Karen's Island Adventure by Ann M. Martin

Author:Ann M. Martin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2016-11-27T05:00:00+00:00

My Island Club Friend

On Wednesday I went to the Island Club with a plan. The plan was not to be pushy with Sandy. When I arrived, she was sitting alone on a bench by the poolhouse.

“Hi, Sandy. Do you want to hear what I did with my family yesterday?” I asked.

I thought that was a very unpushy thing to say.

“No thanks,” replied Sandy.

“You could tell me about your afternoon if you want. I will just listen,” I said.

“I do not feel like talking now.”

The old pushy me would have asked why. The new unpushy me said, “Maybe later you will feel like talking.”

“Let’s get started, Island Clubbers!” said Jenny. “Who wants to have a water relay race? All in favor say aye!”

“Aye!” shouted almost all the Island Clubbers.

I knew Sandy would not want to be in a water relay race. But I did not say one word. I pinched my lips shut and headed down to the water. Being unpushy is hard.

Being in a water relay race is easy. And fun. There were five of us on each team. I was first on line. Jenny handed me a Ping-Pong ball. When she blew her whistle, I was supposed to swim to a red buoy, tap it twice, and swim back to my team. I swam fast. Everyone on my team swam fast. We won by a mile!

After the race, Jenny asked everyone to gather around for a club meeting. Sandy sat down between two girls. I squeezed in next to her. (Oops. That was a little bit pushy.)

“I thought it would be fun for us to play some games with the Dolphin Club tomorrow,” said Jenny. “Let’s decide together what games we should play.”

“My sister Emily likes Simon says. My brother Andrew likes duck, duck, goose,” I said.

Jenny made a list of the games we suggested. We voted for three games. We picked Simon says; duck, duck, goose; and let’s go fishing.

“I also thought it would be nice to make gifts for the Dolphin Clubbers,” said Jenny. “I have some small visors. We can decorate them now and hand them out tomorrow.”

I turned to Sandy and asked in a very unpushy way, “Do you want to sit next to me?”

Sandy did not even answer. She stood up and sat at a table by herself. That made me mad. I marched over to the table where she was sitting.

“I am only trying to be your friend,” I said.

“Well, I do not want another friend!” replied Sandy.

“Why not?”

“When kids find out I have a heart condition they stop wanting to be my friend. It is even worse when I tell them I had surgery,” replied Sandy. “So I don’t want friends because friends do not last anyway.”

“Those kids were being silly. I know plenty of people who have had surgery. Even my best friend, Nancy Dawes. She had her appendix out. We did not stop being friends for one minute. So you do not have to worry about me,” I said.

Sandy smiled. It was just a little smile.

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