Tinka tapped her watch and said, “Start time’s in three minutes and I don’t see Ghost Girl.”
“Looks like a DQ for the Sunflower Bunk,” said Kaya.
Just then, Maisy broke through the birch trees. I never thought I would be so happy to see someone.
“I brought our team bracelets.” Maisy opened up her hand to reveal bracelets with perfect sunflowers knotted in the middle of each one. “I spent the past few days finishing them.”
My bunkmates looked to me to see how to react. I reached for a bracelet and put it on my wrist. Hannah, Isa, and Poppy all followed suit.
Isa nudged Maisy in the arm. “Way to make us sweat it out, Maisy.”
Kaya pursed her puffy lips into a smirk. “Those bracelets will look good when we’re running past you.”
Hannah took a step forward. “None of you will get past Maisy.”
“We all heard about how the least athletic girl at camp is a freakishly fast runner,” said one of the A twins.
“That’s so cute,” sneered the other A twin.
“It’ll be really cute when I pass you all at the finish line,” said Maisy.
“I was medaling at the AAU Junior Olympics this spring while you were sitting home painting your nails,” Tinka said. “Good luck passing me.”
Maisy’s tan turned the slightest shade paler, but she stood tall and puffed her chest out. “Can’t wait to brag about kicking the butt of a Junior Olympics champion.”
“Good luck with that,” said one of the A twins. “It’s not like you’ll make it through the ropes course anyway.”
“See you losers at the finish line!” yelled Isa over her shoulder as she took off toward the race start, with us following close behind.
All the other bunks were already lined up on the bright red line spray-painted across the field. We squeezed through the teams until we found an opening on the starting line.
Isa turned to Maisy. “Be aggressive at the start. Push your way to the front of the pack with me so we’re first at the path entrance. It’s a lot harder to pass girls in the woods than it is to take the lead in the open field.”
Maisy nodded. “Be aggressive. Push to front. Got it.”
Hannah leaned into Maisy. “Be careful in the woods. That’s where everyone starts pushing and shoving.”
Maisy smiled at us. “I plan to be so far ahead, no one can push me around.”
I felt that excited butterfly feeling in the pit of my stomach I get when I’m about to ace a big test. We were in this together and had a chance at the Cup.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
MAISY
I KNOW THIS WON’T COME AS A SHOCK, BUT THE TOURNAMENT IS PRETTY much the first time I’ve competed in anything athletic. Seriously, the only thing that keeps me from getting picked last in PE is that I’m part of the M & Ms, and the M& Ms don’t get picked last for anything. The only time I get competitive is when I’m auditioning for a show. But to prove to the girls that we were really friends, I needed to help them win the Amelia Cup. More importantly, to prove to Bea that everything about this summer was real, I needed to do this for her.
It was just my luck to be competing against a Junior Olympian in the one thing I’m actually good at. I thought about what Dr. Beth said about words not always being enough. So I took a deep breath in for three counts, then out for six. I did it one more time for extra luck. Then I put my game face on.
“How come no one warned me about Tinka being in the kiddie Olympics?” I asked.
Isa bit her bottom lip. “Because we didn’t know.”
Poppy put one hand on Isa’s arm and one on mine. “Don’t let their mind games intimidate you. She only won the Junior Olympics meet because she competed in it. Maybe you would’ve been the champion if you had been there.”
“Poppy’s right,” Bea said. “If they were so convinced Tinka was going to bring them the win, they wouldn’t have dropped that news on your lap right before the race.”
“Exactly,” Hannah cut in. “They wouldn’t try to psych you out if the win was a guarantee for Tinka.”
“We got this,” said Isa. “Now let’s get to the starting line before we get DQed.”
There were thirty-some-odd girls lined up across the painted red line in the grass. Of course, the only spot we could elbow our way into was right next to the Dandelion girls. The A twins were on both sides of Tinka like two bodyguards. I had no shot of getting close to outrunning Tinka with them muscling me out of the way.
Bea looked at me, and she was cleary just as worried about the twins taking me out. “Since Poppy’s sitting this event out, Hannah and I will stick close to Isa and Maisy as we cut across the field. We can’t keep up with them in the woods, but we need to be their defense on the way in, so no one cuts them off at the pass,” she hissed.
Hannah whispered without moving her lips. “Good plan. I’ll take their left, Bea, you take the right, and we’ll box out the twins.”
It hit me right there on the crowded start line: we were running as a real pack. I had never felt totally part of the M & Ms. I never felt like they had my back. I couldn’t think of one situation where they would look out for me like this.
“On your marks!” called Bailey.
My hands were shaking as I lined up at the starting line. I ran through a checklist in my mind—laces were tied, shorts drawstring double-knotted, hair pulled back out of my face. Everything was in the right order, now I just needed to run my heart out, and I needed to make sure Tinka didn’t get ahead of me.
“Get set!” yelled Bailey.
My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest. A loud whistle sounded, and I felt the rush of the girls around me as we all pushed forward in one big clump.
I could hear Bea breathing in my ear as she made a barrier between me and the A twin who was trying to knock into me. I never realized running could be a contact sport.
“You got this,” huffed Bea in my ear.
I felt claustrophobic with the bodies pushing on all sides of me, so I ran faster to get away from them. The faster I ran, the faster my bunkmates ran, even though Hannah and Bea sounded like they were hyperventilating.
I kept my eye on the opening to the woods and cut across the grass as fast as I could on a diagonal, just like Ainsley taught me. Isa was right at my heels yelling at me to not let Tinka get ahead of me in the woods.
I could see Tinka getting closer to the woods, so I ran faster, but I couldn’t get around the A twins who were like a big wall between me and my competition. Meanwhile, Kaya ran in a zig-zag line in front of me so every time I got close to the A twins she would almost trip me. I watched as Tinka got into the woods on the tiny, narrow dirt trail first, with Kaya and the twins right behind her.
I pushed past all the other runners and got right behind the A twins, who had started to slow down. I couldn’t see past them, but I knew Tinka was getting farther and farther ahead.
Isa was at my heels, but Bea and Hannah had dropped way behind.
This was the first time in my life when being smaller than everyone else helped, because as soon as I saw a tiny gap between a tree and the path, I squeezed past the twins.
I had to move faster if I wanted to close the gap between Tinka and me. I kept my eyes on her bright purple sneakers and pushed myself to go as fast as I could. But the faster I went, the faster she went. Her legs were so much longer than mine, that it felt like I had to take two steps for every one she took.
As the trail narrowed, I knew there was no way I could get around her until the path opened back up to the field leading to the finish line.
Tinka broke through the woods first and made her way toward the red tape.
Ainsley screamed, “You got this, Maisy!”
Bailey yelled, “She’s coming up behind you, Tinka! Don’t let her pass you in the chute.”
I could tell Tinka was running as fast as she could because she didn’t even pick up her pace when Bailey yelled. I kicked into high gear and moved wit
hin inches of her. With a final rush of adrenaline, I finally overtook her and sprinted as fast as I could toward the finish line, with Tinka now at my heels.
Ainsley jumped up and down and cheered for me at the top of her lungs.
“Go, Maisy! Go!” she yelled.
I threw myself into the plastic tape, but as usual I was too small for normal things like a dramatic finish, and my whole body bounced back. Ainsley laughed and ripped it for me so I could run through it.
Then she held up her stopwatch. “A new camp record! Maisy Winters finishes the two-mile course in 11:08!”
I jumped in the air with both my fists up to the sky.
Ainsley picked me up and swung me around. “I knew you could do it!”
She was just putting me back down on the ground when Tinka huffed and puffed into second place before doubling over like she was going to throw up.
“And Tinka takes second!” Bailey yelled.
“Isa takes third!” Ainsley shouted, seconds later.
Isa ran over and hugged me. It felt amazing. I had earned that hug.
Now it was just down to Bea and Hannah against the A twins. If Bea and Hannah caught up to them, we would be all set. We heard a rustling from the woods and we could see the brush shaking. Then Bea and Hannah shot out from the trees with dirt on their faces and bloody streaks on their knees and elbows. They shot across the field with the equally banged-up A twins at their heels.
Bea ran over to me as soon as she crossed the finish line. Her face was bright red and her sweaty curls were sticking out all over the place. “Did you do it, Maisy? Did you get first place?”
This moment was even better than crossing the finish line. “Yes!” I shouted.
“I knew you could,” Bea said.
Ainsley pulled us all in a huddle. “Great job, girls! As long as Bea and Poppy come through in the swim and Isa and Hannah power through with the kayaks, we have a shot.”
Ainsley put her hand in the middle of the circle. Hannah put hers on top, then came Isa’s hand, then Poppy’s. Bea put her hand on top of Poppy’s and nodded at me. I put my hand on top of Bea’s. Then we all shouted, “Sunflower Bunk!” as we threw our arms up in the air.
BEA
“You girls killed it on the swim and the kayak!” yelled Ainsley. “We’re ahead of the Dandelion girls by a slim margin. Isa, this is the event that you sit out. Hannah and Poppy, you guys need to move through the ropes as fast as you can. Bea, your only job is to get Maisy through the course.”
The ropes course start is staggered, so each bunk gets through it on their own and gets timed by their bunk counselor. Hannah and Poppy took Ainsley’s words to heart and flew up the tree and navigated the course in record time. Which meant we had a shot at winning, as long as Maisy didn’t get overcome with anxiety on the course.
As Maisy and I stood at the bottom of the tree, I said, “I’ve got your back.”
I had never seen Maisy look so serious before. She took a deep breath and said, “Don’t worry, Bea. I’ve got this.”
Ainsley yelled, “On the count of three! Then I’m starting the stopwatch.”
Maisy tugged on her helmet and double-checked that the strap was secure under her chin.
“One!” yelled Ainsley.
Maisy pulled at her harness to ensure that it was tight enough. All of her neurotic safety checks were doing nothing to assure me that she had this.
“Two!” yelled Ainsley.
Maisy rubbed her hands back and forth vigorously and took a deep breath. Then she mumbled something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like the Hail Mary. At this rate, I was going to be the one who ended up having a panic attack.
“Three!” yelled Ainsley.
Maisy stood frozen at the base of the tree. I balled my hands into tight fists and held my breath. But then Maisy put her foot in the first rung and I realized we had a shot.
Maisy had gotten much stronger after a summer of conditioning sessions and tournament practices with a bunk full of type A athletes. She climbed the tree rather quickly and I stayed right at her heels until we reached the top. I expected her to hesitate like she usually did at the precipice of the platform, but she climbed right up without pause.
As soon as I secured my place next to Maisy on the platform, I grabbed the zipline bar.
“Remember, we can’t zipline at the same time. You’ll have to go by yourself. Do you want to go first or second?” I asked.
Maisy blurted out, “First. So I can’t chicken out.”
“You can do this,” I said, as I handed her the zipline bar. “I will be right behind you.”
“Ready?” I asked.
Maisy nodded quickly, almost as if she was scared she would change her mind. She stood on the platform with the bar in her hand. “Give me a push,” she said.
“What? Are you sure?” I asked.
Maisy nodded rapidly. “Yes, just do it. It’s the only way I’ll be able to jump.”
I put my hand on the small of Maisy’s back. My instinct was to give her a gentle push, because she is such a delicate person. But I knew the harder the push, the faster she would propel across the zipline and get the experience over with more quickly, so I used all of my body weight and thrust her off the platform. I have to admit it felt pretty good to give Maisy a shove.
She was surprisingly quiet as she flew through the trees. But she’s always been eerily quiet when she’s most terrified. As soon as she got to the other side, she shot the zipline bar back to me and I grabbed it and jumped off the platform.
Maisy was waiting for me on the other platform. I could tell her nerves were kicking in because her hands were shaky, and she was Ghost Amelia pale.
“We got this,” I said. “I’m not leaving your side.”
“Promise?” asked Maisy.
I nodded. “Promise.”
We continued to climb and zipline through the layers of ropes together, like a real team. She didn’t stop and ask me a million questions about the harness or the rope. She didn’t do that slow breathing thing she does when she’s nervous. She just kept going.
Poppy, Hannah, and Isa screamed and cheered when Maisy and I finally reached the spider web.
I turned to Maisy. “This is it. All we have to do is get through the spider web and we’re done! We got so close last time. You just need to push yourself to that last rung.”
“After this, I am never climbing another rope for the rest of my life!” she said.
I neglected to point out that Project Adventure, which was essentially nothing but ropes climbing, would be part of our middle school PE curriculum.
Maisy took one deep breath, then reached for the ropes. I waited for her to get to the first layer of the web before I climbed on. I could tell she was terrified and I tried really hard to move slow and steady so I didn’t shake her too much. Surprisingly, Maisy kept moving forward without stopping. She put one hand in front of the other and one foot in front of the other and moved higher up the web. Every time she climbed to the next row, I waited for her to stop, but she kept moving until she got to that last row before the top platform. I thought maybe that meant she was going to be okay, but as soon as she got to the last row, she froze.
I was inches from her feet.
“Don’t look down!” yelled Kaya from below.
“We’ll catch you if you fall,” shrieked the A twins, holding out their arms.
“Don’t listen to them,” I hissed. “You can do this.”
Maisy started to cry so hard, I could feel us both swaying back and forth on the rope, so that even I was getting scared of falling. “I can’t do it, Bea. I can’t stop shaking.”
I let go of the rope with my right hand and put it over hers. Then I moved my left hand off the ropes and covered her hand with mine so that my whole body covered hers. “You can do this. I am going to stay here with you until you stop shaking and you feel like you can move. Okay?”
Her body was trembling so hard that even her teeth w
ere chattering. “You made it up this high. How are you going to feel if you don’t make it to the top?”
Finally, she took a deep breath and said, “I think I can do it. Just don’t leave me.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said. “I’m just going to let go of you and move a teeny bit lower so you can move up, but I’ll be right behind you.”
The whole spider web shook back and forth as Maisy pulled herself to the next level of ropes and up on the platform. As soon as I got up there with her, Maisy grabbed my hand and raised it up to the sky. Then she screamed through the trees. “We did it! We did it together!”
Ainsley yelled, “Three minutes fifty seconds! You did it! We won!”
I was so shocked I just stood there frozen on the platform until Maisy shrieked, “We won! We did it, Bea!”
I didn’t know if Maisy and I were still in a fight or if she really meant all those horrible things she said. But I didn’t care. I gave her a victory hug just like the time we won the school talent show. All at once I could feel all of our big moments together, the time I taught Maisy how to ride a two-wheeler, when we got our second holes pierced together at the mall, that time she stayed on the phone with me all night when I slept at Dad’s new place for the first time.
I don’t know who started crying first, but we hugged until we both had wet cheeks and snot coming from our noses. When I pulled away, we said at the exact same time, “I’m sorry.”
Bailey’s voice over a microphone interrupted our moment. “The Sunflower Bunk wins the tournament, which makes them the first bunk to win the Amelia Cup in fifty years.”
Ainsley yelled from below. “Get your butts down here so we can celebrate!”
Maisy and I climbed down to the ground and Hannah, Poppy, and Isa pounced on us. We fell on the ground in a huddle of hugs, tears, and screams, and suddenly, the popularity pact didn’t matter.
CHAPTER TWENTY
MAISY
BEA AND I WALKED TOGETHER FROM THE SPECIAL TOURNAMENT dinner to the end-of-summer bonfire. Maybe if there were more fun celebrations instead of constant conditioning and workouts, Camp Amelia would seem less like boot camp. Anyway, the other girls gave us some space because they could tell we needed to talk.
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