Crossing Over by Stacy Davidowitz

Author:Stacy Davidowitz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abrams
Published: 2016-03-06T16:00:00+00:00

Melman sprinted down Forest Hill in her one-piece Speedo, then dove from the dock into the lake. The water was cool and refreshing, and a school of tiny fish nibbled on her toes. “Come in! It feels so good!” she called to the Faith and Hamburger Hillers approaching the dock. Slimey sat on the top rung of the dock’s ladder and slowly lowered herself into the water. Smelly and Totle cannonballed over her. They made waves, and Melman rode them while on her back, soaking up the sun and relishing the very last activity period she’d spend as herself for the next three days. In T-minus forty-five minutes, she’d be a princess. Ugh.

Melman swam to Slimey at the edge of the dock. “I’m kind of freaking out, Slimes,” she admitted. Today she’d struck out at softball, almost sawed off a finger in Woodworking, clocked in thirty seconds slower at the climbing wall, and only ate one and a half grilled cheeses at lunch. So yeah, she was nervous. “Are you sure I made the right choice?”

“I’m sure,” Slimey reassured her. “You can’t be a tomboy forever!”

Melman felt her throat knot. Since when was there an expiration date on wearing baseball caps and long shorts and jerseys? They were thirteen, not, like, twenty-two. And even at twenty-two, would it matter? “I mean, there’s no law against it,” Melman said, and then dunked into an underwater flip. Committing to three days of girliness was a lot. Committing to a lifetime of girliness was unimaginable. Melman was surprised her best friend didn’t realize that.

When Melman rose from the water, Slimey was giggling at Smelly, who was back on the dock. He launched into the water, this time straight like a pencil.

Slimey leaned in close to Melman, her eyes bulging. “So, Totle asked Bobby if you were going to be here at the lake,” she whispered.

“Cool.” Melman wondered what was so exciting about that. “What did Smelly say?”

“He said you were coming to the lake, but, Mel, that’s not the point. The point is, Totle asked about you because he likes you.”

Melman felt her heart begin to pound. She’d hoped the Ghost Court challenge would buy her some time. She still had no idea how she felt, and she imagined the stress of being a princess for three days wouldn’t help her figure that out. “I don’t know if I like him like that. How did you know you liked Smelly?”

Melman followed Slimey’s gaze to Smelly. He and Totle were front-crawl racing to the buoys. Totle was winning. By a lot. “Um, I wanted to be around him all the time. I thought about him a lot. I felt like I had an actual butterfly in my stomach when we talked and flirted and stuff.”

Melman didn’t feel any of those things. She guessed she had her answer.

“But it’s different for everyone,” Slimey continued, as if she could read Melman’s mind. “Sometimes you don’t realize you like a guy until you hang out with him a lot or you kiss him.

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