Page 92 of Banter & Blushes #1

ISLA

T oday was beach day at camp!

Amelie and I were so excited! We put our bathing suits on under our clothes like Meggie told us to, and then we packed the beach bags she gave us with a towel, sunscreen, and a change of clothes.

We all had a different color bag. Together, our bags made a rainbow!

Mine was baby blue. Amelie’s was mint green.

Paisley got light purple, Bianca yellow, Hallie pink, Harlan orange, and Nicki’s was red.

There’s another boy in our group. His name is Archer, and he’s Harlan’s best friend at camp.

He’s Paisley’s best friend, too, from where she lives in Massachusetts.

Their mommies are also best friends. So many best friends!

He got the white bag. Harlan said he’s the cloud!

We all laughed, even Archer, because that was funny.

Meggie has two groups. We were all in Group 1.

Sometimes we did stuff with Meggie. Sometimes we did stuff with Noah.

He’s her assistant. Sometimes we do stuff with both of them and then Group 2 and Group 1 become one big group, called the Sandpipers.

Jamie is Noah’s cousin, and he helps Kat at the barn.

She’s the boss. She’s old—almost thirty-three—and she’s going to have another baby, so she needs a lot of help.

She’s married to Easton, who’s Mr. JC’s brother.

He’s a doctor for big animals and helps take care of the horses.

It’s a lot of people. I’m glad Amelie makes lists. I don’t think she spelled all their names right, but that’s okay. Wynnie calls her writing “invented spelling” and says it’s part of the learning process.

We ate our breakfast really fast today because we wanted to get to camp early.

Last night at dinner, me and Amelie and the girls and Harlan and Archer made a plan for the beach.

We’ll set up our bags in rainbow order so they’re easy to find and spread out our towels in a circle like how our cottage is.

Then we can build a sandcastle in the middle.

Noah said he has a lot of sand toys to bring!

We were going over the plan when Mr. JC ducked under the pavilion.

“Hey, hey, boys and girls!”

We looked up at him. Meggie was handing him a clipboard. That was weird. Where was her tablet?

“Amelie,” I whispered. “I think she lost her tablet!”

“Oh no!”

“She didn’t lose it,” Bianca interrupted. “She doesn’t bring it to beach days ’cause it might get sand in it.”

“That’s very smart!” Amelie praised Meggie.

“Shh!” Harlan shushed us. “He’s waiting for you to stop talking.”

I looked up. Mr. JC was staring right at us.

“Sorry!” I whispered.

He smiled.

I knew I liked him. I smiled back.

“As you all know, Meggie is getting married on Saturday.” We cheered and clapped because that is important!

“And she has some things to do this week to get ready for it. So I’ll be filling in so she can go to her appointments and stuff.

” He rubbed his hands together like my daddy does when he thinks he’s going to announce something we think will be fun. “Who’s ready for the beach?”

“Me!” we all shouted. All sixteen of us!

But not Noah. He looked a little nervous. I wondered why. It was just the beach.

I shrugged. Maybe he didn’t like sand.

“So here’s how it’s going to go. Noah and I will each drive a group in one of the big golf carts.

The beach stairs are steep, so we’ll have to be careful.

A section of the beach will be roped off for us, and there will be a rope with buoys in the water.

You’re not to go under or past the rope.

It’s there for your safety and so we can keep track of you.

It’s a big beach, and we don’t want to lose anyone. Any questions?”

I raised my hand. “Are you a lifeguard?”

He nodded. “Both Noah and I are trained lifeguards. Hallie?”

“Does my mommy know that you and cousin Noah are taking sixteen kids to the beach by yourselves?”

Mr. JC nodded solemnly. “She does. And as you might have guessed, she’ll be joining us there.” He grinned.

Hmm. That was interesting.

Hallie rolled her eyes .

Mr. JC laughed. “You look just like your mom when you do that.” He patted her head. “You don’t need to worry. I run this whole resort, remember? How hard can a day at the beach with sixteen kids be?”

“Jordan helps you run the resort,” Harlan clarified.

“And Mommy says he does a way better job at twenty-four years old than you did,” Hallie accused.

“She’s right. But I’m thirty-two now and a grown man.” He bent down, picked her up, and flipped her upside down. Hallie squealed like the baby piggy at the zoo!

“Put me down!” She sounded mad but she was laughing. We all were!

“Say you’re sorry for doubting my awesomeness.”

“I’m sorry!”

“And tell me I’m your favorite uncle.”

“But you’re not my real uncle!”

“Honorary uncle counts. Say it!”

“You’re my favorite uncle!”

Mr. JC turned her right side up and set her on the ground. “Anyone else have a question?”

We were all quiet, then Archer raised his hand slowly. “Mr. JC?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m a good swimmer. I win all the races.”

“That’s great, Archer! So I know you’ll do a great job helping to keep all the kids within the ropes, and call for me or Noah if you see anyone in trouble.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Awesome.” He adjusted his visor. “If there’s no more questions, let’s go!”

We followed him and Noah on the long walk to the main lodge. It was going to take forever to get to the beach!

When we were finally buckled into the golf carts, I leaned over to whisper to Amelie. “We need to prank him.”

“Why do you want to prank my dad?” Bianca whispered. She was sitting on the other side of Amelie. We were in the back row.

I pointed to Mr. JC. He was singing along to some old song. Hallie and Harlan were riding with him in the front. “Because that’s what you do when someone new joins the team. It’s the official welcome.”

Archer turned around. He and Paisley and Nicki were in the middle row. “I’ve never heard of that. We don’t prank anyone on my teams. It’s against the rules.”

I sighed. “Camp isn’t a kids’ sport, Archer, so don’t worry. My daddy is a professional. And he’s the best prankster on his team. We get pranked, too. It’s all just fun.”

Archer didn’t look convinced.

Amelie backed me up. “We won’t break any rules, and we won’t hurt anybody. We can bury him in the sand and give him a mermaid tail. Or change his drinking water for ocean water. ”

“Like an April fool!” Paisley shouted.

“Shh!” Bianca hushed her. “He can’t suspect!”

“Right!” Paisley agreed.

“So how do we do this with Auntie Shelby there? She has eyes on the back of her head!” Nicki worried.

“Very carefully.” I said. “And maybe we can get Hallie and Harlan to distract her.”

“Good idea,” Nicki agreed.

“I have an idea!” Bianca whispered. “My dad will eat anything. We could trade out his snack for something yucky! It won’t make him mad at all. He always tries Auntie Molly’s gross healthy food experiments. And some he likes!”

We all covered our mouths so he wouldn’t hear us giggle.

“Ooh! I know what we can do!” Nicki lowered her voice. “My Mommy helped Molly make the sandwiches for lunch today. We can choose peanut butter and jelly or turkey and cheese. What if we”—she cupped her hands around her mouth—“combine his! There’s always extra.”

“That’ll work!” I said. “Bianca, you take an extra PB&J. Paisley, you take an extra turkey. Hallie and Harlan can grab onto their mommy’s hands and show her something they found—or lost. Bianca and Paisley will combine the sandwiches—we can eat the extra bread.

Then they can switch it out for one of his sandwiches! ”

“I can distract Mr. JC,” Archer offered. “I’ll throw my Frisbee super far, out of the zone, so he has to go get it!”

We talked more about the plan, and the only thing left to do when we got to the beach was to tell Hallie and Harlan. Bianca filled them in as we walked to the area with the ropes.

It was such a fun morning! We swam and played in the sand.

When it was lunchtime, Noah spread out two really big blankets and unpacked the coolers of food and drinks onto a table that popped up from a bag.

Hallie and Harlan pulled their mom away.

Archer threw his Frisbee, and Mr. JC ran to get it.

Me and Amelie and Nicki asked Noah lots of questions so he wouldn’t watch what Bianca and Paisley were doing.

We all took our food to the blanket for Group 1. Mr. JC came back with Archer’s Frisbee and plopped down next to Bianca. “This my lunch?” he asked, pointing to the sandwich, chips, and apple next to hers.

She nodded, then turned her face away.

Don’t laugh! Don’t laugh! I silently yelled at her.

I looked past the blanket. Mrs. Shelby had just returned to her foldy chair behind Hallie and Harlan and was staring at JC.

She knew!

I held my breath.

Mr. JC slowly unwrapped his sandwich. All of us were watching him. Well, not Group 2. They were on the other blanket with Noah.

“Smells great!” Mr. JC said. We held our breath while he took a big bite .

We all stared at him while he chewed. His eyebrows went up, and the bump in his throat moved up and down a lot. I covered my mouth and tried not to laugh.

He finally swallowed it all. We waited to see what he would say.

“Well. That was delicious! Who here has ever tried peanut butter, jelly, mayonnaise, cheese, and turkey?”

None of us raised our hands.

“You should.” He rubbed his belly and took another bite. Again, he struggled to swallow it. Bianca was right. Her dad would eat anything!

“Who can I thank for this ah-mazing sammie?” He looked at each of us. When his gaze landed on Paisley, she broke.

She laughed and laughed, and the rest of us had to join in. Mr. JC was just pretending to like the sandwich!

“Great prank, kids!” he praised. “You sure got me good!”

Amelie and I high-fived each other. “Daddy is going to be so proud!” she shouted.

I grinned at her. “So proud!” I agreed.