Dog Beach Unleashed by Lisa Greenwald Read Free Book Online Page B

“I guess all you can really do is be there for your friend and listen. Let her know that you care.”
    â€œMaybe,” I say. “I just feel like I should be doing more. Helping more. You know?”
    He nods. “I know. You like to help. But sometimes just being around is helping. Sometimes less is more.”
    He’s probably right, but I wanted something concrete, something that I could actually do to help Claire.
    It feels terrible to know that you can’t fix something. I can’t fix how Claire is feeling, just like she can’t fix the problems her parents are having.
    But there has to be something I can do.
    Later that night, I toss and turn, unable to fall asleep. Marilyn Monroe is getting frustrated, too, whimpering every time I move. She hops off the bed and chooses to sleep on my window seat. Normally she puts up with my erratic sleep behavior. Not tonight. I guess she’s too tired from her big day on Dog Beach.
    When I really can’t take the insomnia anymore, I decide to text Micayla and see if she’s up. It’s pretty common for both of us to have trouble sleeping on the same nights. I’m grateful that we’re on good terms again and she’s not feeling left out anymore. At least my friendship with Micayla is one thing I can feel good about right now.
    Are you up?
    I wait for a response, then hop out of bed to go to thebathroom, and when I get back, there’s a text message on my screen.
    Yes, unfortunately. Call me.
    I tiptoe out of my room because I don’t want to wake Marilyn Monroe. I go out onto the back porch to call Micayla. One of the zillion wonderful things about Seagate is that I can go outside even in the middle of the night and Mom and Dad don’t worry. We don’t have an alarm that will go off. I don’t need to take an elevator, or even a flight of stairs. I can go right outside and breathe in the ocean air at any hour of the day or night.
    It’s the best thing in the world.
    â€œWhat’s up?” Micayla says.
    â€œCan’t sleep. I dunno. What about you?”
    She sighs. “Me neither. My sister and my mom had this huge fight, and it’s been bugging me.”
    â€œWhat was the fight about?” I ask.
    â€œSomething boring, like studying abroad. My mom thinks my sister should consider it, but my sister doesn’t want to because of what her friends are doing, or something like that. I don’t really know.” She pauses. “I hate it when they fight.”
    â€œI’m sorry,” I say. “That sounds horrible.”
    â€œWhat’s on your mind? Why can’t you sleep?” she asks me.
    â€œWell, a few things. I guess partly the whole Claire situation. I feel like she’s going through such a hard time, andI don’t know how to help. And then there’s what you said before.”
    â€œAbout Calvin?” She groans. “I shouldn’t have told you. I knew you’d freak out.”
    â€œFreak out?” I say way too loudly for almost one in the morning. “I’m not freaking out. I’m just thinking about it.”
    â€œRight now you’re freaking out because I
said
you were freaking out.” She laughs. “See what I mean?”
    â€œNo.” I roll my eyes, wishing she could see that through the phone. “Just tell me why you think that. Okay?”
    â€œI overheard him telling Bennett.”
    My heart pounds. “What do you mean, he told Bennett? Like, he said it flat out?”
    â€œKind of. I mean, it was in boy talk. They said ‘dude’ a lot and ‘yeah, she’s cool’ and that kind of thing.”
    â€œAnd what did Bennett say?” I ask.
    She waits a second to answer. “He was just, like, ‘Cool, go for it.’ ”
    â€œReally?” My entire heart slips away like an ice cream cone dropped on a hot sidewalk.
    If Bennett doesn’t care, then he doesn’t like me the