多 SONDRA SODERBORG make sure they're both paying attention Pascale is already shaking her head We do it before everybody else shows up before breakfast breakfast right The counselors will have to clear out those raccoons He's grinning wide Get it he says They'll go nuts trying to catch them and when they do they'll see 1 2-4 He looks from Breanna to Pascale and back They'll think they've missed one Epic The idea is wild and clever Breanna loves it Epic Niraj she says laughing hard No question about it Pascale has stopped throwing her softball It's too dark for Breanna Breanna to see the profound disapproval in her sweet eyes But it's there She knows Yes Niraj jumps to his feet and the bleachers rattle But Breanna he says and Breanna knows exactly where this is going You know I can't do this without you You're the prank boss The prank ninja The queen of pranks His brown eyes catching the light are pleading Come on You gotta come to camp You gotta Gotta Gotta Sorry Breanna says You're flying solo Camp is for chumps That's been her line all summer Her friends hardly argue anymore She gets up stretches her arms out over her head and sighs It's time to head home but she hates to go Her friends will be gone till Saturday Six days To the team building camp that kicks off sixth grade at Vincent Chin Middle School She's going to miss these chumps But she's worked hard not to go and once she gets through tonight she'll have succeeded Everything about team building camp as the start to middle school is stupid For one it's a terrible way to meet people Kids
SKY ROPES from five schools including Sternmore Academy where she used to go will be there all the sixth graders starting at Vincent Chin Middle School They're supposed to live together in cabins she and girls she's never even seen before Share a shower Do stuff they don't know how to do Nope She is not going to let kids she doesn't know watch how bad she is at canoeing before they ever see the magic way she rifles a softball across home plate No way Once all the chumps get back she'll meet new kids in the places you're supposed to meet them in the halls of school where she can scare them or crack them up with the lift of an eyebrow Or in Spanish class where she knows all the bad words since her teenage boy cousins were her first and best teachers Or in the cafeteria where her laugh is the loudest and people are always watching her out of the corner of their eye not sure if she's fun or dangerous She's both That's how school is supposed to start That's how it's going to start for her I better get going Pascale says No raccoons Niraj You know that right Niraj laughs but he doesn't agree He's going to make signs 1 2 4 and pack them in the regulation green garbage bag that they have to bring their stuff in For sure he's going to do that I've got to go too Breanna says It's time Time for the last careful steps of her summer long camp avoidance campaign The trickiest part is still ahead she knows You'll show up tomorrow right Niraj won't quit It'll be dumb without you 5
SONDRA SODERBORG I know she says Uggghhhh Niraj clenches his fists and Breanna knows that he's upset for real That's hard she doesn't like making Niraj feel bad Pascale and Breanna walk east stopping at the edge of the park where tall sugar maples line the street They wave at Niraj going south down the park's lit walkway Head down hands shoved deep into his front pockets he doesn't see them but they watch him till he finally dissolves into shadow Hard as it is to disappoint Niraj she is not going to camp Silently Breanna and Pascale walk down Beech Street It's dark now The bright moon almost round shimmers high above the trees Only a few stars show through the dark Pascale points to the tip of the Big Dipper and Breanna nods Their sneakers scuff the sidewalk Another dumb thing about camp is team building That's the kind of camp it is team building What is that even And really what's the point It's not like the kids at Vincent Chin Middle School are going to unite to stop a crustacean alien invasion from the Crab Nebula or something They're just kids They need to figure figure out ordinary stuff like how to get to third period Art in the basement Like how to remember their locker combinations Like how to hold on to their friends even the ones like Mitchell who they don't have any classes with That's enough It is At the corner of Beech and Stadium Pascale stops I'm going to miss you you weirdo she says She wraps her arms around Breanna Breanna and hugs her tight Pascale is so tall tall and skinny Breanna only comes to her shoulders 6
SKY ROPES You too And it's true She is going to miss Pascale Hugging they rock under the streetlight five maybe six times She is going to miss all her friends But that's the way things have to be Breanna turns left onto Birk and she's almost home She can see her little house halfway up the block and across the street The bright porch light shines in the dark a magnifying glass on the chipping gold paint of their old cedar shingles Coming into the yard she can see her mom through the big kitchen window setting a pile of clean plates into the cupboard She's unloading the dishwasher That's Breanna's job Her mom does not do Breanna's chores It's a very bad sign For a second Breanna feels sick She makes herself stop panicking Maybe her mom is being nice She can be nice Not when she's sure she knows what's right for Breanna and won't listen Times like that she's an unstoppable force That's how it would go with team building camp if her mom actually knew She must not know Breanna has been so careful all summer so her mom won't find out and make her go Tonight is the end Tonight she has to be the most careful of all Resting her hand against the rough bark of the oak tree that takes up the whole front yard Breanna watches her mom putting dishes away She's got to pay attention to everything and play it all right In case her mom knows more than she's letting on She can be nice but she can also be tricky Her mom peers out the window and Breanna steps behind the oak's wide trunk This tree is a friend It was her only friend for a 7
