Chapter 26

“This is getting ridiculous!” I exclaim. “Who’s sneaking into the woods and building my tree house?”

“Calm down, AB,” Billy says. “And don’t you mean our tree house? Let’s just finish it now. That way, if we do it now, whoever’s been working on it won’t be able to do it anymore because it’ll already be done.”

Sometimes Billy’s mind amazes me.

“I don’t know,” Sarah says. “You boys might want to let this other person finish it. They really seem to know what they’re doing. This door is amazing!”

We start lifting the final wall up the tree. It would’ve gone faster, but I have to take a quick break to grab the fishing net from Zander. He can’t stop catching people with it. And by people, I mean mostly me.

Once this last wall is in place, I hammer in the nails. It goes pretty well. Now I’ll have a black fingernail to match my big toe.

While I soak my hand in the creek again, Trent finishes the rest of the hammering. The tree house does look amazing!

Billy opens the new door, steps out, and takes a bow. “Ta-da!” he says.

Everyone starts clapping. Now all we have to do is finish the roof. Nothing can stop us.

Rumble . . . boom!

I might have spoken too soon. Large clouds roll in and big drops of water fall from the sky.

“It’s just a little rain, guys,” I say. “We can still work in the—”

Crrrraack!

Lightning flashes and a huge thunder crack interrupts my motivational speech. “I think we’ve done enough for the day,” I announce.

I have plenty more to say, but everyone is already running for cover—in a scrambling mass of tools and sporting equipment. Jenny is carrying Triple-H, who’s holding both the flyswatter and my toolbox. I’m telling you, this animal is healthy!

We hightail it back to my house. Sarah and Everley lead the way. Billy and I stay in the back to make sure everyone else is safe. We’re good friends like that.

We gather under the back porch. We’re soaking wet, so I head for the door to get towels for everyone.

Mom greets us. “Oh, no sir!” she says. “I’m not letting a wet beast in here!”

“Mom! That’s Jenny’s pet raccoon,” I assure her.

“Sorry, I didn’t see the raccoon,” Mom says. “I was talking about you. Get back outside.”

Mom brings us all some towels. We dry off on the back porch. Then Richie has an amazing idea.

“I got a gift card to go bowling for my birthday,” he says. “You guys want to go?”

I watch while Richie checks the gift card balance on his phone.

“Uh, was that gift card to go bowling or to buy the entire bowling alley?” I ask.

Richie laughs. “You’re funny, AB. Bowling alleys cost a lot more than that. Didn’t you see the one in my fort, or did you not make it that far inside?”

Mom agrees to drive us there. We put down more towels in our van, and she takes us to Un-bowl-ievable. I think it’s owned by the same people who run Shearlock Combs.

Richie pays for everyone, and we all get in line for bowling shoes.

“Ewww!” Jenny says to me. “Your toe’s all black.”

I really need to start checking my socks before I leave the house.

We split into teams and come up with team names. Mom and I are the Smiley Slammers. Billy and Trent are the Bowling Stones. Sarah and Everley stick with the puns and call themselves the Brittney Spares. Zander and Contacts go with Gutt-er-Done. Richie and Jenny team up as the Incredibowls.

The Smiley Slammers win the first game. In fact, we beat everyone by more than twenty pins! I don’t mean to brag, but my mom is really good.

We decide to play another game. Richie even buys nachos for everyone at the bowling alley with his gift card.

I decide to sit out halfway through the second game. My finger must have really swollen because it got stuck in my bowling ball. I probably shouldn’t have thrown the ball with so much force, but sliding down the alley toward the pins was fun! Plus I kicked over the last few pins for my first strike of the day.

So Mom takes the rest of my turns and we win by even more. I make the best use of my free time by inviting all the other bowlers to church. Only 152 left!

Richie buys Mom and me chocolate shakes as prizes for our victory. I drink mine quickly, then remember to return my bowling shoes once my brain unfreezes. As I’m standing at the counter, the owner gets a good look at my big toe.

“Ewww,” he whispers, but not so quietly that I can’t hear him. “Guess what? You’re our five hundredth shoe renter,” he says. “You get to keep those shoes.”

The owner then gags for some reason. “Congratulations?!” he sputters.

This day couldn’t have turned out any better! I got a free pair of bowling shoes, HHH/Petunia is no longer a threat, and the tree house is nearly complete. I’m so close to achieving all my major summer plans! And I know exactly what to do next.

“Hey, everyone,” I say, giving Billy a wink. “Meet back at my house tomorrow after lunch. I’ve got a big surprise!”