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
SONDRA SODERBORG long time She's played in the shade here since she was six years old setting up monster villages in the roots watching the other kids on the street bike by chucking rocks after the ones who looked tough enough to take it Of course she didn't hurt them She just wanted them to stop and talk to her It never worked She was lonely in Beecham for a long time Yeah It was hard to move here from Detroit to leave her cousins in Mexicantown and her Gran in Hamtramck But they had to To get away from her dad To be safe The dishwasher is empty now She watches her mom pour water from the electric kettle into a cup with a tea bag in it She watches her sit down at the kitchen table and stare out through the window Standing here hidden from her mom her hand running up and down the bark of this friendly oak tree Breanna can admit to herself the one actual reason that she isn't going to camp Those other things meeting new kids in a strange place and having to do team building suck But she could handle them She's the queen of handling stuff that sucks She's the queen of figuring out how to make the stupidest things in the world not boring Niraj wasn't lying when he called her the queen of pranks If she were going to camp tomorrow she'd have amazing pranks ready to go And she would pull them off It's tempting Almost But the truth is she's not going to camp for one reason the Sky Ropes 8
SKY ROPES The Sky Ropes are a high ropes course An obstacle course in the air famous for how high they are off the ground The highest high ropes east of the Mississippi The great big hairy deal of camp It's so messed up She is not going to do the Sky Ropes and she is not going to be near the Sky Ropes and she is not going to listen to people talk about the Sky Ropes because that will infect the air she breathes with Sky Ropes poison and that is absolutely not how she is going to spend the next six days of her life Starting tomorrow there is something at Vincent Chin Middle School for the kids who aren't going to camp probably some boring boring classroom where they sit and read or something dumb like that It's supposed to be their choice whether they go to team building camp or not The pamphlets that came in the mail said so She can't be the only one who isn't going though honestly it's okay if she is If she's stuck in a boring room alone nobody will think about her and the Sky Ropes in the same thought Nobody will eye her up and down and wonder why she hasn't done them It matters that nobody wonders She has a reputation to protect She is fearless Fearless Breanna Woodruff It is everything to her Nobody especially not a world of new kids coming from four other schools is going to get one tiny hint that she is terrified of heights Terrified She has her reasons
