Free Love is a Four-Letter Word by Vikki VanSickle

out in her flowered bikini and those big pink sunglasses of hers.
    “Cool,” says Josh.
    “Do you have a canoe at your cottage?” Mattie asks.
    “Yup.”
    “I took canoeing at camp last year,” Amanda chimes in. She sneaks a glance at Chudy and asks him “Have you ever canoed, Chudy?”
    “No,” he says.
    “Personally, I think kayaking is way better,” Michael says.
    “Yeah, we’ve got a couple of kayaks, too,” Josh says.
    Cripes. Has there ever been a more boring conversation? I’m about to excuse myself and hit up the buffet for a second round when Michael looks at me and says, “What about you? Have you ever kayaked, Clarissa?”
    “No,” I admit. “I’m not really into water sports. Or any sports really.”
    Mattie laughs. “Oh, Clarissa! Don’t be so modest!”
    “It’s true,” I insist. “I might as well be allergic to sports.”
    “You’re pretty good at badminton,” Michael says.
    I don’t know who is more surprised, me or Mattie. I avoid looking in her direction, but out of the corner of my eye I can see her eyebrows are raised and she is most definitely sending me an I Told You So look.
    “It’s not like it’s one of the hard sports,” I mutter.
    “I like badminton,” Josh says.
    “Me, too! Oh my gosh! I just had the best idea. We should play mixed doubles in the badminton tournament!”
    Josh, Michael, and I stare at Mattie with blank expressions on our faces. “The what?” I ask.
    Mattie rolls her eyes. “You know, the senior badminton tournament? At lunch hour? It’s in two weeks?” When none of us shows even the slightest glimmer of recognition, Mattie huffs and exclaims, “Am I the only one who listens to morning announcements?”
    “No, I remember something about that,” Chudy says.
    Mattie smiles gratefully at him. “Well? What do you think?”
    Mattie looks from me to Josh to Michael expectantly. I feel bad, but competitive sports, even badminton, really aren’t my thing. Josh starts digging around his chicken fried rice. The silence is becoming unbearably long until Michael pipes up.
    “Sure,” he says. “I’m in. Clarissa?” Michael is looking right at me. If you’ve ever had someone look straight into your eyes you know how difficult it can be to look away, especially if that someone has particularly nice eyes, blue with a little bit of green, like those cat’s eye marbles.
    Suddenly my throat feels dry and I have to clear it a few times before I’m able to speak. “Okay, but only if Josh plays, too.”
    Josh shrugs. “Whatever.”
    “Great! So it’s settled! I’ll sign us up on Monday. Clarissa will play with Michael and I’ll play with Josh!” Mattie should be over the moon excited, but her voice sounds a little strained and she’s in such a hurry to leave the table that she almost knocks the chair over as she stands and rushes over to the buffet. I get up to follow her.
    At the buffet, I lean over and whisper, “Pretty smooth, huh?” Mattie turns her back to me and roots through the pile of chicken balls. I tap her shoulder. “Hello? I said that was pretty smooth.”
    Mattie whirls around, nostrils flaring and an angry flush creeping up her neck toward her cheeks. “You know, sometimes you can be really mean!”
    “What?”
    “You heard me.”
    “I heard you, but I don’t get it.”
    “Oh, yeah, right. What was all that ‘only if Josh plays’ business?”
    “Nothing! I just wanted to make sure he got the message.”
    “Oh, he got the message all right. Him and everyone else at the table.”
    “CRIPES, Mattie, what are you talking about? Why can’t you talk like a normal person?”
    Mattie’s jaw drops. “You’re the one who isn’t normal, Clarissa! You know how much I like Josh. I can’t believe you would do that to me, or to Michael.”
    “What does Michael have to do with anything?”
    But Mattie stomps away and pulls up a chair at Min’s table. Fine, if she wants to be that way then it’s her choice. I head back