“WHERE MR. NIBBLES?!” Forest yelled.
Forest was in his lion pose—hair puffed out like a mane, hands up around his face. The pointy hats on his chin looked even pointier.
And everyone stared like Forest was an animal in the zoo. Olive needed some more quick thinking.
“It’s okay, Forest,” Olive said. She looked at the magician. “Can you make Mr. Nibbles come back now? Please?”
The magician eagerly waved the scarf over his palm. When he took it away, Mr. Nibbles was sitting there on his hind legs. Everyone clapped, except Forest, who gently grabbed Mr. Nibbles and walked away grumbling to himself. Olive followed him and watched as he took a handful of streamers from the fence, made a bunny-sized pouch, and strapped Mr. Nibbles to his back.
“Bunny safe with Forest,” he said. “No more disappear.”
A shadow fell over them. It was Josie, and her arms were filled with a rainbow of water balloons.
“Uh, Forest?” Josie said, the balloons jiggling. “I brought water balloons for us to play with.”
Josie looked at Olive, then down at the water balloons, like she was remembering when Olive broke them all last year. Olive covered her butt with her hands to make it clear that she didn’t plan on sitting on them this time.
Forest tilted his head at the balloons. “Water baboons?” He made baboon noises.
“No, silly!” Josie said. “Water ballllllloooooooons.”
Forest poked a small hole in a balloon with his massive cone beard. A tiny jet of water shot out, which Forest aimed right into Mr. Nibbles’s mouth.
“Mr. Nibbles thirsty. Olive want some? Look sweaty.”
Olive blushed. She was sweaty only because she was chasing Mr. Nibbles around the whole yard. Because of Forest.
“I want to try, too!” Josie poked a hole in another balloon with Forest’s beard. “Here, Olive,” she said. Instead of squirting water in Olive’s mouth, she sprayed some on Olive’s shoes. “Oops. Sorry!”
Olive tried not to scowl. “I’m sure it was an accident.”
“Let’s do the water balloon toss!” Josie said. She called everyone over and started to hand out water balloons. “Hey, Olive? Is it okay if I’m partners with Forest?” she whispered.
Oh. She wanted to say no, but Josie actually sounded … nice. Like she really wanted to be partners with Forest. Olive couldn’t say no. Well, she could, but that’s not what maybe-friends did. Josie smiled at Olive, waiting …
“Sure, Josie. I can be his partner another time.”
“I’m sure you can find another partner. Thanks!” Josie chirped, and ran to Forest.
Herbert walked over. “Want to be partners? No pressure. My dad says you should never rush people when they’re making a decision.”
“My dad usually just runs around trying to remember where he put stuff.”
Mrs. Letay frantically lined up partners across from each other into two neat, straight rows in the middle of the yard. Herbert stood across from Olive at one end.
Olive scanned the row for Forest, and finally spotted him—and what she saw made the Worries rear up again. Forest’s eyes were wide, and his head snapped back and forth between the water balloons.
He crouched low.
Uh-oh. Olive’s stomach dropped. That was Forest’s battle position. He thought that they were going to attack each other.
Forest cried out, breaking from his side of the line, and grabbed the empty balloon bucket away from Mrs. Letay, which he put on his head like a helmet. He ran through the middle of everyone, madly spearing water balloons with his pointy hat beard. One kid burst into tears when Forest popped his balloon, but Forest kept running and poking and popping.
Olive had to stop him before it was a total disaster. She sprinted toward him.
“Time out, time out, time out!” she yelled. A water balloon clonked her on the head and bounced off her ear, but she didn’t stop running toward Forest. Herbert followed after her, whistling like mad. “Uh, Forest wants to change the game to … Monkey in the Middle!” she yelled.
Josie shrieked with delight and tossed her water balloon over Forest’s head. He threw the bucket helmet off his head, launched himself in the air, angled his chin up, and speared the water balloon easily. It burst open with a watery sploop.
The other kids joined in, too, and soon they were all tossing water balloons over Forest, who lunged at every single one of them until his hat beard was smashed to a pile of soggy mush.
“Mrs. Letay looks like she’s about to burst,” Herbert said.
With a whoosh, Forest leaped to the fence and frantically tried to crawl under a bunch of streamers. Mr. Nibbles helped by clawing at the streamers, too. Olive watched in horror as Forest started tearing them all down trying to burrow like an animal …
“Forest … what are you doing?” Josie said. For the first time all day, Josie looked less than happy.
“This is a game we play at home,” Olive said quickly.
“Another game?” Josie asked uncertainly.
“Yeah! Wrapping up like a mummy?” Olive said, pointing at the streamers. “It’s so fun! We do it all the time.”
“Forest cocoon,” he whispered.
Olive could see only his eyes. Her stomach felt like she had swallowed Forest’s whole worm collection—she realized that Forest didn’t like being a cocoon. Not at all.
She started to pull the streamer cocoon apart to get him out, but the streamers were too tight and he was wiggling too much.
RrrrrrrrrrIP! Forest stuck two arms through his streamer cocoon and hopped around the yard, arms flailing, like a baby bird. When Forest finally emerged, his hair looked like a tornado standing still.
“Forest! Are you oka—”
Interrupting her was the blare of a huge horn right in Olive’s ear!
“PIÑATA!” someone screamed.
