Over & Out

by Melissa J Morgan

  Whether it was Simon watching from the sidelines that had spurred Nat on, or just her growing courage, Jenna wasn’t sure. But Nat was playing better than ever before. Near the end of the second half, the teams were tied. Alex and Sarah had each scored three goals for the Blues, but Perry, Tori, and Chelsea had scored one each for the Reds, too.

  “One more goal wins the game!” Jenna shouted hoarsely, starting to lose her voice from all the yelling. “You can do it!”

  Alex and Sarah were bearing down hard on the ball, keeping it tight and close between them as they dribbled and passed to each other, getting closer and closer to the goal. But at the last second, Tori swooped down on Sarah and scooped the ball out from under her and raced away with it. Just as the Blues were closing in on her, Tori swung her leg back and sent the ball rocketing toward the goal with a power Jenna had never seen her use before. Gaby, the Blue’s goalie, dove for the ball, but it brushed past her fingertips and sailed into the goal just as screams exploded from Reds.

  “YES!” Jenna screamed, completely forgetting her crutches and hopping onto the field with her good leg to meet her teammates. “You won!” she yelled. “Victory!”

  “I can’t believe we won,” Grace said.

  “I can’t believe you won, either,” a voice said behind them, and they all turned to see Alex. “I just wanted to say congratulations on an amazing game,” she said. “You all played great.”

  “So did you,” Jenna said, high-fiving Alex. “And now the Reds and Blues are tied again.”

  Alex nodded. “Until the pie-eating contest.”

  Jenna smiled. “Finally! A game I can compete in.”

  “And one that I can’t compete in.” Alex smiled back. “Now I get to sit on the sidelines and watch you.”

  “It’s about time.” Jenna laughed. If she could win the pie-eating contest, the Reds would be in the lead. Her team had won one for her, and now she’d do her best to win one for her team. It was all up to her and her sweet tooth.

  Her sweet tooth was starving, and so was she. Her stomach gave a loud rumble as she sat down at the table set up on the outdoor stage for the pie-eating competition. Jenna hadn’t eaten one bite of lunch, because the last thing she’d wanted was to be scarfing down pies on an already full stomach. She’d seen some of the other kids eating their lunches, but as they sat down at the long pie table, too, she wondered just how much more they could fit into their bellies. As hungry as she was, she thought that winning this competition would be a piece of cake. Or a piece of pie, actually.

  That was, until Adam walked onto the stage and sat down next to her.

  “Are you ready to stuff your face, sis?” Adam asked with a grin.

  “You’re competing in this?” Jenna cried.

  Adam patted his stomach. “Yup. And man, am I hungry. I didn’t have breakfast or lunch today.”

  Jenna’s spirits sank. This was not good. Adam was on the Blue team, and Jenna knew from witnessing his dozens of disgusting refrigerator raids at home that he was a bottomless pit. He ate all sorts of gross food, too. His favorite sandwich was pickles, peanut butter, and Spam, for crying out loud! This competition had just gotten a whole lot tougher.

  Andie stepped onto the stage with a bullhorn. “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for the pie-eating competition! Bring out the mystery pies, please!”

  Mia and a couple of the other CITs walked out of the mess hall carrying huge trays holding half a dozen pies each. They stood behind the competitors with the trays so that the pies could be switched out quickly as they were eaten. “You have ten minutes to eat as many pies as possible!” Andie explained. Campers shouted cheers and clapped as the buzzer sounded.

  When the first pie was put down in front of her, Jenna took one look and almost threw in her fork right then and there. With crumbly dirt crust and a few pink worms peeking out, the pie looked totally gagworthy! Worm pie?! No one had said anything about having to eat nasty worms, and these looked especially slimy and dirty, like they’d just been pulled out of the mud. Jenna heard the other kids at the table gasp as they looked at their pies, too. But these weren’t real worms . . . they couldn’t be. All she had to do was close her eyes and take that first bite, and everything would taste just fine. She hoped. But what if she couldn’t do it? What if she let her team down? Nope, she decided, that wasn’t even an option.

  She took a deep breath and dove in. After the first bite, a wide grin broke across her face. The pie was delish! That wasn’t dirt . . . it was Oreo crumbs. And those pink worms were watermelon-flavored gummy worms! This was her kind of pie—tons of sugar, tons of chocolate, and mmmm good.

  She scarfed down the whole thing and moved on to her second, third, fourth, and fifth. From the corner of her eye, she could see the kids around her dropping like flies. The ones who had eaten lunch beforehand were the first to give up and leave the table. Next, it was the younger kids who just couldn’t eat as much. But soon, it was just she and her bro, side by side, stuffing their faces.

  By the eighth pie, Jenna’s stomach was starting to get uncomfortably full, and the gummy worms weren’t tasting nearly as yummy as they had before, but she didn’t slow down. She looked up once to see Alyssa and Nat and Tori, jumping up and down and screaming her name, so she pushed on, reaching for another pie, and another.

  It was on pie number ten that Jenna noticed Adam turning a very interesting shade of lime green. He froze, mid-chew, and bolted for the restrooms, leaving Jenna alone at the table—the winner!

  The Red team burst into wild cheers as Jenna finished her eleventh pie, patted her belly, and let out a long, loud burp.

  “Jenna Bloom has put the Red team back in the lead, ladies and gentlemen,” Andie announced. Then she turned to Jenna. “How does it feel to eat eleven pies?”

  Jenna took the bullhorn. “Great!” she shouted. “I could eat eleven more right now!”

  That afternoon the girls participated in a Scrabble tournament, and then finally that night was the camp-wide singdown. It all came down to this.

  Jenna had never sung so loud in her entire life. The singdown had been going on for the last half hour, and both teams were performing their final songs for the judges. Grace and Alyssa had written a song set to the music of ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” titled “The Great Red Team,” and the entire Red Team was singing its heart out. There were four CITs judging each song on execution, originality, and camp spirit, and Jenna was positive that this song would win the war. She threw back her head and belted out the last verse:“You can run, you can hide,

  But the Reds will track you down,

  Ooooh, you’re in bad shape,

  There’s no escape, from the great Red team.”

  They finished the song, and Jenna grinned.

  “There’s no way the Blues can beat that song,” she said to her teammates. “It’s a winner.”

  Then, the Blues began their song:“Camp Lakeview, duh duh duh, Camp Lakeview,

  The pasta that they cook you, they say you should admire,

  But when we tried a spoonful, our taste buds caught on fire,

  Oh, we love our good old Camp Lakeview,

  Even the mosquitoes,

  And lake leeches that suck your toes,

  We love our good old Lakeview.

  Camp Lakeview, duh duh duh, Camp Lakeview,

  The bunks that you stay in, they say are safe and clean,

  But spiders bigger than dogs make homes in the latrine,

  Oh, we love our dear old Camp Lakeview,

  The mildewy shower heads,

  And the bugs that share our beds,

  We love our good old Lakeview.”

  As the Blues sang, Jenna had to admit that each verse was funnier than the last. Even Dr. Steve was laughing at the lyrics, and a few of the younger kids on the Blue team couldn’t even get the words out of their mouths, they were giggling so hard.

  As the song ended, Dr. Steve announced, “All of you did a fantastic job the last two days. The
judges for the singdown competition will turn in their results to me shortly, and I’ll announce the victor at the banquet tonight.” He smiled. “But first, we’re all in for a treat. This year’s drama production of Into the Woods is going to be wonderful. I’ll see you at the show.”

  Everyone groaned in disappointment, not wanting to wait a whole two hours before knowing who won Color War, but soon everyone started walking to the bunks to get cleaned up for the play and the banquet. Before Grace, Tori, and Brynn left to change into their costumes for the play, the other girls gave them hugs for good luck.

  “I won’t say ‘break a leg,’ ” Jenna said. “Because I’ve already broken one for you. I hope it brings you lots of luck.”

  “Thanks,” Brynn said, and she, Grace, and Tori headed off toward the drama room.

  As the other girls went back to the bunks, Jenna hurried to the mess hall instead, to put the finishing touches on the decorations for the banquet. She and the rest of the banquet planning committee worked for the next hour hanging the Color War banners, setting up the decorations, and helping cook the food. When they finished, Jenna took one final look at the mess hall before leaving for the bunk. Everything looked amazing! She was so glad she’d been on the committee, because now she felt like she’d really done all she could to make sure this banquet would be the best ever. She couldn’t wait to see the looks on everyone’s faces when they walked into the mess hall. Tonight was going to be fantastic.

  chapter ELEVEN

  “Come on, you guys! Hurry up!” Jenna yelled from the mess-hall stairs. Her friends were taking forever, and she couldn’t wait for them to see the fully decorated banquet hall. The banquet was the best part of Color War, and in her opinion, anyone with two good legs should be running as fast as they could to get there.

  They’d just come from the drama club’s production of Into the Woods, and it couldn’t have been better. The props and costumes had been fantastic—papier-mâché trees, velvet cloaks and sparkling fairy tale dresses, and twinkling white lights that were strung across the stage as stars.

  “Someday we’ll all be able to see you and Grace and Brynn on Broadway,” Nat said to Tori. “I just know it.”

  As Nat and the other girls finally climbed the mess-hall stairs, Jenna cried, “It’s a miracle! You’re actually going to make it to the banquet before my ninetieth birthday!” She grinned. “And thank goodness, because I’m starving.”

  Chelsea gawked at her. “I can’t believe you’re hungry after pigging out on eleven pies. That’s disgusting.”

  Jenna grinned and knocked on her cast. “It’s my hollow leg. I just can’t fill it fast enough.” She put her hand on the door to the mess hall. “All right, ladies, get ready to step into the streets of Rome, float down the canals of Venice, feast on pasta and pizza, and—”

  “Jenna.” Andie laughed. “Just open the door.”

  “Okay, okay,” she said and swung the door open to the oohs and aahs of all the girls as they looked inside. A gondola decorated with flowers, paint, and streamers sat in one corner in front of a mural of a Venetian canal, and kids were already lining up to have their picture taken sitting in it. Street lamps that Tiernan and Sarah had salvaged from the props from Peter Pan lined the aisles between the tables, and Pete had even turned a boat tarp into an awning that he’d hung over the window into the kitchen to make it look like the front of a real Italian café. Candles and Italian flags decorated every table, and the Leaning Tower of Pizza was especially impressive. Its twelve pizzas were stacked carefully one on top of another with breadsticks and leaning perfectly to one side. Red and blue Color War banners covered almost every inch of the walls that weren’t decorated with Italian scenery, and red and blue streamers and balloons hung from the rafters.

  “Wow!” Perry cried. “This is incredible.”

  “I think it looks just like Italy,” Karen said.

  Chelsea smirked. “Only someone who’s never been to Italy would think that.”

  “And you’ve been to Italy, Chelsea?” Alyssa asked, to which Chelsea muttered a barely audible “no” that made Karen smile shyly.

  “It looks good, doesn’t it?” Jenna asked, forgetting Chelsea’s snotty comment as she admired the decorations.

  “Good?” Nat repeated. “It looks amazing!”

  Jenna beamed. To think that originally she hadn’t been that into helping with the banquet! Now she was so glad she had. “I want to show you something,” she said. “Come with me.”

  Her friends followed her to a long table at the back of the mess hall that was loaded with cookies and Italian pastries. Pete had even tried to make cannolis, although he’d overdone it on the cream and they were looking a little soggy. But it was what was sitting in the center of the table that Jenna really wanted her friends to see. It was a huge white cake with a red cougar and a blue bear painted on top with icing.

  “It’s the two Color War mascots!” Nat said. “How cool is that?”

  “It was Jenna’s idea,” Andie said, ruffling Jenna’s hair. “She wanted to do something really special for dessert this year.”

  “The inside of the cake’s red and blue, too,” Jenna said proudly. “I swirled food coloring into the cake batter. And there’s extra-chocolaty filling in the middle.” She smiled. “You can never have enough chocolate!”

  “I think it’s the best banquet dessert we’ve ever had,” Pete said, coming out of the kitchen to admire it.

  Mia nodded. “No matter who wins Color War, everyone will love this cake.”

  “We already do,” Tori said.

  As Jenna watched her friends laughing and talking at their table, she knew she’d done the right thing when she’d decided not to carry through with her plan for Operation Drowned Rat. She’d put too much work into tonight to risk messing it up. And with such great friends, who needed pranks, anyway?

  Of course, even without pranks, things got rowdy in the mess hall as everyone waited for Dr. Steve to announce the Color War winner. Simon, Adam, Devon, and Blake pounded on their table and shouted, “Food, waiter, waiter, waiter, food!” as Andie and Kenny, the designated kitchen help for the evening, brought out trays of chicken parmesan, garlic bread, and Caesar salad and put them on the buffet table.

  “It looks like Pete and his fellow chefs totally outdid themselves this year,” Alyssa said as they got in line for the buffet.

  “Don’t worry,” Jenna said. “There’ll be mystery meat tomorrow at breakfast. I’m sure of it.”

  As the girls sat down with their food, Dr. Steve took the stage.

  “This year’s Color War competition was one of the closest in years,” he began. “In fact, there was only a twenty-five-point difference between the two teams, which just goes to show how much good sportsmanship and effort everyone put forth.”

  Everyone in the mess hall broke into cheers, and a storm of fists pummeled the tabletops as the two teams chanted, “Red! Red!” and “Blue! Blue!”

  Dr. Steve held up his hands for silence, waiting for everyone to settle down. “The final scores were 125 points for the Reds, and 150 points for the Blues. The champions in this year’s Color War are . . . the Blues!”

  Alex, Brynn, Karen, and Sarah all broke into wild whoops and screams, hugging and stamping their feet. Jenna, Natalie, Alyssa, and Tori all hissed and booed but still couldn’t help smiling at the Blues’ happy delirium.

  As the noisy chaos finally died down, Dr. Steve continued, “Congratulations to both teams on a Color War well played. You all did a wonderful job, but as you all know, each year we recognize the players, by division, who have made an outstanding contribution to their team.” He started with the younger kids first and worked his way up to Jenna’s division. He held up two shiny medals. “The Most Valuable Player for the Red Team is Devon, and the Most Valuable Player for the Blue Team is Alex.”

  More cheers and clapping boomed through the mess hall as Dr. Steve hung the medals around Alex’s and Devon’s necks.

  A
s soon as Alex had returned to her seat, Jenna ran over to give her a hug. “Congratulations,” she said. “You were the obvious choice for MVP. All the way.”

  “Thanks. But . . . you’re not jealous?” Alex asked tentatively.

  “Are you kidding?” Jenna laughed and slapped her playfully on the shoulder. “I’ve never seen anyone play basketball and soccer the way you did the last two days. You totally deserve this. Besides, I know I only ate pie.”

  Alex laughed. “Yeah, well, that was impressive, too. I’ve never seen anyone eat pie the way you did today.”

  “Speaking of which,” Andie said, walking over to Jenna and putting an arm around her, “We have a little something for you, too.”

  “Really?” Jenna asked.

  Andie pounded on the table to get the whole room’s attention. “Tonight we have a special award for Jenna Bloom, who now holds Camp Lakeview’s record for the most worm pies ever eaten in one sitting!”

  Kenny handed Jenna a ten-pound jar of gummy worms. “Maybe that broken leg really is hollow,” he said, “because it sure gave you an appetite!”

  As applause broke out, Jenna took a dramatic bow and gave a victory wave with one crutch.

  “Thanks for believing in me, guys,” she said to Andie and the girls from both bunks. “If it hadn’t been for all of you, I’d still be moping around here in pity-party mode.” She put her tub o’ worms on her chair. “Now, who wants cake?” she asked.

  “I do!” Alex said with a grin.

  Jenna hesitated. “But what about the sugar? Won’t it make you sick?”

  “I’m just going to have a little bite, and I won’t eat any icing,” Alex said. “It’s your cake! I have to at least try it.”

  Jenna grinned. “Okay. But just one bite, and you’ll have to wait your turn.” She elbowed Alex playfully.

  “I know. I know.” Alex smiled. “Color War rules.” It was a camp tradition that the winning team always served dessert to the losing team.