My Extra Best Friend by Julie Bowe Read Free Book Online Page A

glares at her. “I wasn’t talking to you, Liz
butt
. I was talking to Ida.”
    Elizabeth lets the branch whip back into place, just missing Jenna. “Maybe you’re right,” she says crisply. “I know
one
thing hasn’t changed.”
    Jenna stops and squints at her. “What?”
    Elizabeth clomps ahead in her cowboy boots. “You’re still calling me names.”
    Jenna shakes her head as we watch her go. “She’s loonier than a loon. Look at her. Red boots. Plaid shorts. Goofy glasses. This is
nature
camp, not
clown
camp.”
    “Just ignore her,” I say, taking Jenna’s hand. “Then she’ll leave us alone.”
    A minute later, we enter a small clearing inthe woods. A wooden platform stands at the center of it. Almost as tall as me, and a little bit wider.
    “What’s this supposed to be?” Brooke asks, climbing onto the platform and doing an awkward twirl. “A stage for squirrels?”
    “It’s not a stage,” Alex says. “It’s a trust fall platform.”
    Jenna puffs. “What’s it good for?”
    “For building trust,” Alex replies. “The person standing on the platform falls off. Everyone catches her.”
    “She just…falls?” I ask.
    Alex nods. “Stiff and straight, like a domino.”
    “Cool,” Randi says.
    “
Not
cool.” Brooke hops down. “I’d get broken to bits.”
    “Not if you trust us to catch you,” Alex replies.
    Brooke crosses her arms. “What if you
don’t
?”
    Alex smiles. “What if we
do
?”
    Brooke snorts and turns away. “D-U-M
dumb.
”
    Alex looks around our group. “Who wants to give it a try?”
    Everyone gets busy studying their toenailpolish. Except Elizabeth. She’s studying
me
. I pretend not to study her back.
    “We didn’t have to do this last year,” Jenna grumbles again.
    “You don’t have to do it this year either,” Alex says. “Only if you want to.”
    Randi steps forward. “I’ll do it,” she says.
    Brooke’s eyes go wide. “Are you crazy?”
    Randi scrambles onto the platform. “Crazy or not, here I come. Catch me, okay?”
    I gulp. Randi’s the biggest girl in our class. None of us have ever caught her before. Not even in tag.
    Alex lines us up in two rows under the platform, facing each other.
    Shoulder to shoulder.
    Arms out.
    Elbows bent.
    Palms up.
    Brooke snickers, looking up and down our row of twig-thin arms. “She is so dead.”
    We all fidget and nod.
    “Randi trusts you,” Alex says firmly. “Now you need to trust each other.”
    She looks up at Randi. “Stiff and straight,” she reminds her.
    Randi nods. “Like a domino.”
    Then she turns around.
    Straightens her back.
    Locks her knees.
    Crosses her arms.
    “Falling!” she shouts.
    “Fall away!” Alex replies.
    Randi tips back on her heels.
    Whoosh!
    A moment later, she’s lying in our arms.
    “Hi, guys!” she says, smiling up at us. “Thought I’d drop in!”
    “Ohmy
gosh
!” Brooke says. “We did it!”
    “I knew you could,” Alex says.
    “Fun!” Stacey cries. “Me next!”
    She climbs onto the platform.
    A moment later, Stacey falls into our arms too.
    “Hey, we’re getting good at this,” Jolene says.
    “I wish I would have brought my camera,” Meeka puts in.
    “Anyone else?” Alex asks as we set Stacey on her feet.
    “I hope not,” Brooke says, rubbing her arms. “I’ll probably have bruises tomorrow. Nat and Emillie will think I’m a sports freak.”
    Elizabeth starts to raise her hand.
    Jenna steps in, blocking her. “I’ll go.” She kicks her clipboard aside and climbs onto the platform. “But after this, we’ll need a schedule. It can’t be alphabetical since Randi fell first.” She pauses, thinking. “But she
is
tallest. Then Stacey. Then me. The falling schedule will be according to height.”
    “Then consider me invisible,” Brooke says, “because I’m not falling off that thing.”
    Jenna turns around and straightens her back. “If you’re on my schedule, Brooke, you’re falling.”
    Beep! Beep! Beep!
    Jenna pushes a