"I'm going to ride my bike to the Girl Scouts service project at the park!" Elle called down the hallway.
"Okay!" her mom yelled from one of the rooms. "Be back by 5:30 for dinner!"
“I will!” And with that, Elle hurried outside into the fall air.
Today's service project was beautification. Elle slipped her helmet over her dark brown curls and swung one leg over the seat of her flashy green bicycle. Only a few turns later, the big black gate that led into the park came into sight. Elle parked her bike and walked on the cold cement sidewalk to the looming figure.
She stared at it for a few seconds. Elle felt small next to it. Like it was a huge crowd and she was only a single person. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and stepped forward to push it open.
Scritch, scritch, scritch. Elle clasped her hands over her ears and groaned. Why couldn't they just fix that gate once and for all?
When she entered, she stood on a dirty stone path. It twisted around a big circle of dry weeds. The north side the park was wooded and a “trail” snaked through it. Red and orange leaves littered the sidewalk.
Elle spotted her Girl Scout troop standing under a tree, talking and laughing. A bin of shovels, plants, gloves, and soil was sitting on the grass next to them. She rushed over to them and was greeted by a flurry of friendly faces.
"Hey Elle!" The Girl Scout troop leader, Ms. Callie, said cheerfully. "Meet up with your group from yesterday and I'll tell you when to start beautifying. Remember, you're working on the right side of the park!" Ms. Callie walked off to greet Nora. Elle swept her eyes around the cluster of girls. She was looking for Allie and Maya. There they were at the edge!
"Hi Elle!" Allie said, smiling, as Elle jogged over to them.
"Hey girls!" she replied. Allie looked so pretty in the wind, her long blond hair waving out behind her. And Maya too. Her pretty blue eyes matched the color of a cloudless sky.
Ms. Callie's voice suddenly interrupted Elle's thoughts. "Okay everyone. Are you all ready? Let's remember, Allie, Elle and Maya you're working on the right side of the park. Nora, Carli, and Jordan left side. Ruth, Isabella, and Ida middle. Now, let's make this park beautiful!"
"Should we start over there? Near that shed?" Elle asked her teammates, turning around to face them.
"Fine with me. Maya?"
"Sure!"
"Okay, so first let's pull out weeds and then add plants in the end." Elle's group advanced to the bin. They each got a pair of orange gloves and a trowel.
“Whoo, this place has a lot of weeds,” Elle said when they got to their starting area. It was right near the edge of the wooded part of the park. Weeds sprouted up through the layer of grass. “This might take some work.”
“Don’t worry, Elle. We’re the dream team!” Maya said with a smile on her face. Elle lifted her hand up for a high five and Maya slapped it. And so the work began. Elle knelt down on her hands and knees and pulled an embedded dandelion out of the ground. Wet dirt kicked up and splattered everywhere... right onto Allie's crisp, white shirt. “I just got this new shirt!” Allie squealed, sitting up from her kneeling position.
“That you wore to gardening. If you didn’t want it to get dirty why did you wear it to the dirtiest activity on Earth?”
“Because I got it for my birthday last week,” Allie said, annoyed.
“Not my fault,” Elle said with a shrug. Allie opened her mouth but didn’t say anything.
“You could’ve worn it a different day,” Elle continued. She could see she wasn’t making the situation any better.
“Stop!”
“Yeah Elle! Shut up!” Maya butted in. “You don’t have to keep dwelling on it. Allie stopped and it was her shirt!”
“Whatever guys. Let’s just get this over with.” Elle said with an edge to her voice.
“No! I’m sick of you bossing us around all the time!” Maya yelled. Now Elle felt like she could cry. “Just go!”
“Fine!” Elle said in between tears. She hopped to her feet and took off running toward the forest. Toward the shed. She needed someplace to be alone with her thoughts. Soon she came to it and gripped the dusty door handle to pull open the mossy, wooden door. Racks of shovels, hoses, dirt, gloves, and gardening tools covered the walls around her. She sat on the musty floor and scrunched her head in her knees. Darkness surrounded her as the door creaked shut.
Was what she did really that bad? I mean, she had been bossy. And she had ruined Allie’s shirt. Elle sighed. She had been a bad friend and she had to go apologize. There! She had thought the truth in one quick sentence. But did she really have to go do it?
Elle stood up and pushed the door open. Sunlight blinded her. As she was walking back to her friends Elle thought of what she could say so she was all prepared when she got there.
“Hi Elle,” Maya said. Her voice was heavy.
Elle’s heartbeat rocketed. “I am sorry I have been bossy and ruined your shirt Allie. I hope you forgive me,” she said quickly.
“Aw, it’s okay,” Allie replied. “I’m sorry I got so mad. It was my fault that I wore this shirt.”
“Yeah, we’re the dream team, right?”
Elle lifted up her hand and her teammates slapped it. “What do you need help with next?”
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