Chapter Eighteen

In the morning, we wake up extra early to see the sun rise over the lake. Although we spent the night in our sleeping bags on top of thin pads, I feel it’s the best sleep I’ve had in days. I stretch my arms wide above my head. Maybe this whole camping thing really was just what I needed.

“I can’t even remember the last time I saw a sunrise,” says Nick, sleepily sitting on the dunes. Nick might not be a morning person, but he made an effort today to see the early-morning light show. It is well worth it, too.

After breakfast, we head back so Nick and I can get started on our homework. I can still smell the campfire on my clothes on the car ride home. I like it. It reminds me of sitting by the cozy fire. I stare out the window. I think I can see the Shedd Aquarium on the horizon. Then I start thinking about the Sea Musketeers. While I’m still hurt about the whole thing, I sort of understand why they suggested we should have a copresident. I was sort of lying to myself about the little mistakes I was making. It is also a lot to be the president, and it makes sense to share the load.

I am still staring at the Chicago skyline when Mom brings up how overwhelmed I’ve been. It’s almost as if she could read my mind.

“Now, I don’t want you to give up any of your activities,” Mom says.

I sigh. “Whew.”

Then she continues, “But … I think we need to come up with a new schedule. Times in the week for you to work on extracurricular activities and homework. That way, we can make sure you’re getting everything done and not feeling overwhelmed. We should also write down every project you’re working on so we don’t lose track of anything.”

“Yes, please!”

“And we can’t forget to include fun in this schedule. When you don’t take breathers from work, it’s easy to get upset and burned out.” Mom makes eye contact with me in the rearview mirror while she talks. I turn roja.

Mom adds, “Like no working during our Friday night appointments. I set that up in my own schedule a long time ago so I could always make sure we’d have fun together every week.”

“That’s why you call it our weekly appointment?!” I ask. I hadn’t even considered that Mom made us part of her schedule. I just assumed Mom came up with a funny name for our Friday nights. Like the way she calls our feet patas instead of pies. That’s because she thinks it’s cuter to call our feet ducks’ feet than regular plain feet.

“Of course! I wasn’t born a superwoman. I had to learn,” Mom replies, looking at me in the rearview mirror with a smile.

Nick groans a little.

Mom pokes at him. “And you two are my superbebés.”

He scoffs, but I can see his secret smirk as he replies, “Okay, Mom.”

We work on my schedule once we get home. Mom uses a chalkboard in the kitchen to write down what we decide I should work on each day. This way, I can see it in big clear letters while I’m working. She even blocks in break times in pink chalk.

“Now it looks extra fun,” Mom says.

When we’re done, I know I need to do two big things today. I have to work on the egg drop, which is on my official schedule, but I also have on my personal list to talk to the Sea Musketeers. I start with Stanley. I give him a call, and he comes over to my house to work on the egg-drop project.

“Did you like your camping trip?” asks Stanley in an extra-polite voice. I can tell he is still being careful around me, like he has ever since the Sea Musketeers fiasco.

“It was AMAZING!”

Then I ramble on for ten minutes about the trip, until I spy the chalkboard and remember it’s egg-drop time.

I tell Stanley, “But the best part is, Izzy also has done the egg-drop project. She had some pointers for us.”

“Awesome! Like what?” he asks.

I get so excited that I ramble off all her suggestions at once. “Izzy recommended we think about protecting Humpty from all angles because we don’t know which way it will land. She also suggested using empty toilet paper rolls because they are light, using a few different materials to protect the egg more strongly, and, oh, watching online videos for inspiration.”

“That’s helpful! My dad recommended watching videos, too!” Stanley then looks around. “Do you have any toilet paper rolls?”

I nod and dump a box full of them onto the table.

“I got them from our recycling, Linda’s, and Diego’s.”

“Awesome,” says Stanley. He then opens up his backpack. “I also brought this old, broken umbrella for our project.”

I stare at the misshapen umbrella. Is it supposed to rain tomorrow?

Then Stanley adds, “I thought we could use this for the parachute, since my dad was going to throw it away.”

“Ohhh! Genius!” I reply.

Stanley gives me a high five. “Go team Humpty!” he cheers.

Mom brings over the laptop, and we watch a few videos online. After a little while, I finally work up the courage to ask Stanley about yesterday’s Sea Musketeers meeting.

“How did it go?” I ask, trying to be as cool as a sea cucumber.

“Good,” he says. “But everyone feels awful and missed you. Still, Logan did a good job. I think you two would really make great copresidents.”

I look at Stanley. He’s always honest with me. Logan also has great ideas and is so enthusiastic about the club. Without Logan, we would get sidetracked too much at our meetings. We also wouldn’t be presenting our pledge to the city council. Plus, all the names I came up with for my possible new save-the-oceans club were no bueno. The Ocean Angels and the Sea Mermaids just don’t have the same ring as the Sea Musketeers.

I take a breath. “Okay, I’ll give it a try.”

“Really?” says Stanley. “I think that’s great!”

“But we’re hosting the next meeting at my house, and I’m calling everyone to let them know. I need it to be on my terms.”

“Sure, whatever you need, partner,” says Stanley.

Then I remember one more thing.

“And tomorrow we’re dealing with Ben head-on,” I say in my most determined voice.

“Deal. This whole ignoring him thing is not working,” Stanley replies.

Then Stanley and I do a fist bump and continue with our egg-drop planning.