Best Friends (Until Someone Better Comes Along) by Erin Downing

Not a turtle. Not a piranha. Lobster Boy.
    â€œI don’t think anyone’s ever lost Canoe Wars that fast,” Brennan said, shaking his head. “Like, ever in the history of Canoe Wars. That was the saddest thing I’ve ever seen.”
    I folded my arms tightly across my chest.
    â€œGive us another chance,” Ava said, as she and Bailey worked to right our canoe again. I stood shivering in waist-deep water. After a few tugs, Bailey and Ava were able to turn the canoe upright again. But now it was almost completely full of water. Somehow, the thing continued to float even though it was still partially underwater. “You’re up one. Let’s do best of three.”
    â€œThis is a stupid game,” I announced, because it was the truth. “Brennan tipped our canoe. How is that fair?”
    Brennan held his hands in the air, like he was a criminal under arrest. “I did not tip your canoe,” he said firmly. “ You tipped your canoe.”
    â€œBut . . .,” I argued. “But you were under our canoe, right? You were thunking us, and trying to freak me out, and you totally tipped our boat.”
    Bailey laughed, and I shot her a look. It obviously didn’t do the trick, since Bailey kept laughing. She covered her mouth, but we could all still hear her gasping laugh. Finally, she said, “Brennan would have to be seriously strong to lift our boat up in the air and tip us. Honestly, we went over because you got spooked and stood up. Don’t you know you’re never supposed to stand up in a canoe?” She scolded me like I was a child.“See, the point of Canoe Wars is to try to get the other team to dump without actually touching their boat with any kind of force.”
    â€œThose are really vague rules,” I said, shivering even more. The sky had been filled with big cotton-ball clouds all day, but now they were getting darker, and one was parked right in front of the sun. Suddenly, it felt sort of chilly in the water. “So you’re just supposed to try to scare the other team enough that they just— whoop! —fall out of their boat on their own? Isn’t that sort of simple?”
    â€œWell,” Ava said politely, “it’s not really supposed to be that simple. . . . No one’s ever actually just knocked on the bottom of someone else’s canoe and gotten them to fall into the lake. Normally, it takes a little more than that. Usually, we have to push people with paddles and make big waves and stuff. But even that usually isn’t enough to make a team tip.” Ava shrugged. She reminded me of a teacher, the way she was acting all preachy. “Most of the time, Canoe Wars doesn’t end until someone adds an extra challenge that makes it harder to stay in your own boat. Like, we all have to stand up and dance in our canoes or something.”
    â€œThis is a seriously stupid game,” I said, rolling my eyes.I could feel myself pouting, so I pulled my lower lip between my teeth and chewed.
    â€œThen don’t play,” Brennan said with a shrug. “Obviously, Ava and Bailey are a lot better off with an unbalanced team than they are with you in their boat.”
    Brennan stared at me, and I crossed my arms and stared back. I couldn’t believe I’d ever thought he was cute. What a jerk! He didn’t have to be so rude about everything. Eventually, I blinked and looked around at the others. Ava and Bailey were both back in our canoe—even though it was still half-underwater. They both looked at me, their faces filled with pity. Pity I didn’t need. Madeline and Zach were just sitting patiently in the other canoe, watching to see what might happen. Bailey tipped her head, as if to say, In or out?
    â€œFine,” I said sullenly. I was cold and embarrassed, but I wasn’t a quitter. “Best two out of three.”
    â€œWe’re so glad you’ll stoop to join