My Extra Best Friend (13 page)

We start dumping rocks into the pail. When it’s full, we take off for the crafts cottage. Me, Jenna, and Liz.

Just like she promised, Alex brings us to the trust fall platform before supper. Of course we didn’t mark the trees with glow-in-the-dark paint on the way here. And we won’t mark them on the way back either.

Because of Liz’s good idea.

When Alex saw our bucket of rocks earlier, she decided to make rock painting the craft of the day. While everyone else in the crafts cottage got busy painting their rocks to look like fish and turtles and caterpillars, me, Jenna, and Liz painted our rocks to look like ladybugs. A whole flock of them. With glow-in-the-dark dots on their wings.

Then we blew on them to make the paint dry
faster. And ran with them to Chickadee, dizzy from all that blowing, and changed into our regular clothes and showed the ladybugs to the other girls.

At first, Brooke shot laser eyes at us because “ladybugs are not part of my plan.”

But then Liz reminded her about Hansel and Gretel. And how they followed a path of bright pebbles through the woods. And how that was very imaginative of them.

Brooke took time to think this information through. Then she switched off her laser eyes and started telling the other girls about her
new
plan involving glowing ladybugs.

We all listened and nodded while Brooke babbled on and on about it, even though we already knew all the details by heart. Because this plan stopped being Brooke’s plan twenty ladybugs ago. It’s
our
plan now.

“Your turn, Brooke,” Jenna says as we gather by the trust fall platform. “Then Liz.”

Brooke sniffs and flicks back her long, smooth hair. “I already told you. I’m not falling. Not in a million eons.”

Jenna frowns. “It’s a rule, Brooke. Everyone has to fall sometime.”

“Nu-uh,” Randi puts in. “Alex said only if we want to.”

Alex nods. “That’s true. No one can force you to trust your friends.”

Brooke huffs. “I trust my friends. I just don’t think they can catch me.”

“I’ll go,” Liz says.

Liz climbs onto the platform in her bright red cowboy boots.

Jenna rolls her eyes. Mumbles something about the rodeo coming to town.

Liz peers down at me from her perch. “Looks like it’s my turn to fall on
you,
” she says.

“Fall away,” I say back.

We trade grins.

I see Stacey watching us. She smiles too. “Apology accepted,” she says, and gives my arm a squeeze.

Liz turns around, stands like a domino and, a moment later, we catch her when she falls.

“Hey, that was fun!” she says, looking up at us. “Can I go again?”

“No,” Jenna says. “One fall per customer.”

“It’s fine if Liz wants to,” Alex says as we set Liz on her feet. “Same for all of you. You can fall as many times as—”

“Oh my,” Brooke cuts in. “Look at the time. We’ll be late for supper. Chop, chop! Let’s go!”

Brooke isn’t really looking at the time because she still isn’t wearing a watch. But that’s the secret signal we agreed on. Time to put our sneak-out plan into action.

Meeka and Jolene go to work.

“Tell us what happens next in the story about the girl and the wolves,” Jolene says, taking Alex’s hand.

Meeka takes her other one. “Yeah, does she survive, or do the wolves let her down?”

They tug Alex toward our cabin while they talk.

Brooke corrals them from behind.

She glances over her shoulder at me.

I nod. Then I reach into my pockets and pull out some ladybugs.

Liz does the same.

So does Stacey.

And Randi.

They follow the others at a distance, dropping ladybugs as they go.

I look at Jenna. She’s watching Liz clomp through the trees.

“Coming?” I ask her.

Jenna leans against the trust fall platform. When Liz is out of sight, she turns to me. “Are you going back to being best friends with her?” she asks.

I bite my lip. Fiddle with my ladybugs.

Am I?

Going back?

If I did go back to being her best friend, then I would have to pretend that nothing has changed.

But stuff
has
changed.

Not just the things you can see, like haircuts and glasses.

Inside stuff has changed too.

Like who we trust now.

And who we don’t.

Who lets us down.

And who picks us up again.

I walk over to Jenna.

“I’m not going
back
to being her best friend,” I say.

Jenna narrows her eyes suspiciously. “You’re not?”

“Nope,” I reply. “I’m going
ahead
to being her best friend.”

Jenna sighs. Nods. “I thought so.”

“What about you?” I ask. “Are you going to be friends with Liz too?”

Jenna flicks back a braid.

Reclips her barrettes.

“Maybe,” she replies. “If she loses the boots.”

I smile and sling my arm around her shoulders.

We walk together through the woods, letting the ladybugs fall.

I pretend to go right to sleep as soon as Alex finishes reading our bedtime story later on Wednesday night, but really I’m not even close to sleeping. I’ve never been able to stay awake past midnight before. But I’ve never snuck out of a dark cabin and crept through spooky woods at night before either.

Stuff like that can boost your energy.

I know Liz is awake too because I can hear her shifting around below me.

I pull George up from the bottom of my sleeping bag.

“I wish you could come with me,” I whisper to him. “But the woods are no place for a monkey.”

George does a sigh of relief. He’s not a big fan of nature.

I hug him close. “Don’t worry about me, though. I’ll be with my friends.”

Beep! Beep! Bee
—
!

The muffled beeping stops. I look over at Jenna’s bunk. She’s reaching under her pillow and pulling out her watch. That’s where she put it so Alex wouldn’t hear it go off.

“Ready?” she whispers to me.

“For anything,” I whisper back.

Sleeping bags rustle.

Shadowy shapes tiptoe across the floor.

Liz opens the back door slowly, so it won’t creak, letting in the moonlight. The other girls step past her. Randi. Stacey. Jenna. Meeka and Jolene.

Brooke pulls the candy-stuffed pillowcase from her bunk and cuts past me. She hates being last in line.

But she stops when she gets to Liz. “Don’t let me down, Liz
butt,
” she whispers. But not in a mean way.

“Wouldn’t think of it,
Brooklyn
Bridge,” Liz replies.

They both do sassy grins.

Then Brooke fishes around inside the pillowcase.
“Here’s the extra sucker I promised you. Carrying the candy in a pillowcase is way more imaginative than a backpack.”

“Thanks!” Liz says, taking the sucker from Brooke. “I forgot about that promise.”

“I never forget,” Brooke replies, slipping out the door.

Which is true. Brooke Morgan has an excellent memory. And she always keeps a promise. Unless she crosses her fingers first.

“Better hurry,” Liz says to me, tucking the sucker into her hoodie pocket. “Randi told me she’s wearing tape over her light-up sneakers. If Brooke gets too bossy about keeping quiet and staying out of sight—I mean,
when
she gets too bossy—Randi’s going to rip off the tape and run in circles around her.”

I snort a laugh. “Can’t wait.”

Liz nods. “Tell me all about it when you get back.”

“Deal,” I reply. “Plus, I’ll save you some candy. More than just a sucker.”

Liz smiles. Then she gives me the once-over. “You look lumpy.”

I glance down at the bulge under my sweatshirt. “It’s not me. It’s my monkey.”

I reach underneath and pull George out.

Liz does a happy gasp. “George!” she whisper-cries. “I’ve missed you!”

“He’s missed you too,” I reply. “
Tons.
In fact, he wants to keep you company while I’m gone.”

Liz takes George and hugs him tight. “Thanks,” she says.

“You’re welcome,” I say back.

“Ida!” someone whispers loudly.

I look outside and see six shadowy girls waving at me from the edge of the woods.

I turn to Liz. “Good-bye.”

She waves George’s hand. “See you soon.”

“There it is!” Randi shouts a few minutes later, when we enter a clearing in the woods. The trust fall platform stands guard in the moonlight.

“Shhh!” Brooke hisses at Randi. “How many times do I have to tell you to keep it down?”

Randi shoots a look at Brooke. “Once more should do it.”

We hurry to the platform.

“Now what?” Meeka whispers.

“Now we wait for Nat and Emillie,” Brooke replies.

“But what if the monster gets here fir—”

Branches snap and leaves rustle.

We turn and gawk at a nearby bush.

Nat steps out from behind it.

“Finally,” she grumbles, swatting the air. “I’m getting eaten alive out here. Where’s the candy?”

Brooke lifts the pillowcase excitedly. “Here!” she says. “Where’s Emillie?”

“She’s…around,” Nat replies, glancing at the bush.

Nat walks over to Brooke and holds out her hand. “Give the candy to me. I’ll take it from here.”

Jenna steps in. Crosses her arms. Lifts her chin. “Take it
where
?” she asks.

“Shhh!” Brooke scolds again. “We’re going someplace safe. A little farther in the woods.” She holds the pillowcase out to Nat.

Meeka gulps and fumbles for the camera in her pocket. “W-w-will we see the monster?”

“Yeah…sure…whatever…” Nat replies, snatching the candy and glancing around distractedly.
She steps closer to the edge of the clearing, pulls a flashlight from her pocket, and blinks it on and off a few times.

“What’s she doing?” Stacey whispers to me.

I shrug. “Signaling?”

Meeka clutches my arm. “Who? The monster?” She lifts her camera and points it at the trees.

Flash!

“Meeka!” Brooke shouts. “I said
no
lights!”

“It was an accident!” Meeka cries. “My hand was shaking!”

“Put the camera
away
!” Brooke snarls.

“That’s it,” Randi grumbles. She reaches down and starts pulling the tape off her blinking shoes.

“Whooo…who-who!”

Randi looks up.

We all do.

“What was that?” Jolene asks.

“The monster!” Meeka squeaks.

“No,” Jenna replies. “It’s Liz. Someone’s coming!”

Heavy footsteps clomp toward us.

“Quick!” Nat yells. “Run!”

Everyone takes off.

Running.

Screaming.

Blinking.

Except me.

I just stand there, frozen in my sneakers.

“Whooo…who-who!”

The sound is closer now. Liz must be looking for us. There’s no time to run even if I could.

I look around wildly for a place to hide.

Dive for the trust fall platform.

Duck underneath.

Crumple into a ball.

Hope I blend in.

I sit there until the noise stops. Until all I can hear are frogs chirping and my heart pounding.

Then that bush starts shaking again. I swallow a scream.

A light glows behind the branches.

But it’s not a glowing monster eye.

It’s a flashlight.

Nat and Emillie step into the clearing.

“It worked?” Emillie asks, glancing around.

Nat lifts the candy-stuffed pillowcase. “Like a charm.”

Emillie smiles. “Lucky for us
Babbling
Brooke
spilled the beans on their secret signal. I do an excellent owl. Let’s get out of here before the little dorks figure out we tricked them.”

They point their flashlight into the darkness and creep away.

I wait for a minute.

Then I follow the ladybugs back to Chickadee.

The other girls are huddled together in the moonlight when I get there.

“What do you mean you didn’t hoot?” Brooke says to Liz as I hurry up to them. “I
heard
you. We all did.”

“It wasn’t me,” Liz replies, clutching George to her chest. “I’ve been here the whole time.”

“Maybe it was a real owl,” Jolene offers.

“No, it wasn’t,” I say, out of breath. “It was Emillie. I saw her. With Nat. They took the candy and ran.”

Brooke huffs. “Of course they did. They didn’t want to get caught.”

I shake my head. “I heard them talking, Brooke. They tricked us.”

“I
knew
it,” Jenna grumbles.

Randi snorts. “Bye-bye candy.”

“I never liked those girls much,” Jolene says.

“Me neither,” Meeka adds.

“Admit it, Brooke,” Stacey says. “They were trouble from the start.”

Brooke scowls. “You’re
wrong
. All of you.
They
didn’t trick us. Liz
butt
did.”

Liz’s mouth drops open. She squeezes George until his eyes bulge. “I
told
you,” she says, her voice as sharp as broken glass. “My name is
Liz
. And I didn’t—”

A flashlight beam hopscotches through the trees. Footsteps approach.

“See?” Brooke cuts in. She points excitedly at the light. “There they are now!”

For one tiny second, I think it might be true. Maybe Nat and Emillie decided to come back. Friends can change. Even bad ones.

The light shines on our faces.

We squint and shade our eyes.

A shadowy figure approaches.

Big, like a bear.

And hairy.

“Good evening, Chickadees,” Pete says, lowering his flashlight. “Out for a midnight stroll?”

“They weren’t tricking us,” Brooke says, Thursday morning, as we clean up our cabin while Alex is at her staff meeting. It’s the first chance we’ve had to talk about what happened last night after Pete caught us sneaking out. And after Alex gave us a lecture about following the rules, and made us pick up all the ladybugs, and told us we would have to weed the camp garden instead of going to morning activities today. “They’re our friends.”

“If that’s true, how come our
friends
don’t have to weed the garden?” Randi grumbles.