Hit the Beach (7 page)
Authors: Laura Dower
“Not for dinner,” Madison joked.
Will and Teeny both laughed.
By then, they had walked across a wide plank bridge over to the auditorium, where Leonard was gathering everyone. The four new friends sat down in a row together.
Leonard stood at the podium and ran through the list of camp activities. He passed around a calendar describing what they would be doing for the next two weeks. Then he clapped his hands together, smiled his crocodile smile, and cleared his throat.
“Now, on to the camp, groups.”
Everyone in the audience shifted in his or her seat. The veteran campers pushed close together as if that would somehow ensure their being assigned to the same groups again this year.
“Okay, let’s start over on this side of the room,” Leonard said. He pointed to the row in front of him and counted off a group. “One, two, three, four, five—you will be Group A, for ‘Alligators’.”
Madison couldn’t believe it. If he was just going to count off people like
that
, in the rows where they sat, then she and Will would end up in the same group.
It was too good to be true.
A second group was counted off, from a different row, and named Group B, for “Butterflies.”
The third group was called C, for “Crabs” (although the kids in that group didn’t like their name much). The fourth group was D, for “Dolphins.”
Madison held her breath. There were only two more groups to be counted.
“One, two, three, four, five,” Leonard said, pointing at Madison’s row.
At Will’s seat, he stopped counting. He didn’t point to Madison.
“You will be Group E, for Egrets,” Leonard said.
Madison took a deep breath. She thought she saw a look of disappointment on Will’s face. Or was it just that she
wished
she had seen that look?
She knew she had a look of disappointment on her own face.
But before he started to count again, Leonard waved his hands in the air. “Wait!” he cried. “Go back for a moment. I miscounted.”
He pointed to Madison.
“I should have said, ‘One, two, three, four, five, and
six
,’” he said, now pointing his finger at Madison’s forehead. “You should also be a part of the Egrets. Okay?”
“Okay!”
A smile spread across Madison’s face. Her skin tingled with excitement and happiness. She was an Egret after all! Hurrah! Her entire body wanted to jump right out of the seat and high-five everyone in the room. But instead of making a scene, she scrunched down in her seat.
Lay low, Maddie
, Madison told herself as she leaned back.
Will leaned over to Madison. “That’s so cool,” he said. “I was hoping we’d be in the same group. You know, since we’re both from New York and all that.”
“Yeah,” Madison said. “Since we’re from New York.”
“Oh, my God!” Ann squealed. She leaned right over Will’s lap, stretching all the way to Madison. “I told you we’d be together!”
“Excuse
me
,” Will grumbled.
Ann grinned. “Sorry,” she said. Madison thought maybe Ann was trying too hard, but she couldn’t be sure. Ann seemed to be over the top about everything.
Madison glanced back to the seat where the Egrets’ row started. She saw Teeny there, and another boy and girl she hadn’t met yet.
The boy turned and looked over toward Madison.
“I’m Logan,” he said. Then he turned to the girl at his side. “This is Laura.”
“No, no. I am Suchita,” she said. She spoke with an accent.
Logan had a head of thick, red-brown hair and brown glasses. He wore a T-shirt with a picture of a spaceship on it. He held up two fingers in a peace sign.
Madison tried very hard not to chuckle at him when he held up his fingers like that.
Leonard asked the different groups to go to lunch together and to spend the afternoon reviewing the camp schedule. That way, fellow campers would be able to get to know each other. From then on, those five or six partners would be the most important part of being at camp. Working together was as important as learning how to deal with sea life and turtle hatching.
The Egrets had lunch with the Dolphins and the Flounders (the last group to get chosen after Madison’s). Madison was impressed by how much her camp experience had changed since the morning. Now she really
did
feel like a part of camp. It wasn’t the same thing as Far Hills Junior High, with her cluster of friends, but it was the next best thing for now.
Stephanie came alone to pick Madison up when camp ended for the day. Dad was working. When Stephanie walked over, Madison introduced her to the rest of the Egrets. Then they said good-bye and walked back to the car.
Madison was grinning from ear to ear.
“Well,” Stephanie said. “I don’t have to ask how your first day at Camp Sunshine went. I can see it all over your face.
You
look like sunshine.”
Madison giggled. “I know it’s dumb. I was so worried about camp. But it was better than I could have imagined.”
“So, tell me,” Stephanie said.
Madison explained about the turtle wall and the aquatic center and all the other topics Leonard had covered during their introductory day.
“And …” Stephanie said.
“And?”
“What about the other kids?”
Madison shrugged. “Oh, they’re nice. I think. I like my group.”
“Mmmm,” Stephanie mused. “I saw you smiling at that one boy.”
“So?” Madison started giggling again. “I was not smiling. I was just being nice. That’s what we were all being.”
“Well, your dad will be very pleased to know you had a good day. He was worried about you and camp. You seemed so unsure when you arrived. And we want you to have the best summer ever.”
“Thanks,” Madison said. “I’m fine, really. I like Camp Sunshine way more than I thought. And we haven’t even had the best parts yet.”
Stephanie turned the car onto the main highway.
“I can’t wait to hear about
those
,” she said with a wide grin.
B
ACK AT THE APARTMENT
that evening, Madison’s mind was still buzzing about her first day of Camp Sunshine. She called Mom to check in.
“Honey bear!” Mom gushed. “I’ve been waiting for your call. How was it?”
“You would not believe it, Mom,” Madison explained. “They had live sharks, and we had to put on scuba gear and get into the tank with them—”
“What?”
Madison burst into laughter.
“As if, Mom,” Madison said. “It was great, though. The camp is very cool. The people are nicer than nice.”
“So, you’ll make some new friends this summer after all,” Mom said. “See? And you were so worried.”
“Yeah,” Madison sighed.
“Hey, Aimee called up yesterday and asked if she could bring over her dog, Blossom, to play with Phin. We went over to the dog run in the park together.”
“So, what’s going on with Aim?” Madison asked. She felt one of her
I miss my friends so-o-o much
pangs coming on.
“Aimee is very, very excited about her dance performance,” Mom said. “I told her I would definitely go to see her. She got me a ticket.”
“Thanks, Mom, that’s really nice of you. I wish I could see her perform.”
“I know you do, honey bear,” Mom said. “I’m sure all of your friends miss you as much as you miss them. Not to worry.”
“By the way, I started a blog,” Madison said. She gave Mom the exact address. “It’s mostly for me and my friends, but you can check it out.”
“Well, I will do that.”
“What are
you
working on?” Madison asked.
Mom paused. “A little of this and a little of that. Budge Films asked me if I’d oversee this small documentary feature being directed by this incredible Chinese woman. It’s a movie about the Great Wall.”
“A movie about a wall?” Madison asked.
“The
Great
Wall,” Mom said. “It’s part of an even larger project Budge is sponsoring to find new voices in documentary film. My company is doing some big things, heading in new directions. Since my promotion, things have been getting very interesting.”
“I know what that means,” Madison said. “You’ll have more and more work, right?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that,” Mom said. “Maybe.”
Madison couldn’t keep track of Mom’s film career. Mom always seemed to be working around the clock on some new project. Sometimes she filmed in the jungle. Sometimes she filmed inside caves. Sometimes she interviewed people for documentaries about historical figures. But mostly, she captured animals and wildlife on camera. That was the one thing Madison liked about what Mom did for a living. Madison knew that Mom’s love of animals was, in part, where she’d gotten her own love of nonhuman creatures.
“I’m so glad you called tonight,” Mom said. “I was just sitting here in my studio office with a cup of coffee and thinking about how much I miss you. Phinnie misses you too, of course.”
“I know,” Madison said, feeling momentarily choked up. “Give him a chew toy for me.”
“Will do,” Mom said. “And you keep me posted on that great camp adventure.”
“Okay,” Madison said. She puckered up and kissed the air, sending a long-distance smooch to Mom through the phone line. Then she hung up and reached for her laptop.
Madison had realized during the conversation with Mom that there was someone she had not spoken to in a very long time. She needed to talk to that person right now. Luckily for Madison, her keypal was online. All Madison had to do was send a message, and
bing
! They were connected.
Madison clicked to leave the chat room.
Her computer froze.
“Oh, no!” Madison wailed. “Don’t do this to me again!”
Stephanie raced into the living room, where Madison had been sitting with the laptop exactly where it should be—on top of her lap. Together the pair tried to figure out what keys to press to reboot it correctly. But nothing seemed to work. That was when Stephanie wisely suggested that Madison go into Dad’s office to finish her project for the day.
Dad’s office was a room that was normally used as a sitting room or a bedroom. Madison stretched out on top of the bed and tried fiddling with her laptop for a few moments more. When that also failed, she turned on Dad’s machine and crossed her fingers. Dad’s computer was a lot fancier than Madison’s. His screen was wider. He had surround sound. It was like the Rolls-Royce of laptop computers—with Madison at the wheel. She hoped that she wouldn’t press the wrong key or click the wrong button.
The first place Madison checked online was TweenBlurt.com’s BloggerBlurt page listing. Had anyone blogged since the last time she’d checked? Madison was overjoyed to see postings from Wetwinz, BalletGrl,
and
LuvNstuff (aka Lindsay). She clicked on Lindsay’s blog first and quickly scanned Lindsay’s short profile before reading the rest.
Name: LuvNstuff
Country: US of A
State: NY
Gender: :-)
Favorite color: rainbow (I like them all)
Interests: theater, computers, READING!!
Expertise: Far Hills Spelling Bee Champ (for 3 yrs)
08-9
(I’m 6 whole hours ahead of Maddie & Aim & 9 hrs ahead of Fiona!)
I cannot believe I’m this far across the planet in London, England, and not just right next to you all. BOOHOOEY. So far things are going A-ok w/Dad. The plane over here was fun even though we had to wait @ the airport for three hours. (Or, as Dad would say using his best British accent “three bloody hours!”) We’re staying in the Notting Hill section of the city near Portobello Rd. and I am so totally going shopping here and yes, I’ve been looking up and down the street for pop stars, natch. I think we’re going to see the Tower of London and Parliament and maybe take a cruise on the Thames. Dad has all sorts of sightseeing planned. It is wicked cool to be overseas, but I just wish u were all here with me. [BTW: Maddie great idea to do BloggerBlurt I wish I’d thought of it!] So far no cool or cute guys (no cracks, Aim) but I am still looking. I do have news to report however and that is in response to something Aim posted in her blog about Dan. I DID go 2 the animal clinic and did see him there BUT it was all good b/c he E-mailed me l8r that night to wish me g’bye on my trip. What do u think that means everyone? I am sooo curious 2 know if maybe there’s a chance that he might like me too. E-me or post in your blog thoughts about this pleez. Maybe he’ll even E-me again while we’re in England. Maybe I’ll send him a postcard from Buckingham Palace. LOL. Well, I have to go have tea and crumpets now. CU!