Free Treading Water by Laurie Halse Anderson Page B

“Where do you meet? And is it a
middle school
club?” The way she says middle school sounds as if she meant kindergarten.
    â€œWe meet at the middle school. First Tuesday of the month. Four o’clock. And yeah, it’s mostly middle school kids.”
    The girl looks less interested now. I see a couple kids pass their handouts back. So I quickly add, “But I’m pretty sure I’m moving the club to the high school soon.”
    The girl nods. “If you do, I’ll think about it.”
    I should be happy about that. A couple other kids tell me they’ll think about joining as they head out the door. I wonder if I’ve done the right thing suggesting it.
    I’ve been thinking about it for a while—since last week anyway. After all, I did check out this school’s auditorium and cafeteria in case we decide to move the meetings here. I know we’d get a lot more high school kids coming if the meetings were held here. And the Outdoor Club kids would see that the Vet Volunteers would be good members for their club. The Photography Club kids somehow made me feel too young, and I don’t think any of them will join if the meetings are held back at the middle school. I’m sure of all this. So why do I dread telling the Vet Volunteers what I just suggested?
    I look at the pile of handouts and my sign-up sheet. Nobody signed it. Only two handouts were taken.
    I gather my stuff and walk downstairs. This time, everything looks bigger—and the remaining kids, not so friendly.

Chapter Eight
    S age picks me up at the front entrance of the high school again. As we drive through the parking lot, I notice we both can’t help but look in the direction of where we found the ducklings a week ago.
    And that’s when I see Nick and his girlfriend, from Outdoor Club, waving us down. Sage stops, and we roll down our windows.
    â€œHey, man”—Nick leans on the window frame and says to Sage—“I see you already fixed that muffler.”
    â€œShop got me in fast,” Sage says. “Hey,” he says to Nick’s girlfriend.
    The girlfriend waves at each of us and then looks down at her phone as she quickly texts.
    â€œSorry I couldn’t stop in to see your photog show,” Nick begins. “I had to get some stuff done.”
    â€œIt’s okay,” I say. Although I had really hoped to see him. One familiar face would have helped, especially at the beginning. Oh well.
    â€œI was wondering about those baby ducks,” Nick says. “They doing okay?”
    Sage looks over at me to answer for both of us.
    â€œThe first three we all found are doing well,” I begin. “But that fourth one you found didn’t make it. It died a couple days later.”
    Nick looks seriously sad. “Jeez,” he says.
    His girlfriend looks up from her phone. “What’s this?” she asks.
    Nick answers, “One of the baby ducks didn’t make it.”
    The girlfriend pats him on the arm, “Oh, I’m so sorry, sweetie.”
    â€œDid you guys ever find out who left them in the parking lot?” Nick asks.
    Sage shakes his head. “We’re on our way over to pick them up now, though,” he says.
    â€œWe are?” I knew nothing of this.
    Sage looks my way and says, “Yeah, Dr. Mac called Mom this morning and set it up. Says they’re ready to be sprung.”
    â€œCool,” Nick says. “Glad they’re going to your place. Do you think you’ll keep them?”
    This time, Sage answers for both of us. “Naw. We’re just a stop on the road to recovery. My parents work on releasing animals back to the wild or, if that isn’t possible, finding them a permanent home.”
    â€œIf we kept them all, we’d be overrun,” I add. “Plus, they’re meant to live in the wild.”
    Nick laughs. “Makes sense.”
    â€œOh, also,” I say, “I might be moving the