My Extra Best Friend (15 page)

But you do need two clothespins. And eight imaginative friends.

Randi makes the slime on Thursday afternoon. Cornstarch. Water. Green food coloring. Glitter. She tells Alex about our plan and mixes it up in the crafts cottage.

Stacey goes with her and paints one spooky glow-in-the-dark eye on Liz’s frog face mask.

Meanwhile, Meeka and Jolene weave a crown out of sticks and weeds and Brooke’s purple pageant sash. We decided our monster should be a girl with royal blood.

Pete lets me and Liz borrow a big brown blanket from the lost-and-found box. It looks like it got lost a long time ago, probably in a grave. It smells like the boys after kickball.

We trample the blanket with grass and leaves.

Brooke helps by supervising and thinking up a name for our plan.
The Super-Cool Ultra Monster Mash.
“S-C-U-M-M
scum
for short!” she tells us. “In honor of the boys.” She laughs at her own funniness. As usual.

Jenna makes a schedule.

“I’m sleeping in the woods tonight, George,” I say, rolling up my sleeping bag as George watches
from my bare pillow. “Do you want to come along, or stay here with the others?”

George looks longingly at Brooke’s bottom bunk. She donated it to all our stuffed animals so they could have a campout too.

Meeka’s rainbow horse.

Jolene’s plaid elephant.

Stacey’s teddy bear.

Randi’s frumpy tiger.

Liz’s floppy-eared dog.

We made them sleeping bags out of our pillowcases. And a fake campfire out of rocks and twigs and orange tissue paper. We even saved the mini marshmallows from the trail mix we had for our afternoon snack so they could pretend to toast them.

Jenna had a fit when we brought the marshmallows into the cabin. But Alex looked the other way.

I carry George over to the bunk and set him in his circle of friends.

Then I turn to Liz. She’s stuffing her frog face mask and flippers into Brooke’s empty backpack to give to Pete. He’s bringing the rest of our costume too.

“Front or butt?” I ask her, looking at the face mask and flippers.

She glances up. “Huh?”

“Do you want to be the front end of the monster,” I explain, “or do you want to be the back end?” We all voted on who should be the monster. Me and Liz won, 8–0.

Liz thinks for a moment. Then she does that sly grin. “You be the front,” she replies. “I’ll be the Liz
butt
.”

We do a giggle duet.

“Oh my, look at the time,” Brooke says, later, Thursday night, at our campsite in the woods. We’re toasting marshmallows over the fire Alex and Connor built halfway between the girls’ tents and the boys’. “Chop, chop! Time for our night hike. Remember, ladies first,
then
you boys. And
no
flashlights or we won’t be able to see the lovely stars.”

Brooke doesn’t really care about stars, unless she gets to be one on stage. But that’s the secret signal we decided to use when it was time to put our SCUMM plan into action.

“I’ve only had five marshmallows so far,” Joey says, leaning back against a log, patting his stomach. “I’m usually good for ten.”

“And what about s’mores?” Quinn adds. “I can eat three of those, easy.”

“Yeah, Brooke, why the rush?” Rusty asks, licking his sticky fingers. “Can’t wait for the Meadowlark Monster to get you?” He gives her a spooky grin.

Brooke gives Rusty an
I-know-something-you-don’t-know
smirk. “No monster is going to get
me
.”

Pete stands up and stretches. Alex and Connor invited him to stay for supper and s’mores. “I’ll get you guys more firewood,” he offers. “I could use some help. Any volunteers?”

Right away, me and Liz raise our hands. Not because we’re big fans of hauling firewood. But this is part of our plan too.

Pete gives us a wink, then turns to Alex. “We’ll catch up with you on the hike,” he says.

“At the trust fall platform…right?” Alex asks.

“Right,” Pete replies.

“Got it,” Connor puts in.

They do a three-way smile.

Me and Liz take off with Pete.

Our costume is sitting on the trust fall platform when we get there a few minutes later.

I put on the face mask and pull up the black hood on my extra-large sweatshirt. Randi let me borrow it, compliments of her brother. I snug the hood around my face so mostly just my spooky glowing eye is showing.

Pete smudges a little dirt on my cheeks. Then he dips Liz’s green flippers into the slime bucket and slips them on my hands.

I accidentally on purpose flick some slime at Liz.

She squeals and dodges behind me, leaning forward while Pete drapes the big brown blanket over her and around my shoulders so that only our feet are showing. He uses a couple of clothespins to snug the blanket under my chin.

Then he sets the weedy crown on my head.

“Let’s hear what you’ve got,” he says, stepping back.

Me and Liz howl like we’re the queen of the jungle.

Pete unplugs his ears. “That will do,” he says.
Then he slimes my flippers again and ducks into the shadows.

“What’s it like back there?” I ask Liz a minute later while we wait for the others to find us.

“Sweaty,” comes her muffled reply. “Stinky too. Next Halloween, let’s not be the Meadowlark Monster.”

I smile to myself, realizing Liz will be around for holidays now.

For regular days too.

Swimming with us at the pool.

Biking to the Purdee Good Café for giant cookies.

Climbing on our new playground equipment.

Acting goofy.

Spilling secrets.

Who knows? I might even tell her I’m going to start liking Quinn again, as soon as he takes a bath. I might tell all my friends.

Voices trickle through the trees.

“They’re coming,” I say. “Ready?”

“For anything,” Liz says back.

“This way!” I hear Jenna shout. “Follow me!”

“Yessss, sir!” Randi shouts back.

Feet trample.

Sticks snap.

Leaves rustle.

Branches shake.

A moment later, Jenna leads everyone into the clearing.

Me and Liz shuffle out from the shadows.

Brooke points at us and does a fake gasp. “What
is
that? It looks like—oh no!—the Meadowlark Monster!” She screams so loud I swear the trees shake. Brooke Morgan is a very good actress.

Me and Liz stamp our feet. Flick slime. Pump out our best howls ever.

All the girls fake freak out.

All the boys freak out for real.

They duck behind Connor.
“Mommy!”
Joey cries.

But Tom peeks out. Gives us the once-over. Switches on a smile.

A moment later, he tips back his chin and starts singing to the starry sky.

“Figaro…Figaro…Figarooooo!”

Connor joins in.

Then Alex.

Then all the girls.

Then all the boys.

It sounds like the worst opera ever. Or the best, depending on how you look at it.

Flash!

“Got it!” Meeka cries, looking up from her camera. “A picture of the Meadowlark Monster!”

“That’s our cue,” I whisper to Liz.

“I’m right behind you,” she whispers back.

We stomp in a clumsy circle around the trust fall platform, howl once more for show, and then disappear into the woods.

“Take
that,
monster!” Joey cries.

Everyone cheers.

Pete bundles up our costume and hides it under a bush. Then we sneak to the path and slip in behind the others.

“What did we miss?” Pete asks, turning on his flashlight.

“Nothing much,” Rusty brags. “We just saved the girls from the Meadowlark Monster, that’s all.”

Brooke shoots laser eyes at Rusty. “You didn’t save us from anything,
Crusty
Smith.
Us
girls can take care of ourselves.”

“Yeah,” Stacey says, squaring shoulders with Brooke. “Girls rule. Boys drool!”

“
I’m
drooling,” Quinn says. “For s’mores.” He tilts his head and lets spit dribble from the corner of his mouth.

So
gross. Seriously, I need to rethink this crush thing.

“Betchya
girls
can’t beat us back!” Joey shouts. He and the other boys take off for the campsite. Connor tags after them.

“Look!” Meeka says, showing us the glowing screen on her camera. “The monster!”

We all huddle in, looking at the picture of me and Liz.

Jenna huffs. “Since when do
monsters
wear cowboy boots?”

Liz grins. “She must be from out west.”

Stacey does a puzzled frown and points at the screen. “What’s
that
?”

We all look closer at a shadowy shape, off to one side.

“It looks big,” Jolene says.

“And furry,” Randi adds.

“Like a bear,” I say.

“With
one
glowing eye,” Liz puts in.

We all do a gasp.

“Ohmy
gosh
!” Brooke says. “It’s the
real
Meadowlark Monster!”

“And we got his picture!” Meeka cries, clutching her camera. “Now we’ll be famous for sure!”

Everyone starts chattering like chipmunks.

I give Pete a suspicious squint.

He shrugs, all innocent. “I better get that firewood now.”

Pete takes off down the path.

“That’s enough monsters for tonight,” Alex says. “Let’s head back before the boys eat all the s’mores.”

She starts shooing us toward the path.

But I stop. “Wait,” I say. “There’s something I want to do first.”

I hurry to the trust fall platform and scramble up. “I haven’t fallen yet,” I say. “Catch me, okay?”

“In the dark?” Jenna says. “That’s totally unsafe.”

“We’ve got light,” Alex says, pulling a flashlight from her pocket. She shines its bright beam down the girls’ arms as they line up below me.

“All systems go!” Randi says. “Ten…nine…eight…”

Everyone joins in.

I turn around as they count down, and reach my hands up to the star-speckled sky. I’m not even standing on my tiptoes, but I swear I can touch it.

Then I straighten my back.

Cross my arms.

Lock my knees.

Take a brave breath.

“Falling!” I shout.

“Fall away!” everyone shouts back.

So I do.

Just like a domino.

My friends don’t let me down.

Brooke was right about one thing this week. She never did go off the trust fall platform.

But I still think she fell.

And we caught her.

Me, Stacey, Jenna, Liz, Randi, Meeka, and Jolene.

Not in our arms.

In our friendship.

She also isn’t going to dance at our talent show today. Even though her mom brought a bouquet of flowers to give her afterward. It’s Friday afternoon and all of our families are arriving to watch the show and then take us home. Even Liz’s dog, Champ, is here with her family. Cee Cee too, with her arm in a sling.

“It isn’t a competition, Mother!” Brooke tells
Mrs. Morgan when she sees the bouquet of flowers. “It’s just for
fun.
With my
friends
.” Brooke crosses her arms against the crumpled purple sash she’s wearing over her Camp Meadowlark T-shirt. She’s also wearing her pageant crown. And buggy sunglasses. And Liz’s flippers on her feet. When it’s our cabin’s turn to do a skit, Brooke is going to waddle across the stage, waving like she’s queen of the beach.

Then the rest of us will join her in
our
Camp Meadowlark T-shirts and chant, “Hot or cool! Chickadees
rule
!” Get it? Plus, we’re going to hand out glow-in-the-dark ladybugs to everyone in the audience. Even Rat and Enemmie.

I’m looking around for my mom and dad, but I see the boys first. They’re showing off the Silver Paddle they won for having the cleanest cabin.

We were in total shock and awe when Connor presented it to them at breakfast this morning. But I guess it makes sense that they won. There were only four campers in their group. Plus, they wore the same stinky clothes all week. It’s hard to mess up a cabin if you never open your suitcase.

After Connor gave them the paddle and took their picture and did a group head-lock, he said, “I’m gonna miss you monkeys.” Joey Carpenter actually had tears in his eyes, and I don’t think it was from the knuckle rub.

I’m not crying, though. None of my friends are. Because we don’t have to miss each other for long. We’re all meeting at the Purdee pool tomorrow for Brooke’s
Post-Camp Splash Bash!
Jenna’s working on the schedule. Meeka will take pictures so we can send some to Alex. Everyone is bringing snacks.
Tons.
Including blue suckers.

“Did you have a fun week?” Mom asks when she and Dad finally arrive.

“Yes,” I reply, hugging them hello.

“Pull any pranks?” Dad asks, tousling my hair. I hate when he does that, but today I don’t mind because, trust me, my hair is already tossed.

I give Jenna and Liz a sly glance.

They give me two back.

“Just one,” I tell Dad.

He grins. “Details?”

But we shake our heads. There are some things your parents just don’t need to know about.

“Jen!”

Rachel pushes through the tangle of people and hugs her sister hard. “Did you miss me?” she asks.

“Duh,” Jenna replies, hugging Rachel back.

Rachel looks up hopefully. “Where’s my frog?”

Jenna rolls her eyes. “No frog, Rachel. I told you that a million times. You should have believed me.”

Rachel sighs. “I
did
believe you,” she grumps. “But I hoped I was wrong.”

“I have a frog,” Liz says.

Rachel brightens. “You do?”

Jenna squints. “You do not.”

Liz dashes to our pile of suitcases and sleeping bags. She finds her beach bag and pulls out her frog face mask. Most of the glow-in-the-dark paint is rubbed off.

“For you,” she says, holding it out to Rachel.

Rachel’s eyes go wide. She takes the mask from Liz. “For me?”

Liz nods. “For keeps!”

She glances at me. We do matching smiles.

“Ribbit! Ribbit! Ribbit!” Rachel croaks, over
and over and over again as she hops in a circle around Jenna.