I (heart) Bikinis: He’s With Me
By Tamara Summers
One
Lexie Willis hated bikinis.
At fourteen, she already had too many curves in too many places, and she didn’t
like people staring at her. Putting on a bikini made her feel like Janet Jackson at the Super
Bowl even when she was just standing alone in a Macy’s dressing room.
So why was there a bikini in the box on her bed?
The box looked like a present. It had shiny gold foil wrapping paper and a
cheerful bright green bow, as if to trick her into thinking, Hey, there’s something fun! and exciting! in here! There was even a little card on top that read: FOR LEXIE! IT’S
GOING TO BE A GREAT SUMMER! in her mother’s perky, exclamation-point-happy
handwriting.
But inside the box was this wine-red monstrosity. Lexie didn’t even pull it out all
the way before she realized what it was and stuffed the pieces back in, hiding them under
the folds of white tissue paper.
Seriously, Mom? Seriously?
The other box was even more mysterious. She could tell from its large, long, flat
shape that it wasn’t a book or an Amazon gift certificate, which was disappointing right
up front. But she was hoping for a new sundress, perhaps – maybe one she could wear
over the bikini. And never take off.
Instead, it was a tennis racket.
Lexie didn’t play tennis. She had never played tennis in her life.
This was very ominous.
Lexie was standing next to her bed, examining the tennis racket, when her mother
appeared in the doorway.
“Isn’t it great?” Mrs. Willis said happily. “I made sure your father got the best
one. Is it light enough for you?”
“Um,” Lexie said. Her twin brother, Colin, followed Mrs. Willis into the room
and slouched against the doorframe. He didn’t look any happier than she was. Maybe
he’d gotten some sinister, inappropriate presents, too.
Lexie’s mom sat down on the bed and pulled the bikini out of the box, laying it
out flat on the comforter. It wasn’t as bad as Lexie had thought—not as skimpy as the
little white bikinis Bree McKennis always wore, for instance. And it was her favorite
color. But still. There was no way she was wearing that.
“Colin, are you confused as I am?” Lexie asked. “Does mom think the Holy Spirit
of Athletic Daughters Everywhere has finally arrived to possess me?”
Colin shrugged, and Lexie’s mom batted at her with the top of the bikini box.
“I’m right here, Lexie,” her mom said. “You can ask me these questions, you know.” Of
course, she didn’t wait for Lexie to ask. “It’s for Summerlodge.”
“The day camp?” Lexie said. “I thought Colin and I were doing the art program at
the school. Mom, did you get paintbrushes and tennis rackets mixed up?”
“Turns out the art program was full,” Lexie’s mom said. “So you’re doing Tennis
for Teens instead. Won’t that be fun? And Summerlodge is close enough for you to bike
to, so that’ll make it easier on me and your dad, too.”
“Oh, no,” Lexie said. “Mom, I hate tennis.”
“You don’t know that you hate tennis, dear,” Mrs. Willis said. “You’ve never
tried it. And this is what comes of waiting until too late to make your summer plans.”
“Then what’s that for?” Lexie asked, pointing at the bikini. “I hope I don’t have
to play tennis in that.”
“There’s a pool at Summerlodge,” Mrs. Willis said. “One of the afternoon
activities, after tennis practice, is swimming, which I thought you would like. Don’t you
like swimming?”
I do like swimming, Lexie thought. I’d just prefer to do it fully clothed, thanks
very much.
“Lucky you already know how to play tennis,” she said to Colin. Tennis had been
one of Colin’s brief obsessions, so he’d taken lessons long enough to be a decent player.
“At least you’ll definitely look cooler than me with one of these.” She tried to flip the
racket in one hand and dropped it on the floor.
Mrs. Willis sighed. “Well, that’s the bad news. Colin’s not going with you.”
“What?” Lexie was horrified. The whole point of having a twin was that you
never had to go anywhere by yourself. So you never had to stand around awkwardly,
feeling like the pigeon in a flock of flamingos, while nobody talked to you. You always
had someone to stand awkwardly with you. That was the whole point. Colin still wouldn’t meet her eyes. “But why? We were going to do it together!”
“We’ve decided Summerlodge is not what Colin needs right now,” Lexie’s mom
said.
“Mom, that’s not fair! Why does he get to stay home and play video games while
I have to go out and look like an idiot all by myself?”
“It’ll be good for you,” Lexie’s mom said firmly. “And look on the bright side:
you might actually make some friends besides your brother.” She stood up in a
“conversation over” kind of way.
Lexie used to have a friend besides Colin: Karina Martinez, her best friend
through all of elementary school. But Karina had moved to China a year before, and
Lexie hadn’t found anyone else. It was hard to make new friends at her school, where she
would always be known as “Karina’s quiet friend” or “quirky Colin’s twin sister.” And
she was sure it wouldn’t be any easier at summer camp all on her own.
“No, I won’t!” Lexie cried. “Oh, Mom, I’ll be the only person I know there! No
one will talk to me and it’ll be so awful; please don’t make me go without Colin.”
“You’ll know someone else,” Colin said, finally chiming in. “Jake’s going to
Summerlodge, too.”
Thump-thump. Lexie felt her heart jump up and bang ingot her rib cage. Okay,
that did make a difference.
Jake Atkinson was Colin’s best friend, although they weren’t very much alike.
Colin was a quiet guy who got obsessed with funny things like stamp-collecting and bird-
watching and, lately, filmmaking. Jake, on the other hand, was outgoing, adorable, smart,
and funny, and as far as Lexie could tell, every freshman and sophomore girl at Carlisle
High wanted to date him.
But Lexie’s crush on Jake was different from everyone else’s. It was. Those other
girls liked him the way you would like a movie star, but Lexie liked the real him. She
knew why Jake was friends with
