Maisy stopped crying and pulled her face away from the tree. She had crimson bark-shaped ridges imprinted into her cheeks. “Are you sure I’ll be okay?”
I sighed. “I got you. Stay with me and you’ll be fine.”
Maisy’s whole body was shaking as I gently unwrapped her freakishly strong fingers from the tree. “You’re okay. I have you.”
I kept both hands on her arms and walked us to the edge of the platform. “Do you want me to go first? Or do you want to go first?”
“I’m not ziplining!” Maisy shrieked. “There’s no way!”
“I know.” I sighed again. “But we do need to climb back down the tree. It’s the only other way back down.”
Maisy took a deep breath and exhaled dramatically. “You first. But don’t go too fast.”
Obviously, Maisy wanted me to go first so that if she fell she could land on me.
I lowered myself under the platform and positioned my foot on one of the rungs. “It’s okay, Maisy. I’m right here.”
Her legs trembled as she squatted down to the platform. “I can’t do it. I’m going to fall!”
“Come on, Maisy. You got this.” No one else was cheering Maisy on with me. They were all done with her hysteria. But I knew it wasn’t an act and there’s no way to reason with her when she was swept up in a panic attack.
Once she got off the platform, she moved down the tree so fast I had to step up my pace.
Isa threw her helmet, and it bounced before landing at the foot of the tree. “There goes the tournament! It’s done. Over.”
Poppy sighed. “What am I gonna tell Nana Mary?”
“The Dandelion girls are going to steal the tournament right out from under us!” Isa said. “And they’ll be laughing in our faces when they do it.”
Maisy sat up and, unclipping her helmet, pulled it off her head so fast, she ripped out a tangled knot of hair. She looked so happy to be back on the ground, she didn’t notice.
“You didn’t even try.” Hannah stepped out of her rope harness. “You gave up as soon as you got on that platform.”
The thin blue vein under Isa’s left eye thumped and twitched. “All you had to do was zipline! It’s the easiest thing in the world. You literally do nothing and the zipline gets you across.”
“All those summers winning the tournaments, for nothing,” said Poppy.
Maisy ignored everyone and stepped out of her harness. She didn’t apologize for not trying harder. She didn’t offer to try again. She was still the same Maisy she had been for the past year. Out for herself.
“You’re scared of everything! You don’t want to be braver or stronger or more independent. You don’t belong here.” The words burst out of me like hot flames. “Why don’t you just go home? Back to the M & Ms! You can sit around the pool and compare tans.”
Ainsley ran over from the other side of the field and took one look at Maisy’s tear-streaked face before laying into us. “I always thought you were the nice girls here. But you aren’t nice, you’ve just been lucky. You ended up in a bunk where you were all good at everything. You never had to help anyone or wait for someone to catch up. Being lucky means you don’t know how to be a team. It doesn’t mean you’re nice girls. It just means that you can be nice when things are easy.”
If Bailey had given us that speech, I wouldn’t have been surprised. But Ainsley’s never once given us a speech. Speeches take effort and she’s always cared more about sneaking off at night than anything else. I think it would’ve felt better if it had been Bailey doing the lecturing.
Before we could say anything, Maisy took off running into the woods and Ainsley ran after her.
Poppy groaned. “I feel awful. Here I am, the Girls Empowerment Club president at school, and I just made some poor girl at camp feel worthless.”
“Maisy is not some poor girl,” said Isa. “She spent the past school year making Bea feel like crap. Why is it our job to make her feel good about herself?”
Hannah looked at the ground. “All I know is that I feel kind of like a jerk now.”
“This whole situation sucks,” I said. “No matter how difficult Maisy is, we’re going to look like the bad guys. Here we are feeling guilty about her when we should be having an amazing first day of camp. Maisy has officially ruined our summer.”
CHAPTER FIVE
MAISY
AFTER MY NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE ON THE ROPES COURSE, I convinced Ainsley to drop me off at Dr. Beth’s cabin again. Ainsley had already figured out what an anxious mess I am; I didn’t need to explain two trips to the therapy cabin in one day to her.
This time Dr. Beth held a fat orange and black striped cat in her arms. “Say hi to Garfield,” she said, as soon as she opened her cabin door. “I’m supposed to be fostering him, but he’s so cute I might just end up keeping him.”
“Hi, Garfield,” I said. It was easy to be nice to a cat when someone else was holding him.
Dr. Beth nodded toward her desk. “Laptop’s all yours.”
“Thanks,” I said, reaching for it. I started typing right away so Dr. Beth wouldn’t get the wrong idea and think I was there to talk.
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Hiiiiiiiiii!
Hi Addy,
Camp sucks!!! They took away my phone on the bus. I’m not getting it back until the end of the summer. :(
It’s only the first day and all the girls in my bunk hate me already!! They stuck me in Bea’s cabin with all the girls she’s been going to camp with since the summer before second grade. They’re all best friends and they hate me because I stopped hanging out with Bea this year.
They also hate me cuz we’re going to lose the end-of-summer bunk tournament because of my non-sportiness and anxiety. I don’t know why Dad sent me here. This place is meant for brave people who aren’t scared of ziplining or swimming in a lake filled with fish you can see. How is it possible that we come from the same parents? Nothing scares you. Not even those crazy level 9 vault moves.
Hope your camp is going better than mine.
XOXO,
Maisy
As soon as I hit send, I looked at Dr. Beth to make sure she wasn’t paying attention. She was busy lining up small bowls and filling them with dry cat kibble. I went on Instagram and checked whether the M & Ms responded to my DM. There was no response in our group convo, but Madison had sent me a DM.
From: @madisonave
To: @maisywintersiscoming
OMG! How are you gonna live without your phone all summer?? I am crying for you. Miss you sm. ILY!!
The row of hearts and kissy face emojis only made me feel a little better. I knew the girls were all together at Mia’s pool. But Madison was the only one who missed me enough to write back.
From @maisywintersiscoming
To: @madisonave
Miss you sm! Your post was sooooo cute! What R U guys doing?
From: @madisonave
To: @maisywintersiscoming
Hanging at Mia’s pool. Everyone says hi, but Meghan says no one DMs anymore. Sry!
I had worked hard all year to hold my spot in the M & Ms. I made Dad buy the giant bag of Starbursts every time we went to Costco, then I would pick through it and bring all the pink and red ones for the girls. At lunch, I sat on the end of our cafeteria bench, near the garbage cans, because Meghan said the smell made her nauseous. I pick all the olives out of Mia’s salads because she hates them so much she can’t even stand the way they feel on her fingers. How was I going to hold my place in the group when I wouldn’t be there to remind them how much they needed me?
To: @madisonave
From: @maisywintersiscoming
Tell everyone hi! Miss you guys sm!! ILY!!
I handed the laptop back to Dr. Beth, then backed toward the door. “Thanks. I have to get back to my cabin.”
Dr. Beth didn’t even look up from the rows of cat food bowls. “Laptop’s here anytime you need it.”
/> I had one hand on the doorknob, when Dr. Beth said, “About that question of yours.”
I let go of the doorknob.
“Do you think your good reason justifies what you did?” She poured dry kibble into another bowl.
I thought about the first day of school when Bea saw me hanging out at the flagpole with the M & Ms. Her whole face had crumpled like when her hamster Fred had died. All I wanted to do was run over to her and fix things before it was too late. But that would mean telling Bea what was really going on, and I couldn’t risk it, not just for me, but for Addy too. So, I had turned away from Bea’s heartbroken face and didn’t make eye contact with her again until I got stuck with her at camp.
I shook my head. “Not really.”
Maybe Dr. Beth would say something important. But she just moved on to filling up the next cat food bowl.
“Why?” I asked.
She looked up and a few pieces of kibble landed on the floor. “Just wondering. I know you have to get back to your cabin now.”
I went outside. I was supposed to wait for Ainsley to walk me back, but I just needed a few minutes by myself. There were too many people at camp, too many people judging me.
The dirt path smelled like mold and wet feet. It twisted and curved in so many different directions that I kept on walking in circles. Every part of the path looked exactly the same—worn down dirt lined with rows of gigantic trees. I kept hearing weird sounds like there were little animals all around me, but not the cute ones you see in Disney movies.
I sat down beside a huge tree stump and wondered what would happen if I just stayed in the woods until they sent a search party looking for me. Maybe I could hide in the haunted area. No one would think to look for me there. Then maybe Dad would finally take me seriously. But whenever they showed a search party in the movies, dogs were always leading the pack. That wouldn’t work ’cause I’m terrified of dogs, especially big ones.
I thought therapy was supposed to make you feel better, but all it did was make me feel even worse about what I did to Bea. Meanwhile, it wasn’t totally my fault. I couldn’t help the fact that Bea is a genius. She was reading Little Women when I was still working my way through Ivy and Bean, and you can’t hide something from someone that smart for too long.
Last summer, right before she left for camp, Bea came too close to figuring out my secret. The problem with Bea is that just knowing something isn’t enough for her. She always has to fix things, and this is not a fixable situation. I didn’t need her getting up in my business because that would only make things worse.
I couldn’t tell Bea why I stopped being her friend, but maybe I could apologize for how I treated her without telling her about my mom.
Suddenly, I heard her voice, so I ducked low behind the stump so the girls wouldn’t see me.
“Can you believe my own mom is the one who sold me out? She told Maisy’s dad about camp!”
Um, I was the one Bea’s mother sold out, not Bea. I debated blowing my cover just to correct her.
“Have you ever seen someone cry like that?” Hannah asked. “Not even the first graders pitch a fit about ziplining!”
“She only cares about herself,” Bea said.
I knew Bea was only being fake nice to me earlier! Here I was feeling all guilty and ready to apologize and she was trash talking me.
“All those summers winning the tournament and someone who spent the last year being all Mean Girl on you is gonna keep us from getting the Cup?” Isa asked.
“Maybe Ainsley’s right. Maybe we only know how to be friends with people when it’s easy,” Poppy said.
“That’s not true!” said Bea. “You guys were all there for me that first summer when I was homesick and sad about my parents getting divorced.”
I was the one who was there for her the rest of that school year when her parents were passing her back and forth for weekends and holidays. Where were these girls when she was crying about missing that first Thanksgiving with her mom? When her Dad bought a rotisserie chicken, cranberry sauce that was shaped like a can and jiggled on the plate, and a box of Stove Top Stuffing? He didn’t even get the pumpkin pie right. I mean, who even knew you could buy frozen pumpkin pie?
“And Poppy got Nana Mary to donate to the scholarship fund when my mom got laid off so I could still come to camp,” said Hannah.
“It’s not us!” Isa cut in. “Maisy’s the problem. She’s only out for herself. That’s why she dropped Bea to get popular and that’s why she’s never gonna try to help us win the Cup.”
“I can’t believe I let Ainsley make me feel bad,” said Bea. “Ainsley wasn’t there when Maisy ditched me out of nowhere. She didn’t see what it was like for me to show up on the first day of sixth grade and have Maisy look right through me, as if we hadn’t been best friends our whole lives.”
Like it was my fault that she made no effort to fit in with anyone else at school? She left every summer and just expected me to sit home waiting for her to get back. That was fine every other summer when Mom was still Mom. She would take me for mani-pedis or clothes shopping or to the movies when Dad was at work and Addy was at gymnastics. But last summer, I needed to get out of the house, as far away from Mom as possible. It wasn’t like I planned to join another friend group. It just happened since we all hung out at the Mapleton Country Club. One day, Madison complimented me on my navy and white floral bathing suit from Hollister and next thing I knew she had invited me to sit with them. It was just easier with them. We all hung out at the pool, or we went to Mia’s house. I didn’t have to worry about them coming to my house and asking too many questions. I didn’t have to worry about them digging deep enough to figure out my secret.
“There’s no way we’re going to let her come in here and be friends with all of us,” said Hannah.
“Not after the way she treated you,” said Poppy. “She doesn’t deserve our friendship.”
“Don’t worry, Bea. We’ll make Maisy so miserable, they’ll have to send her home,” said Isa.
I waited for the girls to get a head start, then I followed them back to the cabin, leaving enough distance between us that I didn’t have to listen to them bashing me the whole way. There was no way Dad was letting me come home. Not with the Mom situation. I was stuck here. All summer. With a bunk full of girls who hated me. If I was going to make it, I needed a plan.
BEA
Dear Dad,
Just wanted to let you know I’m all settled in at camp. I’m in the Sunflower Bunk with the same girls I bunk with every summer. It’s always great to be reunited with them. This year, my old friend Maisy came to camp and she’s in our bunk. She’s a little behind in her skills, but we are going to work hard to get her ready for the tournament.
Hope you, Monica, and the kids are doing well. I’m sorry Monica got sick last month when I was scheduled to visit. Maybe I can come the last week of August when I’m back from camp? I would love to check out your new house. I know I’ve seen it on FaceTime, but that’s not comparable to seeing it in person.
Hope you guys have a nice time at Disney! Take some pictures for me.
Love,
Bea
Last year, I forgot to write Dad till three weeks into camp and he gave Mom a hard time about it. So, I dashed off a quick letter, put it in the mail bin, then headed back to the bunk. Dad only likes to hear good things, especially about things he is paying for like camp, so I try to keep my communication with him light.
I got back to the cabin just in time for lights out, which is usually the most chaotic time in our bunk. Ainsley always comes up with an excuse to leave the cabin, like a mandatory counselor meeting or a trip to the nurse’s cabin for calamine lotion for her nonexistent poison ivy. However, we all knew she was sneaking off to the boys’ camp across the lake to hang out with the college boys who worked as counselors there, leaving us to our own devices long into the night. We usually talk nonstop at a loud enough decibel to drown out the buzzing chorus of crickets.
However, that night, we all climbed wordlessly in our bunks. It felt like we were playing the quiet game with much higher stakes than usual.
Next thing I knew, I was jerked awake by the rattling of my bunk. When I opened my eyes, I saw Maisy climbing down the bunk ladder. She’s one of those people who gets up to pee a million times a night. When we had sleepovers, Mom used to remind her to stop drinking by six o’clock.
But Maisy didn’t walk across the room to the bathroom. Instead, the floorboard squeaked like it does when Ainsley sneaks out, and the cabin door creaked open, which was weird because Maisy’s afraid of the dark. I’m also quite certain she’s even more scared of being in the woods at nightfall.
My eyes opened wider as they adjusted to the dark. The only reason Maisy would leave the cabin at night was to sneak away. This was just like that article I had read about campers who had bullied their bunkmate, forcing her to run away, and then she got attacked by a bear in the night. Poppy, Isa, Hannah, and I would never get into college because the admissions people would remember that viral news story about the camp Mean Girls who made their bunkmate so miserable that she sneaked off in the night and got eaten by a wild animal. I slid off my blankets and snuck out without stepping on the creaky floorboard or making the door squeak. It was up to me to save Maisy for the second time in one day.
Outside the cabin door, I looked around but didn’t see Maisy anywhere. I whispered into the cold night air over the chattering of the crickets and cicadas, “Maisy? Where are you?”
I stepped off the porch and tried to figure out which direction she would consider the least frightening. I didn’t anticipate her venturing into the woods alone because she would be terrified of the animals, but I also didn’t think she would be dumb enough to go on the lit trail where someone would spot her.
“Maisy! Maisy!” I whispered a little louder this time.
I wasn’t her biggest fan, but that didn’t mean I wanted something to happen to her if she ran away.
“Maisy! Maisy!” I called as quietly as I could.
Camp Clique Page 6
