Reality Bites #15

by Melissa J Morgan

  Sure enough, the broken tree was sketched in—not even halfway to the little brook/vines/snakes.

  Gaby’s heart began to pound. It was the middle of the summer, but the sun was already starting to go down. It was getting late. She couldn’t believe she’d only gotten less than half a mile. But then, she’d been dragging the stupid bag and taking lots of breaks. Plus, the terrain wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t easy either—the path was littered with rocks, plants, and tree roots.

  Gaby clutched the shoulder strap of her bag. Could she leave it? Or could she take out some of the stuff she didn’t need? Her heart pounded even faster as she realized no, I can’t. She’d never have the chance to come back and get that stuff. And all the “essentials” really were essential. What would she leave? Her Juicy Couture hoodie? Her Abercrombie bikini? The fancy stationery her parents had packed for her, engraved with her full name and address? I don’t think so.

  Which means that I just have to deal with it. With another big sigh, she hoisted the bag onto her shoulder. It’s all right, she told herself. It won’t be easy. But it’ll all be worth it when I’m sitting at home eating Ben & Jerry’s.

  Gaby started walking again. She got a queasy feeling when she noticed how dark the woods looked now.

  Just keep walking, Gaby told herself. You’ll make it.

  Gaby couldn’t take it anymore. She had to sit down and try to adjust her sneakers. She could feel the blisters coming on, and she had no idea how long she’d been hiking. She’d never noticed the brook or snakes or whatever Belle had been referring to. To be honest, she wasn’t even sure she was on the right path anymore.

  Gaby actually heard a creaking sound as she threw her bag to the ground and stood up straight to stretch. I’m like an old person, Gaby thought to herself. Like Dr. Steve. But then, the hike so far had been miserable, and her bag felt like six elephants strapped to her back. With a moan, Gabby collapsed onto the ground. She sat up Indian-style and carefully pulled off her shoes and socks. Four blisters. Two on each foot. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her breathing. How am I ever going to make it to the road?

  She felt sore all over. And it had grown so dark, she was having trouble seeing more than ten feet in front of her. Soon it would be completely dark—and then what would she do?

  Gaby took a few deep breaths, but they came out shaky. I will not cry. I will not cry. She willed herself to put her shoes back on and stand, ignoring her painful blisters and cursing herself for not bringing Band-Aids. It occurred to her that, for the first time, she missed some of her bunkmates. Actually, she would love the company of Priya, or Alex, or even Grace or Chelsea right now. What if I have to sleep out here by myself? Gaby shuddered. She didn’t even want to think about it.

  She grabbed her bag and walked on. She didn’t know where she was going, or what she would do if she ended up on the wrong trail. The only thing that mattered was getting away from camp and making sure her friends never found out she’d lied.

  Just as the last bit of light faded, Gaby came upon a little clearing. A couple of rocks sat in a grassy area, surrounded by a little circle of trees. Up ahead, the path wound through a break in the woods. She followed it without thinking. When she got a few feet away from the trees, she gasped.

  The road.

  She’d finally reached it!

  Relief flooded through her like a cool drink on a hot day. She dumped her bag on the side of the road and quickly ran her fingers through her hair, hoping she didn’t look like too much of a hobbit. She brushed dirt and leaves off her tank and capris, and sat down on her bag to wait for a car to pass.

  Gaby knew hitchhiking was dangerous, but who was going to hurt her in the middle of nowhere? After she’d been sitting only a minute, she heard a car approaching. Soon the car appeared over the hill. She stood up, pasted on her sweetest smile, and stuck out her thumb.

  The car didn’t even slow down before passing her by.

  Gaby was stunned. Didn’t she look adorable and helpless? It was almost completely dark now. She couldn’t even read her watch to tell what time it was, but it had to be three or four hours since she left camp.

  Five more minutes passed without a car.

  Then ten.

  Gaby shivered, grabbed her hoodie out of her bag, and wrapped it around her. The road was totally dark and silent, except for a hooting in the distance. Gaby didn’t know anymore whether she was shivering from the cold or from the creepy feeling that descended over her.

  What if no one picks me up?

  chapter TEN

  “Tell me again what happened, from the beginning,” Dr. Steve said, looking them all over with a grave expression. All of bunk 5A was collected in his office, including Belle and Clarissa.

  Grace took a deep breath. Since she’d gone to Dr. Steve in the first place, she’d been more or less elected spokesperson for the whole bunk. “After the first episode, Gaby told us that Jake was her brother. And right after he won, she said she was going to go to Australia with her family. That night, she took off and said she was going to call her parents from a pay phone.”

  Dr. Steve cast a stern look in Belle’s direction. “And you didn’t know about this?”

  Belle shook her head, still looking stunned. “I was getting the hot chocolate and popcorn with Clarissa,” she replied. “I noticed she was gone, but when she came back she said something about an emergency. That she heard her dog broke his foot and wanted to talk to her parents about it.”

  Dr. Steve turned his stern expression on all the campers. “None of you thought it was odd that Gaby would lie to Belle?”

  “I did,” Grace admitted. “But Gaby lies about little stuff all the time. I thought she was up to something, but I never thought she would have made up the whole thing, or that she’d run away from camp.”

  Dr. Steve looked back at Belle. “And you never heard any of this? Gaby never shared with you that she had a brother on Survival Camp?”

  Belle shook her head. “None of the girls told me.” She glanced sadly at her campers, none of whom would meet her eye. “She probably thought I would ask too many questions, or catch on that she was lying. I’m sure it wasn’t an accident that she didn’t tell any of the camp staff.”

  “She told us not to tell anyone,” Natalie spoke up. “She said she’d get in trouble with the producers if they knew she’d told.”

  “And we never thought Jake would win,” Jenna added. “No offense. I know you guys were really into him. But we all thought he’d be voted out, even Gaby.”

  “Besides,” Brynn murmured from her spot next to Grace, “we had no reason to think Gaby would lie.”

  Dr. Steve sighed deeply. “No reason,” he repeated. “Girls, do you remember the talk we had when you first got to camp?”

  All the campers visibly wilted. Grace didn’t react much, though—she still didn’t know exactly what had been said.

  Clarissa spoke up. “I remember. And I’m sure all the girls do, too.”

  “The weird thing is,” Belle added sadly, “they’ve been doing so much better these two weeks. Everyone gets along, and there haven’t been any fights that I’ve seen.”

  Alex looked confused. “Can I ask a question?” she asked.

  Dr. Steve nodded. “You may.”

  Alex scrunched up her eyebrows. “What does us being cliquey, or not being cliquey, have to do with Gaby lying about being related to Jake?”

  Dr. Steve frowned and leaned back in his chair, tenting his fingers. “What does one have to do with the other?” he asked. “Let me turn that question back on you. Girls, do any of you have any idea?”

  Grace glanced over at her friends. The girls who used to feel like her best friends in the world, but lately had made her feel left out—not even on purpose, but just by talking about things she hadn’t been there to experience, and not explaining things fully. Even Brynn, her best best friend, had seemed a little distant lately—distracted by her work on the play. They all looked totally confus
ed, even annoyed that Dr. Steve seemed to think there could be a connection. Alex just sat there, shaking her head. Priya caught Chelsea’s eye and rolled her eyes when Dr. Steve wasn’t looking.

  “I think I might know,” Grace said quietly.

  “Yes, Grace,” Dr. Steve said gently. “Please tell us your theory.”

  “I think . . .” Grace paused, uncomfortable with all the attention. She knew her friends, especially Brynn, had to be wondering what the heck she was doing. Agreeing with Dr. Steve and going against her girls? She had to be crazy. And besides Priya and Chelsea, it wasn’t like Grace had a real beef with any of her bunkmates. They hadn’t been outwardly mean, or tried to exclude her from any conversations. They just . . . hadn’t included her.

  “I think Gaby might have lied so she’d feel like she fit in,” Grace finished. “Maybe she felt like not enough people were paying attention to her, or maybe she felt like she was getting the wrong kind of attention. Maybe she just wanted somebody to talk to her and take an interest. You know.”

  Dr. Steve nodded slowly. “I think that’s very smart, Grace.”

  He looked back over the cluster of campers. Grace tried to fold into herself, not meeting anyone’s eyes. She hadn’t meant to speak up, but she knew what Dr. Steve was talking about.

  Still looking a little confused, Brynn reached over and gave Grace’s arm a supportive squeeze. Grace shot her a grateful look. “We’ll talk later,” Brynn mouthed.

  “So here we are,” Dr. Steve continued. “We have a very close, but sometimes cliquey, group of girls. And we have one young girl out wandering the area, who knows where, doing who knows what. How do we solve this problem?”

  “We have to find her,” Priya spoke up.

  “Right.” Dr. Steve sat forward in his chair and looked at them sternly. “Tonight is the night of the social. But I’m afraid that none of you will be attending. Instead, you’re going to be forming groups—with Clarissa, Belle, and I as your leaders—and combing the area to look for Gaby. I know this must be a familiar scenario, after what you went through last session. How do you feel about that?”

  The girls squirmed and avoided one another’s eyes. Nobody was happy about it, but they all knew Gaby had to be found.

  “In the meantime,” Dr. Steve continued, “I would like you all to wait outside while I call Gaby’s parents. They have a right to know she left camp. When I’m finished, we’ll split up the teams and head out to look for her.”

  Everyone nodded, slowly shaking off their surprise and getting up. Grace spotted many of the girls giving her funny looks as they wandered out, but she didn’t react. She was only worried about one thing right now: finding Gaby. As impulsive and hotheaded as Gaby was, who knew what kind of trouble she might be getting into?

  “All right,” Belle announced, flicking her flashlight on and pointing it at the trail ahead of her. “My trail map, the map that shows all the hiking trails on Camp Lakeview land, was ripped out of my binder. We’re assuming Gaby had something to do with that. So we’re all going to split up and search different areas.”

  Brynn raised her hand, looking shell-shocked and nervous. The seriousness of Gaby’s disappearance seemed to have hit all the girls by now, and there were no smiles, no chatter—everyone stood stiffly in their preassigned groups, waiting to leave.

  “Yes, Brynn?” Dr. Steve asked.

  “Um, it’s pretty late,” Brynn said quietly. “It’s been hours since she left. What if she’s not on camp property anymore? What if she’s, I don’t know”—her voice cracked a little—“wandering the town?”

  Dr. Steve nodded and touched Brynn’s shoulder. “We’re aware of the hour, Brynn, and the local police have been contacted. Their patrol cars will be looking for anyone who meets Gaby’s description. They’ve been very cooperative and have promised to look for her.” He paused. “But if Gaby doesn’t want to be found, it’s possible that she’s hiding in the woods, or camping. It’s up to us to search as much as we can and make sure she’s not right under our noses.”

  Grace glanced over at her teammates, Priya and Chelsea. The three of them would be searching with Belle. Priya blinked like she was trying to hold back tears. Grace’s heart was beating fast. She couldn’t wait to start looking so they could find Gaby and get her safely back to camp.

  “Guys,” Belle said, walking over with a copy of the trail map, “we’re going to be searching the Elm, Hemlock, and Sassafras trails. They all cross over one another, but we’re still going to have to make pretty good time if we want to search them all before nine. So let’s get moving.”

  Grace sighed. They had less than two hours. At nine o’clock, Gaby’s parents were set to arrive and the matter would be officially turned over to the police. With listless waves to their bunkmates, Grace, Priya, and Chelsea followed Belle into the woods.

  Priya looked miserable. “This is awful. We’re missing the social, and Gaby might be lost, or hurt. We should have told you sooner that she was going to leave, Belle.”

  “Yeah,” Chelsea agreed. “We just assumed you knew.”

  Belle frowned. “Well, I didn’t,” she replied.

  Grace felt her face flush. “I’m sorry,” she said. “We should have told you. Are you going to get in trouble?”

  “Let’s not worry about that right now.” Belle stopped and pulled out the map. “Well, at least we’re on the right path. There’s that broken pine tree.” She gestured to a tree that had broken and folded over on itself, like a sideways number seven. Grace shivered, but she wasn’t sure whether it was from the cool air or her own nervousness. Where was Gaby? Where could she be at this hour of the night where she was safe, and where someone wouldn’t have contacted the camp? Grace didn’t want to think about it.

  Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Priya, looking sympathetic. “Grace,” Priya said softly, “I’m sorry you’re missing the social. I know Spence was looking forward to going with you.”

  Grace was surprised. First of all, that she hadn’t even thought about the dance, or Spence, until that point. And second of all . . . Priya thought Spence was really looking forward to going with Grace? Priya, who’d told her not to get her hopes up since Spence was such a big flirt? Grace didn’t know what to say.

  “Yeah,” she said finally. “I mean, maybe. I dunno. The truth is . . .” She sighed. “I’m much more worried about just finding Gaby.”

  “Me too,” agreed Priya.

  “Me three,” added Chelsea, slipping up next to Priya. “Listen, Grace, I think it was really great that you and Spence figured out that Gaby lied. We might never have figured it out, and who knows what would have happened to Gaby?”

  “Thanks,” said Grace. “I mean, it was Spence that had the info. And it’s no big deal—you guys would have figured it out and told Dr. Steve, too.”

  “I guess,” agreed Priya. “Listen, Grace . . .” She stopped, like she wasn’t sure what to say next.

  “What?” asked Grace. “Listen, whatever it is, Priya, you don’t have to worry about it right now.”

  “No, I want to say this.” Priya glanced over at Chelsea. “I think Chelsea feels this, too. I’m really sorry if I made you feel . . .” She trailed off.

  “Unlikable?” Grace asked.

  “Right.” Priya glanced down, looking sheepish. “I mean, I really wasn’t trying to hurt you, and I thought I was just being honest. But when I think about it, I have to admit that I still have a little crush on Spence . . .”

  “And so do I,” Chelsea admitted.

  “And I guess maybe—that might have influenced what I thought about you guys.” Priya looked into the woods, still avoiding Grace’s eyes.

  Grace looked at her friend. “It’s cool, Priya,” she said finally. “I mean, I know you wouldn’t say anything mean about me. And you know what? I’m not totally sure I like him like a boyfriend or whatever. But if I do? I think that should be okay. Even if you guys liked him, or like him.”

  Priya
sighed and closed her eyes. “I know. You’re right.”

  Chelsea looked upset, but when Priya opened her eyes and gave her a look, she softened. “All right. If he does like you . . . I guess it’s not your fault.”

  “Right,” Grace replied.

  Suddenly Priya jumped up and wrapped her arms around Grace in a huge hug. “I’m sorry!” she said. “I’m glad we figured this all out. I don’t want to ever stop being your friend, Grace.”

  “Me too!” cried Chelsea, piling on top in a group hug.

  “Uh, great,” Grace replied, struggling to breathe. “Guys? Let’s save this for after we find Gaby.”

  “Right!” Chelsea and Priya said at once, pulling away.

  “And hey,” said Priya, falling into step behind Grace as they continued after Belle. “Let’s never let boys come between us again.”

  “Right,” agreed Chelsea, smiling.

  “Right,” said Grace.

  But she had a feeling it was going to be harder in practice.

  “Guys,” Belle said with a sigh, “we’ve got half an hour to go. We really, really should head back.”

  Grace’s heart sank. They’d been hiking for over an hour now, and so far, no signs of Gaby. It had been too dark to completely search the trail, but still—Grace had thought they’d find footprints, or a hair band, or something to prove that Gaby had been there. She couldn’t explain it, she just had this strong feeling that Gaby had come this way, disappearing into the hiking trails.

  “Five more minutes,” Grace begged.

  “Fine,” Belle replied. “But I really don’t think she came this way. And even if we go back, it’s not a total loss—maybe one of the other search teams found something.”

  Grace didn’t reply. She was scouring the ground and the trees, using her flashlight to search every square inch of surface. Then suddenly, she heard a sound. It was a familiar sound, like a sigh—like all the trees suddenly breathing out at once.