Freefall
Page 15
Some slides later, there was a BOOM sound effect. Then, underscored by Lennon & Maisy’s cover of “Boom Clap,” pictures appeared and disappeared on the screen like fireworks. The best ones were:
(a) Slimey, Melman, and Missi painting the Notting Hill’s Love Shack booth;
(b) Sophie, at the carnival, meditating inside the Bouncy House;
(c) Jenny kissing her Play Dough/Shawn Mendes Frankenstein artwork;
(d) Max and Dino, holding up Mr. Necksmith and Mrs. Buckwheat in wedding apparel;
And (e) Miss Jen-Jam giving their “confessionals” to the film crew.
Missi felt Wiener and Jamie’s arms collapse onto her shoulders. She spread her arms over their shoulders, too. Oh, the love.
Next, hoedown group shots streamed across the screen. In the Notting/Wawel one, Missi was smack in the middle, hugged tight by her hexagon. That’s us! That’s me! She was beaming like crazy now. Turns out, she was the person she wanted to be all along.
If only Rebecca Joy could see the photo, Missi thought as it dissolved into the next slide. A whole bunch of complicated feelings sloshed around in her stomach. She was excited to see her grandparents tomorrow. Every Visiting Day, they brought salad made with fresh veggies from their farm. They watched Missi do water gymnastics in the pool. They complimented her on her lanyards and stained-glass projects. Still, she was worried tomorrow would feel different. That the specialness of the day would be muddied by the fact that her mom was only there in spirit, if that’s even where her wandering spirit was at all.
“Hey, are you okay?” Wiener whispered.
“Yeah, it’s just that tomorrow is Visiting Day, and I was really hoping—” A lump sprouted in her throat. She swallowed it flat. “It’ll be hard without my mom, you know?”
“Yeah,” Wiener said. “Hey, maybe tomorrow my parents and I can eat lunch with you and your grandparents? They bring sushi.”
Before Missi had a chance to respond, she got sucked back in to the film as fresh footage of the Wiener brothers filled the screen. “Tell me one thing you’ve learned this summer about being true to yourself,” Max was saying from the red carpet, speaking into his mock-up microphone and then bringing it to Wiener’s mouth.
“Well, being true to yourself as a kid can be kind of tricky,” Wiener said. “We’re still learning so much about who we are and trying different things. You might find that there’s a version of you out there that is just as true as the one you are now.” He adjusted the dandelion Scotch-taped to his pink collared shirt. “Camp is, hands down, the best place for that journey.”
Missi felt her cheeks burn and her palms get a teensy bit sweaty. Still, she gave Wiener a Well said hand squeeze. He was so right. This summer, Missi had learned that she wasn’t just one thing. She had a lot of sides to her personality—band lover, farm freak, cat girl, silly romantic, park daredevil, hoedown captain—and she bet, over time, she’d find even more. Of course it would have been special to share all that with her mom. But Missi didn’t need Rebecca Joy to prove to herself that she was awesome and loved. She didn’t need to be in the center of a picture to prove it, either. She just needed to look around at her amazing friends, right here, right now, and she could feel it in her bones.
“So, what do you think about tomorrow, Missi?” Wiener pressed. “Lunch together?” He gave her a kiss on the cheek, and the warmth of it shot all the way down to her toes.
Missi gave him a double thumbs-up. “That would be all the sauce.”
Some years ago, I was lucky to collaborate with the Spiegel brothers—Adam and David—on writing the musical Camp Rolling Hills. My friend Erica Finkel saw a workshop of the show and tossed out the idea that I write a book for middle schoolers. A few months later, I embarked on Camp Rolling Hills: the Book! Erica is my fairy godmother, bestie, and editor, who grew the seed of an idea into a full-fledged series. I am forever grateful. Thank you to the amazing Spiegel brothers for your inspiration and permission to nurture the world we hold so close to our hearts.
Camp has been a major part of my life and still is. I was lucky to transition from camper to counselor to upper staff at Tyler Hill Camp, where my mom was the Head of Girls’ Side. Mom and Dad, thank you for introducing me to this incredible, life-changing place, for daring me to be silly and take enormous risks, and for your endless love and support. To my brother, Mike, my sister, Amy, and my sister-in-law, Deanna, who all work in the camp industry: Congrats on making a career out of the greatest cult. To my brand-new beautiful niece, Sofie, good job starting sleepaway camp at seven months old. Excited to watch you grow up to become Color War General. I love you.
Grandma Terry, Grandma Joanie, and Grandpa Lenny—thank you for being my number-one fans. You three are the world’s best.
Lauren Kasnett Nearpass, thank you for brainstorming marketing and branding and for inviting me to blog for Summer 365. I’m honored to be working with you and your incredible organization.
Jay Jacobs, thank you for conceiving the STARFISH Program and for granting me permission to reference it in the Camp Rolling Hills series. It’s a brilliant values system that defined so much of my personal experience at Tyler Hill. I’m so glad I can share it.
Lexi Korologos, my teenage life coach, thank you for dishing your honest feedback.
To my brave students at Long Island City High School and Naked Angels, thank you for inspiring me every single day with your lack of inhibition. You keep my imagination fed. Special shout-out to Nancy Robles, Haidee Quizhpi, and Sebastián De la Paz for the Spanish translations!
Thank you to my friend and collaborator Elissa Brent Weissman for the blurb, for the collaborative camp-themed book events, and for always reading what I send you.
Thank you to Megan Feulner at Sterling Lord Literistic and to my theatrical literary agent at Creative Artists Agency, Ally Shuster, who’s always such a fierce advocate of my work.
Susan Van Metre, Erica Finkel (again and again), and the whole brilliant team at Abrams: Pam, Samantha, Kyle, Rebecca, Mary, Elisa, Tessa, and Jenny, thank you for helping this story reach all the campers and wannabe campers out there. And illustrator Melissa Manwill, so happy to be collaborating with you and your character sketches. They’re perfection.
My camp friends. My campers. My counselors. My co-counselors. The camps: Twin Oaks, Crestwood, Summit, Tyler Hill, A.C.T., Oxbridge. You have made me who I am today and provided me with the heart and experience to write this series.
My partner-in-crime, Tim Borecky, thank you for lending me your wisdom and dramaturgy every time I cornered you to read you chapters. I appreciate your indulging my characters as if they are our friends. You, too, have moves like swagger.
To all the camp people out there, enjoy the adventure and the s’mores. Don’t be afraid to think outside the square.
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