Marta yelled, “Just stop it!” at Gaby.
Gaby shouted back, “Oh, just get over yourself!”
“Girls, girls!” Lizzie cried. She started talking to them in a low voice.
Maybe she can come over here next and straighten us out, Alex thought.
Next, wild music and screeching singing blared from the center of 3A’s table! It drowned out Lizzie, and all the girls started shouting and covering their ears. It was some crazy hip-hop song—and it sounded like Jenna was singing the words!
“Bunk 3A, yo, 3A!
I see that bunk, I run away!
Ooh, ooh, they so fresh!
They put 3C to the test!
Bunk 3A! I’m singing 3A, yo!”
“Oh, this is so not working out the way I planned it!” Jenna cried.
Around the party room, most of the other partygoers were cracking up, hooting and laughing. Alex couldn’t help the lopsided grin that crossed her face. Jenna had pulled another prank that was spinning out of control!
“Something’s under the table!” Gaby cried.
As Alex watched in stunned amazement, Jenna dashed over to 3A and dove under their table at the same time that half the bunk did the same. There was a lot of yelling. Jenna disappeared. Then she crawled back out, holding her laptop in her arms!
Gaby and Marta, and some of the other 3A bunkmates headed straight for Jenna as Jenna ran back to 3C’s table.
The music stopped playing just as Gaby yelled, “Knock it off!”
“Help!” Jenna cried, running around to Alex’s side of the table.
At the same time, the DJ started playing the old song, “YMCA” by the Village People. The laughter died down as everybody waited to see what would happen next.
Stephanie and Lizzie trotted toward to the center of the room. So did many of the other counselors.
“Jenna, you are so busted!” Marissa warned Jenna. Then she said to Alex, “I guess Julie is still helping Sarah. Can you girls work on the spill?”
“Yes,” Alex assured her.
“Do not go anywhere, Jenna,” Marissa said.
Then she reached beneath the table, grabbed something made out of navy blue material, and ran to join the others. She was holding a fishing hat just like Dr. Steve always wore at camp, and as the girls started laughing, she put it on. All the other counselors and CITs put on fishing hats, too!
They sang along with the music:“Campers! Are you longing for home?
I say, campers! Did you bring a cell phone?
Hey guess what! Now that I’m grown I can
serve you breakfast!
Cuz I am a C-I-T!”
The chorus kicked in:
“Camp C-I-T!
I used to be a Camp C-I-T!”
The place went nuts as the counselors and former CIT’s did a funky version of the Electric Side. Then they pulled Dr. Steve, Nurse Helen, Kathleen, and all the other division heads onto the floor. Some of the older campers began to dance.
“This is awesome!” Grace cried. “It’s like they copied Jenna!”
“They did!” Jenna said. “I came up with a funny song first!”
“Yeah, and now 3A is out for revenge,” Grace said as their rivals glared at them. Alex guessed that the only reason they hadn’t stomped over to 3C was because Lizzie had told them not to.
The YMCA-CIT song ended. The dancers all swept a low bow and started applauding all the campers. Everyone at the tables clapped, whistled, and hooted back.
It was crazy, and despite herself, Alex started grinning broadly. She loved her Camp Lakeview family. She really did.
Suddenly, right beside her, Gaby’s voice filled the room, yelling, “Knock it off! Knock it off! Knock it off!” in a loop on Jenna’s laptop.
chapter ELEVEN
Everyone started laughing again—except bunk 3A. And Kathleen, and Nurse Helen, and Dr. Steve.
Jenna swallowed hard and said, “How did that happen?” as she worked the keyboard of her laptop and shut it down. She looked freaked out.
Dr. Steve himself walked up to Jenna and said, “Please come with me.”
Jenna followed behind him as he led her to a corner of the room. He began to talk and gesture at her laptop. Jenna’s head was bowed.
“Wow, he looks mad,” Natalie said.
“I’m so glad I’m not Jenna,” Grace chimed in.
Marissa got up and joined them, her arms crossed over her chest. Nurse Helen and Kathleen went over with them as well.
Then Marissa walked Jenna back to the table, carrying Jenna’s laptop for her.
“Wow, that was an awesome prank!” Grace said.
“Dr. Steve didn’t think so,” Jenna sulked. “That man has no sense of humor.”
“Gaby was very embarrassed, Jenna,” Marissa said.
“But I told you guys, that wasn’t part of the prank!” She turned to her bunkmates. “See, what happened, was I made a funny song with Nicole,” Jenna explained. “My new friend back home. Then I recorded it onto my laptop. I recorded a bunch of blank songs first, so I could delay the song, and then I hid it under 3A’s table.”
“That was why you had to carry your blue bag. Your laptop was in it,” Grace guessed.
“Yeah, and then when I said I went to get my purse, that’s when I saw my chance to hide it under there. But then when Alex spilled the pitcher of soda all over Sarah, I got worried that something might happen to it. Then it went off!”
She looked at Marissa. “Like I said, I didn’t mean to record Gaby mouthing off. I must have hit the record button or something when I was trying to get away.”
“Oh, Jenna Bloom,” Marissa said, shaking her head. “You have a gift for turning a small prank into total chaos.”
“I hate to tell you this, Marissa,” Natalie said, “but I think Jenna will take that as a compliment.”
That’s exactly what I was thinking! Alex thought. All at once, she was confused about how she felt about Natalie. She was really mad at her, but she felt so weird sitting next to her not saying anything. And then Natalie had gone and said the exact same words that Alex had thought of saying. It made her remember how close they had once been. Part of her was totally glad to see her again. Even if she was angry.
I wish I could hit the rewind button and start this whole thing over, Alex thought sadly.
As everyone sat back down, Julie and Sarah returned to the table. Sarah was wearing a black-and-white skirt and a black sweater. They were a little baggy on her, but it was a good outfit. She looked totally stylish.
“Julie is lending me the clothes she’s wearing to the christening tomorrow,” Sarah said happily.
“You look hot,” Natalie said.
“Jenna got in trouble while you were gone,” Marissa told Julie. “She hid her laptop under 3A’s table and then accidentally recorded and played back Gaby.”
“Yeah, Gaby having a spazz attack!” Grace said, and Jenna tried not to smile. “Everyone heard it!”
Julie groaned. “Jenna Bloom, I swear! You’re shortening my life.”
“I’m sorry, Julie,” Jenna said sincerely. “It’s just . . . so easy for me,” she finished with a sigh.
“Our table is falling into chaos!” Brynn cried. “What shall we do?”
“Maybe we should eat,” Grace suggested.
The girls started to get in line for burgers and pizza slices. Alex stayed where she was.
As they came back with food, Julie sat down in Chelsea’s empty chair.
“Alex, is something wrong?” Julie asked kindly. “You don’t seem like you’re having very much fun.”
Alex shook her head. Then she decided to be honest. She said, “I really liked my Color War idea. I thought it would be funny if both 3A and 3C did it, because we could challenge each other to see who did the theme better. Then it would be like a Color War.”
“Oh.” Julie looked impressed. “That would have been really fun.”
“Yeah, and Brynn thought so, too,” Alex co
ntinued. “But you guys wouldn’t listen. As soon as Natalie said ‘purple,’ there was nothing more to say.”
“No way,” Grace chimed in as she returned to the table with her plate of food. “No one spoke up, so Julie figured we all agreed on purple.”
Alex looked up to see that many of the others had also returned with their food. Natalie stood between Alyssa and Grace, listening carefully.
“I wanted to do the Color War idea,” Karen said.
“Yeah, really,” Candace added.
“Oh, Alex, I’m so sorry,” Julie said.
“No wonder you got so annoyed at Natalie,” Grace exclaimed. Then she covered her face with her hands. “Eek. Forget I said that.”
“Well, if Alex thought everyone had been ignoring her, no wonder she sent that snarky IM,” Jenna said.
“It was not snarky,” Alex said, mortified. As Brynn gave her a look, she mumbled, “Okay. Maybe it was.”
“It so was!” Grace said. “We were all like, ‘What happened to Alex?’”
“Just because I was trying so hard to make things nice for everyone,” Natalie added. Her voice was shaking.
“You took it all over!” Alex cried.
“Talk about a Color War,” Jenna said. “This is like a bunk war.”
“Total war,” Candace echoed.
“Okay, time out,” Julie said. She looked from Alex to Natalie to Marissa.
“Alex, no one meant to ignore your suggestions,” Julie reassured Alex. “Maybe if you had had a chance to explain your idea about challenging 3A, we would have stuck with Color War. I’m sorry I didn’t pay better attention.”
“It’s not your fault,” Alex said to Julie. Tears sprang to her eyes and she tried to blink them away. “If anything, I should have persisted, like you said. That’s been my problem in soccer, too. I give up too soon.”
“Alex thought at first that you had agreed to the Color War idea,” Brynn said. “She spent all her allowance on napkins and stuff for the table. And then she couldn’t even return them.”
“Oh, did you bring them?” Natalie asked, her voice rising with excitement. “Because I totally didn’t buy enough for the sleepover tonight.”
“Because I totally dumped my pizza all over her mom’s carpet,” Grace moaned. “And used up the ones at her house.”
“It’s no biggie,” Natalie said. But her cheeks were pink.
Alex knew Natalie like having things perfect. Having pizza dumped on her mom’s carpet had probably really upset her. Alex wondered if there had been other mishaps as well.
Maybe it hasn’t been total fun 24/7 for Nat, either, Alex thought. But she still felt hurt and angry.
“Everyone is totally stressing,” Brynn announced. It was the kind of thing Brynn lived to say.
“You girls haven’t been around one another for a while,” Julie pointed out. “I’m sure everyone has been a little nervous about getting together. Remember what it was like the first couple of days at camp?”
“Well, that would be about ten million years ago for Alex,” Jenna said. “She’s been a Camp Lakeview camper forever.”
“I hated it,” Natalie admitted. “I wanted to go home. No offense, you guys.”
“I wasn’t very into it, either,” Alyssa put in.
“But we learned to get along,” Marissa said. “And we had an awesome summer, didn’t we?”
“Yeah, we did,” Grace said.
“Well, it looks like we’ve kind of forgotten how to get along,” Sarah ventured.
The others nodded.
“We’re back together for the first time in a long time,” Grace said. “Plus, I don’t know about everybody else, but I was pretty hyper about coming to the reunion.”
“I couldn’t even decide what to wear,” Karen said.
“Me, neither,” Candace said.
“I’ll bet Natalie’s been trying very hard to make sure everyone has fun at her house,” Julie continued.
“She’s got these lists!” Grace announced, mimicking trying to hold up a huge weight. Natalie turned bright red, and Alex couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for her.
Before she realized what she was saying, Alex said, “I was a nervous wreck having just Brynn over.”
Brynn stared at her. “You were nervous having me over? Why? I’m just me!”
Alex turned to her. “Because Natalie’s was where the fun was. They were going to the art show and having a spa day. I saw your guidebook to New York. You really wanted to be here, not stuck at my house!”
Brynn blurted, “That’s not true!” Then she took a breath. “Wait a sec. That’s kind of true.”
Alex was stunned. “What?” she cried.
“She said it was kind of true,” Candace said helpfully.
Brynn nodded. “I can’t lie about that. I was afraid I was missing out. But I told myself that at least I’d get to watch you play extreme soccer.”
Alex shut her eyes tightly as she made a face. “And then I didn’t wake you up.”
“Wow, this is totally messed up,” Grace said.
“Well, let’s do a do-over,” Julie suggested. “After all, we’re 3C! We’re the cool bunk!”
“That’s right! The cool bunk!” Candace said.
Just then Julie’s cell phone rang. She connected and held it to her ear. “Hello? Oh.” Her face fell. “Oh, dear, I’m so sorry. We’ll miss you.”
Alex looked around the table. Only Valerie and Chelsea were missing.
Alex sensed the relief going all around the table. Also the guilt. Because people were thinking, Maybe Chelsea’s the one who’s not going to show.
“Well, everyone says hi, Valerie,” Julie said into the phone. “We’ll take lots of pictures and upload them so you can share in the fun.”
Julie hung up and put her cell phone into her purse. She cocked her head and sighed as she gazed at each bunkmate of 3C in turn.
“Valerie can’t make it. She’s got the flu.”
No one said anything. But Alex knew what they were thinking. Because even though she was ashamed of herself, she was thinking it too: Why couldn’t it have been Chelsea who wasn’t coming? Because they were already having enough trouble getting along. Add Chelsea to the equation and it would equal majorly strained nerves.
“I was kind of hoping it would be Chelsea,” Grace finally admitted.
A look passed from girl to girl, and Julie sighed heavily.
“Look, you guys promised to be nice to Chelsea,” Julie said, sounding frustrated with them.
“You all know that Chelsea’s father is really sick,” Marissa put in. “She almost didn’t come because she’s so worried about him.”
“We know. And we feel bad,” Natalie said.
“Yeah, movie-star bad. So bad you lounged around all day at a spa,” Alex retorted. She meant it as a joke, but it fell way flat. Natalie looked crushed.
“Gee, thanks, Alex,” she snapped.
“Girls, please!” Julie implored them. “You just made up! Look at how much pressure you’re under. It’s making you so touchy. Think about what it must be like for Chelsea.”
“You’re right,” Alex said. “We need to make a special effort to be nice to Chelsea. Even though she’s not always nice to us.”
“That’s better,” Julie said. “And . . . ?” she prompted Alex.
Alex smiled sheepishly at Natalie. “I’m sorry. I was trying to make a joke. But it didn’t work.”
“Hey, that’s okay.” Natalie smiled shyly back. “I’m sorry that everything’s gotten so weird between us, Alex. I really am. And we’ll make a super gi-normous effort, Julie. We promise.”
As she spoke, Karen, who was sitting across from her, caught her breath and looked up past the top of Alex’s head.
“Why?” said a tight, angry voice behind Alex. A very familiar voice. “Because it’s so hard to be nice to me?”
Swallowing, Alex turned in her chair and tilted back her head.
Chelsea was standing right
behind her!
And she was glaring so hard at Alex and Natalie, it was like flames were shooting from her eyes.
chapter TWELVE
“Chelsea, hi,” Natalie and Alex said breathlessly as they got to their feet. The rest of the bunk quickly did the same. “It’s—it’s so good to see you.”
“Yeah, right,” Chelsea snapped.
Her blond hair was perfect. Her makeup was flawless. And her outfit was fantastic.
But the look on her face ruined it.
Then Julie and Marissa moved around Natalie and Alex and gathered her up in a hug. Exchanging guilty looks, Natalie and Alex joined the huddle.
I can’t believe Chelsea heard us, Natalie thought. Alex’s expression seemed to say the same thing.
“How was the drive into the city?” Marissa asked her. She looked around the room. “Is your mom still here?”
“No, she dropped me off,” Chelsea said. She was looking at the table. She saw something that made her frown, but she didn’t say what it was.
“Let’s go get a plate for you,” Julie offered. “We just sat down to eat.”
“We have all kinds of soda, too,” Natalie said eagerly. “Can I pour you some?”
“There must be diet, if Alex is drinking soda,” Chelsea said.
“Well, there was!” Grace laughed nervously. “Alex kind of used it all up!”
Everyone started to giggle out of their awkward tension, and not so much because they thought it was funny.
“Is this some kind of in-joke I’m not supposed to get?” Chelsea asked. Her voice was so sharp, it was like a knife.
“I knocked it over and spilled it all over Sarah,” Alex explained.
“I’m wearing Julie’s clothes,” Sarah put in.
“Oh, that explains why they look about six sizes too big,” Chelsea said. She added, “Where am I supposed to sit? In front of the dumb-looking bowling ball that has my name spelled all wrong?”
Alex glanced at Chelsea’s name card on the plastic bowling ball. It read CHESLEA.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Grace said, taking it from her and shaking her head. “I wrote that. I got it mixed up. We were hurrying and—”
“I should have known. I mean, you have trouble reading, right? So of course you can’t spell either,” Chelsea interrupted.
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