Sink or Swim (4 page)

Eliot loped down the stairs slowly, clinging to the banister rails. “What, Mama?”

“I’d like you to meet our new friend, Madison. She’s going to be helping Mama this summer. Remember I told you that we would have a friend take you to the pool and play in the water?”

Eliot nodded. He jumped off the bottom step and ran right for his mother’s left leg. He clung so hard his fingers left white marks on Mrs. Reed’s sunburned skin.

“Okay, now, Eliot. I want you to say hello to Madison. Can you do that?” Mrs. Reed pushed him gently off her leg, and he let out a little scream.

Dad leaned over to Madison. “He’s a cutie,” Dad said. “He’ll warm up to you in no time.”

Eliot stared at Madison without moving. She was beginning to panic.

“Go ahead and say hello,” Mrs. Reed said, encouraging him. “Why don’t you show Madison your new blue truck?”

Madison searched the floor for the truck. She lifted it into the air. “Is this yours?” she asked aloud. “Should we play with it?”

Eliot stuck his thumb into his mouth and started to suck hard. He shook his head and murmured. “Mmmmnnnnnn,” he said. Madison didn’t know if that was a yes or a no.

Becka let out a teeny squeal, and Eliot turned around to face his sister. He pointed at her. “My baby,” he said. “My baby sistah.”

Madison nodded. “She’s nice. How old is your sister?” she asked.

Mrs. Reed smiled. “Eliot, why don’t you show Madison your train set in the other room?”

Eliot shook his head. “No,” he said.

Madison blinked. “Oh, well,” she joked. “We can do something else.”

Eliot smiled. “Pee-pee,” he said.

Madison’s face blanched white for a second. “Huh? Um…is that some kind of game?” she asked Mrs. Reed.

Mrs. Reed chuckled softly. “No, Madison. He has to go to the bathroom. We’re just starting potty training. He still wears diapers sometimes, but he’s doing better.”

“Pee-pee! Pee-pee!” Eliot yelled. He stomped his feet and jumped up and down a little without ever taking his chewed-on thumb out of his mouth.

Mrs. Reed called him over and gently whispered in his ear. Eliot disappeared into the next room, and Madison was sure he was off to the bathroom. But he came right back with a wooden train car that was painted red and black. Mrs. Reed made a little face at him, and he vanished again—this time for the bathroom.

Madison tapped her feet, crossed and then uncrossed her arms. She was still feeling a little nervous.

“Eliot seems like a great kid,” Dad said to Mrs. Reed. “He’s very cute.”

She nodded. “He’s just having a hard time with his new sister. But I suspect it won’t last. Especially once he becomes your friend, Madison!”

Madison raised her eyebrows. “So does that mean I have the job?” she asked.

“I hope so!” Mrs. Reed said. “We would all love to have you!”

Dad put his arm around Madison’s shoulders and squeezed.

“When can you start?” Mrs. Reed asked.

“Whenever you need me,” Madison said with a shrug. “Tomorrow?”

“Hooray!” Mrs. Reed said. “Tomorrow it is.”

Even little Becka cooed.

BABY-SITTING

Rude Awakening:
The joke’s on me—I’m going to be kidding around all summer long. Well, taking care of ONE kid, anyway.

But I am so-o-o psyched. Mrs. Reed is excellent. Plus she makes great lemonade that I will drink every day now.

Dad and I stayed over at her house for almost an hour this morning. The time went by so fast. And Eliot seemed kind of shy, but he showed me his train car eventually—that is, when he finally let go of his mom’s leg. And their two cats, Peanut Butter and Jelly, were friendly most of the time, until Jelly hissed at me and ran under the couch. But who cares about that.

This is a monumental day. I can’t believe I have my first real job!!! I am a real baby-sitter!!!

The really, REALLY cool part is that I will be getting paid $5 an hour for about five hours a day. That is, like, $125 a week, and that is so much money. Now who’s slacking off this summer, Egg? LOL. I can’t wait to start. I am still a little nervous about doing something I’ve never done before, but how hard can baby-sitting really be? I mean, hanging out, playing, and swimming…what’s so tough about that?

Madison hit
SAVE
and opened a new e-mail just for her keypal. She marked it as high priority with a red exclamation point, of course.

From: MadFinn

To: Bigwheels

Subject: Wish You Were Here

Date: Thurs 19 June 12:46 PM

Guess what? I GOT THE JOB!!! And it’s all thanks to you. So now I have like a zillion questions about what games I should play and what else I can do when I actually DO start (which is tomorrow), but right now I have to go to meet my friends at the pool TA-DA!

Is ur little sister away @ camp right now? Oh, BTW, I forgot to mention that Hart will be at the pool all summer

(((((:-{ =

Yours till the baby sits,

Maddie

p.s. What r u doing reading this? u should be outside in the SUN! LOL.

After hitting
SEND
and checking her e-mailbox one last time for any last-minute messages, Madison logged off. She had to hurry! Everyone would be waiting for her at the pool by Lake Dora. And she hadn’t even picked out what bathing suit she wanted to wear.

What kind of bathing suit would a baby-sitter wear?

Madison’s brain whizzed. Within the span of a few hours,
everything
had changed.

“Hey, Phinnie,” Madison called out to her dog. “Should I wear the turquoise bandeau with the terry cloth shorts or my tube top and the red shorts?”

Phin snorted. He was busy chewing on a fake rubber newspaper called
The Doggy Dog Times.

“These make my legs look weird,” Madison said, holding the shorts up to her reflection in the mirror. “And I can’t really wear this top because I have no boobs.”

Madison sighed and finally decided on a light-yellow cropped T-shirt with a sun drawn on the middle of it and a pair of plaid shorts. She got dressed quickly, slipping on her two-piece bathing suit under the shirt and shorts. Afterward Madison punched up the computer screen once again. She needed to see her calendar for the summer.

As of today, she had very important things to add.

Madison cross-referenced important dates with the Lake Dora pool schedule that she’d taken from the recreation center director’s office.

LAKE DORA CLUBHOUSE SUMMER

Outdoor season begins June 14 and ends in mid-September. Contact pro office for details on becoming a member.

SWIMMING

Lake Dora has two pools and a series of swimming docks. Main pool and lake docks are open all day until dusk. Qualified swimmers age 7 and up may swim without a parent. All other children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. No exceptions.

Madison smiled to herself. That’s what she was now. A
guardian.
She read the rest of the flyer.

TENNIS

Lake Dora has four asphalt and two clay courts. Open to members only. Lessons available. Contact clubhouse manager or tennis pro, Ed Wicks.

ACTIVITIES

Please see daily blackboard for children’s activities, including pool games, volleyball, horseshoes, family kickball, and assorted theme weeks. Summer kicks off with the POOL DAY competition in swimming and racing. Assistant lifeguard programs available for children age 12 and up. Summer positions available: pool cleanup, snack shop assistant, and junior game master. Hurry! Classes fill quickly.

EVENINGS

Junior party area is open on Friday and Saturday evenings. You must be at least 12 to attend any of the junior barbecues or dances. The following are planned for summer: Italian Night (pizza party), Halloween Night (costumes and candy bingo), South of the Border Night (piñatas and tacos), and Magic Show (prizes to be awarded).

There was too much to do! Madison wondered how she could have started out the summer without a clue. Now she had a mile-long list of plans!

“Maddie!” Dad’s voice called out. “I know you’re working on the laptop, but I think we better take off. It’ll be sundown before you even get to the pool.”

Dad was exaggerating. It was only one o’clock.

Madison quickly checked her reflection to make sure that the shorts fit okay and that her bathing suit straps weren’t showing. Phin rubbed up against her leg as if to say, “Don’t go to the pool! Stay here and snuggle with me!” but Madison promptly gave him the brush-off.

“Phinnie,” she said gently. “Stephanie is going to take you for a walk this afternoon, okay? I’ll be back later.” She kissed the top of his head, and he let out a long, hot sigh.

“Dad! I’m coming!” Madison squealed, tossing her pool flip-flops into her bag and dashing to the door. She couldn’t wait to see Hart in his swim trunks and shades. She knew he’d look cuter than cute, even with sunblock smeared all over his nose.

In the car on the way over, Dad talked more about Mrs. Reed and the baby-sitting job. “You know, Maddie,” Dad said, “I am so proud of you. And your mom is going to be proud, too.”

Madison wished she could have shared the job news with Mom in person.

“But having a job will make the summer very different,” Dad continued. “I’ll bet this afternoon is the last day for a while that you get to hang out at Lake Dora with just your friends.”

“What do you mean?” Madison asked.

Dad shrugged. “Well, you have little Eliot to take care of now.”

“What does Eliot have to do with my friends?” Madison asked. She gazed out the window as they drove.

As Dad pulled into the Lake Dora parking lot, Madison spotted Fiona and Aimee standing over by the snack shop. She hopped out of the car, gave Dad a quick kiss, and hurried away.

“Maddie!” Aimee and Fiona screeched at the same time.

Madison waved. “You both look awesome—as usual.”

Fiona giggled.

“So?” Aimee said expectantly.

“So?” Madison repeated.

“Tell us how it went!” Aimee blurted. “Did you get the job? Did you meet the woman from the ad? What happened?”

Madison grinned. “Oh yeah. She gave me the job.”

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!

All three girls squealed.

“Whoa, Maddie,” Fiona said. “That is so great!”

Aimee gave Madison a big squeeze. “We said you would get it!”

“I can’t believe it,” Madison said. “Now I have real plans, just like you.”

“Hey, Finnster!”

Madison felt her body straighten up as soon as she heard Hart’s voice. He waved to all three girls as he walked past on his way to the lifeguard area. Egg and Drew were already inside.

“Hart’s a nice guy,” Aimee said, twirling her blond hair. “If he wasn’t going out with Ivy Daly, I think I might like him.”

Fiona giggled again. “Then you and Hart and Egg and I could double-date.”

“Yeah, and Maddie could go with Dan or Drew and we could triple-date!” Aimee added.

Madison’s jaw dropped. Sometimes her BFFs said the strangest things. Madison didn’t even know how to respond, so she just ignored the comments. They didn’t
mean
anything. Aimee had no real interest in pursuing Hart because she was too much in like with Ben Buckley, right? And any stories of Hart and Ivy were just unconfirmed junior-high rumors, right? Madison certainly wasn’t planning any kind of dates with Dan or Drew, right?

Good grief.

The girls went into the pool area together and dropped their towels and bags onto the nearest chairs. Aimee flipped on sunglasses and tried to pretend that her brother Dean and his friends weren’t sitting four chairs away.

“I miss ballet,” Aimee said wistfully. “The classes stopped for a couple of weeks before summer sessions.”

“Go swimming instead,” Madison suggested.

“The only problem is that I don’t want to get wet and mess up my hair.” Aimee sighed.

“Are you kidding?” Madison asked. “You don’t want to get wet?”

Fiona snorted.

“Well, no,” Aimee said. “I don’t want to get wet.”

Aimee pulled on a straw hat and her Discman headphones and applied Tan-a-rama lotion to her legs and arms. Of course, Madison knew that behind her shades, Aimee was searching the pool crowd for Ben Buckley.

“Has anyone seen Egg?” Fiona asked. Now that they were an “item,” Fiona always seemed to have Egg on the brain.

“He’s over there,” Madison said, pointing across to a crowd of kids. He was standing with Drew and Hart, and they were all wearing the same green swim trunks and white muscle shirt, the “official” pool uniform. Since they were working, the boys couldn’t come over to chat. They waved from a safe distance.

Fiona waved back. Then she pulled out one of her library book-a-thon books and settled back into the pool chair.

Madison had rushed out of Dad’s without bringing anything to read or listen to. She looked over at Aimee and then Fiona and then back at Aimee again like she was watching a silent tennis match.