CHAPTER THREE: OPERATION: S.U.M.M.E.R.
Francine wanted to get Sue Ellen back, but Buster was right about finals. She was barely keeping a B in her algebra class, and since her mother found C's unacceptable, she had to study hard to make the right grade. Sue Ellen was busy with finals too, her desire for all A's keeping her busy all the way up to the final day of school. In the end, both girls made their grades, but their fight for Arthur was on hold, for now at least.
Summer hit Elwood City like a gas explosion, knocking the life out of unwatered grass and sending everyone for cover. Francine spent her lazy afternoons in Muffy's pool, floating with Muffy after brief dips to cool off. When they weren't trading celebrity gossip, Francine was wondering what Arthur was doing...and Muffy was openly scoffing at her love sick friend.
"You do know we start high school in like three months, right? Who cares what Arthur Read is doing with his summer, because high school is different. More girls, more people in general. There will be more boys there too, and you and Sue Ellen both will forget all about this guy. Arthur? Arthur who? That's what you'll be saying, Francine, and don't tell me I've got it wrong because I know I'm right," Muffy spat.
"So you've seen Elwood City High and I haven't. Who cares about more people? I won't just forget about Arthur, okay? We've been in school together for years now, and Grebe Middle had more students. Why didn't I develop a crush on Phillip like you did?"
"Phillip was a mistake," Muffy whispered fiercely, "and you promised to never bring that up again," she glared. Francine shrugged it off. Phillip was Muffy's sixth grade crush, but she didn't know him that well. He dressed in nice, fashionable clothes like she liked. But his interests were all nerd—pirates, aliens, fantasy languages, etc.—and Muffy regretted ever falling for him. In Francine's eyes, there really wasn't much of a difference.
"But there's tons of other people at Grebe Middle, weird and not weird. You fell for a weird one. I fell for Arthur. That's got to mean something, Muffy. Come on, you've watched a lot of teen dramas. Is high school really that different?" Francine asked.
Muffy scoffed, "You can't compare teen dramas to real life, Francine. You're the one who told me not to!"
"Well, I'm telling you to do it now. How are teen dramas like real life? I want like three examples or something."
"Hmm, there's always somebody trying to break up couples, even the power couples. It happens in real life, except those people who stay together for like ever like Kevin and Christina," Muffy said, referencing a couple from another elementary school that started hanging out in kindergarten. When they reached fifth grade, they became a couple, and they'd been one ever since.
"Okay, nice exception, but what else?" Francine asked.
Muffy sighed, "Well...fights are real. People do just randomly get really mad at each other or whatever and have all-out brawls in the hallway. We've had some in middle school, but it gets worse in high school."
"Alright, one more," Francine prodded. Muffy sighed again, resisting her friend's request. Francine kept pushing, threatening to splash Muffy's precious hair if she didn't come up with something soon.
"Fine," Muffy whispered. "Summer changes everything. People get taller, lose weight, gain weight, lose and gain friends—everything changes for those short months between grades, and the jump from middle school to high school only makes that gap bigger. Crushes usually fade or jump back to celebrities or something, relationships fizzle or rekindle. Everything can change in a matter of moments."
"And you think that's what is going to happen with me?" Francine asked. Muffy nodded. "Well," she said, rolling off her floating pillow and landing in the water with a soft splash, "I won't just forget about Arthur. I'll keep liking him, and if Sue Ellen keeps liking him, then she and I are entering high school as enemies. And before you say anything, I won't let this ruin our summer. We can talk about something else, but I'm still thinking about him. I have the right, you know."
Muffy kept her thoughts to herself. She still didn't get what Francine saw in him. And she was less gushy than Sue Ellen, who at least knew exactly what she seemed to like about him. Muffy hoped Francine would find someone else, and she hoped Sue Ellen would as well, but she knew not to get her hopes up.
Across town, Sue Ellen was having to hide her feelings from her friends, not because they weren't listening to her: They were at out of town. Maria was off to her grandmother's house in the country, Jenna was at a badminton camp, and Fern was at a summer camp that was meant to socialize her more, something her mother had come up with in an attempt to get Fern over her social anxiety.
These events left Sue Ellen alone with her mother while her father was off in Europe for business. Her thoughts were on Arthur, hoping that he was okay after being pestered by girls and the stress of finals. She kept Francine from her thoughts. Like Muffy, she knew that summer changed things, so she almost expected Francine to fall for someone else, especially once they met their new classmates at Elwood City High.
Sue Ellen was stuck on Arthur though. She missed seeing him in band class. She desperately wanted to see him now, but she knew to give him space. So, she wrote about him in her journal. She drew and painted pictures that reminded her of him. She read cheesy young adult romance novels, comparing herself to the characters, especially when they got together.
The girls and their classmates were off in their own worlds, separated from each other. Their feelings were changing as the hot, summer months faded by. Sue Ellen ended up more in love with Arthur than before. And so did Francine.