Nat picked herself up off the ground after dodging from the ball. “That ball was going, like, fifty miles an hour!” Nat said. “I value my life. There was no way I was sticking my face in front of that missile.”
“That’s the fifth one you missed!” Jenna shouted, throwing one of her crutches onto the ground. “Get it together out there!”
Nat nodded and bit her lip, and a few seconds later, Jenna saw her wiping her eyes.
“Oh, are you crying now?” Jenna yelled. “Suck it up!”
“Jenna,” Andie said, coming up beside her. “Let’s take a break for a minute and cool off, okay?”
Andie called a time-out, and Nat, Alyssa, Karen, and the other 4As dragged themselves off the field, dirty, sweaty, and frowning.
“If you keep playing like this,” Jenna told them, “you’re going to be dead meat in Color War.”
“It’s a hundred degrees out there,” Perry said. “This heat is unbelievable.”
Nat nodded in agreement. “Simon’s meeting me after this to walk me to art, and I’m completely sweaty. He’s going to be so grossed out.” She sighed. “Sorry, Jenna, but we’re doing the best we can.”
“Yeah, ease up, Jen,” Alyssa said. “It’s just a practice game.”
“But that’s the whole problem,” Jenna said. “No one’s taking this seriously.”
“Hello!” Chelsea said. “When did you become the Soccer Dictator? Get a grip.”
“You just don’t get it,” Jenna said. “None of you know the first thing about playing sports.”
Jenna sank down in the grass on the sidelines as play started again. It was no use. She might as well give up trying to coach her friends. They stank at sports, and there was no way she could teach them how to play in time for Color War. In fact, she was hoping now that she wouldn’t be on the same color team as any of her friends—not at the rate they were botching sports. She was miserable, wanting more than anything to be out there on the field, to have her leg miraculously healed so that she could get her game, and her smile, back. It was so hard to feel this helpless, and so disappointing to know she couldn’t help her friends more. But the sadder she felt on the inside, the angrier she got on the outside. She didn’t like the Jenna that was yelling at her friends, but at the same time, she couldn’t stop her, either. She watched the rest of the game halfheartedly, and when 4C scored their final, winning goal, she didn’t get in line to shake hands with them or tell them they’d played a good game.
She just sat there as the players put their equipment away, staring glumly at Alex and Sarah picking up the soccer balls from the field.
Alex kicked the last of the soccer balls straight into the net, then did a victory dance on the field and high-fived Sarah.
“That’s the best shot I’ve ever made,” she said to Sarah, beaming as the two of them walked off the field toward Jenna.
“It was awesome,” Sarah said.
“Take a chill pill, Alex,” Jenna said coolly. “It wasn’t that special. I could’ve made that shot with my eyes closed.”
Alex frowned. “You know what? I’m sick of this poor-me attitude you’ve got, Jenna. You’re pulling pranks again to get attention, just because you’re bored and you can’t play sports with the rest of us anymore. But I never thought you’d lie to me about anything. You lied to me about switching my clothes around, and you’re lying about the rice, too. Everyone knows it was you. And I’m proud of the way I played today. I deserve to celebrate. And I don’t care whether it bothers you or not.”
“Yeah, well, I’m sure if Adam saw your ridiculous victory dance, it’d bother him,” Jenna said. She hated the awful words she was saying, but she couldn’t stop them. “And he definitely wouldn’t think you were that special, either.” Just as Alex’s face crumpled into tears, Jenna turned and left, as fast as her crutches could carry her.
“Jenna, wait up!” a voice called behind her.
But Jenna didn’t want to wait. She willed her crutches to move faster, until her legs were swinging so high with each step that she slid on some loose gravel, nearly toppling backward.
“Whoa,” Adam said, grabbing Jenna’s shoulders to steady her. “I’ve never seen anyone on crutches move that fast before.”
“I’m hungry.” Jenna shrugged, not wanting to get into the real reason why she had left the soccer field in such a hurry.
“Well, hold up a minute. I was hoping to catch you at the sports field, but Alex said you’d already left. I wanted to talk to you—”
Jenna cut him off. “Before you say anything else . . . it wasn’t me.”
“What wasn’t?” Adam asked.
“Whatever it is you’re coming to blame me for,” Jenna said.
“I’m not coming to blame you for anything new,” Adam said. “But I am still mad at you for the clothing switch last night.” He gave her a half-playful, half-serious slug on the arm. “What was up with that?”
Jenna put her head in her hands. “How many times do I have to say it?” she cried. “I didn’t do it!”
Adam held up his hands. “Okay, okay. That look in your eyes is almost enough to scare me.” He snorted. “Almost.”
“Adam, before you force me to hurt you,” Jenna glared at him, “which I will do . . . what do you want?”
Adam suddenly went quiet and dug his shoe into the dirt. “I was just wondering if . . . if you gave that photo to Alex yet,” he mumbled, staring at the ground.
Jenna stalled. Now what was she supposed to say? She couldn’t tell him that she was in the middle of a big fight with Alex without unleashing enough questions for the Spanish Inquisition. And there was no way she was going to give Adam’s photo to Alex now, not with the way she’d been acting. After all these years of friendship, Alex didn’t even know her well enough to believe she was innocent of the pranking, so why should Jenna go out of her way to do something nice for her? No way. She was tired of the two of them asking for her help and even more tired of them liking each other. The sooner Adam lost interest in Alex, the better. So instead of telling Adam that she hadn’t given the picture to Alex yet, Jenna did the only other thing she could think of. She lied.
“Sure, I gave it to her yesterday,” she said. “No biggie.”
“But . . . did she say anything?” Adam asked. “Did she like it?”
She shrugged. “I have no idea. She didn’t open the envelope in front of me.”
“Did you tell her it was from me?” Adam asked.
Jenna nodded, feeling guiltier by the second. “Sure, and she said she’d look at it later when she had time.”
“Oh,” Adam said, his face falling in the tiniest way that only Jenna could pick up on. “Okay.” Then he smiled, and Jenna could see him forcing it to stay on his face. “Well, I’ve gotta catch up with the other guys. I’ll catch you later.”
“See ya,” Jenna said, watching him go as her conscience settled in to give her a nice long lecture. Well, she’d hit a new low. Lying to her brother was something she’d never done before, and even though she felt a small satisfaction in knowing that she’d sabotaged Alex’s chances with Adam, she also felt a nagging guilt. As she made her way into the mess hall, she wished she could forget what she’d just done. But somehow, she knew she was going to have a hard time thinking about anything else.
She was still thinking about it, with a tightness in her stomach, when Andie got in the food line next to her.
“I heard you and Alex fighting earlier on the soccer field,” Andie said. “It’s not like you two to fight. What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Jenna mumbled. “I just wasn’t in the mood to hear her gloating over the game.”
Andie helped her get a plate of ravioli, which actually smelled semi-edible for a change, and picked up both her tray and Jenna’s to lead the way to the bunk’s table. “Jenna, hold up a minute,” she said, motioning her to a quiet corner of the mess hall. “I know that it’s hard for you to watch everyone else playing sports while you can’t. But
losing your temper and taking it out on your friends isn’t going to make you feel any better.”
“But I do feel better,” Jenna said.
“Are you sure about that?” Andie asked softly. “Listen, I think you could be a terrific coach for 4A, but one of the most important traits of a good coach is patience. The girls on your team may not play as well as you’d like them to, but they won’t ever get better unless they learn how. They can learn from you.”
“Did you see the way they played today?” Jenna sighed. “There’s no hope.”
“Just try to give them a shot, and see what happens,” Andie said. “Please?”
“I’ll try,” she said, just to make Andie drop it.
“Thanks, sweetie,” Andie said. “I knew I could count on you.”
When Jenna sat down at the bunk table, though, she was met with silence. No one would look at her, let alone talk to her. Jenna sighed and scooped up a forkful of ravioli. Well, she’d eat her lunch, and then she’d figure out how to handle her friends. But before Jenna could take a bite of her food, Nat let out a scream.
“Hot! Hot! Hot!” she cried, grabbing for her glass of bug juice.
Suddenly, there were shouts from all over the mess hall, and Jenna saw Alex and Brynn suck down their glasses of bug juice in one gulp. Adam, Simon, and Devon were all doing the same.
Pete came running out of the kitchen. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Andie said. “Is there something wrong with the food?”
Nat nodded her head violently and pointed to the ravioli before downing her entire glass.
Pete and Andie each took the tiniest taste of ravioli.
“Tabasco,” Pete choked, “and lots of it.”
“Oh, Jenna,” Andie said, disappointment shining in her eyes. “I thought we agreed you wouldn’t do this again.”
“I didn’t do anything!” Jenna cried in disbelief, putting down her fork.
“I’m afraid I’m having trouble believing you this time, Jenna,” Dr. Steve said, walking over to her. “Last year you promised that you wouldn’t pull any more pranks like this. But now our ravioli is spiked with Tabasco. And with all the pranks that have gone on in the last couple of days, the evidence is stacking up against you.”
“But none of this was me!” Jenna cried.
Dr. Steve just frowned. “Please don’t make me call your parents again like I had to last year. I don’t like punishing my campers, but I will if this continues.”
“But I’m telling the truth,” Jenna pleaded with Andie once Dr. Steve walked away.
“Look, Jenna,” Andie said. “I know you’re upset about your leg. But, please. You can’t keep doing this.”
Jenna’s heart sank as she glanced around the table and saw all of her bunkmates glaring at her. It didn’t matter what she said . . . no one was going to believe her.
“Can I be excused?” she said, her voice shaking. “I’m not hungry anymore.”
“Of course you’re not,” Chelsea snapped. “You probably already ate all of the good ravioli.”
Jenna was too upset to even try to defend herself.
“All right,” Andie said. “You can go back to the bunk. We’ll meet you there before free swim.”
Feeling tears starting at the corners of her eyes, Jenna tried to escape the mess hall before they started falling. She made it safely outside, but as she rounded the corner of the building, she spied Blake squatting behind the big rock by the lake, eating a bowl of ravioli, a huge grin on his face. Jenna stared in confusion. Wait a minute . . . he was scarfing down the ravioli, and he wasn’t even breaking a sweat. That stuff had to be spicy enough to burn the hair off his head, so how could he stand to eat it? Unless . . . unless he had the only ravioli at camp that hadn’t been spiked with Tabasco!
Jenna fumed as understanding dawned on her. So Blake was the one who’d been pulling these pranks all along.
A slow smile spread across Blake’s face as he caught Jenna’s eye. “I sure am glad I got some ravioli before you pulled your prank, Jenna,” he said smoothly. “I hope you don’t get into too much trouble for it.” Then, before Jenna could say anything, Blake ditched his bowl in the trash can and walked into the mess hall, laughing.
Heat flashed through Jenna’s cheeks as she slammed one of her crutches against the rock in frustration. This meant war. Blake had been setting her up all along, and now it was payback time. If everyone believed Jenna was pulling all these pranks, what was to keep her from actually doing them for real? She didn’t have anything to lose, since they were blaming her anyway. And besides, she could find a way to frame Blake while she was at it, too. She’d teach him a lesson he’d never forget. She would come up with the prank to end all pranks, and she’d pull it during the final banquet at the end of this week. If she couldn’t enjoy Color War this year, she was going to make sure she really enjoyed the final banquet, uber-prank and all. It was time for the old Jenna to make a comeback in a very big way. She’d hatch a plan for the Best Prank Ever, and she’d start right now.
During the second banquet planning meeting that night, Jenna barely paid attention as Farrah and Kenny passed out craft supplies to make decorations for the Italian feast. Even though the whole theme had been her idea, she didn’t really care about it anymore. She had more important things to think about, like how to pull off the perfect prank to make the banquet dinner unforgettable. After camp was over, no one would remember the silly Italian flag candleholders they were making, or the rock-hard garlic bread, or the makeshift gondolas that still looked like canoes, no matter how hard the campers worked to disguise them. They wouldn’t even remember Jenna’s broken leg. But they would all remember a prank so magnificent, it would be forever ingrained in Camp Lakeview lore. All Jenna had to do was come up with it.
She finished painting one jelly jar with the Italian flag and moved on to her second, hoping she’d finish her assigned five soon so she could scope out the layout of the mess hall for prank ideas. Being on this planning committee had ended up giving her an advantage—she could investigate the ins and outs of the banquet plans and mess hall without anyone picking up on it. It was almost too good to be true. And because Sarah and Tiernan had given her the cold shoulder ever since she had walked into the room, Jenna didn’t have any distractions. She finished her candleholders, dropped a tea light candle into each jar, and turned them in to Farrah.
“That was fast,” Farrah said. “But there are five more jars where those came from. Want to do more?”
“Sure.” Jenna smiled innocently. “But would you mind if I walked around for a few minutes first? My leg’s getting kind of numb, and I think I need to stretch.”
“No problem,” Farrah said, concern in her eyes. “Just take it easy on that leg.”
Jenna nodded, then slowly walked the perimeter of the mess hall. She couldn’t let the animals from the nature shack loose in here again. That had been a mistake. No . . . she needed something funny and messy, but not too messy. She looked up to the ceiling, and her eyes lit on something that suddenly gave her a brilliant idea. She kept walking, making note of all the key spots she needed to make her prank work. And when she was finished, she knew, beyond a doubt, that this prank would be nothing short of sheer genius.
Afterward, back in her bunk, she excused herself from a game of Monopoly to work out her idea. No one seemed the least bit bothered when she said she didn’t want to play the game. Andie had the night off, and she’d looked so fab in her outfit and makeup when she’d left the bunk that everyone was convinced she had a date. Either way, Andie wasn’t around to get Jenna involved in the bunk games. And thankfully, Mia didn’t push the issue either, which relieved Jenna but also made her a little sad. She sighed. Of all the ways she’d pictured the summer ending, this definitely wasn’t one of them. Now what did she have to look forward to? Getting into more trouble for things that weren’t her fault, and finishing the summer without any of her friendships intact. Well, she had
the prank to look forward to now, too. That was something good, at least.
Withdrawing to her bed, she propped her leg up on an extra pillow and got started. At the top of her stationery, she wrote the code name “Operation Drowned Rat.” That’s what she’d call it. The perfect name for the perfect prank. Next, she mapped out the prime target points in the mess hall that would set her plan into motion.
Once her notes and map of the mess hall were finished, she tucked them deep into the bottom of her backpack where they would be safe until the night of the banquet. Then she’d use them to execute her plan. She’d pull off Operation Drowned Rat without a hitch. And with any luck, she’d be able to pin the blame on a certain blond-haired, blue-eyed boy she knew, too.
chapter SEVEN
The next morning, Jenna woke up for the first time since she broke her leg with a glimmer in her eye.
“Good morning, ladies,” she said. “Would anyone like an early-bird special on me?” She held up a handful of candy from her stash.
“No thanks, Jenna,” Karen said timidly, seeming afraid that Jenna would start yelling at her.
“I’m not touching anything you’re offering us,” Chelsea said. “For all we know you could’ve filled your chocolates with ink or something.”
Jenna just shrugged. “No biggie,” she said. “We’ll just save the candy for after sports.”
A collective groan rose up from everyone at that, making Jenna laugh.
“Practice won’t be that bad,” she promised. “Things will go much better today. I feel really awful about the way I’ve been acting in sports lately, and I’m going to make it up to you, starting right now. You’ll see.” But as she glanced around at her friends, she was met with pair after pair of unsure eyes. And worse, now her friends actually looked a little afraid of her, too, as if they didn’t know when she’d trick them all again.
“Well, I’m glad to see you’re finally smiling again, Jenna,” Andie told her proudly. “We all missed your cheerfulness. But I seriously hope this doesn’t mean you’ve laced the boys’ toilet seats with superglue or some other horrific thing.”
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