Free Church Camp Chaos by Annie Tipton

the Realtor. “I’ll take it.”
    “I would be awesome at selling houses,” EJ said, mentally adding Realtor to her list of possible career options.
    A rumble of thunder sounded in the distance, and a few moments later EJ felt a sprinkle on the top of her head. She reached up to tug on the rope that pulled the sky hatch closed.
    Macy stood up and looked out the window as big raindrops fell from the sky. “If I had a tree house just like this, then maybe I could move there instead of Milwaukee,” she said.
    “Oh yeah! Living in this tree house would be aweso— Wait. What?” EJ said, sitting up, hoping she had misunderstood what Macy said. “Did you say
move
to
Milwaukee
?”
    “Yes. We might be moving there.” Macy didn’t make eye contact with EJ but instead fidgeted with the star curtains. “I found out last week.”
    “How’d you find out?” EJ asked, still soaking it all in.
    “Mom and Dad had been acting funny the past few weeks.” Macy looked at her toes. “Dad left unexpectedly for a business trip, and when he got back it seemed like he and Mom had a secret between them—a couple of times when I walked into the kitchen and they were in the middle of a conversation, they’d start using code words for what they were talking about.”
    Secrets? Code words?
Macy’s explanation reminded EJ of the phrases she had been trying not to think about:
“Situation … opportunity …” “Some stuff … about the thing …”
    “Then last week, I caught Mom crying while she was making salad for dinner,” Macy continued, “and I couldn’t take it anymore—I had to ask what was going on.”
    Mom—crying
. Things seemed awfully familiar to EJ. Suddenly a terrible thought popped into her head:
We’re moving. Maybe Dad is being called to another church—a new ministry far away. That has to be it
.
    “That’s when she told me Dad’s getting transferred to Milwaukee for work,” Macy finished miserably.
    “But … Mace, but you can’t
move
!” EJ willed herself to stop thinking about her own problems and focused on her friend. “We’re going to be in the same class next year!”
    Macy looked at EJ, her eyes swimming in tears about to spill onto her cheeks. “I didn’t want to tell you, EJ—because when I say it out loud it makes it feel even more real.”
    EJ’s mind whirred. She wanted so desperately to change what was happening—to fix the problems. But even though she could order off of the adult menu now, the fact was that she was still just a kid, and these things had to do with adult decisions.
    She suddenly felt very helpless.
    “I don’t want to leave my friends—but I especially don’t want to leave my best friend!” Two streams of tears forged their way down Macy’s face. EJ wasn’t used to seeing her friend out of sorts like this. It was usually EJ who was having some kind of drama and Macy was the one with the calming words.
    EJ’s perfect summer was turning out to be way less than perfect. She didn’t know what to do but give Macy a hug, so that’s what she did.
    “Don’t worry, Mace.” EJ tried to make her voice as encouraging as she could, even though she felt crummy, too.
I’m worried enough for the both of us
, she thought.

    Sea Fleet Naval Commander EJ Payne glances at the blinking lights on the radar screen. The enemy has been particularly hard to engage in this battle, and she’s beginning to feel the pressure
.
    She picks up a glass of ice water, and her hand shakes a bit, causing tiny ripples to form on the surface of the water
.
    “Take it easy, Payne, “she whispers to herself. “You’ve done this a hundred times before.”
    EJ presses the glass to her forehead and enjoys the coolness, closing her eyes for a moment
.
    “Where are yoooooou, Commander Payne?” an evil-sounding voice mocks EJ over the console speaker. The person behind the voice is Sea Fleet’s biggest enemy—a bad guy known simply as “The Invader.”
    “Your move, Commander …