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“I’m okay. Just wet.”
    “Take off your shirt and dive in,” Fiona said. “We can get my brother back. I know how.”
    Madison shook her head and leaned backward, dangling her feet into the lake and wringing the water from her shirt. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Hart was swimming over. Chet was right behind him. Playfully they pretended to splash each other—and then they splashed Madison again instead.
    “You guys!” Madison said. “I said, quit it!”
    “Quit what, Finnster?” Hart laughed.
    “Quit THIS!”
    And with one great kick, Madison sent a wave of water cascading over Hart’s head. All the other kids on the docks roared with laughter.
    “HA! HA! She got you good,” Chet said, chuckling.
    The lifeguard blew a whistle. “STOP THAT NOW!” he commanded, coming over to the area where they were swimming. He planted himself on the dock there so everyone would stop acting up once and for all.
    Madison smirked and smoothed out her wet hair. The splash fight was over, and she was gladder than glad. Unfortunately, something was missing. Madison’s hair was loose. With all the splashing, her tortoiseshell clip had flown off into Lake Dora.
    Frantically she bent over to see if the clip was floating anywhere nearby, but didn’t see it. Hart swam over to see what was wrong, but she barked at him.
    “Get away!” Madison cried. “I lost something!” She looked everywhere for the hair clip. It was gone.
    Hart tried to help her look, but he gave up after a little while. Madison gave up, too. By now, her blue T-shirt was weighted down and stretched out by the water it had absorbed. It was hanging way down below her bottom. She walked quickly back over to Lindsay on the beach and dug around in her bag for a loose rubber band to pull her hair back up.
    “What happened?” Lindsay asked, rubbing some sunblock on her shins. “I saw you guys were splashing each other…”
    “Boys are just idiots,” Madison said, squeezing some more water out of her shirt. “And I lost my favorite hair clip.”
    Aimee and Fiona came rushing over from the lake and collapsed onto their own towels.
    “You missed it, Maddie!” Aimee said. “When that lifeguard turned his back, Fiona finally splashed Hart and Chet back—and good! They got water up their noses and everything.”
    Fiona laughed. “That was so much fun! My brother and I always get each other like that. You have to be very strategic.”
    “Yeah, my brothers and I splash a lot, too,” Aimee said.
    Madison wondered if she hated splashing so much because she didn’t have a brother.
    “Hart Jones is an awesome swimmer,” Aimee said. “Did you see that flip he did in the water?”
    Fiona nodded. “Yeah, too bad FHJH doesn’t have a swim team. He’ll definitely be on the team in high school.”
    Madison listened as her friends talked about Hart like he was something special. She couldn’t understand why, for the first time, she didn’t feel the same way. Because of him, she’d lost her favorite clip.
    “Who wants a snow cone?” Aimee said all of a sudden.
    Madison felt hot and damp and didn’t really want a snack, but she went for the walk. Fiona and Lindsay decided to stay behind and talk about soccer camp.
    “Don’t let me forget, I have to put lemon juice in my hair,” Aimee said as they walked to the snow cone stand.
    “Uh-huh,” Madison said, half listening. She closed her eyes and let the sun warm her face. The blue T-shirt was drying quickly now. She didn’t feel quite as self-conscious as before—even without her favorite clip.
    “Mmmmmm,” Aimee said when she got her treat. “It’s grape. Want a bite?”
    Madison shook her head and giggled because Aimee’s lips and tongue were turning purple with every lick. But Aimee didn’t seem to care.
    Fiona and Lindsay had disappeared by the time they came back to the towels, so Aimee and Madison just sat down to relax for a while. Madison saw Hart sitting a few yards away, and