Hit the Beach (6 page)

Lindsay had been to the animal clinic to catch up with Dan? Madison could hardly believe it. Just a few weeks before, she’d been nervous about the idea of even seeing him, let alone going someplace specifically to see him.

Madison chuckled at the thought of Dan and Lindsay chatting by the animal cages. Maybe he could get Lindsay to help him mop the floor or feed the birds. Lindsay would probably do anything to get his attention at that point.

Madison wanted to post another note on her blog right away, but she couldn’t. She needed to shower and get set for the first day at Camp Sunshine. Dad was planning to drive her there in exactly one hour.

After a warm shower, Madison debated for twenty minutes about which outfit she would wear. She finally settled on the too-pink capri pants and a little white T-shirt that said HAPPY CAMPER that she’d borrowed from Fiona earlier in the summer. It seemed like the right (and fun) thing to wear to a first day of camp, although she tried on just about every T-shirt in her suitcase before making a final decision. Madison had never been a big part of the whole camp scene, so this was a learning curve for her. She wanted to proceed with caution.

Stephanie and Dad seemed to be even more eager than Madison for the start of camp. Madison offered to trade places with Dad, and everyone had a good laugh.

When they pulled up in front of the Environmental Learning Collective building, Madison saw the oversize flag waving out in front with a picture of an enormous sun with a smiley face and long rays.

“Welcome to Camp Sunshine,” Madison muttered under her breath from the backseat of the car.

Stephanie turned around. “Don’t sound so excited,” she joked.

“I’m just nervous,” Madison said.

“What are you afraid of?” Dad piped up. “A few fish? Manatees? Sand?”

“Dad,” Madison groaned. “Quit kidding around. You know.”

“You’ll be the star,” Dad insisted. “Everyone will want to be friends with you, because you are just cooler than anyone else.”

“Great, Dad. Your saying that is like the kiss of death.”

Stephanie snickered. “Try not to be so encouraging, Jeff,” she teased.

Madison grabbed her backpack and popped out of the car first. Stephanie followed, and Dad parked the car.

Once inside, Madison found herself face to face with a wall of turtle shells and petrified fish. She looked up to see stuffed birds, mangrove branches, and other objects hanging from the ceiling. It was as if nature had just exploded by the front door—but in a good way. Off on both sides, other kids waited for the camp directors to come out and lead them into the auditorium.

Stephanie and Dad hung around for a few minutes, long enough to know that they didn’t really need to be there. Madison would be able to handle the rest on her own.

She gave both Dad and Stephanie quick pecks on the cheek, so as not to appear too clingy. Madison wanted to make the right first impression. Hanging on to Dad’s arm pleading, “Don’t go,” wouldn’t have gone over very well in any crowd, but especially this one.

“I know you’ll love it,” Dad said for the tenth time since they’d left home that morning.

Madison nodded and literally nudged him toward the door. Stephanie followed. And then Madison was alone—or, at least, on her own.

This is exactly why I have never ever gone to camp before, Madison thought.

She knew two weeks wasn’t a very long time, but right now Madison imagined it as an eternity.

“Are you here for Camp Sunshine?” a woman with a mop of gray hair and gold-framed glasses asked Madison.

Madison nodded. “Yes, yes. Am I in the right place?” she asked nervously.

“Absolutely. Stay put. We’ll be ’round soon to get you.”

Madison stayed put. She browsed through some books on a bookshelf with titles like
Aquatic Journey
and
The Life of the Tortoise
. On one wall was a huge map of the area. Trees, bodies of water, and buildings were clearly marked. Madison noticed one small lake (was it big enough to be classified as a lake or was it more like a pond?) called Madison Bog. She smiled broadly at that discovery. She was afraid to be here, and yet she’d been here all along—at least in one form or another.
Even if it was a bog
.

“Nice shirt,” a young boy said. Madison glanced down at her tee and the words
Happy Camper
.

The boy pushed back a thick strand of his blond hair and grinned. “Seriously, I like it. It’s cool to watch turtles lay eggs. Doncha think?”

Madison nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “That’s just what I was thinking.”

“So, who are you? I mean, what’s your name?”

“Madison. But most of my friends call me Maddie.”

“I like Madison better,” the boy said. “It sounds smarter. By the way, I’m Will, and that’s short for William. Most of my friends call me crazy.”

“Nice to meet you, Crazy,” Madison said with a smile.

“I’m in eighth grade. How about you?”

“Seventh,” Madison replied. Then she asked, “Are you from Florida?”

“Nah, I’m a New Yorker,” Will said.

“I live in New York, too.”

“Really? I live on the Upper West Side. Where do you live?”

Madison gave him a vacant stare. She realized he was talking about New York
City
when of course she was talking about Far Hills.

“Oh, no, I don’t live right in the city. I mean, I live in …”

“The
burbs
, right?” Will said with disdain.

Madison couldn’t tell whether Will was being serious or whether he was teasing. And if he were teasing, what gave him the nerve? She looked away, embarrassed.

But Will didn’t notice. He was already facing in the opposite direction, talking to another camper.

Madison turned around herself and nearly knocked over another girl.

“Hi, I’m from Cleveland,” the girl said, practically thrusting her hand into Madison’s for a shake. “Ann’s my name. Science is my game. Ha-ha. Well, you know. I’m one of those science geeks who can’t get enough science.”

She had feather earrings on, she was about Madison’s height, and she talked with a bit of an accent that Madison couldn’t quite identify. Madison tried to be as friendly as possible.

“Hey, Ann,” she said sweetly.

“How great is this?” Ann said in a much louder voice. “I mean, meeting you like—whammo! You remind me so much of my best girlfriend back in Ohio. I can tell that we will totally become best friends during camp. Totally.”

“Yeah?” Madison pasted on a smile. She appreciated Ann’s enthusiasm, but she wasn’t convinced about Ann’s prediction. After all, the title of “best friend” was reserved for the elite few—and those few were not in the room.

But Madison didn’t want to seem rude or to blow Ann off, so she started talking some more, about school and science. Ann loved to talk. She wouldn’t stop babbling about herself or asking obscure questions. She did have some finer points, however. Like her jersey. It was a bright orange color—Madison’s favorite color in the whole world—and Madison figured that that fact had to be one positive sign.

Or was it just a
sneaky
omen?

L
EONARD, THE CAMP DIRECTOR,
finally showed up, a few minutes late. To get everyone’s attention, he clapped his hands, then grinned a wide, crocodile smile. Madison wasn’t sure what to make of him.

“Welcome to another summer together!” Leonard cried. “We’re so happy to have old campers and new campers alike.”

The kids cheered. Madison glanced around.
Old campers?
Almost everyone Madison could see from where she was had on camp T-shirts from the year before. It was like some kind of club meeting—only Madison hadn’t really been invited, at least, not yet. They were all paired off already, too, which didn’t seem altogether fair.

The guy she’d just met, Will, was standing with another boy. Ann had cornered some other girl across the room.

There was that pang again.

Aimee? Fiona? Lindsay? Hart? Where are you?

Madison wisely scoped out the room, searching for new campers like herself. She saw a boy wearing a visor, sitting quietly in a corner of the room. He raised his eyebrows every time the director said something. Madison tried to make eye contact, and he grinned. She moved over to him.

“Hey,” Madison said, trying to be friendly. “I’m Madison.”

“Yo, hey. I’m Anthony, but I go by ‘Tony’ sometimes,” Anthony said. “Or Teeny. My friends call me Teeny. It’s all good.”

“Sure,” Madison said. “Um … do you have a partner?”

Tony did not have a partner—so he agreed to be hers. Madison breathed a sigh of relief. She was off to a better start now, or at least, she hoped she was.

Having a partner for the camp tour reminded Madison of having a buddy for fire drills in elementary school. Madison remembered how back then she and Ivy had always been fire-drill buddies. They’d held hands—tight—on the way down the stairs to the outside of the building, and no matter how many times they had tripped on the steps, neither of them had ever let go.

It was funny how things had changed so dramatically since then. Since elementary school, it seemed as if they were letting go all the time.

Leonard led the group of campers around. Madison counted at least twenty-five kids. Everyone was whispering, pointing, and, except for her, embracing old friends.

Teeny and another boy started talking, but Madison kept moving, following Leonard. Maybe she didn’t need a buddy.

She listened as Leonard started to point out the different buildings on the property.

First, he took the entire group over to an old atrium covered with mangroves. Inside, Madison saw clusters of white, purple, and pink orchids, among other plants. There were a few wild birds flying around, too.

Around the corner from the atrium was a more modern, wooden-shingled building. Leonard showed all the campers into a room filled with exhibits on camouflage, animal tracks, and underwater life.

Adjacent to the exhibit room was the ELC Aquatic Center (at least, that was what the carved wooden sign said). Inside were individual tanks of fish and turtles and way too many snakes. Leonard told everyone to have a look around.

On one side of the room, Madison saw an enormous, open tank with another skate like the ones at the restaurant, as well as crabs, smaller fish, and sea grass. She moved toward it.

“Cool stuff, right? Did you see the turtle wall?”

Madison turned around. Will was standing there.

“Turtle wall?” Madison said. “No. Where?”

Will pointed to the corner of the room opposite the place where they stood. Up on the wall was a row of turtle shells and little plaques with text underneath describing the different turtle breeds. Madison read the plaques quickly. She had a lot to learn in the next two weeks.

“Okay, everyone,” Leonard announced. “That’s a quick tour for you. Now, follow me back to the main auditorium so we can split up into smaller groups.”

“What does Leonard mean about splitting up into groups?” Madison asked Will.

Will ran his fingers through his hair. Madison stared, then quickly looked away when she realized she was staring.

“Well,” Will explained. “It’s like this. We do some things as a large group. I think there are, like, twenty or thirty people or something. We barbecue or play games together. Or have marsh walks. That kind of stuff. But for the studying—and the hatchling night, which I think is the best part of all—we work in groups of five or six.”

“Five or six?” Madison asked. “How do the camp leaders split us up?”

Will shrugged. “Leonard pulls names out of a hat. I don’t know. He sees who you hang with. Look, I have no clue. I know he tries to mix it up so people meet new people.”

“Wow,” Madison said. “So we spend the two weeks with mainly five or six campers?”

“Pretty much,” Will replied. “Plus, the camp leaders, of course. They swap around, so we work with everyone at some point. Some leaders are turtle experts. Other ones are fish experts. Some are just, like, nature police to make sure we don’t destroy the grounds. Last year some kid got mad for no reason and ripped out all these plants. He got sent home.”

“Gee, you know a lot about this place,” Madison said.

“Well, yeah,” Will said. “My grandfather—his name was Will, too—was one of the people who started it up. He was a conservationist. That’s what Mom calls him …”

“Someone who conserves nature and wildlife,” Madison said simply.

“You’re really smart, aren’t you?” Will asked.

Once again, Madison couldn’t quite tell if Will was being serious or if he was joking around. But she chuckled a little, deciding on the latter. She also found herself staring at him just a little bit again. She wasn’t sure why. Something about him seemed nice, almost familiar.

“It must have been cool having a grandfather who made a place like this,” Madison said.

“Yeah,” Will said. “I’ve hung out here during summers and winter breaks from school ever since I was a kid.”

Madison and Will followed the other kids out the door. Leonard lead the way. Someone grabbed Madison’s elbow. It was Ann.

“Don’t forget me-e-e-e-e!” Ann said.

Madison smiled politely, even though Ann had pinched her skin as she grabbed her. Madison tried to wriggle free without making a big deal out of it.

All at once, Teeny appeared. He poked Madison in the side.

“Yo, where did you go?” Teeny asked.

“I’m sorry,” she said, trying hard to look contrite. “I thought you were talking to someone …”

“Yeah, for, like, two seconds I talked to someone, and then you were gone. I thought we were going to be partners.”

Madison glanced at Will and then Ann and then back at Teeny.

“Hey, Teeny,” Madison said. “Do you know Will and Ann?”

Teeny shook his head. “Nope. How you doing?” he asked the other two.

“Where are you from, again?” Madison asked Teeny, as they all started to walk.

“I live in Florida,” he said. “Just north of here. My grandmother wanted me to come here. She said I should learn something instead of wasting the summer surfing. So I figured I’d try it. I love fishing.”

“We won’t be fishing, will we?” Ann asked aloud.