"I hate water," Ivy says.
"Are you afraid of it?" Judy wiggles her fingers at the blonde girl, teasing her.
"I'm not afraid of anything," she protests.
"I am," Jill emerges from the bathroom in a long-sleeved terry cloth beach cover-up. "I'm afraid of failure. And spiders."
"You going or not?" I ask them.
"I'm down!" Jill jumps up and winks and me.
"Sure," Judy shrugs.
"Whatever," Ivy manages.
Ten minutes later, we're all piling into Mildred's van.
"Alright. Do we have everyone?" The school cook asks.
"There's not enough seat belts," Ivy complains.
"Or, you know, seats," Tom points out.
"Just squeeze," Sam says.
"Strap Anna to the roof," Patrick offers.
"You know, it's funny, I had the same idea but with you and Ivy!" I point to the blonde girl who lowers her sunglasses at me and glares.
"Hey!" Mildred snaps. "I don't allow fighting in my van."
"Maybe we should just leave Anna and Patrick and Ivy behind, then," Nora narrows her chocolate brown eyes jokingly.
"Hey!" I shout.
"No fighting!" Mildred waggles her finger at me.
"While you guys are all fighting," Sam pauses, "I'm taking shotgun." He climbs into the front seat.
"Second shotgun!" Patrick claims the seat in between Sam and Mildred, starting the fight over who sits where.
I end up in one of the worst possible spots: the middle of the very back. To my left is Nora and Isaac. Jill and Tiffany are at my right. In front of our seat sits Ivy, Judy, Tom, Will, and Alex.
"This is most definitely illegal," Alex comments from his smashed spot between Will and the window.
"Hey, at least you have a seat belt," Will says.
Tom undoes his own seat belt and stretches it over Will.
"This is worse," Will complains.
"Is everyone buckled?" Mildred asks as she puts on a pair of heart-shaped sunglasses.
"No," we say in unison.
"Can everyone get buckled?" She tries.
"No."
"Hmm. Well, just try not to, you know, move around so much." The engine of Mildred's clunky can turns over and we start out to Baker Beach.
"Well, on the upside, there's no room for anyone to move around," Isaac bites his thumbnail.
"On the downside," Tom gestures around the crowded vehicle. "Everything."
I grin and redo one of my short brown pigtails. "It's only like a fifteen minute drive. We're fine."
"Let's see..." Mildred fumbles around in the glove compartment. "Music... music... ah! Here we go!" She thrusts a few CD cases into Patrick's empty hands.
"Um." Patrick shuffles through them. "There's a Beatles one, a Fall Out Boy one, and a Disney Princess one which I may or may not toss out the window."
"Beatles," Tiffany and I say in unison.
Patrick glances back at us like we're insane. "Fall Out Boy."
"Beatles," We repeat.
"If it's this hard, just put in the Disney Princess CD. Everyone's happy!" Tom offers.
"No," Sam says.
"I'm gonna stick with Anna and Tiff on this one," says Jill. "Beatles."
Patrick rolls his dark blue eyes. "Fine."
The hilly drive goes by quickly with music and friends, and soon we're pulling into the parking lot of Baker Beach.
"No one else is here," comments Isaac.
"That's not true," Judy points out a small barefoot girl twirling on the sand. She's wearing a dress of deep green and has long mussed blond braids.
Tom turns to look at me. "It's -"
I nod. "It's a Child."
