Read Hit the Beach for Free Online Page A

with boys.”
    “I know,” Madison sighed. “Gosh, I can’t believe I just told you all that. I told you about Mark!”
    “Don’t worry,” Stephanie said as she bit into a pickle.
    After lunch, Stephanie and Madison headed back to the apartment, grabbed a handful of miniature chocolate-chip cookies, and then went for a long swim in the pool. The water was like a bath, it was so warm. Madison swam a few laps backstroke, freestyle, and breaststroke. She also tried to do handstands, even though she kept flipping over backward before she could poke her feet straight out of the water.
    Whether under the water or above it, Madison’s thoughts kept drifting to Hart. She pictured him sitting on the lifeguard tower at the Far Hills pool. He knew how to do a backflip off the diving board. In fact, he was one of the best swimmers she’d ever met.
    After their swim, Madison and Stephanie sat on the patio for at least an hour without talking, just enjoying the clear, hot skies. Madison had left her laptop inside so she could read a tattered copy of the latest Veronica Roth book instead. She flipped through a copy of Seventeen that Stephanie had picked up at the drugstore. Sitting there in the tropical air, amid the patio chairs, bottled water, and magazines, Madison felt as though she were living the lush life. She was no longer the girl who liked computers and crushed on boys who called her Finnster.
    She was like someone in a music video. LOL.

Chapter 5
    D AD CAME HOME LATE from his important work meeting, but he came bearing dinner: Chinese food from Lucky Chang, a too-cool restaurant near the offices where he’d been meeting all day. Madison had read about Lucky Chang—it was the kind of place where famous people went to eat and drink.
    Stephanie set the patio table outside, and they ate by the pool. The clouds turned a deep orange-pink, and the sun dropped down in the sky. Everything was perfect—almost.
    Madison had a pang inside.
    Dad noticed that something was wrong. He guessed aloud that maybe Madison was upset because he hadn’t been able to spend the day with them, but Madison assured him that she wasn’t upset.
    “I’m just homesick,” Madison admitted. “Well, more like friend-sick.”
    “Hmmm,” Dad said thoughtfully when Madison told him what was bugging her. “Maybe we can fix that feeling.”
    “How can we do that?” Madison asked.
    “Try your laptop.”
    “Huh?”
    Madison told Dad that online messages and chat rooms were too hard to manage with all the time differences.
    Dad shook his head. “No, no, I was thinking of something else. What about a blog?” he suggested.
    Madison slapped her forehead. “Of course! A blog!” she exclaimed. “Why didn’t I think of that? Dad, you’re a genius.”
    “I know,” Dad said, not very modestly.
    Stephanie just rolled her eyes. “It is an excellent idea, Jeff. If Madison keeps a blog—and all her friends do the same—everyone can stay updated on all the little stuff. After all, that’s what matters.”
    “Right,” Madison said, grinning from ear to ear.
    “It will be a little bit like a one-sided conversation,” Dad went on, “but I think it might help ease some of your separation angst. I mean, you are here for two weeks. That’s a long time for you.”
    “Too long!” Madison agreed. “I mean, I’m happy to be here, but, I mean …”
    “I know what you mean,” Dad said reassuringly.
    Since Madison’s laptop had been acting up, Dad helped Madison set up a blog page on his office computer. She immediately forwarded an e-mail with all the automatic sign-up information for the blog to her friends. Individual pages would be created through the TweenBlurt website. The whole process was way easier than Madison could have imagined.
    Before Madison could enter her simple profile, the screen prompted her to select a password. This would keep her blog page secure.
    A single word popped into her mind.
    It wasn’t Hart (although the thought