Tonight was the social, and she could still pull the all-time greatest prank . . . if she dared. Sizzling with excitement, Jenna brushed her teeth quickly and headed outside for some alone time while everyone else got ready. She had a lot of thinking to do. Tonight, Jenna Bloom could become a legend.
chapter ELEVEN
That night, the social was in full swing in the mess hall and all the campers seemed to be having a great time. Jenna hung back against the wall behind the huge punch bowl and took in the scene. Nate had been right. Instead of everyone being divided, boys against one wall and girls against the other, most of the kids were in the center of the floor, laughing while the counselors tried to teach them some square-dance moves. A lot of the girls had done their hair in double braids, and many of them had tracked down plaid and denim clothing to go along with the theme. Some of the boys were wearing brown plastic cowboy hats that Pete had found at a local party store, and Julie stood in the corner, handing out colorful bandannas for the campers to tie around their necks.
Bales of hay were stacked against the walls and around the snack tables. Silver and gold stars were hanging from the ceiling—the only idea left over from Chelsea’s Hollywood plan. But now they were stars of the desert night instead of stars of L.A. There were even a few inflatable cacti leaning against the DJ table where Pete played old square dance records someone had dug up from the AV room. Everything had come together just as the planning committee had dreamed it.
“Hey, Jenna! Aren’t you going to dance!?” Natalie called out as Simon grabbed her arm and swung her around. Natalie tipped her head back and laughed, and Jenna couldn’t help but smile. Nat looked like she was having an amazing time.
“Maybe later,” Jenna said. “I’m in charge of punch right now!”
Natalie waved and twirled away. Jenna looked down at her lavender dress and sighed. She wasn’t actually in charge of punch. The punch could take care of itself. The problem for Jenna was, she just couldn’t get into party mode. It turned out that dancing with boys, even silly square dancing, was not her thing. The very thought of letting one of Adam’s grubby friends spin her around and grab her hand made her cringe.
But everyone else seemed to be enjoying it, so what was wrong with Jenna? She always had fun at the camp dance, even when she just spent the night talking to her friends. What was wrong with her this year?
Jenna saw Adam approaching the punch table and pushed herself away from the wall. She went about filling cups from the punch bowl, trying to look important and busy.
“Hey, Jen,” he said, pausing in front of her. He looked kind of pale and tired, but that was what he got for spending half his summer in the darkroom. Adam may have been good with photos, but he was going to go back to school in September looking like a vampire.
“What’s up?” Jenna said, lifting the ladle from the bowl.
“You having fun?” he asked. He fiddled with the cord that held the plastic cowboy hat that hung down his back.
“Sure,” she said. “You?”
“I guess,” Adam said, scanning the room. “So . . . listen, who’s that new girl in your bunk? The one with the red hair?”
For a moment, Jenna thought of Grace, who had red curly hair. But she had been new last year and Adam knew her. She followed his gaze across the room and her jaw dropped. Adam was staring at Alyssa, who was standing by the far wall chatting with Daphne. Alyssa had her tomato-red mop pulled back in a ponytail and had made a belt by tying five of the multicolored bandannas together. Alyssa probably thought she looked cool, but Jenna thought the outfit just made her look even more like a clown.
Jenna glanced back at Adam. He looked as if he had stars in his eyes. He could have been that old cartoon skunk whose heart always thumped out his chest whenever he saw that black-and-white girl cat. Oh, God! Did Adam have a crush? On one of her friends? Could this summer get any worse?
“Jenna? Are you in there?” Adam asked.
“That’s Alyssa,” Jenna said finally. “She’s from south Jersey and she just did that to her hair last night. Kind of bright, right?” she said, attempting a laugh. She felt bad for picking on Alyssa to her brother, but she didn’t want Adam to like Alyssa. She really didn’t want that. She already shared everything with her brothers and sister. Was she going to have to share her friends, too?
“Actually, I think it’s kind of cool,” Adam said. “Is she into art?”
Jenna swallowed hard. “Why do you say that?”
“She has paint all over her sneakers,” Adam pointed out.
“So what? You like artsy girls all of a sudden?” Jenna asked. “Why? Because you’re such an amazing photographer now?”
Adam looked at her like he felt sorry for her. “You could be, too, you know, if you just paid attention to what you were doing.”
“Well, maybe I’m not into lame-o photography,” Jenna shot back. “I’d rather be playing kickball than sitting in that cave all darn day.”
“Okay! Okay! Forget I said anything,” Adam replied, raising his hands in surrender. “So, what’s Alyssa into? What are her electives?”
“Uh . . . she’s on the paper with me and she’s in arts and crafts,” Jenna said, filling another cup. “You don’t, like, really like her, do you?”
“I don’t know,” Adam said, reaching back and placing his cowboy hat firmly on his head. “Let’s find out!” he said with a smile.
Oh, ick! Jenna thought, watching as Adam walked across the room and struck up a conversation with Alyssa. She couldn’t have looked away if she’d tried. This couldn’t be happening. Adam couldn’t be crushing on one of her bunkmates. If Adam and Alyssa got together it would be such a nightmare! Her brother would be in her face even more than he already was.
And why this summer of all summers? Why was this the year Adam had chosen to suddenly become interested in girls? How could he, with everything else that was going on?
At the sound of a familiar laugh, Jenna turned her head and saw her sister and Marissa dancing with a bunch of the guys in the corner. They were busting out their best club moves, even though the Texas Reel was playing over the speakers. The guys clapped and hooted, and Marissa and Stephanie looked like they were having the time of their lives.
Adam was getting to know Alyssa, and Stephanie was dancing up a storm. They were both having so much fun. Why was Jenna the only Bloom kid who seemed to be miserable? Didn’t they care about their family at all?
Soon, Adam and Alyssa were dancing and laughing it up with Simon and Natalie. Tyler came over and grabbed some punch for Stephanie so she could cool off. The two of them bent their heads close together and whispered and laughed as they sipped their drinks. Finally Jenna couldn’t take it anymore. Everyone was having fun but her. And there was only one thing she could do to change it.
Decision made, Jenna waved to Chelsea, who grinned wickedly, nodded, and headed out through the kitchen. Jenna dropped the ladle and tromped outside. It was time to pull the prank of the year—maybe even of the decade. It was time for Jenna Bloom to truly make her mark on the Camp Lakeview social.
“Omigod! Aaahhhhh! Snake!!!!”
“What is nibbling on my foot? Hey! Is that Snowball!?”
“Get it away from me! Get it away from me!!!”
Jenna and Chelsea doubled over laughing in the corner as the animals from the nature shack took center stage at the camp social. Now this was fun. Rabbits, squirrels, snakes, iguanas, turtles—everything but the fish and the birds had been released amidst the dancing, stomping feet.
“This was the best idea you ever had,” Chelsea told Jenna.
“Couldn’t have done it without you!” Jenna replied.
Ten minutes ago Chelsea and Jenna had snuck into the nature shack, using the extra hide-a-key that Roseanne kept in a fake rock by the door for those mornings when she was spacey from lack of coffee. Chelsea had seen her use it once during her time in the nature elective and had remembered the exact placement of the fake rock. Once inside
, Jenna and Chelsea had each grabbed as many cages as they could handle and raced through the darkness back to the rear door of the mess hall kitchen. After three trips they had stacked up almost every cage in the shack and the animals were running around inside their pens, twittering and clawing and raring to go.
“Okay. Let’s turn this in to a real hoedown,” Chelsea had said, crouching in front of one of the bunny cages.
“Ready?” Jenna had added, her heart pounding. “One . . . two . . . three!”
They both opened the doors to their nearest cages and . . . nothing happened. Brownie the mouse just looked at Jenna with his beady black eyes. Snowball the rabbit ran to the back of his cage and crouched there.
“No, silly! You’re supposed to go out! Out!” Chelsea ordered.
“Come on,” Jenna said coaxingly. She reached in and picked up Brownie in her hands, then placed him by the door of the kitchen. “Run! You’re free! You’re free!”
The mouse started looking for crumbs.
“Maybe they just need some friends,” Chelsea said.
So Jenna and Chelsea ran around, opening every cage in sight and dumping the animals out on the floor. Then, working together, they wrangled them toward the door, grabbing Leaky the lizard as he tried to make a break for it and giving Todd the turtle the nudge he needed. Finally . . . finally . . . the animals got the picture and, following Sandy the squirrel’s lead, they fanned out into the mess hall.
Now, campers had scattered everywhere. Girls clambered up onto the snack tables, knocking over bowls of Cheetos and plates of brownies. A first-year girl screamed and launched herself toward the punch bowl, splashing the contents all over Stephanie, who was running to help. Stephanie screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Omigosh! Look at my sister!” Jenna cried, grasping Chelsea’s hand as Stephanie’s flattened hair dripped red punch onto her dress. Her mascara was already running, and she looked like the ax murderer from some bad scary movie.
“Check it out!” Chelsea shouted, pointing.
The Frodo Boy from the meeting was running away from, of all things, a chipmunk. He looked terrified as he ran out the front door and ran off screaming into the night.
“This is the best!” Jenna cried, beyond proud of herself.
“Everybody, calm down!” Dr. Steve said into the microphone. “Counselors and staff, please try to wrangle the animals!”
Pete dipped to the floor and swooped up a snake that was slithering toward a huddled group of senior girls. Daphne grabbed two of the iguanas and held them against her, cooing to them with a gentleness Jenna had never thought the girl could produce. Nate came running out of the kitchen, loaded down with buckets and boxes to try to contain the creatures. In every corner of the room there was screaming and chaos.
“Omigod! Somebody get the rabbit! The rabbit is getting away!” a second-year girl screamed from her perch on the DJ table.
Jenna watched as Adam tore across the room and grabbed Snowball, the white rabbit, by its haunches just before it slipped out the door.
At the sight of Snowball’s panicked eyes, something inside Jenna’s chest dropped, hard and fast. She hadn’t thought of the fact that the animals could get away. Suddenly it seemed like all the creatures were scampering for the door, terrified by the screaming and running and crying.
Crying? Who’s crying? Jenna glanced around the room and saw Marta, the girl from bunk 3A, standing with a drenched Stephanie bawling her eyes out. Julie was on the floor next to her with a Band-Aid and a wet cloth.
“What happened?” Nurse Helen asked, appearing on the scene.
“It was Rocco, the guinea pig,” Marissa said, lifting the little pink-nosed animal in her arms. His eyes were darting around wildly. “He got scared and bit her ankle.”
Nurse Helen pressed a piece of gauze into Marta’s wound and when it came back all bloodstained, Jenna almost fainted.
“This is great!” Chelsea said as the chaos continued around them.
But it wasn’t. It wasn’t great at all. The animals were petrified and in danger. Marta’s crying had sparked off a wave of tears among the younger girls. Everyone was miserable. And it was all her fault.
For the first time in her prank-filled life, Jenna knew immediately that she had gone too far.
chapter TWELVE
“I’m very disappointed in you, Jenna,” Dr. Steve said, leaning back against the front of his desk. Jenna had to tip her head back to see up into his face. He blinked rapidly, as always, but now it wasn’t funny. His expression was so harsh—so serious. Before Jenna knew it, she was looking at the floor again. “I know you’ve always been a prankster. Your whole family is famous for it. But you’ve never done anything that caused injury or true harm. What were you thinking?”
I was thinking I was miserable, Jenna thought, sinking lower in her seat. I was mad at my sister and my brother for having fun. I needed to do something.
She wasn’t about to say any of this to the camp director. It hardly made sense to her—how was it supposed to make sense to him?
“Is Marta okay?” she asked finally, her voice small.
“She’ll be fine,” Dr. Steve said. “Of course each of our animals have had their vaccinations, so there’s no chance of rabies or infection.”
Jenna let out a sigh of relief. If Marta had been mad at Jenna after Stephanie’s reaction to the love-note
prank, she must have hated Jenna now. But that didn’t really matter. As long as Marta was okay, Jenna could deal with getting dirty looks from 3A for the rest of the summer. It was nothing new.
“But that’s not the point, Jenna. The point is, it took over an hour to round up all the animals. Roseanne was beside herself with worry,” Dr. Steve said, getting up and pacing to the other side of his desk. “On top of which, the camp social was ruined. There are over a hundred campers here who are none too happy with you.”
“I know,” Jenna said, her heart heavy.
She looked out the window at the bright blue sky. Even from here she could see the colorful helium balloons that were tied up all around the mess hall, welcoming the parents to camp for Visiting Day. Car doors slammed and kids shouted as they greeted the families they hadn’t seen in four full weeks. Shira raced around, playing the happy hostess. Jenna knew that back in her bunk, all her friends were putting on their best clothes, brushing their hair, getting ready for one of the biggest days of the summer. And where was she? Stuck in the director’s office, waiting for her mom to come in for a meeting.
The prank had not been worth it. Not by a long shot.
Jenna wondered how many of the kids had already told their parents about the social. By the end of the day she was going to be famous—but in a bad way. Not exactly what Jenna had imagined.
There was a quick rap on the door, and Jenna’s stomach turned.
“Come in,” Dr. Steve said.
Jenna looked up to find her mother, brow wrinkled in concern, stepping into the room. Her curly hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, and she was wearing her favorite blue sundress and white sneakers. But her eyes looked tired and worried, and Jenna was instantly sorry for giving her anything negative to think about today.
Out of habit, Jenna looked for her father to step through the door after her, but of course, he didn’t. It was like there was a big empty hole where he should have been.
“Jenna,” her mother said. And Jenna was out of her chair like a shot, hugging her mother as tightly as she could. Jenna had no idea how much she’d missed her mom until that very second. “Honey, are you okay?” her mom asked. “Shira told me to come right to the office. Is there anything wrong?”
“I’m afraid we have to have a serious talk, Ms. Bloom,” Dr. Steve said.
Jenna looked up at her mom, who looked back at her with that disappointed expression that Jenna knew so well from other after-prank meetings. She felt like she was about to cry. “I’m really sorry, Mom.”
“It’s okay, baby. Just wait outside while I
talk to Dr. Steve,” her mom said, running her hand over Jenna’s hair. “I’ll be right out.”
“Hello, Mrs. Bloom,” Dr. Steve said as Jenna slipped through the door. “And will Mr. Bloom be joining us?”
Jenna closed the door before she could hear her mother’s response. She dropped down into a chair in the deserted waiting room, closed her eyes against her tears, and waited.
“Let’s go for a walk,” Jenna’s mother said when she stepped out of Dr. Steve’s office. She was clutching her purse, and her mouth was set in a thin line. This was not a happy mom.
Jenna stood up quickly, her knees shaking almost as badly as they had on the diving pier. “I’m not kicked out of camp, am I?” she asked.
“No. You’re not kicked out of camp,” her mother said, opening the door for her with a loud creak. “Though I have to say, I find that decision surprising after what you pulled.”
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Jenna thought, practically skipping out into the sunshine. Even though her mother was clearly upset with her, Jenna couldn’t help being relieved that she wasn’t going to have to go home. There was no way she could have handled living for four summer weeks at that house without her brothers and sister. They may have been annoying to have around camp, but she would need them at home. Especially with everything that was going on.
Jenna and her mother stepped onto the main drive where Pete and a bunch of the counselors were directing parents to parking spaces. There wasn’t a paved lot at Camp Lakeview, so they made do with a wide expanse of dirt and did the best they could to fit in all the cars. The tires kicked up a lot of dust, and Pete and the guys were using the bandannas from last night’s social to cover their mouths while they coughed.
“So, do you want to go find Stephanie?” Jenna asked brightly, hoping to change the subject.
“Eh! You’re not getting off that easily, kid,” her mother said. “You are going to be punished for what you did last night.”
Jenna's Dilemma Page 10
