Gaby just gave her a withering look. “As I was saying,” she said, “we need the prank to end all pranks. I’m going to think about it all night. When I’ve come up with something, I’ll put out the word and we’ll all meet in a secret location. We’ll go over the plans there.”
The CITs were beginning to come around with food, and Sarah could see Becky starting over to the table from the other side of the room. “All right,” she agreed. “You guys had better get going. Dinner’s starting.”
Natalie, Tori, and Chelsea all got up. “See you,” Nat called as they headed off.
“Bye,” Sarah called back.
“Later,” Gaby called after them with a secret smile. “I’ll be in touch.”
That night, Sarah decided to go on a night hike. It was an optional hike led by Derrick, one of the boys’ counselors, through the forest without any flashlights. The idea was that after a while, your eyes adjust to the dark and you can see much more than you could with a flashlight. They walked down an easy trail, going slowly and being careful to feel the ground ahead of them with their feet. Sarah was amazed at how bright the moon and stars were. After they’d hiked a few minutes, and they were out of range of the camp lights, she realized it was true: She could see almost everything. The trees, the ground ahead of her, even the occasional owl. It was quiet and kind of beautiful. The stars never seemed quite this bright in Winthrop.
The hike finished up at the rec hall and Sarah thanked Derrick, then waited for Brynn, who’d also come along. Brynn was beaming as she joined up with Sarah for the walk back to the cabin. “Was that incredible or what? Have you ever seen so many stars?”
“Nope,” Sarah agreed. “It was really cool.”
Sarah kept trying to quiet her restless mind. All through the hike, she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Brynn and how she’d never mentioned Darren to her before. She’d tried to think about anything else—puppies, merry-go-rounds, David’s stupid dance during the game that day. But nothing helped.
“Hey,” Brynn said after a few minutes. “You’re really quiet tonight. Is something up?”
Sarah shrugged. “No, I mean, not really. I dunno.”
Brynn gave her a sympathetic look. “Jenna said you had a rough day in sports,” she said. “Something about some dork in center field?”
Sarah shook her head. “That’s not it,” she said. She took a deep breath. “Brynn, can I ask you something?”
Brynn looked surprised. “Sure.”
“Why didn’t you tell us about Darren until tonight?”
Brynn made a funny face, like that hadn’t even occurred to her. “Well, Alex and Val and Candace and Grace already knew,” she admitted. “I told them in the social-committee meeting. And you . . .” She looked uncomfortable all of a sudden. Sheepish—like she’d been caught in a lie.
“Me?” Sarah prompted.
“Well, you just . . .” Brynn looked really uncomfortable. “You seemed like you wouldn’t want to hear about it, you know? I get the feeling you’re sick of talking about the social. At all.”
Sarah’s face fell. She couldn’t deny it—Brynn was right. She was sick of talking about the stupid dance. But she hated that it was separating her from some of her best friends in the world. With Abby around, she felt like she needed her friends more than ever, so the whole boy thing seemed even worse than it would have the year before. Last year, I felt like everybody was like me, Sarah thought. What happened to all those people? What happened to all my friends?
Brynn was still watching her, looking confused but sympathetic. Sarah could see that Brynn was honestly sorry for making her worry, but not sure what she’d done wrong.
“It’s okay,” Sarah said quickly, shaking her head. She didn’t know what else to say. It wasn’t okay, but how could she ever explain why without feeling like a freak or proving once and for all that she had nothing in common with her friends anymore? “You’re right. I am tired of talking about it. In fact, I’m tired of everything right now. I can’t wait to go to bed.”
Brynn didn’t look totally convinced, but she nodded and squeezed Sarah’s shoulder as they entered the cabin. “Get some sleep, Sars,” she agreed. “It will all look better in the morning. I promise.”
“Right,” Sarah murmured. She was quiet getting ready for bed, smiling at her bunkmates but not saying anything. When it was finally time for lights-out, she slipped into her sleeping bag eagerly. Then she stared at the springs above her for what seemed like hours, waiting for sleep to come.
chapter SEVEN
A few mornings after Sarah’s sleepless night, Chelsea shoved a note into her hand as she walked into breakfast. Sarah clutched it carefully, then opened it up as she and her bunkmates waited for Becky and Sophie to arrive.
“That’s weird,” Sarah murmured, staring at the marks on the paper.
“What’s weird?” asked Gaby.
Sarah turned the paper over so everyone could see. “Chelsea just handed me this note, but there are no letters on it. It’s all numbers.”
“Let me see,” said Abby, reaching across to take the note. Sarah handed it over, somewhat reluctantly. She and Abby had never discussed how Sarah had snapped at her about the prank war, or Sarah’s big screwup during her first softball game. The last couple of days, Sarah had been playing all right—she’d hit a couple of balls and managed to avoid completely humiliating herself, but she hadn’t earned any points or done anything spectacular. At least she hadn’t earned any more sharp comments from Abby.
Abby flipped the note over and furrowed her eyebrows. “It’s a code,” she said. “A simple code, actually. See?” She held up the note, and Sarah could see Chelsea’s girly handwriting: A=1. B=2. ETC. Abby grabbed a pen from her pocket and scribbled the alphabet on top of the note. Then, above every letter, she wrote a number—1 for A, 2 for B, and so on. “Why would she send a note in code?”
“She must have been worried someone would intercept it,” suggested Grace.
Abby rolled her eyes. “Let me guess,” she said, with a sharp look at Sarah. “It’s a prank-war thing?”
Sarah looked down at her hands.
Gaby frowned. “I told Chelsea I would come up with the prank,” she muttered. “Why can’t she be patient?”
Just then, Becky came over and sat down, greeting everyone with a cheery “Good morning.” (Becky was such a morning person, Sarah found it kind of disgusting.) Abby held the note under the table and bent over it, scratching in the letters. By the time Sophie came by with eggs and bacon, Abby had translated the whole thing. She passed it around to each camper under the table. Sarah got the note last and bent down to read it while Becky was deep in a conversation with Grace.
ALL OF 4C: MEET ME AT THE BIG OAK TREE OUTSIDE OUR CABIN AT 1600 HOURS, the note said. Sarah knew military time from her dad—1600 hours was four in the afternoon. MAKE SURE YOU ARE NOT FOLLOWED. C.
Sarah glanced up at Gaby and raised her eyebrows. This was going to be interesting.
In sports that morning, the Tigers were playing Jenna’s team, the Bears. Sarah was still stuck in left field, having to try extra-hard to pay attention when she was really bored and worried that the ball would never come to her again. David tried to clown around and get her attention, but she just smiled and turned back to the game. David was nice and all, but she was not going to let him ruin this for her. She still had faith that she could turn this around and start acting like the amazing athlete she knew she was.
It was kind of weird playing against Jenna’s team, though. All this time Sarah had felt bad about playing badly with just Abby and David watching. Having Jenna around added a whole new layer of pressure. Jenna had actually seen Sarah at her best and was probably wondering what was going on. And unfortunately, I don’t have any answers, Sarah mused with a sigh.
“All right, Tigers, let’s turn this around!” Abby yelled as she struck one of the Bears out and ended the eighth inning. The Bears were leading, 3-2. “I want to see some sup
er batting out there! I expect everyone to do their best!”
Sarah trotted slowly out of left field and over to the bench that was acting as dugout. She had to admit, over the last couple of days, she had noticed that Abby was actually a good team captain. She had her bossy moments, but that only seemed to annoy Sarah and David. She inspired the team—at least, all the team members other than Sarah, who was still just praying for the opportunity to show her up—but didn’t put so much pressure on them that they choked up at bat or on the field. Yeah, I’m the only one who chokes up around here, thought Sarah. And when you choke up, suddenly Abby’s not so nice.
David was first up at bat. He walked up to home plate and began swinging the bat around, loosening up his arms. For all of his goofiness, David was actually a great batter and a decent outfielder, when he paid attention. He’s able to just relax and have fun, Sarah thought. I should do more of that. As David made strike one, she tried to loosen up her shoulders and be less stressed out. It’s just a game. It’s just a game. It’s just a game.
David hit the next ball and got to first base. Lily, a quiet girl from 4B, was up after him, and after a few foul balls she got a single, too. Then came Sheldon, a moppyhaired kid from 5F. He hit a fly ball to center field and got an out. After him came Kelly, who got a single, and then Jimmy, who struck out. Omigod, Sarah thought suddenly as she stood up to bat. Bases loaded. Two outs. And I’m up.
“Come on, Sarah!” she heard Jenna scream from her spot as third baseman. “You can do it! Hit it over the fence!”
Sarah felt the waves of confusion moving through Jenna’s team members as they wondered why she was cheering someone from the opposite team. She just feels bad for me, she thought. She knows I’ve been messing up so much, I’ll really be crushed if I mess this up, too. Sarah started to feel heavy all over as she reached home plate. All of the relaxation she’d felt on the bench left her, and she felt herself tense up.
“Come on, Sarah,” Abby yelled encouragingly. “Show us what a great player you really are!”
Sarah picked up the bat and tried to make a few practice swings. She didn’t feel loose at all, and her swings were too fast and jerky. Calm down, she told herself. Calm down! Calm DOWN! But the more she willed herself to relax, the less relaxed she felt. It was like she was one of those puppets on a string, and someone was pulling all of her strings tight so her limbs locked.
“Ready?” the pitcher called, winding up.
“Ready,” Sarah said, but she was thinking, Ready as I’m gonna get. The ball flew toward her, and Sarah tried to line up the bat. Come on! Hit it! She swung, but missed by a mile.
“Strike one!” yelled Kimberly.
The ball was thrown back to the pitcher, who wound up again and waited for Sarah to get over home plate. Sarah stood there, desperately trying to loosen up, but her limbs felt like they were made of ice, and her heart was pounding a mile a minute. “Go, Sarah!” Jenna yelled again from third base. She knows, Sarah thought. She knows I’m freaking out.
The pitcher let go of the ball, and it seemed to come toward Sarah in slow motion. Desperately, she swung.
“Strike two!” yelled Kimberly.
“Come on, Sarah,” Abby yelled again. She was trying to sound encouraging, but Sarah could hear the annoyance in her voice. “Last chance. You can do it!”
This is it, Sarah told herself. If you make a hit, we’ll probably win. If not, we’ll lose and everyone will blame you. She stretched her shoulders and tried again to loosen up, but she still felt tense and jerky. Her heart was pounding so loud, she thought the outfielders must be able to hear it. She swung the bat to her shoulder and stood over home plate, trying to look more prepared than she felt.
Sarah saw the ball leave the pitcher’s glove, but she didn’t see it sail by her. She was busy swinging with all her might. “Strike three!” yelled Kimberly. “That’s three outs! Sorry, Tigers—the Bears win!”
Sarah dropped the bat as the Bears erupted in cheers, moving around to slap each other five and give hugs. The Tigers were silent. When she turned around, Abby was scowling. She got off the bench and walked up close to Sarah, close enough that nobody else could hear what she was saying.
“What’s with you?” she hissed. She turned on her heel and stomped off before Sarah could respond.
I failed, Sarah thought miserably. Again. I’m never going to show her that I’m a great athlete, too.
David came running over from third base and patted her on the back. “No sweat, Sarah,” he reassured her. “What’s one more off day? When you have a good day, it’s going to blow everyone’s socks off. I believe you’re a great athlete.”
Sarah sighed. “Well, I’m glad,” she told him, “because I’m starting to not believe it myself.”
David looked confused. “Whaddaya mean?”
Sarah shrugged. “Maybe I never was that great an athlete, you know? I mean, I didn’t play last session, and I’m so awful this session. What if I was never that great?”
Jenna ran up just in time to hear the last part. “Never that great?” she asked, moving in between David and Sarah. “What are you talking about? You’re awesome, Sars, and everybody knows it.”
Sarah just looked at the ground, shaking her head. “Then why can’t I play awesome?” She started walking back to the mess hall, leaving Jenna and David gaping behind her.
Four o’clock fell during free time, so all of 4C met up in front of their cabin and walked over to the oak tree in front of 4A together. Everyone else was chattering excitedly, but Sarah had been in a deep funk ever since sports that morning. Maybe I am exactly like Abby thinks I am—quiet and shy, not athletic at all. Maybe there’s only one Sarah Peyton: the Sarah I am at home. Maybe I should stop trying to be something I’m not.
Chelsea was sitting on a low branch of the tree, with the girls of 4A scattered around her. The 4C girls walked over and settled down. Sarah sat on the ground with Alex, Brynn, Valerie, and Grace, noting that Jenna was nowhere to be seen.
“But purple is a much better color for decorations!” Valerie was saying. “I like yellow, too, but it’s just not a dance-y color.”
“Dancey schmancy,” replied Alex. “It’ll look great in the dark.”
“Who said it’ll be dark?” asked Brynn. “We asked them to make it darker, but they haven’t told us yet whether they will.”
Just then, Chelsea stood up. “Hey, everyone,” she greeted them. “4C, I’m glad you understood my note. I apologize for the code. But I couldn’t risk anyone discovering my plans.” Suddenly she looked left and right, searching the woods for intruders. “Does anyone think she might have been followed here?”
Natalie looked at her like she was nuts. “Chelsea?” she asked. “Are you feeling all right?”
Chelsea looked back at her and seemed to recover. “I’m fine,” she replied. “We have to take this seriously, guys. A three-bunk war is a serious thing. We have to hit them hard before they catch on to our alliance.”
“So?” Gaby spoke up. “Let’s get to it, then. What’s the plan, Chelsea? It must be a good one, since you couldn’t wait for me to come up with mine.”
Chelsea’s face flooded with pride. “Oh, it is. In fact, it’s the best darn prank plan this camp has ever seen!” she replied.
“Let’s hear it,” called Alex.
“Yeah,” Tori agreed. “Let’s get this show on the road. I wanted to paint my toenails this free period.”
Chelsea sighed, looking annoyed by their impatience, and sat back down on the branch. “All right,” she began. “What we do is . . .”
What followed was the most elaborate prank Sarah had ever heard of. Everyone fell dead silent, listening to Chelsea describe each step in perfect detail. Sarah couldn’t deny that if they pulled it off, it would be a fantastic prank. But it didn’t sound completely fantastic the way Chelsea was telling it. It sounded . . . risky.
“See?” Chelsea said as she reached the end of the plan. “We’ll get them so goo
d. Ladies, this is the prank to end all pranks. So who’s in?” She stopped and beamed proudly at all the assembled campers.
There was dead silence as all the girls turned to get the reactions of the people sitting next to them. Sarah turned to Alex and Valerie. They looked just as unconvinced as Sarah felt. Then she looked over at some of the 4A girls. They, too, looked surprised and concerned—Alyssa was slowly shaking her head at Nat.
“Come on!” Chelsea encouraged them. “Don’t be shy. It’s a great prank!”
It was quiet for a few seconds more. “Um,” Grace finally spoke up. “It would be a great prank, Chelsea, no doubt about it. If we could pull it off. It sounds kind of . . . risky.”
“Risky?” asked Chelsea in surprise.
All of the campers started nodding. “No offense,” Karen spoke up, “but if we get caught, we could be in serious trouble. And we’d be out there long enough . . . it just seems like it would be really easy for something to go wrong and all of us get caught.”
Chelsea looked amazed that the group wasn’t totally in love with her plan. “But I thought of that!” she protested. “That’s why we dress all in black. So no one sees us!”
“Dressing all in black doesn’t make you invisible,” Alex muttered, loud enough to be heard. The other campers murmured their agreement. Chelsea looked around the crowd, totally taken aback.
“Listen,” she said. “I only need three people to pull this off. And I have total faith in this prank, so I’ll be one of them.” She looked from camper to camper. “Who’s with me?”
Everything was totally quiet. Sarah felt a little bad—she was the one who’d brought up the whole boys thing, and now it looked like Chelsea was going to get revenge alone. Still, the prank did sound risky. And if she volunteered and got caught, the camp would be sure to call her parents. Sarah hated getting in trouble.
“I’ll do it,” Gaby suddenly spoke up behind her. Chelsea tried to keep her cool, but Sarah could see the relief on her face. “It does sound like a great prank,” Gaby went on. “I’ll give you that. I’m in.”
Camp Confidential 08 - Wish You Weren't Here Page 7
