Welcome to Dog Beach (14 page)

When Buttercup's not with us, we can all tell that Marilyn Monroe misses her. She'll wander around aimlessly, looking forlorn. We give her extra treats on those days.

We also watch a Shar-Pei named Lucky every now and again. He's only on Seagate for another week, but his owners like to spend all day sunbathing and reading on the beach. Lucky pretty much keeps to himself, but Bennett's trying to get him to come out of his shell.

Every time I see Bennett, I get this excited, energetic feeling. It's so weird. I was always excited to see him, but now it's different, and I can't even really explain it or understand it. I keep thinking it's going to disappear, but it's almost the end of July and it's still here. A month from now, we'll be leaving Seagate, and I have no idea what I'll do with this feeling when I won't see Bennett every day.

We're so busy taking care of the dogs, but we still have time for fun. The Seagate Knowbodies Trivia Competition is tomorrow, and I can't wait. It's definitely on my list of top five favorite nights of the summer.

Micayla, Bennett, and I are always a team, and we compete
against other teams of three. The teams can be all kids or all adults, and everyone is treated fairly. Some people think it's weird for kids to compete against adults, but when it comes to Seagate Trivia, sometimes the kids know more.

We've won the past two years in a row, and I think we can win this year too.

Mr. Brookfield invites us over for pizza again, and I hope we'll have time to go over our trivia after dinner. I don't want to talk about it too much in front of Calvin and Claire, though, because I don't want to make them feel bad about not being on our team.

We've been to Mr. Brookfield's for pizza once a week for the last three weeks. He always orders too much, puts dessert out first, and pretends he doesn't want to play his scream recording, when I know he really does.

Calvin and Claire seem to have warmed up to life on Seagate, even though they don't really do much except lie by the pool and eat ice cream. They haven't asked to help with the dogs, and we haven't offered.

The way things are going, business could get really crazy in August, though, and we may need to ask for their help. We'll see. I'm getting along with Claire a little better now, but I wouldn't want her to say something mean and ruin the dog-sitting.

We're all sitting around eating our pizza, listening to the Scream, when I overhear Bennett and Calvin talking.

“Did you tell them yet?” Calvin whispers to Bennett, and
then looks up. He sees me looking at them, and I guess he knows I overheard.

I can't help it. I look at Bennett way more than I used to.

“No, man.” Bennett bites into his slice. “I will. Don't worry.”

Calvin nudges Bennett, and then they both look up at me, and now they both know I was listening. I look down at my plate and pretend to be really involved in whatever Micayla and Claire are discussing.

“Yeah, my mom says I have to wait until eighth grade to wear makeup to school,” Claire says. “But no one really wears it yet where I live anyway. Just, like, a little lip gloss.”

“Same with me,” Micayla adds.

“What are you guys talking about?” I ask.

“Shh,” Micayla says to Claire, not to me, and I can't figure out what's going on. What's so secret about wearing makeup?

I decide not to ask questions, but it bothers me the whole rest of the night. We end up staying at Mr. Brookfield's really late, and we don't have time to practice our trivia.

“Don't worry. We know everything there is to know about Seagate,” Micayla tells me as we're walking home. “They don't change the questions much.”

I shrug. “I guess so.”

“I have to tell you guys something,” Bennett says, following a few steps behind us out of Mr. Brookfield's house.

I had almost forgotten about Bennett and Calvin's secret conversation. What with Micayla and Claire's weird makeup
talk, there are too many secrets and strange whispers to keep track of.

“What?” I ask.

“Promise you won't be mad,” Bennett says. He smiles a little in his goofy, cheerful Bennett way, and I feel like I could never be mad at him, no matter what. But I'd never tell him that.

“What is it?” Micayla asks, impatient.

“I'll be here for Seagate Knowbodies, but I have to bail on the next few days of dog-sitting,” he tells us. It's a short sentence, but it feels like a knife in my chest, and I'm not sure why. “Calvin invited me to go on his dad's boat for a few days, and I feel like I should go.”

“Well, don't go just because you feel like you should,” I say, and then instantly regret it. I sound angry and I don't like it.

“No, um, I mean …” Bennett waits a few seconds before talking again. “I want to go. I think it'll be cool. Just us guys.”

I don't know what to say to that.

“It's okay for me to have other friends, you know.” He jabs me a little with his elbow, like he's joking. But sometimes jokes can be truths in disguise. I think this is one of those times.

“No biggie,” Micayla says, like none of what Bennett said was a big deal or even a little bit surprising. “Rem and I can handle the pooches.”

We get to her house, and she says good night and blows
us kisses, the way she always does. Through the window, we see her mom sitting in the big armchair, reading.

Maybe Micayla doesn't think it's a big deal that Bennett's leaving for a few days, but I do. I know I can't say that, though. I know I need to play it cool and act like it's fine. I mean, of course it's fine. Bennett can have other friends.

I just don't know why it feels so sad. It's not like he's going on the boat trip and never coming back.

“We'll be fine with the dogs,” I say. I realize that we passed by Bennett's house, and he kept walking with us until he finished talking, and now he's walking me home, totally out of his way.

“You'll be more than fine,” Bennett says. “You're awesome with those dogs, Rem.”

“Thanks. But you are too.” I smile. “Imagine, if you never found Oscar, we might not even have this business.”

He shakes his head. “Imagine if you never started sitting at Amber's house while Hudson napped. And you were the one who cared about finding Oscar in the first place.” He high-fives me, and I walk down the stone path to my house.

When I get to the door, I can't resist looking back at him. “Get psyched for trivia,” I say. He's just standing there, at the end of the path, watching me walk inside. I wonder what that means. I've never seen him do that before.

“You know it,” he replies.

The next day is really busy. We meet at Dog Beach
earlier than usual because Oscar's mom has to take the babies to their pediatrician. I get worried that he'll be lonely without Marilyn Monroe and the others, so all the dogs get picked up early.

Then we take them for lunch at Daisy's—she serves up a full doggie menu on weekdays, when she's not so busy—and we entertain them for most of the afternoon.

I can tell that Marilyn Monroe wishes it was just the two of us at Daisy's, the way she sits on my lap at the table and then leaves a few dog treats by my feet, as if she thinks I'd enjoy the treats too.

It's a great day, but by the end, we're so tired that I'm worried we won't have enough energy for trivia.

“Let's meet there,” Micayla tells me as we're walking home
from Sundae Best. After such a tiring day, we deserve ice cream and we need the sugar to energize ourselves. “Six o'clock, right?”

I nod. Bennett's already back home, since he needed to meet Asher after camp. I don't know why they wouldn't pick me up on the way, but I'm too tired to ask.

I rush inside, shower, put on a pair of skinny jeans and a tank top—and even though I only planned to lie down for five minutes, I fall sound asleep on my bed.

When I wake up and look at my clock, it's five thirty.

I rush out of bed, tie my hair back in a ponytail, since it's such a mess from my falling asleep with it wet, and hurry downstairs.

“Rem, no dinner?” my mom asks. She grilled some hot dogs, and they're on a platter in the middle of the kitchen table.

“I can't. Seagate Knowbodies tonight.”

“Take a hot dog for the walk,” my mom says. “We'll meet you there.”

I quickly put a hot dog on a paper plate, squirt some ketchup on it, and hurry out the door.

I get there in ten minutes, and I'm pretty impressed with my ability to walk and eat. Micayla and Bennett are already sitting up on the stage, and they're testing out the buzzers. The best part of Seagate Knowbodies (aside from winning) is that we get to use actual buzzers like in a real game show.

“Sorry I'm late, guys,” I say, a little out of breath.

Micayla motions to me that I have something on my face, and I quickly wipe away the drop of ketchup from the corner of my mouth. Maybe I'm not as good at walking and eating as I thought I was.

I sit between Micayla and Bennett. They saved me the middle seat. It was nice of them to do that, but that wasn't the reason they did it. They did it because we always sit in this order, and we're a little superstitious. We've won the past two years sitting in this exact formation.

Up on the stage, I can see everything. All the people who came to watch, Sundae Best's ice cream cone sign, the one-dollar-books cart in front of Novel Ideas Book Shop, and even the path all the way to the ocean.

They only put up the stage a few times a year: for Seagate Knowbodies, for the Fourth of July concert, and for the judges of the Seagate Halloween Costume Contest.

I feel lucky that I get to sit here, because the view is one of the best in the world.

Unfortunately, I also see Claire and Calvin in the front row. Yes, they have grown on me, but it doesn't feel right to see them at such a Seagate-y event. Also, Calvin is sitting there making faces at Bennett, doing those armpit farts and then pretending to faint from the imaginary smell. He's going to distract Bennett, and we're going to lose. I don't think that's what any of us want. And Claire looks ridiculously bored, staring at her phone and rolling her eyes.

“Welcome to the fifteenth annual Seagate Knowbodies
Trivia Competition!” Mr. Aprone yells out into his megaphone. He's the head of the Seagate Community Association, and he also owns the Novel Ideas Book Shop. He lives in Rhode Island but comes to Seagate every weekend of the year. “That's K-N-O-W, people! Our reigning champions, Team RemBenMic, are back, and we also have a few newcomers, Team Sunny Days and Team No Sugar Added.”

We're allowed to keep coming back to the contest because we keep winning, but the newcomers have to go through a rigorous selection process. They have to submit a proposal about why they want to participate, and they have to score high enough on Mr. Aprone's entrance exam. He takes this whole thing very seriously, obviously, which only makes it more fun.

“Team No Sugar Added is a group of ladies from the diabetes support group,” Micayla whispers to me. Her mom is a nurse and she volunteers with that group during the summer, helping answer questions and stuff. “They look so excited, don't they?”

“Yeah.” I look over at them again after I hear the loud slaps from their high fives. “I guess they're not Sundae Best's best customers.” I laugh.

“They have sugar-free flavors,” Micayla reminds me, all serious-sounding. Maybe my joke wasn't really that funny.

“So, teams, hands off the buzzers!” Mr. Aprone says. “We're ready to begin.”

He pauses for applause, and I see Calvin standing up,
clapping furiously, the only one who has decided to give us a standing ovation before the contest has even started.

Bennett cracks up but stops when I glare at him.

“First question: How many gazebos are there on Seagate?”

My hand hits the buzzer first. Mr. Aprone always starts with an easy one, and this one is almost too easy.

“Yes, RemBenMic has hit the buzzer first,” he says. He has a screen that shows which team's buzzer buzzes first, so there's really no debating it.

“Six,” I answer.

“That is correct,” Mr. Aprone says. “Bonus question goes to RemBenMic first and then will be opened to the other teams if they answer incorrectly. It is: Where are the gazebos located?”

I don't have to hit the buzzer since it's our question, but I do offer it up to Micayla and Bennett to see if they want to answer. They shake their heads. Maybe I'm imagining it, but I start to feel like I'm the only one fired up about the contest.

“On the grassy lawn by the stadium, by the entryway to West Beach, one in front of Sundae Best, one by the entrance to Dog Beach, one behind High Tide Bar & Grill, and one at the end of Ocean Walk.”

“That is correct!”

Everyone claps after I answer, and even Claire looks a little bit proud, but Bennett and Micayla have sort of a delayed reaction. They don't look as excited as they should be. I want to nudge them with my elbow and get them to perk
up. I wonder if it's the long day with the dogs that exhausted them, or if it's something else. I can't interrupt the contest to ask.