My Extra Best Friend Read Online Free Page B

other girls, I can stop by the registration table and check on Cee Cee and Liz.”
    Jenna straightens up and gives Alex a very serious nod. Her hand twitches like it wants to salute. “Swimsuits
on,
” she barks, turning to the rest of us. “We leave for the beach in
five minutes
!”
    Randi clicks her heels and stands at attention. “Yessss, sir!” Then she yanks a swimsuit from her duffel bag.
    “Quick, Stacey!” Brooke says, flying to her suitcase. “Get changed. I want to catch up with those Hawks!”
    “Seriously?” Jolene says, stepping out of the bathroom as Randi ducks in to change. “You saw a hawk? They’re amazing! Did you know some can see a mouse from a half mile away?”
    “I’m not talking about the stupid birds,” Brooke says, digging through her suitcase, grabbing her swimsuit, then ducking behind the beach towel Stacey is holding up like a curtain. “I’m talkingabout the Hawk girls. Sixth graders. Maybe even seventh!”
    “Oh,” Jolene says disappointedly. She loves animals like Brooke loves killer cute swimsuits.
    Zip! Zip! Zip!
    Everyone starts pulling out swimsuits and towels and flip-flops. Pink. Purple. Striped. Flowered.
    I unzip my suitcase too, happy that I remembered to pack my one-piece on top even if it won’t make me an Olympic swimmer.
    But when I open my suitcase, I do a very surprised gasp.
    Not because George has wiggled to the top, which he has.
    Something else is on top too.
    A new two-piece swimsuit!
    Plus, a note.
    A true-blue swimsuit for you, Ida!
    Have fun at camp!
    Love,
    Mom & Dad
    I pick up the suit. Blue top in one hand. Blue bottoms in the other. “It’s the one I showed Momat the mall,” I whisper to George. “The one the mannequin was wearing. She bought it after all!”
    I hug the suit, thinking this might be my best day ever. Even better than that time me, Jenna, and Stacey found six dollars on the sidewalk and split it three ways.
    I close my suitcase and turn around. “I got a new suit!” I cry, waving it for everyone to see.
    Stacey looks over. “Nice!”
    “Let
me
see.” Brooke peeks out from behind the beach towel curtain and studies my new suit like a math test. “Not bad,” she finally says.
    “Ooo…let me get a picture!” Meeka says, reaching for her camera.
    I hold up the suit and do my best pose.
    Click!
    “Now one with Jolene…” Meeka says, shooing me next to her.
    Click!
    “And one with Jenna…”
    Click! Click!
    Randi comes out of the bathroom wearing a black one-piece and cutoffs. She dives in for the next shot.
    Jenna’s watch starts beeping again. “Two minute warning!” she tells us. Then she pulls off her shorts and top because she’s already wearing her swimsuit underneath. Jenna likes to be prepared.
    I hurry to the bathroom.
    Close the door.
    Take off my clothes.
    Pull on the new suit.
    Then I turn and study myself in the long mirror that’s hanging behind the door.
    Arms.
    Legs.
    Back.
    Belly button.
    I smile at my reflection. “You look killer cute,” I say.
    Someone pounds on the door. “Hurry, Ida!” Stacey calls out. “Jenna says it’s time to go!”
    I open the door, ditch my clothes, grab my beach towel, and head out with Stacey. We fly down the path like chickadees.
    Giggling, like girls.
    Hand in hand, like best friends.

Chapter
5
    The beach is buzzing with campers and counselors when we get there a few minutes later. I don’t know how many, exactly, but it looks like enough to fill a lunchroom. Some are goofing around in the sand, but most are clumped along a low stone wall that separates the grassy lawn from the beach.
    Rusty, Joey, Quinn, and Tom are there, with an older boy. His hair is so red, it’s orange. It flops across his face. Orange stubble glints on his chin like cookie sprinkles. He’s wearing a staff T-shirt like Alex’s.
    “
Dah
-dum…!
Dah
-dum…!
Dah
-dum…!” Rusty chants as he and the other three race toward us, raising their fists like champions. “We’re real