Best (Boy)friend

by Melissa J Morgan

  Love,

  Jenna

  Jenna Bloom looked hungrily at the platters of french fries that the CITs, or counselors-in-training, were marching through the mess hall.

  “Are you seriously going to eat those?” her friend Alex asked.

  “Yup.” Jenna grinned. “They’re the only things that look edible.” She and Alex had to eat at separate tables with their different bunks, but they always had a few minutes to chat beforehand. She saw Alex sizing up a tray of mac and cheese. “Don’t tell me that you’re going to eat that? It looks a little curdly, if you ask me.”

  “It doesn’t look that bad,” Alex said. “But then again, I have to think positive about it, since I’m sick of french fries and this is the only other thing I can eat. Besides the mushy broccoli.”

  “Sorry about that,” Jenna said. “But you’re probably way healthier than any of the rest of us, especially me.” She knew from their last summer together that Alex had juvenile diabetes and had to be really careful about what she ate. Pasta and vegetables were good for her, but some other kinds of food, especially ones full of sugar, were dangerous for her to eat. But now that all the girls knew about Alex’s condition, they were careful to be understanding of it. Jenna grinned and elbowed her playfully. “And if it makes you feel better, I asked my mom to send some honey cookies in the last box of goodies she mailed me. Just for you. The package came this morning, and it’s sitting under my bunk . . . right now. I figured we’d both need some extra energy to perfect our soccer skills for Color War,” Jenna said. “Hey, what did you request for your final electives?”

  “I asked for sports and photography,” Alex said as they headed toward their tables.

  “Photography?” Jenna asked. “I didn’t know you were into taking pictures.”

  Alex blushed. “Well, I—I’ve been wanting to learn the right way to use my camera for a while now, and . . . and . . .” She stammered, and the words died away.

  “And you wanted to be in an elective with Adam?” Jenna teased, watching Alex’s cheeks flush bubblegum pink. She rolled her eyes. Adam, Jenna’s brother, was the camp’s best photographer. Last summer, Alex had had a tiny crush on Adam, and every once in a while Jenna still caught Alex looking at Adam with a shy smile on her face. But there was no way Alex could possibly really like Adam Spasm again, was there?

  Alex giggled. “I don’t know. I might not even get to be in photography. What electives did you ask for?”

  “I asked for sports, too, of course,” Jenna said. “If we both get sports, we can practice soccer and basketball every day. Man, if we’re on the same color team, we’ll be unstoppable!”

  “Lakeview legends, reigning victorious,” Alex said. “I can’t wait.”

  “We’ll go down in history, that’s for sure,” Jenna said, slapping her a high five before they split up to sit down at their separate bunk tables. She and Alex had been coming to Camp Lakeview for the past five years, and it seemed like they’d been friends forever. They’d always been in the same bunk together, until this summer. This summer, all of the girls from last year’s bunk 3C had been divided into separate bunks. Jenna was in 4A, and Alex was in 4C. But that hadn’t stopped the two of them from staying close friends. Sports were what Jenna and Alex did best, and Jenna couldn’t wait to spend as much of her free time with Alex on the soccer field as possible.

  Jenna plopped down at 4A’s table next to Natalie and Tori, who were in the middle of a debate about Tad Maxwell’s latest hairstyle for his new movie, Spy in the Sahara. Tad was a huge movie star, but he was also Natalie’s dad. He’d shown up at camp once last summer and had practically caused a fainting frenzy of mass proportion among the girls. But for the most part, Nat liked to keep a low profile about him. Except, apparently, today.

  “I can’t believe he got hair extensions for this movie,” Nat said, shaking her head as she looked at Tad’s photo in the issue of Star Scoop that Tori had brought with her to lunch. “His hair’s longer than mine now! And he’s middle-aged and a parent. That’s just not right.”

  “Maybe the directors wanted him to look younger,” Alyssa offered, leaning over the table to inspect the photo. “It’s gotta be tough to be over forty and competing with guys like Orlando Bloom for roles. Hollywood isn’t very forgiving of wrinkles.”

  “Well, I think he looks cute,” Tori said. “He has to look rugged if he’s roughing it on a camel in the desert for this movie.”

  Nat groaned, her head in her hands. “If anyone else calls my dad ‘cute’ again, I’m in serious danger of losing my lunch.”

  “If it makes you feel better, I don’t think he’s cute,” Jenna jumped in. “And I think he looks better with a buzz cut.”

  “Thank you!” Nat said, snapping the magazine shut.

  “No problem.” Jenna smiled as she dipped a couple of her french fries in ketchup.

  She was just about to pop them into her mouth when Alyssa’s eyes widened in horror. “Jenna, stop!”

  Jenna froze. “What?” she asked, glancing down at her food. But then she saw it. The charred clump of . . . what? A bug? A piece of yesterday’s mystery meat loaf? Jenna couldn’t tell for sure. But whatever it was, it was stuck to the side of one of the fries looking very unappetizing. “Eeeuw!” she cried, flinging the fry back onto her plate in disgust. “How gross is that?” She dumped her fries in the trash and dug into her chicken fingers instead, but only after carefully inspecting them to make sure they were free of UFOs (Unidentified Food Objects) first. “Okay, guys. Word to the wise. Avoid the french fries at all costs.”

  Just then, Tori gave a low whistle.

  “Hottie,” she whispered excitedly, “twelve o’clock. Headed this way.”

  Jenna looked up to see Adam walking toward their table. “Gross, Tori,” she said. “My brother is so not hot. That’s a totally disturbing picture.”

  “Not Adam,” Nat said. “I think Tori means the guy with Adam. Who is he?”

  The stranger walking with Adam hadn’t even registered on Jenna’s radar before, but now she took a second look as they came closer. Even Jenna had to admit that the blond-haired, blue-eyed guy looked more like a boarding-school preppy than a camper. From the sleek sunglasses perched on his head to his boating shoes and polo shirt, he was primped, polished, and could’ve been straight out of one of those Star Scoop photos.

  “No way,” Tori whispered. “Those cannot be Hugo Boss sunglasses he’s wearing.”

  “Hugo who?” Jenna asked.

  “It’s a store so expensive that even my dad refuses to shop there,” Nat said. “He thinks it’s way overpriced.”

  “And for your dad the super spy,” Alyssa added, “that’s saying a lot.”

  Adam stopped at their table and ruffled Jenna’s brown hair before she could stop him. She gave him a shove in return.

  “Hey, guys, Dr. Steve asked me to introduce his nephew to everyone here today,” Adam explained, nodding to the guy at his side. “This is Blake Wetherly. He’s from East Hampton in New York. He’s visiting for the last two weeks of camp, and he’s bunking with us in 4E.”

  “Hello, ladies,” Blake said after Adam had introduced all the girls. He flashed a brilliant grin worthy of a young Brad Pitt. “Nice to meet you all.”

  “You too,” Nat, Tori, Chelsea, and Karen all echoed at once.

  Jenna nearly choked on a chicken finger as she looked around the table to see nearly everyone’s eyelashes batting in unison at Blake. What was wrong in the world these days, when her friends went off the deep end for a guy wearing a pair of overpriced sunglasses? She sighed.

  “I’m going to show Blake the ropes today,” Adam explained, “and hopefully he’ll get the hang of camp in enough time to get totally prepped for Color War next week, too.”

  “Color War? But, but,” Jenna stuttered. “Dr. Steve never lets anyone participate in Color War unless they’ve been a camper all summer long.” She looked at Blake. “Why didn’t you come to camp with everyone else at t
he beginning of the summer?”

  “I was abroad for the last month,” Blake said nonchalantly, as if traveling internationally was something he did all the time. Which, Jenna suddenly realized, he probably did. “My parents have a summer house in Lake Como, Italy. We go there every year.”

  “How amazing! Last summer my parents took me to Paris,” Tori chirped, tossing her glossy hair over her shoulder and smiling. “But I’ve never been to Lake Como. I’d love to hear all about it.”

  “Sure thing,” Blake said. “But I’m starving. My dad’s jet landed late. We flew here straight from Rome, and I haven’t eaten since this morning. And then the limo got lost on the way here.”

  “Poor baby,” Jenna muttered under her breath.

  “This place is really out in the sticks,” Blake continued. “My uncle’s such a hick. You might be a redneck if you live in a place where the mosquitoes outnumber the people.” He laughed as if he’d just told the funniest joke in the world, and Tori, Nat, and Karen laughed right along with him.

  “Dr. Steve’s great,” Jenna said with a touch of defensiveness. The way Blake had said the word hick made it sound like a fate worse than death, and his attitude suddenly irked Jenna, who loved coming here every year, mosquitoes and all.

  “And the bugs aren’t too bad,” Nat piped up. “I got eaten alive the first week I was here last year, but insect repellent works miracles.”

  “And reeks, too.” Blake crinkled his nose up in distaste. “So, is any of the grub decent around here, or should I break out the Pepto-Bismol?”

  Jenna resisted the urge to tell Blake to go jump in the lake and gave him a big grin instead. “Give the french fries a try. They’re super-yummy.”

  “Thanks,” Blake said, flashing his gleaming smile again. “I’ll catch you guys later at the campfire.”

  “What a snob!” Jenna exclaimed after Blake walked away with Adam. “If his nose were stuck up any higher in the air, he’d have altitude sickness.”

  Alyssa laughed. “He did seem a little full of himself.”

  “Maybe he just feels awkward because he doesn’t know anyone here,” Karen offered. “It’s gotta be tough to come into camp right at the end of the summer like this.”

  “Not that tough,” Jenna countered. “In fact, I’m guessing Blake hasn’t had too many tough times in his life. His dad has a private jet, and a limo to boot? Come on.”

  “And he lives in the Hamptons,” Tori said, whispering the word as if it were too special to say out loud. “My parents have been there before to visit some friends. My mom told me they stayed in a house with twelve bathrooms! Can you imagine?”

  “I can. I’d never have to fight Stephanie for the bathroom mirror again,” Jenna said dreamily, thinking of her big sister’s hour-long primping sessions.

  “I didn’t know you ever looked in the mirror, Jen,” Chelsea quipped. “Not with that hair.”

  Jenna chose to ignore that remark. Chelsea was always saying something snippy, and everyone in the two bunks had learned to take her harsh words with a grain of salt.

  “Doesn’t Donald Trump have a mansion in the Hamptons?” Karen asked, trying to move past Chelsea’s comment.

  “Donald Trump has mansions everywhere,” Nat replied, and snuck another look at Blake. “He is cute. But not as cute as Simon, of course.”

  Nat and Simon were one of the camp’s couples, and they’d liked each other since last summer. But Nat was still carrying on the eternal debate of whether or not to actually kiss Simon on the lips. Jenna couldn’t imagine getting anywhere near a guy’s lips. No way.

  Nat lifted the collar of her T-shirt up to her nose. “Does bug spray really smell that bad?”

  “Nat.” Jenna groaned. “You do not smell. And if Blake wants to be all stuck-up about wearing insect repellent, let him be. He’ll be covered in bites by tomorrow morning.” She giggled at the thought. “And if you guys had brothers as annoying as Adam, you wouldn’t think any guy was cute.”

  Jenna sighed. Guys were okay . . . some of the time, but she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to get bitten by the lurve bug anytime soon. She’d had a tiny crush on her brother’s friend David earlier in the summer, but when it turned out he liked Sarah, she’d gotten over it pretty quickly. But Nat, Alex, and Tori were a different story—they and over half of Jenna’s other friends were involved in major crushes.

  Thankfully, just when Jenna was getting tired of the boy talk, Andie and Mia, the bunk’s counselor and CIT, stood up from the table. “Singdown time!” Andie announced with a grin, and suddenly everyone forgot about boys, at least for the moment.

  Jenna wiped another sticky string of marshmallow off her chin and popped it into her mouth. Flopping back in the grass, she basked in the warmth of the campfire’s glow.

  “Mmmm.” She gave her friends a goopy smile. “There’s nothing better than s’mores.”

  “Really?” Nat said, taking a big bite out of her s’more sandwich and giggling as some chocolate dribbled down her chin. “I thought you loved brownies more.”

  “Brownies!” Jenna said longingly. “I love them, too. I bet I could make super s’mores with brownies instead of graham crackers.”

  “Jenna, is there anything you think about besides food?” Chelsea smirked.

  “Right this second, no.” Jenna laughed. She scooted over to where Karen and Alyssa sat singing a funny version of “The Bear Went over the Mountain” that they’d turned into “The Camper Got Lost on the Mountain.” She threw one arm around each girl and joined in, singing the words at the top of her lungs. Soon, the three girls were hiccuping with laughter in between verses. They’d finished the singdown a while ago, but everyone in the division was still in singing mode, making up silly lyrics to songs and belting them out as the fire crackled. A couple of the counselors were writing down lyrics to the songs the bunks were making up, planning to use them for Color War later on.

  “Does everyone always sing off-key around here?” a voice said behind them, and Jenna turned to see Blake standing next to Adam and Simon and wearing a look of slight annoyance on his face.

  Karen saw him at the same time and froze mid-stanza, gave a little shriek of embarrassment, and dove for a marshmallow to hide her reddening cheeks.

  “We sing however we want to,” Alyssa said with a shrug.

  Jenna smiled at that. Leave it to Alyssa to say whatever was on her mind. Jenna had always liked that about her, and she was relieved to see that Blake hadn’t cast his spell on everyone . . . yet.

  “That’s the great thing about camp,” Jenna said. “Nobody cares how bad we sound when we sing.”

  “Until now,” Blake said, then broke into his easy smile, so that no one could be entirely sure whether he was insulting them or just kidding around.

  “Wait until the final banquet,” Nat said. “The whole camp sings the Lakeview Camp alma mater so loud that the windows in the mess hall rattle.”

  Blake yawned indifferently. “Yeah, well, we’ll see if I’m still around for the final banquet.”

  “What do you mean?” Tori asked. “Everybody goes to the final banquet. This year will be my first banquet ever, and I can’t wait.”

  “Yeah,” Adam said to Blake. “You’d miss out on all the great food and fun if you didn’t go. Besides, the longer you stick around camp, the better chance you have of seeing some of Jenna’s pranks.”

  “Pranks?” Blake repeated.

  “Last year Jenna let all the animals out of the nature shack and into the mess hall at the camp dance,” Adam explained. “She’s the master prankster in these parts.”

  “Retired master prankster,” Jenna corrected. “No more big pranks for me, not after Dr. Steve threatened to kick me out of camp.”

  “That’s so my uncle.” Blake rolled his eyes. “He just doesn’t know how to have a good time. Which is why I’m giving this camp thing a trial run before I decide whether I want to stick around or not. I can call my dad’s driver to come pick me up whenever I
feel like it.”

  Jenna rolled her eyes and leaned over to whisper to Nat. “How about he calls that driver right now?”

  Just then, Simon walked over to Nat. “Is this seat taken?” he asked her.

  Nat giggled. “It is now,” she said, taking his hand as he sat down beside her.

  Jenna sighed, scooting over to make more room for him. If Nat got any more cuddly with Simon, Jenna was going to lose her appetite. So she grabbed another marshmallow while she still had it.

  Even though Nat was too lost in her own world to notice it, the next half hour just confirmed for Jenna what she already thought was true. Blake sat down with Adam near Alex and Brynn, but he refused to roast any marshmallows or sing any songs. When Brynn told a spooky ghost story that gave Jenna chills and made her huddle closer to Alyssa and Perry, Blake just rolled his eyes.

  “That was lame,” he snorted, standing up from the fire. “I hate to break up the party, but I’m going to find my uncle and see if I can head back to the bunk. It’s, like, two o’clock in the morning in Italy right now. I’m still on Lake Como time.”

  “You need to find Kenny, our counselor, first,” Adam told him. “He needs to know where we are at all times.”

  “Nah.” Blake shrugged. “Uncle Steve’s right over there,” he pointed to where Dr. Steve was helping supervise some of the younger campers roasting marshmallows. “He’ll let me leave. No problem.”

  “Nothing like a little favoritism,” Jenna said, watching as Blake talked to Dr. Steve and then wandered off toward the bunk alone. She couldn’t believe Blake was getting special treatment from Dr. Steve, but at least he was gone for the night. That was a relief.

  As counselors started ushering campers off to the bunks, Jenna grinned at her friends. “Hey, I’ve got a fresh candy stash back in the bunk, if anyone’s interested.”

  “You just ate five s’mores!” Chelsea gasped.

  “Exactly.” Jenna patted her stomach. “That leaves room for at least two of my mom’s home-made brownies.”