Just Like Me by Nancy Cavanaugh Page B

running, girls!” a deep voice yelled.
    We both looked up to see DD Jr. standing guard at the end of the dock. He looked even better in his swimsuit and sunglasses than he had at the mess hall on the first day of camp.
    Gina tiptoed the rest of the way out to the end of dock, pretending like she was trying to sneak past DD Jr., but it was obvious she was trying especially hard to be noticed. Since she was still holding on to my arm, I ended up kind of tiptoeing and sneaking too. DD Jr. watched us and smiled and sort of even laughed, and I didn’t know how it was possible, but that made him look even cuter. I wasn’t sure if I should be excited or embarrassed that he was paying attention to us.
    When we got to the end of the dock, Gina jumped. And even though she pulled me into the deep end with her, she somehow managed to tuck her knees so that she cannonballed into the water. Just before I went under, I saw a tidal wave of lake water splash DD Jr.
    We both came up sputtering and saw DD Jr. dripping wet.
    Gina laughed her head off. I couldn’t believe she had just done that. On purpose. But it didn’t seem to bother her at all, and DD Jr. laughed.
    â€œYou know you’re crazy, right?” I said, giggling.
    â€œAnd proud of it,” Gina said, swishing some lake water in her mouth, tipping her head back, and spitting out the water as if she were a fountain.
    I kicked my legs hard, trying to warm up in the icy water. The sun was so hot and the lake so cold that the combination made my head hurt.
    â€œThis water’s freezing!” I said.
    â€œI think it feels good!” Gina said. “Let’s go!”
    And we headed toward the slide.
    We climbed the ladder of the raft, and while we waited our turn, water dripped down our legs onto the faded wooden raft. The hose attached to the yellow slide pumped lake water down its surface, making it super slippery and ice-cold. We flew down the curved plastic as if we were sledding down a snow-packed luge run, screaming the whole way.
    A few kids gave Gina weird looks about the life jacket, but she ignored them, so I did too. We just kept climbing the raft and shooting down the slide over and over until the bullhorn blasted to end free swim.
    As we climbed the ladder onto the dock to get out of the lake, I wished everything at camp could be as much fun as this free swim had just been, but more than a few things stood in the way of that happening.
    â€œSo does it ever bother you that Vanessa’s so mean?” I asked Gina.
    â€œYeah,” Gina said. “But I try to remember she’s mean because of her , not because of me.”
    â€œSo you think she’s just a mean person?” I asked as we walked toward the shore.
    The sun beat on our backs and dried the water as it ran in rivers down our skin. Campers all around us hurried toward the swim tag board and then rushed to the warmth of their dry towels.
    â€œNo, just that she’s mean because she’s worried.”
    â€œWorried about what?” I asked.
    â€œAbout her dad.”
    â€œWhy?” I asked. “Is he sick?”
    â€œNo, he left about a year ago. Her parents got into a huge fight, and Vanessa’s mom had to call the police on him and everything,” Gina explained as she hung up her life jacket.
    â€œWhat happened?” I asked.
    â€œI don’t really know the whole story. All I know is that Vanessa never really liked me much, but after her dad left, it was almost as if she started to hate me.”
    â€œWhy would her dad leaving make her hate you?” I asked, hanging my swim tag on the board.
    â€œI don’t know,” Gina said as she hung her tag next to mine. “I guess she just feels so crummy about everything in her own life that she takes it out on whoever she can. And since she doesn’t really like me anyway, I’m an easy target.”
    We grabbed our towels and wrapped them around our waists as we slid our