at camp?” Maddie asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Libby replied. “Anyway, what we’re doing is good practice too.”

  Maddie sighed. “All right. Keep them coming.”

  Libby helped her practice for a half hour, and Maddie managed to hit quite a few balls over the net without them going out of bounds.

  “You’re really doing great,” Libby assured her as they walked back to the bunk.

  “Thanks,” Maddie said. “It’s really nice of you to help me.”

  As they approached the bunk, Maddie saw Liza sitting on top of the porch steps. She looked upset, and suddenly Maddie remembered—they were supposed to meet to get flowers today!

  “Liza, I’m so sorry!” Maddie said, running ahead of Libby. “I totally forgot.”

  “Well I didn’t,” Liza said, a little crossly. But she softened when she saw Maddie’s face. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”

  “We can do
it tomorrow,” Maddie promised.

  “Well, we’d better do it soon,” Liza said. “I’m not going to be here much longer, you know.”

  That’s when it hit Maddie—the third week of camp was almost over already, which meant that Liza would be going home in a few days.

  “Tomorrow, I promise,” Maddie said. “Come on, let’s walk to arts and crafts.”

  “Okay,” Liza said, and she didn’t seem so mad anymore.

  Maddie was relieved that Liza wasn’t hurt. In a way, though, she didn’t mind Liza getting mad at her. She was treating her like she normally would, instead of being fake nice.

  Still, though, she wanted to make things up to Liza somehow. Ever since they’d come to camp, she knew Liza was jealous that Maddie was staying on with Libby and Emily. But Liza was her best camp friend—no, her best friend anywhere. So she definitely had to make it up to her, even though she didn’t have much time left.

  chapter 9

  “I’D BETTER SEE SIX GIRLS READY FOR FLAG WHEN I walk in here,” Tara called from outside the cabin door. “If not, I’m going to confiscate your blow-dryers!”

  Maddie put down her hairbrush and rushed to the door along with the other girls. The only one who wasn’t scrambling was Emily. She got up off her bed, stretched, and lined up behind Maddie.

  Tara entered the cabin and smiled when she saw them all. “That’s more like it,” she said. “All right, then. Flag time!”

  Every morning, campers hoisted the Camp Wimoway flag up a tall pole outside the camp directors’ office. At night, the flag came down. This morning, as the girls made their way to the morning assembly, they saw groups of campers pointing up at the flag and giggling. Instead of the usual camp flag, a pair of pink, polka-dotted underwear was flapping in the breeze.

  Samantha looked confused. “How did that get up there?”

  “It’s those boys,” Liza replied. “Another classic prank. They swiped some girl’s undies and ran them up the flag.”

  Libby gasped. “Oh my gosh, those are Emily’s!”

  The girls turned to look at their friend, who was smiling. “They look awesome, don’t they?”