Maddie's Camp Crush by Angela Darling

I’d be mad,” she said. “Not because you should be embarrassed about your underwear, but because it’s an invasion of privacy. Those boys snuck into our cabin. That hits too close to home.”
    Maddie suddenly knew how to make things up to her best friend. She leaned over and whispered in Liza’s ear.
    â€œLet’s get them back,” Maddie said. “I’ll help you. I have an idea.”
    Liza turned to her, and her blue eyes were sparkling. “I knew I could count on you, Mads.”
    For the rest of the day, Maddie and Liza were inseparable. They paired up during tennis, laughing hysterically as they both sent the ball flying in crazy directions. In acting, they practiced being a baked potato and a fried chicken leg. At instructional swim, Liza surprised Maddie by showing up for the advanced class.
    â€œTara said I was ready,” Liza said, grinning. “Of course, I thought I was ready three weeks ago, but whatever.”
    During free time, they headed to the soccer meadow to pick flowers. Colorful wildflowers dotted the overgrown border of the meadow, and lacy green ferns grew in the woods on the meadow’s north side.
    â€œI think we were, like, eight the last time we did this,” Maddie remarked. “It’s hard to believe it was that long ago.”
    â€œI know, right?” Liza nodded. She leaned down to pluck a tiny blue flower nestled in the grass.
    â€œSo much has changed since then,” Maddie said, and she regretted the words as soon as she said them. It was true, but the last thing she wanted to do was talk about her dad now, when she was so free and happy.
    But Liza just smiled. “Yeah, things change, but we’ll always be friends.” Which was the exact right thing to say , Maddie thought, and just another reminder of why Liza was her best friend .
    â€œAlways,” Maddie replied.
    Liza stood up. “Come on, it’s time for arts and crafts. Let’s see what we can do with these.”
    Carrying their treasures in paper lunch sacks, they trooped across the meadow, past the bunks, to the craft cabin. Maddie found herself swiveling her head around as they walked across camp. It was almost second nature at this point to be on the lookout for Gabriel. Which was silly. After all, would she march up to him? Go over and just talk to him? Probably not. But well . . . why not? She was lost in thought.
    â€œEarth to Maddie!” said Liza. “What do you keep looking for? More flowers?”
    Maddie looked down so Liza couldn’t see her blush. She felt bad. She was supposed to be having quality time with Liza, not thinking about Gabriel. “Uh, yeah, just looking for some more flowers,” she said.
    Twice the size of one of the bunks, the arts and crafts cabin was stuffed with shelves containing paint, yarn, glue, glitter, beads, fake fur, and every other craft supply Maddie could ever imagine. When they arrived, Emily wasalready there, gluing plastic gems onto a wooden box she had painted bright purple. The rectangular box had high sides and was open on top with a handle, almost like a toolbox.
    â€œWhat are you working on?” Maddie asked.
    â€œIt’s a craft caddy, like a portable container for my basic craft supplies,” Emily said. “I’ve been working on it all through free time. What do you think? Does it need more gems?”
    â€œIt looks pretty sparkly to me,” Maddie replied. “It’s beautiful.”
    Liza dumped the contents of her bag onto the table. “So, do you think you can help us make cards out of these? I forget how we did it last time.”
    Emily frowned, thinking. “Well, if you want to dry or press the flowers so they’ll last a long time, that will take, like, a week.”
    â€œI don’t have a week to do that,” Liza said. “I’m leaving in a few days.”
    â€œNot a problem,” Emily said. She started putting some