contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Maddie’s Camp Crush Excerpt
About Angela Darling
chapter 1
LAUREN SILVER FROWNED AND ABSENTLY CHEWED the eraser on her pencil, peering down at the multiple choice test in front of her. Was the answer A or B? Or even C? She felt so unprepared. Like one of those bad dreams where you walk into class and the teacher puts a test in front of you and you realize you are totally clueless. This was so unlike her. She almost always aced tests.
She took a deep breath and cleared her mind, and circled B with confidence.
With all the questions answered, Lauren went back and carefully scored herself against the answer key. When she saw the result, she couldn’t help but smile.
She’d been right all along. She was meant to be with Charlie Anderson!
The test she took was called “Is He Your Soul Mate?” She had come to rely on the monthly tests in her Chic Chick magazine for guidance on all things related to Charlie Anderson. When this month’s issue came out and Lauren saw the title of the quiz, she hoped deep down that it was a sign. Now that she’d taken—and aced—the test, she knew it was a sign.
Was Charlie Anderson her soul mate? Yes he was.
She lay back on her bed and whispered his name out loud, slowly, dreamily—Charlie Anderson. It had such a perfect sound to it. The “ch” of Charlie, then the “-arlie,” the three-syllable last name a lilting triplet, the first and last names just right together. Like a little song. It was the perfect name for the perfect boy.
In the margin of her magazine she doodled in large loopy letters. “Lauren Anderson.” Then: “Lauren & Charlie.” “Charlie & Lauren.” They sounded like a couple. Their names just fit together so perfectly. As if it was meant to be. Because, of course, it was. Lauren & Charlie TLF. True Love Forever.
She stood up and moved to her desk and opened the drawer, then pulled out the oversize pink index card that was face down and shoved toward the back. She turned it over and studied it.
THE LOVE PLAN:
OPERATION CELL PHONE
She’d drawn a neat flowchart, just as they’d learned to do in science class last spring. Arrows pointed from one box to another: If yes, go to this box. If no, go to that box. They all ended up at the heart-shaped goal at the bottom:
Charlie + Lauren = TLF
Lauren loved plans. She loved organizing things and making lists and having everything in place just so. Her mom joked that it was because she was an only child and liked things the way she was used to them, but her dad told her that it was because she was just like him. They were both “very precise” he said. But being an only child did help. There was no one there to mess up her room or to make her parents veer off schedule. It was always calm and quiet at Lauren’s house, and she liked it that way. She’d been to friends’ houses where it was total chaos, and she didn’t know how they lived with that. Her one friend Padma had two younger brothers and a little baby sister, and there was so much yelling and noise that Lauren sometimes made excuses not to go when she was invited there.
It was Dad who taught Lauren about plans. They always had a plan in their family. For cleaning out the basement, for juggling the chores, or for their summer vacation, which was starting today with three weeks at the beach. Lauren’s dad had mapped out the plan, which he called “Operation Get out of Town,” and they’d both been packed and ready to go for days. Lauren knew that at exactly three o’clock Dad would be in the driveway with the car all packed up, waiting for her mom, who would be running around making sure that all the appliances were turned off and that the plants were watered. Mom was less of a planner and more “fly by the seat of her pants.” Or at least that’s how Dad described her.
But Lauren was just like her dad, so she was a planner for sure. And she had a plan of her own this year. It was called the Love Plan, and no one else knew about it.
Lauren’s Love Plan was foolproof. It was how she was going to get Charlie to notice her. Then talk to her. And once he did, she knew he would then realize that they were meant to be together. She’d spent months figuring out every angle and anticipating every scenario. There were times Lauren worried that the Plan wouldn’t work, or, if it did and Charlie noticed her, that he wouldn’t like her after all. Lauren knew she was nice and everything, but she wasn’t the most popular girl in the school or the class president or anything like that. She was just normal. But Mom always told her she was a “good soul” and Dad always praised her “kind heart.” And, according to Mom and Dad at least, those things were way more important than perfect looks or being the head cheerleader.
It wasn’t that Lauren didn’t have any friends; she did. She got invited to plenty of sleepover parties and she had a group to sit with at lunch. But when it came down to it Lauren was pretty shy, and since she was used to being by herself a lot, she didn’t mind it at all. She could happily read a book in her room or go for a walk by herself. Mom always praised her “independence,” but deep down Lauren sometimes worried that she should have one really close friend by now—a BFF. Most of the other girls at school seemed to have one or even two BFFs. A BFF, Lauren thought, sounded really cool. A BFF would be someone she could talk to about the Love Plan.
The first step of the Love Plan meant that Lauren would be starting out her summer vacation by making sure that Charlie had her telephone number. Operation Cell Phone would take care of that. By the end of the summer, when Charlie had fallen totally in love with Lauren and it was time to say good-bye, Charlie would grab Lauren’s hand, look deep into her eyes, and say, “Of course I’ll be keeping in touch. I’ve got your number . . . ”
She sighed, thinking about how perfect it would be.
“Lauren! Have you eaten breakfast?”
Her mother was calling her from downstairs. Lauren could hear the exasperation in her tone, even from that far away. Quickly she slid the card into the side flap of her backpack, which was sitting on her desk alongside the how-to book she’d ordered online. It was called Frisbee: Techniques and Tactics. “I’m coming!” she called down.
“Good! Finally! Come on downstairs. I have a surprise to tell you about!” Lauren was curious. Normally she did not like surprises.
Lauren stood up, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror over her dresser, and sighed. She wished she would have her growth spurt already. She was practically the smallest girl in her grade, which wasn’t such a big deal, but Lauren was pretty sure that Charlie was taller than any of the boys at her school. Focus on the positive, Lauren reminded herself. She’d read a whole article in Chic Chick about the importance of capitalizing on your assets. She looked at herself carefully and tried to identify her assets, just like the article had said. Everyone said she had a nice smile. And her new haircut made her hair swing and fall over her eyes when she moved her head just so. (Kendra, her haircutter, totally understood the way her hair worked and could practically make miracles happen with her scissors!) Lauren had been practicing tossing her hair a little and had gotten pretty good at it. And, also in the positive column, there was her cute new two-piece bathing suit that she’d spent a big chunk of her babysitting money on last week. She hoped Charlie liked the color, a sort of coral pink. She moved closer and sighed, squinting at her face in the mirror. She had nice long eyelashes, and her older cousin Brit had once told her that her eyebrows
had “the perfect natural arch.” But there wasn’t much she could do about her freckles, besides try to hide them behind her huge sunglasses. Or who knew? Maybe Charlie liked freckles.
“Laur-en!”
“Yep! Sorry! Coming!” she called, and hurried down to the kitchen.
The breakfast stuff was still on the table, and her mom was rummaging through a cupboard, searching for the lid to a plastic container. Two bins were on the counter, partially packed with food and kitchen stuff. “Daddy went out and got bagels this morning,” came her mother’s muffled voice from inside the cupboard. “Have a glass of milk with yours—we need to use it up before we go!”
Lauren popped a bagel half into the toaster oven. “So what’s the big surprise you want to tell me?” she asked her mom, opening the fridge and pulling out the carton of milk.
Her mother backed out of the cupboard, her dark hair tumbling from her ponytail in several strands over her face, triumphantly holding the lid she’d been searching for. She stood up and set it on the counter. Then she turned toward Lauren, her eyes shining. “Well,” she said, her voice brimming with enthusiasm. “I thought you might be pleased to know that we are bringing someone with us to the beach house this time.”
“Oh!” said Lauren, pouring herself a tall glass of milk. “Is Grampy coming to stay with us again? That’s fine. I can sleep on the cot on the screen porch.”
Her mother shook her head. “Not Grampy. A friend. A friend of yours.”
“Of mine?” Lauren set down the carton and furrowed her brow. “Who?”
“Chrissy!” said her mother. “Chrissy Porter!”
“Wait. What?”
“I know!” said her mother happily. “Her mom and I wanted to surprise you guys! We’ve got it all worked out. Jean and Scott have to go back to California for a couple of weeks to take care of some business with their old house. Chrissy’s big sister, Liz, will be away at camp for the whole month, and they didn’t really want to drag Chrissy all the way back to California, so I suggested they leave her here. With us. And that we’d take her with us to the beach and the two of you could share your room and be beach buddies for the next three weeks!”
Lauren opened her mouth and closed it again, unsure of what to say. Chrissy Porter was not part of the Love Plan. Chrissy Porter was not part of any plan.
“Honey? This is okay, isn’t it? I thought you and Chrissy were good friends.” Her mom’s face was the picture of concern.
“Oh no, she is—I mean, we are friends. Chrissy is great. It’s not that,” said Lauren. Her mind was spinning. “That’s awesome. I was just—surprised is all.”
Her mother looked relieved. “I’m glad you’re glad, honey,” she said, opening the large utility drawer next to the sink and rummaging around in it for utensils to pack. “I thought you’d be pleased to have someone to spend time with at the beach. And Jean—Mrs. Porter—was so appreciative. They usually rent somewhere for this time of year too, but because of their trip, they couldn’t swing it. She was delighted that Chrissy would get a beach vacation after all.”
Lauren nodded numbly, still trying to absorb this news.
Lauren’s father’s muffled voice called from down in the basement.
“I sent your father down there to find my suitcase,” she said. “I’d better go see what’s going on.”
Her mom headed for the basement, leaving Lauren lost in thought.
Chrissy Porter was coming with them? For the whole three weeks? Lauren felt as though someone had just dumped a bucket of ice water down her back. What was she going to do now?
Leaving her bagel uneaten on the plate, she ran upstairs and into her room. She closed the door and threw herself down on the bed.
This was a flat-out, full-blown disaster.
chapter 2
IT WASN’T THAT LAUREN DIDN’T LIKE CHRISSY. Chrissy seemed pretty nice. But Lauren didn’t know her all that well. Chrissy had moved with her parents from Santa Monica the previous fall. Lauren and Chrissy had been in the same math, Spanish, and social studies classes, and they were definitely friendly and sat at the same lunch table and stuff. But they were hardly BFFs. Lauren’s mom loved Chrissy’s mom, and they were always “double dating” as Lauren’s mom said. Their parents had dinner together practically every Saturday night. Lauren realized that made her mom and Chrissy’s mom BFFs.
Why did Lauren’s mother have to be so nice all the time? Every Thanksgiving they had at least half a dozen unexpected people at their table. They were those with nowhere special to go, whether it was somebody from the office, or friends of friends they’d just met, or totally random people her mom had met in line at the grocery store who had no other plans. Okay, maybe not the last, but still.
Lauren’s mom and Chrissy’s mom had met each other at a book club that gathered every other Tuesday night. They’d become pals. Lauren was starting to get a little mad. Just because their moms were great friends didn’t mean that Lauren had to be great friends with Chrissy. And even if Chrissy was nice—which she was—that did not necessarily mean that Lauren wanted to spend every moment of her three-week vacation with her! And share a room with her. And probably have her around like every second of every day.
And, most importantly, how on earth would she execute the Love Plan with Chrissy hanging around?
“Easy does it, Lauren,” she said to herself softly. “This is not necessarily the end of the world.”
But she knew it was. Because in truth, Lauren had spent pretty much the entire school year telling all of her friends and anyone else who seemed willing to listen that she and Charlie Anderson were already going out. Which wasn’t exactly totally true. In fact, it wasn’t even a tiny bit true. The truth was, they had only spoken once, for exactly thirteen seconds.
It had been on a hot day last summer, two weeks into their stay at the beach house. Lauren had been out shopping with her mom. After a day of dragging her around to boring antique stores, Lauren’s mom took pity on her and let her go get an ice cream at Rudy’s by herself while she finished up shopping across the street. Instead of getting a cone, Lauren ordered her favorite drink—a strawberry frappé with whipped cream. When her order came up, the girl behind the counter called, “Strawberry frappé with whipped!” and Lauren jumped up to get it and practically collided with Charlie, who she’d been crushing on from afar for two straight summers. It turned out, they had both ordered the same thing! He’d been sitting with his friends, around the corner at the long table. Lauren almost couldn’t believe it. He loved strawberry frappés with whipped just as she did! What were the odds of that? It had to be a sign.
After a brief, semi-awkward moment when the girl had apologized to them for not realizing it was two separate orders and went off to whip up a second frappé, Lauren and Charlie actually spoke. Their one and only conversation. It went like this:
Lauren: “Small world, right?”
Charlie: “Right.”
Lauren: “Um, they sure have awesome frappés here! They’re all really good, but strawberry’s definitely the best, don’t you think?”
Charlie: “Yeah, they’re awesome.”
Then Charlie stared out the window and waited for the second frappé. Lauren racked her brains trying to come up with something else to say, but it was like she had suddenly lost the power of speech. After an eternity the girl slid the second frappé across the counter for Charlie. Lauren awkwardly lifted her cup in a good-bye gesture and left the shop so Charlie wouldn’t see her sitting by herself at a table and think she had no friends. She drifted down the block, barely seeing the world in front of her, playing and replaying the conversation in her mind and visualizing his perfect face. The way one side of his mouth lifted in that lopsided grin he had. The way his light, bright blue eyes stood out against his perfect tan skin. The way his sun-bleached blond hair looked so adorably shaggy. She’d been so distracted thinking about Charlie that she’d almost walked into a parking meter.
And that was the only convers
ation she’d ever had with him. But even though they had only spoken once, she felt she knew him. After all, she’d been watching him for two summers now. She knew he had a mom and dad and older sister. She knew there was a grandmother in the mix. She knew roughly where his summer house was situated even though she wasn’t sure exactly which one it was—right near the beach, one of a clump of houses overlooking the dunes. It wasn’t that she was spying on him exactly. Well maybe a little. But Lauren preferred to think of it more as “collecting evidence.” Knowing details about him helped when she was formulating the Plan.
But that wasn’t all she knew about Charlie. She had observed him many times with his parents at the beach, staring around the side of her book or magazine, her gaze camouflaged behind her big sunglasses. She knew a lot about his family. His dad was tall and handsome for an old guy—no surprise there, given how handsome Charlie was. His mom was blond and pretty, with a cool haircut and expensive-looking sunglasses. She seemed to really like water, because she was always carrying around an enormous bottle of it. Lauren had only seen Charlie’s sister a couple of times. The first time had been at the beach last summer. For a sickening moment, Lauren thought she was Charlie’s beautiful girlfriend, but then she noticed the family resemblance and relaxed. One day Lauren watched as Charlie threw sand all over his sister and she ran around shrieking and yelling at him. Charlie yelled back and moments later his sister stomped off. The next time Lauren saw them on the beach, they seemed to be fine with each other. Lauren wondered if this was the way brothers and sisters acted all the time, teasing each other and arguing, but then acting later like nothing was wrong. She didn’t necessarily want a brother or sister, but she was always curious about what it must be like.
Knowing everything there was to know about Charlie was a big part of the Plan. Thinking of the Plan again, Lauren felt a knot form in her stomach. How would Chrissy respond when she discovered Lauren had lied about her relationship with Charlie? Worse yet, how could she possibly execute the Plan with Chrissy around for the whole trip? Lauren groaned again and fell back onto her pillow, squeezing her eyes closed. Disaster.
Lauren's Beach Crush Page 1
