Sink or Swim by Laura Dower Read Free Book Online

flying.
    “Hahahahaha.” Eliot stopped wailing for a moment and giggled. He made a raspberry. “Pfffffffffffffffffft!” Madison shot him a look and smiled. But the moment her lips curled into a grin, Eliot’s giggles turned into a low whine again.
    “What’s wrong, El?” Mrs. Reed called into the backseat. “Becka, stop crying.”
    “Should I do something?” Madison asked. She tensed up. “Eliot, it’s okay,” Madison said.
    “Let’s just get in the car,” Mrs. Reed said. “They’ll be fine once we get going.”
    Madison climbed into the front seat, directly in front of Eliot’s car seat. He promptly pinged one of his little minitrucks at her head.
    “Eliot!” his mother screamed. “I said no throwing in the car.”
    Becka’s cry sounded lower and hoarse now. Madison could see her face had turned beet red.
    “They’ll be fine,” Mrs. Reed said, trying to smile. “As soon as we get to the pool, Eliot will—”
    “Thwim! Thwim! Thwim!” Eliot cried out from the back, winging another truck at Madison’s head.
    She scooted down in the seat as Mrs. Reed hit the gas.
    And they were off: the mother, the babysitter, the baby, and the little boy who had obviously made a decision not to be happy in Madison’s presence.
    Madison wondered if the whole summer would be like this.
    She sucked in a breath of cool air-conditioning in the car and hoped for the best.
    The pool was packed. Mrs. Reed had to park in a space that was miles from the entrance. Well, not really miles , but it felt that far to Madison. She was now carrying both tote bags while Mrs. Reed held on to Becka. Eliot raced ahead of everyone.
    “Pool! Pool! I wanna thwim!” he said, jumping into the air.
    “Eliot, I told you to be careful. Now, slow down. There are cars driving around here. You have to hold Madison’s hand,” Mrs. Reed said.
    Madison ran to catch up to him and grabbed his hand.
    Soon they were inside the main entrance. Eliot tugged on Madison’s khaki shorts. “Come on!” he said, ordering Madison to follow him.
    Suddenly he wanted to be friends? Madison was confused.
    “Why don’t you and Eliot go into the pool area and wait for us,” Mrs. Reed suggested. “I’ll just register you as my guest, and then we can find a place to sit.”
    “Okay,” Madison said. She scanned the room for familiar faces. Were Aimee and Fiona here today? They promised they’d come.
    “Finnster! Hey!” Hart came up behind Madison. He was carrying a kickboard for the pool. “What’s up? Are you here with Fiona and Aim?”
    Madison shook her head. “No. Actually, I’m here for my job. I’m a mother’s helper. This is Eliot.”
    Madison pointed down to Eliot, who had his thumb stuck right back in his mouth. He looked up at Hart suspiciously.
    “Do you like to swim, little buddy?” Hart asked.
    Eliot nodded. “Thwim.”
    “Well, I have to go check in. We have to clean up the pool area for some swim test later on,” Hart said. “See ya.”
    “Yeah, later,” Madison said, nodding. Her crush disappeared into the crowd of other swimmers and lifeguards and parents and toddlers running around like wild animals.
    Eliot wanted to join them all.
    “Madison!” Mrs. Reed came wobbling over with Becka. “Here’s your registration card. This says that you’re helping take care of my kids. Just in case there’s any kind of emergency. You know.”
    By some miracle, the four of them found two empty chairs in the middle of all the chaos. The air smelled sweet, like a hundred tubes of coconut oil. Speakers played a surfing, summer song that could be heard faintly behind the shrieks of kids playing Marco Polo.
    Mrs. Reed sat down and pulled out a tube of sunblock cream. She handed it to Madison.
    “No!” Eliot shrieked when Madison tried to rub some onto his shoulders. He was slippery and wiggled right out of her grip.
    “Why don’t you two head over to the kiddie pool?” Mrs. Reed suggested.
    Madison couldn’t believe that her job