“You okay, Melody?” Mrs. V asked.
My head nodded yes, but my head wasn’t in charge of the rest of me. Nothing new here!
I told Mrs. V that I wanted a fantasy book this time.
“Anything in particular?” she asked.
“No,” I tapped. “Just a good book to sink into.”
We found a really old book called Atta, by Francis Bellamy. I read the flap and it was about a man who somehow gets shrunk to the size of an insect and becomes best friends with an ant. Freaky weird. But kinda cool. That worked fine for my mood. And Mrs. V seemed to be excited about a collection of poetry by Rita Dove, one of her favorites.
We headed back to the children’s section next, just as Mr. Francisco was finishing up story time. Penny had found her dragon book—about a red dragon, even. By the time we got home, Penny was dozing in her car seat, and I was looking forward to reading my book. I tried not to think about camp at all. I was done thinking about that camp. Even though stupid thoughts kept badgering me. If I hadn’t checked the “needs help swimming,” or the “needs help eating” box, would they have accepted me? I told my brain to stop!
But as we were pulling into Mrs. V’s driveway, Mom rushed out our door and tapped her fingernails on the window. She must have just gotten home from work—she still had on her scrubs.
“Melody!” Mom practically screeched.
Mrs. V rolled the window down on my side.
Mom grasped my hand. “Guess what? Guess what? The camp had a cancellation and you’re in! We have to respond immediately. What do you think?”
Wait. What?
Mom held her phone out and read, “?‘We have had a last-minute cancellation and your application has been processed. If you are still interested, we are pleased to inform you that Melody Brooks has been accepted to Camp Green Glades in Greengrass, Ohio. The session begins on Sunday. Please contact us immediately if you are able to accept.’?”
Uh, this Sunday?
She paused. I paused—stunned at the suddenness of it all. So they turned me down, but now they wanted me? I didn’t get it. Was I glad? Uh, I thought so. But I’d let myself dig down into the disappointed hole. I needed a minute to come back up.
Penny woke up and decided she really needed to go to the bathroom. Mom whisked her away, while Mrs. V unbuckled me and rolled me to our house, Butterscotch greeting me with yips of welcome. Mrs. V locked my chair and we sat for a moment in silence in the living room. Sunday? As in, like, just over two days?
Penny came racing from the bathroom and shoved her still-wet hands under my nose. “Mom let me wash ’em with her special raspberry soap!” she said triumphantly. She then climbed up on the sofa with Doodle and her new dragon book.
Mrs. V glanced out the front window. “Your dad’s home, Melody. And I’ve got to feed the cat. Let me know what you guys decide!”
Mom thanked her as she left, then collapsed into the softness of our worn green sofa, grinning at me.
“You’re in! You’re in! You’re in!” she kept whispering as if in disbelief.
Dad gave Mom a curious glance as he sauntered through the front door. He kissed her, then picked Penny up and twirled her around—after she made sure he smelled her hands. He saved his best hug for me, whispering, “What’s the music of Melody singing today?”
I gave him my tightest hug.
“What’s new, my ladies?” he asked.
Wait till he hears THIS news! I thought. My legs started kicking excitedly. Mom jumped up from the couch, sat back down, jumped up, held her head in her hand for a second, then sat back down.
Dad looked a little concerned. “Diane, you okay?” he asked.
Mom jumped up once more. “Nothing is wrong. Everything is right, actually. Melody got accepted into camp! They had a cancellation!”
“Hey, that’s great news!” Dad exclaimed, turning to me. “Congratulations, honey,” he added, planting a kiss on top of my head. “It’ll give you something to look forward to this summer.”
“It’s for next week, actually,” Mom explained. “Like… this coming Sunday.”
“Wow.” Dad exhaled loudly. “That’s fast. Okay, okay. Recalibrate. Can we do this in time?”
“Yes, but…”
They both looked to me.
The conversation between me and my parents went something like this: Mom: “What do you think, Melody?”
Me (tapping out my answer): “I want to go.”
Dad: “I need to call the Better Business Bureau and check on them.”
Me: “I want to go.”
Mom: “There’s not much time to shop and pack and—”
Me: “I want to go.”
Dad: “But you’ve never been away from home overnight before!”
Me: “I want to go.”
Mom (already moving into “mom-planning” mode): “I have to write out instructions on how to feed you and—”
Me: “I want to go.”
Dad: “But it’s two hours away, and we won’t be able to get to you quickly in case of an emergency, and—”
Me: “I want to go.”
Mom: “Oh, Melody! Are you sure? We’ve never been apart from each other for a whole week!”
Me: “I want to go. Pleeeeeeeeeeease?!”
* * *
We told them yes.
Oh, snap. What have I gotten myself into?
CHAPTER 7
So, our life kicked into crazy whirlwind mode. The folks at our local stores and pharmacies and malls now knew us by name—we’ve gone twice a day for the past two days. We’re pretty recognizable—Mom had added a large woven shopping bag to the back of my chair, since we can’t really use a shopping cart. Each time we got to the checkout, it was usually bulging with stuff.