Did her friend suspect that Natalie’s comment meant more than she was letting on?
“Pass it here! Alex, pass it here!”
Natalie looked up to see a soccer ball nearly glance off Chelsea’s face. Naturally, the girl was completely undaunted. Chelsea may have been a total princess in the mornings, spending time blowing out her hair and picking just the right outfit, but when it came to sports, she was a big-time jock. Right now, for example, she dipped backward and deftly sidestepped the soccer ball as it shot toward her. Once it hit the ground, she leaped on top of it and began dribbling swiftly toward the opposite team’s goal.
“Go! Go! Go!” Alex shouted, egging Chelsea on. Brynn stood beside Alex, screaming wildly and waving her arms in the air in a wordless show of support.
“Do you think we’re supposed to be going after her?” Natalie whispered to Alyssa, who was also hanging out in the far left field. Natalie was fast learning that in addition to nature, there were several other aspects of camp that weren’t exactly her strong suit. Sports being one of them.
Alyssa shrugged. “Not sure. What does ‘defense?’ mean, anyway?”
Natalie grinned. She and Alyssa really were on the same page.
Suddenly, the players on the field—all the rest of the girls in bunk 3C—erupted into a mixture of triumphant battle cries and booing and hissing. Obviously, Chelsea had scored. No surprise there.
Brian, the head of sports, blew his whistle shrilly, bringing the game to a formal conclusion. “Nice work, girls!” he shouted in his thick Australian accent. “Chelsea, great goal! Alex, awesome assist!”
“I personally think we did some mighty fine standing around,” Natalie mumbled to Alyssa under her breath.
Alyssa stifled a giggle. “Somehow, I don’t think we’re going to get any praise for that.”
“Natalie!” Brian called, as if on cue. “Why don’t you help me gather up the equipment?”
“Um, sure,” Natalie said, slightly taken aback. She headed toward the far end of the field and wrapped her arm around the goal net, dragging it toward the sports shed.
Once she got to the shed, Brian propped the door open for her. “Thanks, Nat, I really appreciate it,” he said as she shoved the net through the doorway.
Natalie dusted her hands off on her shorts. “No problem.” It was the least she could do, really, given that she had barely moved a muscle all through the sports period.
“So, I noticed that you’re not exactly crazy about soccer,” Brian observed.
Natalie looked up at him, the very picture of innocence. “Whatever gave you that idea?” she asked, wide-eyed. She could tell he knew she was being sarcastic.
“Wild guess.” He ran his fingers through his curly red hair.
Brian looked so frustrated that Natalie actually felt a little guilty. “It’s not you, Brian. I’m just, um, not really athletic. But, you know, I think you always find fun things for us to do in sports.”
“Thanks, Natalie, but you don’t need to reassure me. It’s important to me that everyone here has a good time. You don’t have to love every single thing we play, but if there’s something you’d like to try, let me know. I mean, camp is—”
“—the time for new experiences, I know,” Natalie said, cutting him off.
He grinned at her. “It’s true.”
“It must be, ’cause I keep hearing it,” Natalie said, half-kidding. “Look, I’ll think about it. I’m sure somehow, somewhere, there’s some sort of sport that I like.”
“Thanks, Natalie,” Brian said.
“I could always be in charge of the whistle,” Natalie offered, giggling.
“It’s a thought,” Brian agreed.
“I’d better go,” Natalie said. “Lunch next. Can’t miss it.”
She ran to catch up to Alyssa, who looked at her quizzically. “Deep conversation?” Alyssa asked.
“He wants me to take a more active interest in sports,” Natalie said. “Little does he know the most exercise I get at home is channel surfing.” This was an exaggeration, but she was making a point.
“Yeah, it shows.”
Natalie whirled around to find Chelsea slithering by. She looked perfect and rosy-cheeked, like an ad for a fitness club or a protein drink or something. At least I’m not drenched in sweat, Natalie thought to herself, on the way to the mess hall.
She didn’t bother to say anything out loud, though. Chelsea just wasn’t worth it.
chapter SEVEN
Dear Hannah,
Greetings again from Camp Lake-puke.
I’M just kidding, really. It’s not that bad. I Mean, I still don’t think I’M going to win Camper of the Year or anything, but for the Most part I’M enjoying Myself. Can you believe it’s been almost a week?
Most of the girls here are cool. I really like this one chick, Alyssa, who is from South Jersey. She’s very quiet and artsy—always writing or drawing in her journal. Anyway, her parents sent her to
camp so she could learn to be More outgoing, but I think she’s just fine the way she is. I Mean, Maybe she doesn’t talk that Much, but when she does, she always has something smart and funny to say. We’re on the newspaper together—she’s a really good writer. I guess you could say she’s My best friend here. You would really like her.
The rest of the bunk is okay, too. Valerie is cool to hang out with—we’re in nature together. Grace is the comedienne, always cracking jokes and Making everyone laugh. She’s really friendly and never wants anyone to be left out. Then there’s Jenna, who has like a million brothers and sisters or at least three that I know of. Her twin, Adam, is very friendly and her older sister Stephanie is good friends with My CIT Marissa. And then I think there’s one that’s off doing a college prep course. Or something. I can’t keep track. They’ve all been coming to camp for, I think, a hundred years or so, so she knows all the ropes. She’s kind of a tomboy and likes to play practical jokes—which sometimes aren’t so funny! It doesn’t bother Me, but one of these days I think she’s really going to get into trouble. And Alex is the big uber-camper who knows all the counselors and never complains and kicks total butt in every sport. It’s a little intimidating, even for Me. She hangs out with Sarah, who also loves sports, and also this girl Brynn, who means well, but ... well, she’s a drama queen. Like last week, during chores, she got stuck with the showers.
Mind you, the showers are gross, but we all have to do it sooner or later—even Me! The way she carried on, you would have thought she was the bunk slave or something. It’s kind of annoying.
Still, the only girl I really have an issue with is Chelsea. She’s really pretty—blond and skinny, you’d hate her—and also very athletic. But for some reason, she’s got a total chip on her shoulder. I don’t know what she’s got against me—I mean, I’m obviously not vying for the Lakeview MVP award or anything. And it’s not just Me, either; she’s always Making little rude comments and not-jokes to people. I guess she’s just got a bad attitude. Mostly, I try to ignore her and keep Myself positive. Even NATURE’S not so bad these days.
Which brings Me to Simon. Yes, the same guy I wrote you about that I met in the Mess hall. Well, More like “bumped into,” if you want the truth and all. But it turned out he is also in nature, and after the first session, he introduced himself to Me (I had to play cool and pretend like I hadn’t already gotten the whole 411 from Jenna, since Adam is in his bunk!). It was kind of awkward—I think he’s a little shy. Not like all those super-obnoxious boys from school! He could tell I wasn’t really “feeling” nature and showed Me little tricks, like how to feed the rabbit and which leaves are poisonous out in the wild. Personally, I’M planning to avoid the wild at all costs, but Simon doesn’t have to know that! So that’s an interesting development, anyway. And it kind of takes My Mind off the fact that I still haven’t heard from Kyle Taylor yet (in case you were wondering)! Too bad you’re not still in the city to spy for Me!
Thanks for all your postcards—I save them an
d tape them to the wall over my bed, right next to the picture of all of us skating in Central Park last winter. That way, I see your smiling face when the bugle (yes, a bugle—no joke) sounds at the crack of dawn. I think the Mona Lisa is My favorite. What a bummer that it was so crowded when you went! I haven’t heard anything from Ellen or Kate, but Maggie wrote to tell me that her summer dance intensive is going well. Lucky girl—she gets to sleep in and spend the day working at the one thing she loves More than anything else! Meanwhile, I toil away at things like kickball and diving practice. Sigh ...
I promise I’ll write as soon as I’ve got anything new to report. Maybe I’ll help Jenna pull the ultimate prank, and we’ll both get kicked out. (KIDDING! Sort of.)
Or Maybe I will free all the animals in the nature shack, and then Simon and I will gallop off into the sunset.
Whatever. I MISS YOU!!! You Must be in Italy by now? Eat some pasta for Me.
xoxo,
Nat
“Oh, that is so gross,” Natalie said, shuddering.
“Come on, Nat—he likes you,” Valerie said, sidling up to Natalie teasingly.
Natalie took a gi-normous step backward. “Seriously, stay away from me with that thing,” she warned. “I can’t believe you’re even willing to touch it.”
Valerie laughed, and patted the head of the snake that was now wound around her forearm. Valerie had made friends with all the animals in the nature shack, but she liked the snakes the best, and she always made fun of Natalie for being afraid of them.
“Just you wait until one bites you,” Natalie warned.
“Afraid of a garter snake, Natalie?” Chelsea said incredulously. She always managed to make everything she said sound like an insult, Natalie noticed.
“I’m not scared,” Natalie said hotly. “I just don’t see a need to get up close and personal with something cold and slimy.”
“For a city girl, you sure can be a baby,” Chelsea said, and wandered off to play with the rabbits.
As soon as Chelsea was out of earshot, Natalie rolled her eyes at Valerie. “Funny, I’ve never seen her touch the snake,” she commented. “She just likes to annoy me.”
“She likes to annoy everyone,” Valerie pointed out.
“But me especially,” Natalie insisted.
Valerie shrugged. “Yeah, maybe. I wouldn’t worry about it. She’s probably just jealous.”
“Of me? Why?” Natalie asked. “What’d I ever do to her?”
“Well, let’s see, you’re the only other girl in the bunk who’s anywhere near as pretty as she is, and you also wear makeup and are into boys, just like her. So you’re like some kind of big threat to her.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Natalie scoffed. “She’s the one who’s totally gorgeous and always put-together. I think her body is naturally programmed to wake up before the bugle! And she’s way more into camp than I am. I mean, she’s good at all the sports and stuff. I’m no good at anything other than ballet and yoga. I’m, like, the anti-camper.”
“It’s not ridiculous, Natalie,” Valerie protested. “For starters, you’re an amazing swimmer, even if you hate to go in the lake. And let’s not forget the one thing you’ve got that she really wants.”
Natalie eyed her friend questioningly. Val winked and tilted her head in the direction of the rabbits, where Chelsea was replenishing the animals’ water. There was only one other person over by the rabbits. Simon.
“For starters, I do not ‘have’ Simon, and secondly—do you really think Chelsea likes him?” Natalie asked. But before Val could answer, Roseanne clapped her hands and called for everyone’s attention.
“Girls, guys, gather round! I have an announcement to make,” she said loudly.
But Natalie couldn’t concentrate on what Roseanne was saying. She was still thinking about what Valerie had said. Simon did always go out of his way to talk with her in nature, which was nice, but she didn’t know if he liked her, liked her. Or if she even wanted him to. Still, when she thought that maybe Chelsea was into Simon—well, the idea didn’t make her feel very good. Not good at all.
But there were worse things to worry about at Camp Lakeview, as Natalie was about to learn.
“Next week, on Thursday, we’re going on a camp-out,” Roseanne said.
Suddenly, Chelsea’s feelings for Simon were the least of Natalie’s concerns.
“What color today, Nat?” Marissa asked, spreading out a beach towel on the sand next to Natalie.
Natalie was a fantastic swimmer—she’d had all sorts of private lessons in New York. She didn’t mind instructional swim, but she wasn’t crazy about the lake and all of the actual fish that swam in it. So when free swim rolled around, she preferred to work on her tan.
The head of the waterfront, an extremely tan and fit counselor named Beth, seemed to think this was okay, though she was often trying new and inventive tactics at getting Natalie up and into the water. Just yesterday, she had tried to convince Natalie that lake water was good for the skin. While Natalie appreciated the approach—“A for effort, Beth,” she’d said—she wasn’t biting.
Natalie’s new hobby was lying on the shore by the lake, painting her toes, and watching her bunkmates swim. Fortunately, free swim was the one thing in camp she could get out of if she wanted to, as long as she came down to the waterfront. Lately, Marissa had been joining her, which was especially cool because she always brought her magazines with her.
“Ice Princess,” Natalie read off the bottom of the bottle. “Want me to do yours?” Her heart wasn’t in it, though, after Roseanne’s alarming announcement. Marissa instantly picked up on Natalie’s mood.
“No, thanks, Steph did them for me after kitchen duty,” Marissa said, wiggling her toes at Natalie by way of demonstration. “Passion Fruit.”
“Nice,” Natalie said approvingly.
“I brought People and YM, and if you’re nice to me, I’ll braid your hair,” Marissa promised. “Steph’s abandoning us today to flirt with Tyler.” She indicated the swim shack, where, in fact, Jenna’s older sister was attempting to read the palm of an older and very cute swim staffer. “She is shameless,” Marissa commented. Then, sensing Natalie’s mood, she asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Did you know that I have to go on a camping trip with the nature group?” Natalie blurted out.
Marissa nodded her head. “Well, yeah. All the specialties have something big they do sometime during the session. The drama kids do a play, the newspaper prints an issue, ceramics, arts and crafts, woodworking, and photography all have a ‘gallery day’ where they show their work. Didn’t you know that?”
“I do now,” Natalie said.
“I thought you were starting to like nature,” Marissa pointed out.
“Hey, just because I’ve managed to avoid walking head-on into a poison-oak patch does not mean that I’m a born-again nature girl,” Natalie said. “This trip sounds like bad news. We have to canoe out to some deserted island. When has anything good ever happened on a deserted island?” Natalie demanded.
Marissa laughed. “Slow down, drama queen,” she said. “The nature kids go on the same trip every year, and nothing has ever gone wrong. I’m sure this year won’t be any different.”
Natalie glared at Marissa. “Okay, and then after we dock our boats, we have to hike—which I think is just a fancy term for walk, except maybe it’s hilly and rocky and hard. Hike up a mountain, and then set up camp. And then we cook on the mountain and sleep there!”
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