Free The Shore by Todd Strasser Page A

bought the wrong type of diapers for my sister and I don’t have time to return them. Could you use them?”
    The woman frowned suspiciously as Avery produced the package of diapers. “Well, I guess,” the woman said. “But I don’t have any cash on me.”
    “Oh no, no, I just want to give them to someone who can use them. Does your baby wear this size?”
    “Actually, yes,” the woman answered.
    “Then here you go. Happy early Fourth of July.”
    Avery headed back to Polly. Behind her, the woman called, “Thank you.” Avery turned and waved.
    “Come on, we better head back,” Avery said to Polly.
    They began walking. After a minute, Polly said, “Where’d you learn to do that?”
    “One day I had to go to the store for some pads and Curt asked me to try to buy him some beer. I was so nervous that instead of grabbing stuff for me, I grabbed the first thing that came to my hands and it was a package of diapers. By the time I realized it, I was approaching the counter. I figured I would look suspicious if I turned back, so I just put them on the counter with the beer.”
    “That’s so funny!” Polly gasped. “So the first time, it was totally by accident!”
    “Right,” Avery said. “People never want to think that someone with a baby is in high school. The cashier let me buy the stuffand never carded me. Curt’s had me buy beer for him ever since. I always try to find someone I can give the diapers to.”
    “That’s got to get expensive,” Polly said.
    “Yeah. I’m going to need to get a job pretty soon, anyway,” Avery said.
    “What do you think you’ll do?” Polly asked.
    Avery shrugged. “Don’t know.”
    “I’m a waitress at a restaurant on the pier,” Polly said. “Last I heard, they were still trying to fill a few positions. Maybe you could get a job there.”
    “You think?” Avery asked.
    “Have any experience?” Polly asked.
    “McDonald’s?”
    “Well, you could try,” Polly said.
    “That would be great, thanks.”
    “I start there tomorrow,” Polly said. “You want to go with me in the morning?”
    “Perfect.”
    It was perfect, as far as Polly was concerned. Avery was definitely the nicest girl in the house, although to be fair, Polly still didn’t know much about April. Still, being Avery’s friend could only help. Avery was the kind of girl guys just naturally flocked to. Maybe when they found out she had a boyfriend, a few of them might give Polly a look.
    When they reached the house, April was already in the kitchen, pulling a steaming loaf of bread out of the oven. Pollylooked at her in surprise. It never occurred to her that April might like to cook. Avery was quicker to respond.
    “Smells great!” she said enthusiastically.
    April beamed. “I do one thing well in the kitchen, and one thing only. I bake. So, I figured I could handle the bread.”
    Polly was envious of Avery for being so quick on her feet and knowing the right thing to say. And she was glad that April seemed to be getting into the spirit of the party. Avery dumped the clams into the sink.
    “Slimy,” April noted.
    “You should have tried pawing through them,” Avery said with a laugh.
    “I’ll leave that part to you guys,” April said. “I have no idea what to do with clams. I’ve never been to a clambake.”
    “Neither has Avery. You two have something in common,” Polly said.
    April and Avery looked at each other, and Polly instantly felt like an idiot. It was a dumb thing to say. Like Avery and April were going to bond over the idea of never having been to a clambake before. If Avery always knew the right thing to say, Polly was the exact opposite. She could always count on herself to say the wrong thing.
    “Well, well,” someone said, “look at all the cooks in the kitchen.”
    It was Sabrina, in a cream skirt and a pink top with a draped neck that, of course, revealed enough to get her arrested in mostMuslim countries. Polly felt the muscles in her shoulders begin to