Hailey Twitch and the Campground Itch by Lauren Barnholdt

Author:Lauren Barnholdt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Published: 2011-09-23T04:00:00+00:00

I wait for Addie Jokobeck to scream very loud. She does not like to be startled. But when it does not happen, I look up. And that is because I did not grab Addie Jokobeck’s leg! I grabbed someone else’s. A boy!

This is horrible since I do not like strangers. And I do not like boys. This weird boy is giving me a very big smile. He is missing all his top and bottom teeth, and he has five whole freckles on his nose. And then I recognize him immediately right away! He is the red-haired boy who pushed me right out of the way in the arcade! He ran up and stole that stuffed dog that I really wanted.

“Sorry, Boy,” I say. “I thought you were my friend Addie Jokobeck.” I turn around to look for Addie. And there she is, splashing over in the water away from me.

“Addie!” I yell. “We are supposed to be playing shark. Remember?”

“Yes,” she says. “You were going to be a shark and find me and eat my brains.”

“Right!” I say. “Because your ship has overturned, and you are lost at sea and a big pirate was after you, but now you are maybe going to get eaten right up by a shark.”

I go to swim underwater. I am very good at underwater swimming. You just blow water right out of your nose and keep your eyes shut very, very tight, and it is very easy and fun.

But before I can go into that nice cool water, someone is tapping me on the shoulder. I turn around. It is that boy!

“Boy,” I say. “Please go away.”

“My name is not Boy,” he says. And he gives me a big grin. “My name is Hayden, and I am eight, and I have seen a shark in real life.”

I do not want to listen to this. But I have to admit that I am very interested in someone who has seen a shark in real life.

“You saw it in this water?!” Addie Jokobeck yells. She is looking like maybe she wants to run right out of this place. “I told you it was too cold to go swimming, Hailey!”

“No,” Hayden the Stranger Boy says. “I did not see it here. I saw it in North Carolina. That’s where my grandma lives.”

“Did that shark bite you?” I ask him. I look at his arms to see if there are any huge teeth marks.

“No,” he says.

“Did you get a picture of it?”

“No.”

“Was it a big story on the news?”

“No.”

“Then you are a liar.”

“I am not a liar!” he says. But I do not believe him. Because “I am not a liar” is what I say when I am lying about something.

“Come on, Addie,” I say. “That boy we just met is a big fat liar.” We swim away, and then Maybelle flies over and gives that boy a little paddle of water with her wings. And it goes right into his face. I want to laugh. But I do not.

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