Ten by Lauren Myracle Page B

froze! I totally froze!
    I froze because the Dots were right. Whatever his name was, he was adorable. His brown hair curled up from beneath his Braves hat, and his hazel eyes glinted in the sun.
    But he was more than just adorable. He was . . .
    Well, I guess one way to describe him was . . .
    Ag . I had never had this happen to me, and certainly not with a boy. But there I stood like a frozen corn dog until he broke the silence, saying, “Hey back. And you’re what?”
    I wiggled my jaw and got it to work. “Huh?”
    â€œYou said, ‘Hey, I’m . . .’ ” He circled his hand. “But you didn’t finish. So, what are you?”
    I stared at him. I didn’t know what I was. It was the strangest thing.
    Mars Bar smiled, but he was clearly perplexed. He tugged at his ear.
    â€œI’m . . . um . . . picking up trash!” I said. “Yes! Yay, trash!” At Mars Bars’ feet lay a piece of crumpled newspaper, and I aimed my Trash Gator at it. I came away with a chunk of the lawn. Clumps of dirt fell on my boot.
    â€œOkay!” I chirped. “Bye now!” I spun on my heel and took my hunk of grass to the Dumpster, where I rose onto my tiptoes and dropped it in. Only I missed, and dirt and grass rained down all over me. Oh my goodness gravy!
    The Dots, who’d witnessed the entire scene, giggled.
    I could feel how bright red I was, but I giggled, too. What else could I do? I just hoped to the heavens above that if I ever had a MOMENT WITH A BOY like that again, it wouldn’t be until I was ready for it. Like, when I was sixtyeight or even eight-six. Because it was freaky being slackjawed and marshmallow-brained like that! I had no desire to experience that sort of freakiness ever again.
    Fortunately, Connor was just a normal boy, so I rejoined him and put Mars Bar out of my head. I Gator-grabbed the bottom of Connor’s T-shirt and shook him like a dog would shake a dog toy.
    â€œHey!” Connor cried. He tried to Gator-grab my shirt, and on his third attempt, he succeeded. Now we both had each other in a pincer grip. We circled each other, laughing.
    Lily came up behind us and exclaimed, “Winnie! Connor! What in the world are you guys doing?”
    â€œ I’m not doing anything,” I told Lily. I shuffled to the right and didn’t let Connor go. “But as you see, there is a wild thing latched onto me.”
    â€œHey!” Connor protested.
    â€œBut this is Wilderness Survival Camp, right?” I said, directing my words to Lily while keeping my eyes on Connor. “So you should be proud, because I’m doing exactly what you and Jake taught me to do !”
    â€œAnd what would that be . . . ?” Lily said drily.
    Did I really have to explain it to her? Apparently, I did.
    â€œWell, as I said, there is wildness going on right here in front of me .” I lunged forward. Connor tried to force me back, but he was so weak from laughing that I easily overpowered him.
    â€œBut you don’t even have to worry,” I huffed, “because look! I am fully and completely surviving!”

August
    A ugust was Ty’s birthday month, which was exciting, because birthdays were always exciting, as were the birthday parties that went with them. But Ty’s parties were also exhausting, because of the littleness of everyone involved.
    Ty’s party this year was especially exhausting because of one mother who did something sneaky. The sneaky mother accidentally-on-purpose dropped off not just her four-year-old, Dylan, but also Dylan’s seven-year-old brother, Chad.
    â€œIs that all right?” the sneaky mom asked, wide-eyed. “So many parties allow siblings these days, so I just assumed . . .”
    â€œOf course,” Mom said, because of her good manners. “He’s totally welcome to stay.”
    â€œOh, thank God,” the other mother said, her words pouring out in a relieved rush. She caught