Free Only the Lonely by Laura Dower

best experience of my life so far I have to tell you absolutely every single solitary detail you just won’t believe how great it was oh I wish you could have been there. …”
    Madison grinned from ear to ear. What had she been so worried about? She could survive a few of these camp stories. With Aimee in her living room again, Madison felt so much better about everything.
    Seeing Aimee again, on that muggy Sunday morning after such a long dragged-out summer, was like winning first prize on a game show. It felt as good as ice cream.
    “Okay-doh-kay,” Aimee clucked, “so there I was and I was so afraid I wouldn’t make any new friends or anything and oh-em-gee Madison I swear I was like one of the most popular dancers by the end of the summer I swear can you believe it— me ?”
    Madison didn’t ever remember Aimee being so full of herself, but she kept listening. Aimee looked so happy. She was glad to know her friend was proud of being a good dancer. Everyone was allowed to toot their own horn a little, right?
    Aimee was dancing around the room while she talked. “So I got the lead in Swan Lake there can you just die? And there was this boy dancer named Willem and he was so cute and I almost forgot!”
    “What?” Madison was enraptured by what Aimee was saying and by the fact that Aimee was literally pirouetting in the living room.
    “You are NOT going to believe this but Roseanne Snyder was at camp too!”
    “Rose Thorn ? Get OUT!”
    “Yeah, she came for the last session. I forgot to put it in my letter.” Rose Thorn was a nickname Madison had given to one of her classmates. Roseanne was friends with Phony Joanie Kenyon. They were both sidekicks to Class Enemy #1, Ivy Daly.
    Ivy Daly was probably the meanest girl in Far Hills. She’d been hated by Madison, Aimee, and Egg for—well, for ever . She would be attending Far Hills Junior High, too.
    “Rose Thorn is such a snot! Was she in Swan Lake too?”
    “She thinks she is all that and she is NO swan,” Aimee taunted.
    “And what about that Josh guy you wrote me about?” Madison asked.
    “Josh? Oh well he was a counselor so that was never like a real deal or anything. And the truth is I didn’t really like him after all, he just turned out to be well, not a good teacher either. SO! Forget him. Like I was saying there was this other guy Willem and he was the best dancer in the entire place. He was there when I was on pointe for the first time and he picked me up … I think I told you that in my letter that I started pointe, right?”
    “Uh-huh.” Madison nodded. She could barely get a word in. Aimee kept on talking for another ten minutes at least. Actually, she had been talking for fourteen minutes and thirty-three seconds…
    Thirty-nine seconds…
    Fifty-six seconds…
    Fifteen minutes!
    Madison hated to admit it, but at a certain point she was wishing Aimee would just shut up already. It must have showed on her face.
    “Is something wrong?” Aimee suddenly asked, stopping to take a breath.
    “Huh?” Madison snapped back to attention. “Keep going, Aimee. I’m listening.”
    “But you have this weird look on your face. Are you really listening? I’ve been waiting all summer to tell you about this and oh-em-gee you would have liked all these people and the place it was so beautiful Madison it was soooooo beautiful!”
    “Aimee, of course I am listening. Go ahead. I wanna know what happened, all right!”
    “Okay!” she said, and spun around on her heels. “Fine!”
    Madison figured Aimee must have been saving up all these words about camp. Madison had to let her talk or else Aimee would just bust a gut right in her living room.
    I just have to be patient, Madison told herself. Aimee will listen right back when it’s my turn.
    And the truth was, she did.
    “SO!” Aimee said after another eight minutes and ten seconds, “What about YOUR summer?”
    It now felt like hours after Aimee had arrived and she was finally ready to hear from