My Extra Best Friend

by Julie Bowe

  I force my tired legs to do wild kicks, hoping I look too complicated to eat.

  “One minute!” the lifeguard calls out.

  One minute? It feels like one hour.

  I sink up to my earlobes.

  “Keep treading!” Jenna pants encouragingly. “Think…about things…you like!”

  I concentrate on my favorite things. Sleepovers with Stacey. Bike rides with Jenna. Choco Chunks with George. Mom and Dad. My goldfish, Pic. Even Quinn.

  But nothing helps.

  My chin drops.

  I sputter.

  And start to go down.

  My hands lunge for the rope. My whole body wraps around it, breathing hard.

  The lifeguard looks at me. “You okay?” he shouts.

  I nod. “No,” I mumble.

  I’ve never gotten an F on a test before.

  But I know I’m getting one today.

  My towel feels scratchy with sand as I wipe it across my face when we all get back to shore. At least tears blend in with lake water.

  The boys have left, thank goodness. I see them heading toward their cabin, hanging on to Connor like monkeys in a tree.

  I see Alex too. She’s walking in the opposite direction, with a girl.

  “That must be Liz,” Stacey says, looking up. “Do you recognize her?”

  I rub my eyes and squint. But I can only see bits of her from here.

  Hair like mine, only boy short.

  Glasses.

  Mint-green hoodie.

  Plaid shorts.

  Bright red cowboy boots.

  I shake my head. “I’ve never seen that girl before in my life.”

  Liz glances back just as the lifeguard walks up to me.

  I hold out my wrist.

  He wraps a plastic band around it.

  Tadpole pink.

  The other girls get wristbands too.

  Shark green.

  I look up again.

  Liz is gone.

  Chapter

  6

  “Cheer up,” Stacey says to me on the way back to Chickadee. “I’ll swim with you in the shallow end some of the time.”

  “I will too,” Jenna adds, linking arms with me.

  I do half a smile. I’m happy my friends aren’t ditching me, but I still wish I wasn’t a tadpole.

  As we walk by the Hawk cabin, we hear loud talk and laughter. Brooke peers at the windows. “Do you think Nat and Emillie are in there?”

  Jenna does a groan. “I told you to stay away from them.”

  Brooke gives her a squint. “You’re not my mother, Jenna Drews. You can’t choose my friends for me.”

  Jenna squints back. “I am your friend. That’s why I’m telling you not to choose them. They’re the kind of girls who accidentally squish your clay pot in crafts. And knock over your sandcastle on the beach. And yank down your swimsuit bottoms when you’re climbing onto the raft.” Jenna pauses, pinching up her swimsuit straps. “Why do you think I wore a one-piece this year? Don’t trust Rat and Enemmie.”

  “Hi, girls!” Alex calls to us. She’s standing in front of Chickadee talking with a very hairy man. His eyebrows look like woolly caterpillars. His beard almost touches his Camp Meadowlark staff shirt. And his ponytail is as long as Brooke’s.

  Jenna’s eyes go all suspicious as we walk up to him and Alex. “Boys aren’t allowed by the girls’ cabins,” she tells the man.

  “They are if a toilet’s plugged,” the man replies, twirling a plunger.

  “This is Pete,” Alex explains. “Our summer maintenance guy. He’s allowed to go in all the cabins.” She leans toward us. “Be nice to him if you like toilet paper.”

  Pete grins and twirls his plunger again.

  We give him our nicest smiles.

  Alex points past our cabin. “Hang your towels on the clothesline around back. Then get dressed for supper. Liz is unpacking. Be extra-friendly, okay?”

  We all nod and walk around back, rubbing sand off our feet and hanging up our towels to dry.

  Liz is unrolling a sleeping bag on the bed that’s closest to mine when we shuffle inside.

  “Hi there,” Brooke says, wiggling her fingers at Liz’s back. “I’m Brooke. Two o’s, no c. Bummer about your no-show friend.”

  Stacey holds up a bouquet of dandelions. “We got you flowers.”

  “And a present,” I add, cupping the rock me and Jenna found by the clothesline. Red, with white swirls. “It’s an agate.”

  “Ooo…” Meeka says. “Let me take a picture!” She runs for her camera.

  Liz turns around and takes the dandelions from Stacey. “Thanks!” she says, giving Stacey a friendly smile. Something about it looks familiar.

  Then she turns to me. “Cool rock, Ida! It matches my red boots.” She giggles and does a little jig.

  Jenna huffs. “Cowboy boots,” she mumbles. “Totally impractical for camp.”

  I frown, studying Liz. Her voice is familiar too, but it doesn’t match her face. Then, slowly, things start coming into focus—her stick-out ears, her freckles, the tiny scar on her chin. She lifts the dandelions to smell them and I see a faded blue friendship bracelet tied around her wrist. The one I made for her in third grade.

  I squeeze the agate. “Elizabeth?” I whisper.

  She gives me a smile that I’ve seen a thousand times before. “Surprise!”

  “Oh. My. Gosh.” Brooke’s eyes go wide. “I don’t believe it. Elizabutt Evans. Since when do you wear glasses? And what did you do to your hair?”

  Elizabeth’s eyes flash to Brooke. “I’m Liz now,” she says, clicking down her smile. “At least, that’s what my friends call me.”

  Jenna moves closer to me. “What friends?” she asks.

  Elizabeth gives Jenna a cool glance. Sniffs her dandelions. “Hello, Jenna,” she says. “It’s soooo good to see you again.”

  Jenna stiffens.

  Stacey steps forward. “Hi, Liz,” she says. “I’m Stacey. I don’t think we’ve met.”

  “That’s because Elizabeth…er…Liz moved away before you got to Purdee,” Randi explains.

  Jolene nods. “She was Ida’s BFF.”

  “Since kindergarten,” Meeka adds, turning on her camera.

  Stacey’s eyes brighten. “Oh!” she says. “Elizabeth Evans! I know about you. Ida told me.”

  “She did?” Elizabeth looks at me like this is good news. Like she thinks I told Stacey about all the fun stuff we used to do together. But, really, all I told Stacey was how she ditched me when she moved away.

  I gulp some air. “Why are you here?” I ask. “Don’t they have camps in Albuquerque?”

  “Sure,” Elizabeth replies. “But I still have family around Purdee. Aunt Sara and Uncle Tim. My cousins, Derrick and Cee Cee. Even my old dog, Champ! I was so sad when I had to leave him behind. But now, as soon as our new house is ready, I get him back!”

  Jenna sniffs. “We’re soooo happy for you.”

  I shake my head, feeling out of focus again. “You’re moving to another new house?”

  Elizabeth nods excitedly. “Not far from you! I bet we’ll ride the same bus to school!”

  My brain pounds against my ears. I must not have heard her right. “But that’s silly,” I reply. “We can’t ride the same bus when you live in Albuquerque and I live here.”

  Elizabeth giggles again. “You don’t get it. Daddy’s boss changed his mind. He doesn’t want us to live in Albuquerque anymore. I’m moving back!”

  I squeeze the agate harder. “You’re…moving…back?”

  Elizabeth nods. “For good!”

  Jenna huffs. “For bad.”

  “Squish together,” Meeka says, waving everyone in. “Group shot!”

  But I just stand there, blinking my eyes and breathing fast, like I’m waking up from a nightmare. One where a monster is chasing me, but no matter how fast I run, I can’t get away.

  I need air.

  Now.

  I throw the agate down.

 
; And bolt out the door.

  “Ida!” Alex calls as I rush past her and Pete. “Where are you going?”

  I glance back. “I…I…I lost something,” I say. “At the beach. I’ll be right back.”

  I turn away and hurry down the path. Past Hawk. Past Sparrow. Wishing I had gotten dressed first. Or at least grabbed my towel. I must look crazy, flip-flopping through the woods in nothing but a two-piece. If the boys see me, they’ll start singing about my underwear again.

  But when your last best friend—the one who ditched you—shows up out of the blue, you don’t stick around for the welcome back party.

  “Hey, Ida! Wait up!”

  I glance back again and see Pete, the maintenance guy, speed-walking toward me.

  I flip-flop faster.

  “Hey,” he says, catching up to me. “I’m an expert at finding lost stuff. Beach towels. Sandals. Sunscreen. It all goes in a lost-and-found box. Unless it’s valuable, like a camera.” He looks at me. “Did you lose something valuable?”

  “No,” I reply, speeding up.

  For a big guy, he’s awfully fast. We pass the dining hall. Kids and counselors are already gathering for supper. They stare at us as we head toward the lake—a hairy man carrying a toilet plunger and a little kid wearing mostly just her birthday suit.

  Thankfully, the beach is empty when we get there. I hop from the stone wall to the sand, then turn to Pete. “You can go,” I say, as coolly as I can, even though most of me is on fire. “I can find what I lost by myself.”

  Pete stands above me on the grassy ledge. “Sure thing,” he says. “It’s just…you’re not allowed on the beach without a staffer. Sorry. We’ve got rules.”

  I sigh and look around. Then I scoot my blue butt up onto the stone wall, flip-flops dangling. “I’m not on the beach now,” I say.

  Pete nods. He points to a small shed near a vegetable garden that’s next to the dining hall. Maintenance Shack is printed on a sign above the door. “That’s my executive office,” he says with a grin. “Holler if you need anything.”

  I stare at the lake as Pete walks away. Listening to the water lap the shore again and again and again. Elizabeth Evans is back, I think to myself. She’s back…she’s back…she’s back…

  “Ida! There you are!”

  I turn and see Stacey, running up to me with the shirt and shorts I left on my bed. She sits down on the stone wall, catching her breath. “Alex let me run ahead. I grabbed your clothes. It’s time for supper.”

  “Thanks,” I say, slipping the clothes on over my swimsuit. “You’re the best friend ever.”

  “Takes one to know one!” Stacey does a teasey grin. Then her face goes serious. “Is everything okay? Alex said you lost something.”

  I shake my head. “I just freaked out a little.”

  Stacey nods. “Over Liz, right?”

  I nod back. “I can’t believe she just showed up like that. Acting like we should all be glad she’s here. Dancing around in those dumb cowboy boots. Wearing the friendship bracelet I made for her. What does she think? We’re still best friends?”

  “Maybe she wants to make up,” Stacey offers. “You know, for not writing to you.”

  I give her a blank look. “Are you serious? You think I should take her back, just like that?”

  “That’s not what I meant,” Stacey replies. “I’m not choosing sides, so don’t be mad at me. It’s just…maybe there’s a reason she never wrote to you. When I moved to Purdee, it took my mom forever to get e-mail. And texting? Ha. I didn’t even have a cell phone back then. And I never thought to get my old BFF’s street address before I moved.”

  “Elizabeth had mine,” I say, my voice crackling. “It was on every letter I wrote to her.”

  Stacey is quiet for a minute. Then she stands up, brushing grass off her shorts. “I’m just saying, give Liz a chance to explain before you decide she’s not worth keeping.”

  “I’ve already decided,” I say. “She’s not.”

  Stacey sighs. Holds her hand out to me.

  I let her pull me up.

  Bong! Bong! Bong!

  We look toward the dining hall and see Connor pulling on a rope that’s connected to an old-fashioned bell. He lets Rusty, Joey, Quinn, and Tom take a turn too.

  Cabin doors slam. Voices echo off the water. Campers appear like ants at a picnic. Connor jumps up on a bench by the dining hall doors. A couple other counselors hop up too. “Gather in!” he shouts. “Time to rock this place!”

  Someone hands Connor a guitar and he starts jamming. The other counselors clap along, shout-singing a song.

  Camp Meadowlark! Camp Meadowlark!

  Where we love to sing and chirp,

  And occasionally burp!

  Camp Meadowlark! Camp Meadowlark!

  Sure, the cabins creak,

  But the rowboats seldom leak!

  Camp Meadowlark! Camp Meadowlark!

  The lake is never dry,

  And our bracelets always tie!

  Camp Meadowlark! Camp Meadowlark!

  The counselors are neat,

  Please excuse their stinky feet!

  Camp Meadowlark! Camp Meadowlark!

  Where friendship makes us strong,

  As we swim and hike along!

  Camp Meadowlark! Camp Meadowlark…

  “Look,” Stacey says. “There’re the other girls.”

  Alex comes around the corner of the dining hall, swinging hands with Meeka and Jolene.

  Jenna shuffles along behind them, writing something on her clipboard.

  Randi takes a spot by Rusty and the other boys. They play air guitar and shout-sing along with Connor and the others.

  Brooke sees Nat and Emillie and dashes to them like a tack to magnets.

  Elizabeth weaves through the crowd until she’s right next to me and Stacey. “Hi!” she says, all breathless and cheery. “Where’d you go?”

  I pretend I can’t hear her over the singing.

  “Um…” Stacey says, when she realizes I’m not going to answer. “We took a detour.”

  “It’s so bizarre to see everyone again,” Elizabeth prattles on, like I’m interested in what she has to say. “I can’t believe Brooke brought a crown! Wait…yes I can.” She giggles. “You missed her modeling it for me. And Jenna? She’s making a seating chart for supper. Too funny! Some things never change.”

  Elizabeth links arms with me. “Who cares, though, right? I’m sitting by you no matter what. I’ve got gobs of stuff to tell you!”

  I snatch my arm away. “I care,” I say. “And things have changed. Jenna’s my friend now. I’ll sit where she wants me to sit, and I’m pretty sure it won’t be by you.”

  Stacey mouths a silent Wow.

  So does Elizabeth.

  The song ends.

  The dining hall doors open.

  Everyone starts crowding in.

  I grab Stacey’s hand and we get swept along.

  When I glance back, Elizabeth Evans is a million miles away.

  Good.

  Chapter

  7

  After supper, Alex takes us for a walk around the main path at camp. It connects everything—girls’ cabins, dining hall, garden, beach, campfire ring, crafts cottage, boys’ cabins, ball field. The path must look like a big circle to the birds flying over us, with the lake hugging it on one side and the woods hugging it on the other. Alex points toward the woods as we approach them. “We’ll go on a campout Thursday night!”

  Meeka gulps, peering through the trees. “But the boys say a monster lives out there.”

  Alex does a half smile and takes Meeka’s hand. “Don’t worry about that old monster,” she says reassuringly. “He’s no match for a bunch of Chickadees…right?”

  “Right!” Randi says. “And if worst comes to worst, we’ll dip Brooke in chocolate sauce and use her as a human sacrifice.”

  “Ha-ha,” Brooke says. “Very funny.”

  “Some people say there are ghosts at the Grand Canyon
,” Elizabeth puts in. “But my family camped there anyway. It’s in Arizona, which is right next to New Mexico, where I lived.”

  Jenna grunts. “Thank you for the geography lesson, but you’re not in New Mexico anymore.”

  “And we’re not your family,” I add.

  Jenna grins.

  Stacey shoots me a look. Then she gives Elizabeth a smile. “Sure we are, Liz,” she says. “We’re a family of chickadees!”

  “Birds live in flocks, not families,” Jenna points out.

  “We are a family,” Alex cuts in. “Just a different kind.” She stops suddenly and looks into the woods.

  “What is it?” Meeka asks nervously. “Do you see the monster?”

  “No,” Alex replies. “I just thought of something I want to show you.”

  Jenna looks over the checklist on her clipboard. “But we’ve seen everything.”

  “Not quite,” Alex replies. “There’s something new. Pete built it.” She steps off the path and into the woods, motioning for us to follow her.

  “I hate new things,” Jenna grumbles as we trample through brush and weave between the trees. “Why can’t things stay the same?”

  “Most things don’t,” Elizabeth says, pausing to hold a branch aside as me and Jenna pass through. “Trust me.”

  Jenna glares at her. “I wasn’t talking to you, Lizbutt. I was talking to Ida.”

  Elizabeth lets the branch whip back into place, just missing Jenna. “Maybe you’re right,” she says crisply. “I know one thing hasn’t changed.”

  Jenna stops and squints at her. “What?”

  Elizabeth clomps ahead in her cowboy boots. “You’re still calling me names.”

  Jenna shakes her head as we watch her go. “She’s loonier than a loon. Look at her. Red boots. Plaid shorts. Goofy glasses. This is nature camp, not clown camp.”

  “Just ignore her,” I say, taking Jenna’s hand. “Then she’ll leave us alone.”

  A minute later, we enter a small clearing in the woods. A wooden platform stands at the center of it. Almost as tall as me, and a little bit wider.

  “What’s this supposed to be?” Brooke asks, climbing onto the platform and doing an awkward twirl. “A stage for squirrels?”

  “It’s not a stage,” Alex says. “It’s a trust fall platform.”