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They all grinned at each other. Barrie felt relieved. The stress of that morning and his terrible day at school began to melt away. He had the best friends in the whole entire world.
Just then, they stopped at another stoplight, and a cherry-red convertible pulled up next to them.
Rita turned around in a panic. “Hide, you goobers! I mean it! Ugh, if Todd sees me driving little kids around, I’m gonna actually die of embarrassment.”
“That’s the famous Todd?” Barrie asked, straining to see the driver of the convertible.
Todd was Rita’s major crush. He’d overheard his sister talking to her best friend, Brooke, about the guy. Not just talking—but endless, nonstop analyzing of Todd’s every word and action from the school day for hours at a time.
Barrie had no idea how they could devote so much attention to the dude. Nothing they said made him seem even the least bit interesting or worthy of that much attention. But he did drive a cool car. Barrie could at least give him that.
“Get down!” Rita demanded.
John scooched as low as he could in his seat. “You can’t die of embarrassment,” he pointed out in his usual logical way. “That’s physically impossible.”
“Unless you’re a teenager,” Michael added with a shake of his head, tilting sideways below the window. “My older sisters are the exact same way.”
“It must be like their Achilles’ heel,” Barrie said. “Like their biggest weakness—”
“Duck. Down. Now.”
“Aye, aye, Captain!” Barrie said before diving as best he could on top of Michael. Once Rita was sure they were hidden, she rolled her window down. Barrie felt fresh air fill the car and heard the loud purring of the convertible’s powerful engine.
“Uh…hey there, Todd.” Rita giggled. “Nice ride.”
Why did his sister—who was really smart—always sound so ditzy when she talked to her friends?
“Hey, Rita, what’s up?” Todd said. His car rumbled with raw power. “You should come for a ride sometime. Maybe tomorrow night?”
“Interesting,” Rita said, trying not to sound too excited. “Uh, lemme check my calendar.”
Barrie rolled his eyes. He knew that she was just playing hard to get and trying to act busy to make Todd more interested. He’d heard her discuss her Todd strategy with Brooke endlessly.
“Okay, ready?” Barrie whispered to Michael and John, who both nodded.
“On the count of three,” Barrie continued. “One…two…three!”
They all popped up from the back seat. “Boo!”
Rita jumped, dropping her phone.
Barrie pressed his face to the window and made kissing noises. “Oh, Todd…kiss me!” he cooed, smooching the glass.
Michael and John did the same, grabbing at each other playfully and pretending to kiss. “Oh, Todd…please be my boyfriend,” they teased, giggling.
Todd cracked up. “Oh, no wonder you’re so busy. Have fun babysitting!” Then he gunned the gas as the light turned green, and he took off.
Before the dust could even settle, Rita glared at Barrie.
“Goober, you’re gonna pay for this!” she seethed. “You’d better sleep with one eye open from now on.”
Then she drove on without saying another word. Her yelling was one thing, but the silent treatment was much scarier. Barrie had one thought as they closed in on their cul-de-sac.
Pirates are scary—but older sisters are worse.
“Watch your step on the gangplank!” the tour guide called from the front of the group. “It’s a wee bit slippery.”
Barrie stepped onto the gangplank, following Rita and his parents and the rest of their group—a mix of families and tourists. Waves sloshed under the unstable planks beneath his feet, and he fought to keep his balance, licking his lips. They tasted cold and briny. He felt like the ocean was surrounding him. It smelled…well…like something that was alive.
