1 Kathy found a shady place under a tree for her chair. She sat down and started to write.
2 "Dear Diary, Well, today is our first day at the beach. Dad, Mom, and Billy have gone swimming. They wanted me to come. I have a really cool new bathing suit. I wouldn't go with them, though. I want them to know I hate this trip! They will be sorry they let Billy have his way!"
3 Kathy heard footsteps. She stopped writing and looked up. There was a girl standing in front of her. The girl was about her age. She had on a bathing suit. She was carrying a towel.
4 "Hi," the girl said. "My name is Debi. What is your name?"
5 "I'm Kathy," Kathy said. "My parents made me come here."
6 "Didn't you want to come?" Debi asked. "I love the beach!"
7 "What's so special about it?" Kathy asked. "I wanted to go to the amusement park."
8 "What's so special?" Debi looked like she couldn't believe what she heard. "The beach is the greatest place in the whole world! The ocean is so beautiful. The water is nice and warm. You can build sandcastles. You can draw in the sand. You can swim. You can look for shells. You can surf. There are just thousands of things to do. Why don't you like it?"
9 Kathy said, "I don't know. My brother Billy wanted to come here. He always gets his way. Hey, do you have a diary?"
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