Sky Ropes

Sky Ropes — page 3 — CHAPTER ONE ALL WE GOT TO DO NIRAJ SAYS IS CATCH THREE RACCOONS Breanna laughs loud Head thrown back peeling pink elbows resting on the splintery bleachers of Sugar Maple Park she's loving this Niraj one bleacher step down has cooked up his wildest camp prank yet He rests a finger on his chin thinking Babies probably They'll be friendlier Pascale stands on the ground in front of them throwing a softball softball straight up and catching it thwump thwump over and over It's nearly dark but the yellow ball glows in her fingers gathering light from the tall buzzy lamps along the park walkway Raccoons bite she says If you catch a raccoon it'll bite you You'll spend the rest of camp in an emergency room getting rabies shots Her ball thwumps You'd hate that Niraj

Sky Ropes — page 4 — SKY ROPES And she's right He would hate that But Pascale is nothing but a sweet pea trying to reason with Niraj when he's being ridiculous Not Breanna She loves listening to this crap It'll never work but it's funny Let me finish Niraj says I've got it this time He's been trying to think of an epic camp prank his words for the past two and a half months ever since school got out and the pamphlets about sixth grade team building camp started coming in the mail Camp starts tomorrow so he's in panic mode I'll make three signs 1 2 4 and run string through them like necklaces His hands fly as he talks Tonight I'll make them tonight and that's all we'll need He looks at Breanna We means her Her and him She shakes her head and laughs No way she says Camp is for chumps She's not going But then what Niraj she asks egging him on It just feels good listening to Niraj Everything about tonight feels good She's at home here at the park with her friends Pascale and Niraj Scott and Mitchell who left twenty minutes ago The five of them have played ball almost every afternoon and hung out in the evenings as often as they could Like real friends It's been the best summer The best summer since before Breanna moved to Beecham when she was barely six Picture this Niraj says squaring his hands like he's framing the perfect shot There's a big building at camp I saw it in the pamphlets a cafeteria right Breanna nods her head Thwump thwump goes Pascale's softball We catch the baby raccoons we put the signs around their necks and we turn them loose in that big building He stops to 3

Sky Ropes — page 5 — 多 SONDRA SODERBORG make sure they're both paying attention Pascale is already shaking her head We do it before everybody else shows up before breakfast breakfast right The counselors will have to clear out those raccoons He's grinning wide Get it he says They'll go nuts trying to catch them and when they do they'll see 1 2-4 He looks from Breanna to Pascale and back They'll think they've missed one Epic The idea is wild and clever Breanna loves it Epic Niraj she says laughing hard No question about it Pascale has stopped throwing her softball It's too dark for Breanna Breanna to see the profound disapproval in her sweet eyes But it's there She knows Yes Niraj jumps to his feet and the bleachers rattle But Breanna he says and Breanna knows exactly where this is going You know I can't do this without you You're the prank boss The prank ninja The queen of pranks His brown eyes catching the light are pleading Come on You gotta come to camp You gotta Gotta Gotta Sorry Breanna says You're flying solo Camp is for chumps That's been her line all summer Her friends hardly argue anymore She gets up stretches her arms out over her head and sighs It's time to head home but she hates to go Her friends will be gone till Saturday Six days To the team building camp that kicks off sixth grade at Vincent Chin Middle School She's going to miss these chumps But she's worked hard not to go and once she gets through tonight she'll have succeeded Everything about team building camp as the start to middle school is stupid For one it's a terrible way to meet people Kids

Sky Ropes — page 6 — SKY ROPES from five schools including Sternmore Academy where she used to go will be there all the sixth graders starting at Vincent Chin Middle School They're supposed to live together in cabins she and girls she's never even seen before Share a shower Do stuff they don't know how to do Nope She is not going to let kids she doesn't know watch how bad she is at canoeing before they ever see the magic way she rifles a softball across home plate No way Once all the chumps get back she'll meet new kids in the places you're supposed to meet them in the halls of school where she can scare them or crack them up with the lift of an eyebrow Or in Spanish class where she knows all the bad words since her teenage boy cousins were her first and best teachers Or in the cafeteria where her laugh is the loudest and people are always watching her out of the corner of their eye not sure if she's fun or dangerous She's both That's how school is supposed to start That's how it's going to start for her I better get going Pascale says No raccoons Niraj You know that right Niraj laughs but he doesn't agree He's going to make signs 1 2 4 and pack them in the regulation green garbage bag that they have to bring their stuff in For sure he's going to do that I've got to go too Breanna says It's time Time for the last careful steps of her summer long camp avoidance campaign The trickiest part is still ahead she knows You'll show up tomorrow right Niraj won't quit It'll be dumb without you 5

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