Brynn wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know if I want to play a boy. Boys are kinda gross.”
“But it would be a good acting challenge,” Grace said. Everyone giggled.
“Maybe.” Brynn didn’t sound convinced.
“I could help you practice,” Jenna offered. “I know all about being a boy from living with my brother. I can teach you how to belch in public and everything.”
Grace watched as her bunkmates laughed and joked around with Brynn. She wanted to get into the spirit of it, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the play auditions. She desperately wanted to try out for a role. And she hated the feeling that she was letting Brynn down. But unless her situation changed very, very quickly, she knew she wouldn’t be able to audition no matter how much she wanted to.
“Mail call!” Julie yelled, pushing open the screen door with her hip. Her arms were filled with boxes and envelopes.
“Cool! What’d I get?” Jenna demanded, rushing over to grab the biggest box. It had the Bloom family’s trademark giant orange stickers on it, which meant it was a care package from Jenna’s mom. She always sent enough food for the whole bunk.
“I can’t wait to find out—I’m starving,” Julie joked. She plopped the rest of the mail down on her cot and began handing it out.
“Nat, a postcard from Tunisia,” she called.
“My father’s on location there,” Natalie explained, taking the oversized card.
“Care package for Karen,” Julie went on. “And letters for Valerie, Candace, Alison, and Grace.”
Everyone else bounded happily over to get their mail, but Grace was in no rush. She had a feeling the letter was from her mother, and a letter from her mother wasn’t a good thing, not this summer. Maybe it’s from Emily, she thought hopefully. I would have a great time reading about all the gossip from home. But she knew her best friend wasn’t going to write again so soon. Grace still hadn’t answered Emily’s first three letters.
She shuffled over to the counselor, hoping against hope that Emily had found out something so juicy that she simply had to write to Grace.
Julie gave her a sympathetic smile as she handed over the envelope.
Uh-oh, that face could only mean one thing, Grace thought. It’s a letter from Mom.
Grace threw herself down on her bunk and slowly peeled open the envelope. The letter was short, and it said exactly what she had expected it to say. Usually Grace liked to read letters two or three times before she put them away, but not this letter. She stuck it right back into its envelope and slipped it into the box under her bed where she kept her unused stationery and the other letters from her folks and Emily. Then she rolled over on her bed and faced the wall. Even though she’d only read it once, the letter stuck in her mind. Especially the part that said “we’re so disappointed in you.” Tears pricked at her eyes. She hoped her bunkmates would leave her alone.
No such luck. “Grace? You okay?” Sarah asked from her own bunk.
“I’m fine,” Grace replied. She turned back over and plastered a fake smile on her face.
“Are you sure?” Chelsea asked, leaning forward to peer closely at Grace. “Because you look kinda green.”
“Thanks,” Grace said. “I was going for yellow, but I guess I went a little too far.”
A few of the other girls giggled, but Grace could see that Sarah, Alyssa, and Nat weren’t convinced that she was kidding. Usually she could joke her way out of any situation, but right now she actually felt kinda green, if that was possible. She wasn’t really sick, but she was worried and upset. Julie was still over at her own cot, but if she heard the girls talking about Grace’s problem, she’d come over to investigate. And then everyone would find out her secret, and they would think she was a loser. I have to get out of here before Julie gets involved, Grace decided.
Natalie was opening her mouth to say something—probably something like, “What’s really bothering you, Grace?”—but Grace was too fast for her. She leapt up off her bunk and stuck her feet in her flip-flops, all in one motion. “I’m gonna take a walk,” she said, cutting Natalie off. “I don’t feel like siesta-ing today.”
She raced for the door and made it outside before anyone could answer. But what was she supposed to do now? She’d come outside without her book, and almost all of the other campers were in their bunks taking a siesta.
I wish I’d brought my letter to Emily so I could finish it, Grace thought. If only her best friend were here, she’d know how to cheer Grace up. But Emily was far away at home, and Grace was on her own.
Without really planning to, she started down the path toward bunk 3A. Maybe Gaby would want to hang out. That’s what best friends did, right? And they were starting to be best friends. Camp best friends, anyway.
Bunk 3A looked exactly like bunk 3C, except that the sign on the door had different names written on it, and the porch had only one step leading up to it instead of two. Grace jumped over the step and landed on the porch. She stared at the door for a second. Was she supposed to knock? All of last summer, and all of this summer so far, she’d never gone to another bunk—unless she was on a raid with her bunkmates. You definitely didn’t knock when you were raiding. But how about when you were just visiting? She had no idea what the etiquette was. She’d never needed friends outside her own bunk before.
She took a deep breath and lifted her hand to knock. Before she even touched the door, a short girl with long dark hair pushed it open. She stared at Grace in surprise.
“Uh, hi, Sharon,” Grace said.
Sharon raised her eyebrows. “Hi, Grace,” she said loudly. Obviously she wanted her bunkmates to hear her. Grace took a step back as a couple of the other 3A girls appeared behind Sharon. They stared at her curiously.
“Is she alone?” one of them whispered. “I bet it’s a trick.”
Great. They think I’m here to pull a prank or something, Grace thought. “Is Gaby here?” she asked.
Sharon’s eyebrows shot up higher. “Gaby?” she asked, sounding even more surprised than she looked. “Yeah. Do you . . . do you want to see her?”
“Yup. Thanks,” Grace said. These girls were acting even weirder than usual. Was it really that big a deal for a 3C girl to come to the door? Maybe she should’ve thought this through a little more.
She heard Gaby’s voice from inside, along with a lot of giggling and whispering. Finally Gaby stepped up to the door. She shot Sharon a look. “Thanks. You can go back in,” she said.
Sharon nodded, but she didn’t move. Clearly she wanted to know why Grace was there.
Gaby rolled her eyes, turning to Grace. She looked her up and down and frowned. “What are you doing here?” she demanded.
Grace hesitated. “Um . . . me?” she asked. Immediately she felt stupid. Who else would Gaby be talking to? But the question had taken her by surprise. She’d been expecting a “hello” or a “what’s up”—not such a rude welcome from Gaby.
Gaby pushed the door open wider and stepped out onto the porch. A few of the other girls crowded around behind her. “Duh, of course I mean you,” Gaby said. “Do you see anyone else who isn’t supposed to be here?”
Grace’s mouth dropped open. “Am I not supposed to be here?” she asked, confused. Had she missed some kind of no-visiting-during-siesta rule?
“No one from your loser bunk is supposed to contaminate our bunk by touching it,” Gaby said. She looked meaningfully at Grace’s hand on the porch railing. Her bunkmates laughed.
“Oh. Sorry.” Grace picked her hand up and tried to smile. Gaby was just kidding, she was pretty sure. It didn’t sound like she was kidding, exactly, but she must be. The bunk rivalry wasn’t a serious thing, after all. And besides, Gaby was her friend. Gaby was the one who’d wanted to be partners in drama and again in free swim. So she had to be kidding. She wasn’t really being as mean as she sounded. Right?
“Um, I was wondering if you want to hang out,” Grace said. “I’m not in the mood to stay in the bunk.”
“I . . . I can’t?” Grace didn’t know what else to say.
“No. How do we know you’re not spying on us to help your bunk pull a prank?” Gaby said. “Everybody knows Jenna Bloom wants to prank us.”
“Jenna’s not planning any more pranks,” Grace said honestly. “I think she’s retired.”
“Whatever. I’m not interested.” Gaby stepped back inside and let the door swing shut in Grace’s face.
Grace blinked at the dusty screen. Had her new best friend just slammed the door on her? Was this all some sort of joke that she didn’t get? Was she supposed to follow Gaby inside?
She didn’t think so. But then what was she supposed to do? She couldn’t keep standing around outside by herself. “Okay. I’ll see you later,” she called through the screen door. Then she turned and stepped off the porch. She walked off toward the activities shacks as fast as she could. She had no idea what she’d do once she got there. All she knew was that she wanted to get as far away from Gaby as possible. And it looked like Gaby felt the same way about her!
chapter SIX
At free swim, Grace put the tiny nose clip across the bridge of her nose and headed straight for the water. A good swim would relax her—and she needed to relax after the weird day she’d been having. First the letter from her mom, then Gaby’s brush-off at 3A! She was totally stressed.
“Gracie, hey!” Gaby called, running up behind her. “Are you going in?”
Grace stopped, surprised. An hour ago, Gaby had been totally mean to her. But now she stood there with a big happy grin on her face, as if nothing had happened. Maybe she really was playing around before, Grace thought, confused. It didn’t matter, though. Gaby had completely humiliated her in front of all of 3A. Grace wasn’t in the mood for any more of Gaby’s strange behavior.
“Um, yeah, I really want to swim some laps,” Grace said. She tried to step around Gaby without seeming too rude. Sarah and Valerie were already in the water, and if she swam out to them, she knew they’d let her triple with them.
“I was thinking we could just hang out on shore,” Gaby said. “You know, put our feet in the water to cool off when we need to. It’ll be fun. We can work on your audition scene.”
Grace couldn’t believe it. Gaby was just assuming they were going to be swim buddies again! Yesterday it had seemed like a good thing that Gaby thought they were close enough friends for that. But after the way she’d acted earlier today, Grace wasn’t so sure anymore.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I was looking forward to swimming. And I don’t think I’m going to audition.”
Gaby frowned. But before she could say anything, Julie walked up. “Hey, guys,” she said. “Grace, I need to borrow you for a minute.”
“Okay.” Normally Grace would be worried if Julie asked for a private conversation. But right now it was a relief to get away from Gaby. She was just too hard to figure out.
Grace followed Julie over to the canoe stands, where there were no campers. Her feet felt like lead as she tromped through the sand. She knew what was coming, and it wasn’t going to be fun.
“Grace, you know I have to ask about your reading,” Julie said.
“Yeah.”
“How far have you gotten in Call of the Wild?”
Grace tried to remember what page she was on. She couldn’t. “Far enough to know that I wouldn’t want to be that dog,” she said, hoping Julie would take that as a joke. The book was about a dog that, as far as she could tell, was in for a really bad life up in Alaska or someplace like that.
Julie didn’t smile. “How many chapters have you read?”
“I’m not sure,” Grace said. “A few. I think.”
“How many is that?”
“Maybe three,” Grace told her. “Well, I think I’m almost to chapter three.”
Julie’s face fell, and Grace looked down at her feet. She loved Julie—Julie was the coolest counselor at Lakeview! The last thing Grace wanted to do was disappoint her, but obviously she already had.
“Oh, Grace, what am I going to do with you?” Julie sighed. “You know I hate acting like a police officer. Why won’t you just read the book?”
“It’s boring,” Grace said. “Every time I start reading it, I practically fall asleep. I’d rather be doing something fun with my friends.”
“But you have to read it! You know you won’t be able to go to the water park next week unless you finish it,” Julie cried.
“I know.” Grace kicked at the sand, frustrated. “But I don’t even care about the stupid water park. All I care about is auditioning for the play, and I won’t be able to do that, either!”
Tears filled her eyes. She’d managed to keep herself from thinking about this for a long time, but now that it was out there, all her emotions came rushing at her.
“Grace . . .” Julie reached out for her arm, but Grace pulled away. It was bad enough that she’d made Julie angry with her—she wasn’t going to cry in front of her, too. She turned and ran toward the trees, her vision blurring.
As she passed the last of the canoes, Grace noticed Gaby standing behind it. Her supposed friend looked away quickly, but Grace got the feeling that she’d been hiding there for a while. Which meant that Gaby had heard the whole conversation with Julie.
Gaby knew everything, whether Grace wanted her to or not.
“Look at that mop,” Natalie teased as Grace shook the water out of her curly hair.
Grace jumped closer to her and shook herself like a dog, spraying water all over Natalie’s face. Then she looked up innocently and said, “What? I didn’t hear what you said, Natalie.”
Natalie laughed and flicked her wet towel lightly at Grace.
“Hey, break it up,” Alyssa joked. “No fighting between swim buddies.”
Grace pulled her mass of hair back and wrangled it into a ponytail. She knew it wouldn’t dry for the rest of the day, but it was worth the messy hair just to get in some swim time. After talking to Julie, she’d managed to calm herself down in the girls’ room in time to squeeze in a few laps during free swim, with Nat and Alyssa as her partners. Gaby hadn’t come near her since Grace caught her by the canoes, and Grace hoped it stayed that way. She didn’t like to think that Gaby was eavesdropping, but there was no other reason for the girl to be hanging out nearby during a private talk.
“Let’s get back fast,” Natalie said, draping one arm over Grace’s shoulders and the other over Alyssa’s. “I hate sitting around in a wet suit. I want to be one of the first in the bathroom to change.”
They started up the trail that led to the bunks.
“Only a few more days until the water park,” Natalie said, bouncing a little as she walked. “I can’t wait!”
“Me neither.” Alyssa leaned forward so she could see Grace on the other side of Natalie. “We forgot to ask you if you want to sit with us, Grace.”
“Oh, yeah,” Natalie put in. “Alex says they rent a school bus, so we can all squish into a three-seater.”
“Definitely,” Grace said. She loved hanging out with Natalie and Alyssa. They were always friendly and never made her feel like a third wheel. “You guys have never been on a camp field trip, huh?” she said.
“Not yet. This will be the first, not to mention the greatest,” Alyssa said. “I love water parks.”
“Cool, so we’re all sitting together,” Nat said. She squealed with excitement. “I can’t wait!”
“I can’t believe you,” said a voice from behind them. Surprised, Grace turned to see Gaby following right on their heels.
“Me?” Grace said. “Why? What do you mean?”
“You’re supposed to sit with me on the field-trip bus,” Gaby said. “Obviously.”
“I am?” Grace asked. “Since when? We never even talke
d about sitting together. I don’t think we ever talked about the field trip at all.”
“We’re friends, aren’t we?” Gaby snapped. “Friends sit together. I didn’t know I had to make some elaborate plan about it.”
Natalie and Alyssa stepped in closer to Grace, but they didn’t say anything. Truthfully, she kind of wished they would—because she had no idea what to say herself. “How am I supposed to know if we’re friends or not?” she sputtered. “You wouldn’t even let me in your bunk. You were really mean.”
Gaby rolled her eyes. “Don’t be such a baby,” she said. “I was only kidding.”
“Oh.” Grace felt stupid. Clearly she should’ve been able to tell that Gaby was joking around at bunk 3A, but it really hadn’t seemed that way. “Well, sorry.”
“Whatever,” Gaby said. “So we’ll sit together on the way to the water park?”
Grace bit her lip. She didn’t really want to sit with Gaby. In fact, she wasn’t sure she wanted to be friends with Gaby at all, let alone best friends. It was just too hard to figure out Gaby’s behavior, and Grace never felt comfortable around her.
“No, I think I’m still going to sit with Nat and Alyssa on the field trip,” she answered slowly. “They asked me first.”
Gaby’s face turned the same bright-orange shade as Alyssa’s hair. Without thinking, Grace took a step back.
“I think she’s gonna blow,” Alyssa whispered.
“You’re a rotten friend!” Gaby exploded, yelling right in Grace’s face. “And I don’t even care because you probably can’t go on the field trip anyway!”
I knew it! Grace thought, horrified. I knew she was eavesdropping on my talk with Julie!
“You heard me,” Gaby said to Natalie and Alyssa. “She told you she could sit with you, but she’s lying. She’s not even gonna be there.”
“What are you talking about?” Natalie demanded. “Of course she is.”
“Grace isn’t a liar,” Alyssa put in.
“She is, too,” Gaby said smugly. “If she doesn’t finish reading her lame-o book, she can’t go to the water park. And there’s no way she can finish it because she’s barely even to chapter three!”
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