Hit the Beach

by Laura Dower

  Madison, Ann, and Suchita ended up together again. They followed one very large female loggerhead to an area of sand closer up near the dunes and watched as she began to dig her nest. Sand flew as she dug deeper still. By the time she began dropping her eggs, the three camp friends were ready to burst into applause.

  Leonard came over to watch, with the girls. He asked Madison and the others to form a semicircle so he could help identify the turtle’s age. “See all those barnacles on her shell?” he asked.

  Madison nodded.

  “She’s a mature loggerhead, this girl,” Leonard said. He was smiling. “I feel like I should know her. She’s been around the sea a few times.”

  Leonard pressed closer as the turtle continued to lay her eggs. He had one of the staffers come over with a little red light and shine it on to the egg drop. Madison was in awe of the entire process. The eggs sat neatly in the sand as the turtle added more and more to the pile.

  When it seemed as though the turtle had completed her egg-laying, Madison and the others beat a steady retreat south. They needed to give the loggerhead the space she needed to make her way back to the ocean.

  No sooner had the turtle gone than Will reappeared.

  “Did you just watch her lay eggs?” Will asked breathlessly. Logan and Teeny were with him.

  Madison, Ann, and Suchita described the events as they had just happened. Unfortunately, the boys had not yet witnessed an egg-laying. Will looked sorely disappointed.

  A buzz from another walkie-talkie, however, sent the boys off in another direction. There were more loggerheads coming on to the beach, in different shapes and sizes.

  “This is one of the most amazing nights of my life,” Suchita said, speaking the words that both Madison and Ann were also feeling.

  Ann seconded the remark. “I feel like these past two weeks are nothing compared to this right now. Wow,” she said.

  “I like that we’re doing this with just the three of us,” Madison said. “It reminds me of how I do stuff with my BFFs back home.”

  Ann checked her watch. “I can’t believe it’s already ten o’clock. I wonder how much longer we’ll be here.”

  Leonard walked around the beach with his red light, searching for signs of life in the sand. He pointed out different sets of tracks. It seemed as though all the information that the campers had learned for the past ten days or so was being put to good use.

  Madison stood on the sand next to the two friends she had never expected to have and felt very thankful. Although she still missed her BFFs more than anything, this night nearly made up for all the pangs of loneliness she’d felt.

  “I can’t believe it’s over now,” Ann said dejectedly, as if she’d only just realized that fact.

  “It went by so fast,” Suchita said.

  “Maybe we can stay in touch,” Madison suggested. “We could be keypals. Or e-pals or something.”

  “What’s a keypal?” Ann asked.

  Madison explained. She told both girls about her long-distance relationship with Vicki, aka Bigwheels. She also mentioned TweenBlurt.com. Much to Madison’s surprise, neither girl had ever heard of it before.

  By then the activity on the beach had subsided a little. No one seemed tired, even though it was getting close to eleven o’clock. Suchita wandered off to talk to someone from the Alligators group; that left Madison on her own with Ann.

  “So, you were right after all,” Madison said. “I guess we were meant to be friends.”

  Ann shrugged. “But I’m so bummed out.”

  “Why?” Madison asked.

  Ann looked as though she wanted to cry. “I don’t know,” she said, sniffling. “It’s just that—I don’t have—well, I told you my friend Patti sort of blew me off, and I don’t have that many friends, and—now you’re going home—”

  Madison put her arm lightly around Ann’s shoulder. “Don’t worry,” she said gently. “What about the turtles? What about tonight? What about Will? You still like him, right?”

  Ann looked squarely at Madison. “I’m not stupid. I know he doesn’t like me. Not like that. No one does.”

  Madison didn’t know what to say. It was as if Ann had suddenly become this whole other person—as if the real (genuine, honest, not-full-of-herself) Ann had been holed up inside all week. Now she came pouring out.

  “I’m sorry for being such a downer,” Ann said. “See? Now I probably ruined tonight for you. Figures.”

  Madison shook her head. “No way,” she said. “No one could ruin tonight. It was as close to perfect as it gets. Doncha think?”

  Ann sniffled again. Then she smiled. “I guess so. Yeah, you’re right. It was pretty perfect.”

  “We can stay in touch,” Madison said.

  “I know,” Ann said. “Wow, I’m so embarrassed that I got emotional. I can’t believe—”

  “Surprise!”

  From nowhere (well, from somewhere on the dark, dark beach), Teeny popped out and scared Madison and Ann.

  “Gotcha!” he cried, even louder.

  Someone a few feet away said “Shhhhhh!” so that Teeny wouldn’t disturb one of the last turtles still nesting on the beach.

  “That was the most awesome thing I have ever, ever seen,” Teeny went on, ignoring the staff member who had shushed him. “And I live in Florida!”

  At that moment, Will and Logan came up to join the conversation.

  “What’s up?” Logan asked the girls and Teeny.

  “You guys finally saw a turtle lay her eggs?” Madison asked.

  Will nodded. “It was as cool as you said.”

  Madison looked at Will and then over at Ann. For some reason, in that moment, in the middle of the beach, in the middle of the night under a pale moon, things seemed to make sense. In that moment, Madison realized that she didn’t really have the crush on Will that she thought she had. What she realized was that someone else had a crush that was much bigger than hers.

  Here, in the half-darkness, these fast friends had shared the experience of a lifetime. Madison wanted to make sure, for Ann’s sake, that the best part of her memory about that night included spending time standing with the cute boy she’d been crushing on all week. Why not? As carefully and subtly as she could, Madison maneuvered herself to the side. She cracked a few more jokes with Teeny and Logan, and the three of them headed back toward the edge of the beach. Will was left standing next to Ann—alone. They had no choice now but to speak to each other under the stars.

  And so they did. Or at least Madison hoped they did. She didn’t turn around to double-check. She’d find out from Ann in the morning.

  Back at the main entrance to the ELC, the parents had parked all along the road and waited to pick up their kids. Madison spotted Dad and Stephanie’s car right away. She raced over. Dad was in the driver’s seat, with the air conditioner running, the radio tuned to a classical station. The car felt and sounded like a symphony when Madison climbed into the front.

  “Hey,” Dad said. “So? How was it?”

  “No words, Dad,” Madison said.

  “No words? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Perfection,” Madison said. “I can’t believe I was that close to a loggerhead turtle, Dad. This close! Wow.”

  Dad’s hands were fixed firmly on the steering wheel. He looked very serious.

  “Dad? Are you all right?” Madison asked when she noticed his expression.

  Dad shook his head. “I’ve been thinking a lot tonight, Maddie,” he said. “I’ve been unfair to you these past two weeks. Unfair to you and to Stephanie. I wanted to apologize for that.”

  Madison felt a heaviness lift from the air around them. This was something that had needed to be said since she’d arrived in Florida.

  “I didn’t want to get in the way,” Madison said. “I mean, between you and Stephanie, that is.”

  “You aren’t in the way,” Dad said.

  “Well, I know. But remember when you and Mom split up and I asked all those q
uestions and I … well, I got in the way.”

  “No, you didn’t!” Dad insisted. “You thought that?”

  “Of course,” Madison said. “What else was I supposed to think?”

  Dad shook his head again as he stopped at a red light. They were close to the apartment building. No one said anything for a moment. Then Dad pulled into the parking garage and turned off the car. They sat in the dark for a minute. Of course, this didn’t bother Madison one bit, since she’d been in semi-darkness all night.

  “Maddie, I am so sorry,” Dad said again.

  Dad’s spontaneous apology gave Madison courage to ask a question that had been on her mind throughout the entire visit—and throughout all the arguments she had heard between Dad and Stephanie.

  “Dad, are you and Stephanie going to get divorced, too?”

  Dad’s eyes widened when Madison asked that one.

  “What made you think that?” Dad asked her.

  “Well, you hardly speak, and you yell a lot about things that seem so … well, serious. Stephanie didn’t want to tell me what it was about. She told me I should talk to you.”

  “Did she?” Dad asked, seemingly pleased.

  “So?” Madison asked. “Are you?”

  “Definitely not,” Dad replied. “Not even close. And the reason Stephanie wanted me to tell you about our arguments was because we have been discussing some serious things.”

  “If you’re not getting divorced, what is it?”

  Dad shrugged. “Well …”

  “Oh, my God!” Madison screeched. “Are you guys having a baby?”

  Dad grinned. “Not yet. We’ve talked about it. But, no, that’s not why things have been tense. You see, Stephanie told you she lost her job. And that made us rethink my job, too …”

  “Yeah …” Madison said, thinking hard.

  “Well, we’ve been talking very seriously about moving.”

  Madison’s head began to whirl. “Moving?” she cried, clutching the side of her seat. She hadn’t once thought of that possibility—not ever. In her mind, Dad always lived close by—and had to live close by. But this could change all of that.

  “You can’t move,” Madison quickly said.

  Dad calmly took Madison’s hand in his own. “We’re not going anywhere right now,” Dad reassured her. “You would be the very first to know. I promise.”

  “You can’t move,” Madison repeated. “You can’t. You can’t.”

  She couldn’t even wrap her mind around the idea of Dad being anywhere other than Far Hills.

  “It’s very late,” Dad said. The green digital clock on the dashboard said it was 12:23 A.M. “You have to be up and out in the morning. Why don’t we talk about this some more when you’ve had a little sleep?”

  “Okay,” Madison sighed. She was tired, after all. “But you can’t move, Dad.”

  She had to say it one more time, as if that would be the thing that made all the difference. Once inside, despite being super tired, Madison called upon her last reserves of energy. She had to type things in to her laptop files before she forgot them all in the deep, sea air-induced sleep that was certain to come.

  The Loggerheads

  Rude Awakening: Where there’s a Will, there’s a way—a way to get him to spend more time with Ann!

  I was standing there in the middle of the sand when it dawned on me (kaboom!) just how much Ann likes this guy—way more than I ever did (or do). I realized that I like things the way they are—as far as Hart goes, that is. I mean, I loved flirting with Will but I can’t take it too seriously. And Ann likes Will so much more than I do. Even though there are only two days left, it’s worth a try. Maybe this is all just me feeling guilty, but it does feel like the right way to handle all this. I don’t know if Ann and Will belong together. But I know Madison and Will don’t. My heart (Hart!) is so taken already. LOL.

  Sometimes I feel like I spend all this time thinking about boys or how other people think of me—or even worrying too much about Dad and Stephanie’s life. And I should just STOP. Somehow these wks @ camp made me see some stuff I’d been missing. And now I’m pretty sure I know how to fill in those missing parts. At least, once I get back to Far Hills, I will know how to do it right.

  Rude Awakening: The loggerheads weren’t the only ones to come out of their shells last night.

  I did, too.

  Chapter 19

  AFTER TYPING IN HER laptop until after 1:40 A.M. on Thursday night, Madison could barely drag herself out of bed on Friday morning. However, she got up in time to eat breakfast and dress for camp. There was no way Madison wanted to miss even the teeniest piece of her very last day—no matter how tired she felt.

  Dad was off to work before Madison was ready to go, so Stephanie drove Madison over to Camp Sunshine.

  “I heard you up very late in your room,” Stephanie said. “On your laptop?”

  Madison grinned. “Of course.”

  “I know you and your dad had a nice talk on the way home last night,” Stephanie said. “And I’m so glad.”

  Madison nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “I can’t believe you’re thinking about moving away from Far Hills.”

  “I know. It’s a very serious decision. What with losing my job and the talk of moving, that explains some of the reason I’ve been so emotional. I’m sorry for that, Maddie. I hope it didn’t ruin your time at Camp Sunshine.”

  “You didn’t ruin anything,” Madison said. “I was thinking that maybe you and Dad were going to break up.”

  “Oh,” Stephanie said. “No wonder you were concerned.”

  “Yeah,” Madison said, yawning. “You know me. I always overthink this stuff, right?”

  “Right,” Stephanie said with a smile. “So what’s the plan for your final day at camp?”

  “Some kind of big luncheon and awards ceremony, I heard,” Madison said. “Not that I’ll be getting an award for anything.”

  Stephanie pulled up in front. She leaned across the front seat and kissed Madison on the top of the head—it was a strong, heartfelt kiss.

  Inside the doors of the ELC, Leonard and his team had decorated the place from floor to ceiling with everything from artwork the campers had created the week before to green balloons shaped like turtles. Along one wall was a long table set with food for breakfast.

  “Maddie!”

  Ann rushed right over to greet Madison as she walked in. They went to one of the big tables and sat down together. As they were sitting there, Madison spotted someone else familiar walking through the front doors. It was Myrtle Shelly—back for a repeat lecture? Madison guessed she had returned to see how hatchling night had gone—and to say her own good-byes.

  As it turned out, Myrtle was there to help present awards.

  Leonard started up the awards ceremony once everyone in the room had taken a seat. Each of the specific teams got a special mention. Then he started to give out ribbons and certificates to each camper—starting in alphabetical order. Standing up at the podium, Myrtle helped Leonard read off the individual names.

  Madison beamed when her name was called. Myrtle handed Madison her certificate, emblazoned with the Camp Sunshine logo and an outline of a large loggerhead turtle on the top.

  “Congratulations, my dear,” Myrtle said. “I know my husband, Walter, would be very pleased to know you completed your camp days with flair.”

  Madison smiled and returned to her seat. She felt prouder than proud. Somehow, even though this was a day concerned with ending, it felt like a kind of new beginning.

  After the ceremony there was a relaxed party in which people drifted outdoors and came back. As would be expected, most of the campers stayed within the groups they’d worked with during the two-week stay. The Egrets hung out by the large bay window at the back of the room that overlooked the mangrove swamp.

  “So this is good-bye,” Teeny said. “Isn’t that a huge drag? I actually like you guys,” he added.

  “Too bad,” Will cracked. “Bec
ause we don’t like you.”

  Ann laughed out loud—too loud. Madison knew she was just showing off for Will. But it was really no biggie. No one wanted to say or do anything negative today. They talked about all the activities they had shared together—working closely as a group; the scavenger hunt; the bird-watching from the pontoon boat; and watching the turtle-nesting, among other things.

  Since it was the final day of camp, things ended way earlier than usual. The parents had been asked to come back to pick everyone up at two o’clock sharp. By one-thirty, everyone was starting to get all sentimental. Madison asked Anna and Suchita if they wanted to stay connected via e-mail, and both said yes. Madison collected their e-mail addresses. She’d store them in her laptop when she got back to Dad’s place.

  Will pulled Madison aside at one point during the round of camp good-byes.

  “So, this is over, huh?” he said.

  Madison nodded. “Yeah. It was fun. Your grandpa Ralph is a nice guy.”

  “Yeah, mini-golf was mad fun,” Will said. “Will you be back next summer?”

  “I don’t know. Probably not,” Madison said. “My mom’s a film producer. I think I want to go on a vacation with her.”

  “Whoa,” Will said. “Your mom makes movies? I forgot you told me that.”

  “Well, documentaries.”

  “So … I guess I won’t see you again, then?” he asked, sounding a little dejected.

  “I guess not,” Madison said, covering up the disappointment in her own voice. She’d been so sure last night about Will and Ann, but now, standing next to Will, the familiar crush feelings returned.

  “Unless—” Will said, “unless maybe we see each other sometime in New York. I mean, we practically are neighbors, right?”

  “Right,” Madison said. “So, you should E me sometime.”

  “Yeah, totally,” Will said. He sounded happy about that. “Bye.”

  “Bye,” Madison said. She turned and walked away. After a moment, she realized that she hadn’t given Will her e-mail address. She almost turned around to write it down for him, but then she stopped herself. Maybe it was better not to. She remembered the time she’d met that boy Mark at Gramma Helen’s house. She’d wanted to e-mail him, too, after they’d spent time together at the lake. But it never happened.