by Judi Curtin
By this time, I was bored of talking about tennis dresses, and ready to go down to breakfast.
‘Come on, guys,’ I said. ‘Let’s get going.’
Hazel gave me one of her lazy looks.
‘You go if you want, Megan. I’m not ready yet.’
I sighed. This girl was really starting to annoy me. She looked ready to me. Her hair was tied up in a clever twisty kind of knot, her dress was buttoned up, and her snow-white tennis shoes were carefully laced. What else was there to do?
Hazel reached into a drawer next to her bed, and pulled out a large pouch.
‘I haven’t done my make-up yet. I didn’t have time to do it yesterday, and all day I felt wrong without it.’
I started to snigger, and looked over at Alice. She wasn’t sniggering though. She didn’t act like Hazel was saying anything funny.
Hazel began to spread the contents of the pouch onto her bed. It was like a chemist’s shop, with about a hundred bottles and tubes and jars.
She picked up a small mirror, and did her face carefully.
When she was finished, she caught Alice by the arm.
‘What kind of eye make-up do you like best?’ she asked her.
I held my breath and waited for Alice’s reply.
What would her new friend say when Alice told her what she thought of eye make-up?
Alice’s answer came too quickly.
‘Oh you know. Eye-shadow. Mascara. The usual stuff.’
Now I gasped. Why was Alice lying? Neither of us ever wore eye make-up. It was kind of like a pact between us. Sometimes we wore lip-gloss, but that was about it when it came to make-up. Wearing loads of make-up was one of the things Alice and I used to laugh at Melissa for.
I stared at Alice, but she didn’t look at me. She was sitting on Hazel’s bed, and examining a tube of something green and shiny, like it was the coolest thing she’d ever seen. What was going on here? The only time Alice ever had make-up was when she got something free on the front of a magazine, and usually when that happened she just dumped it in a drawer and never touched it again. (Except once when she was doing up my Aunt Linda’s face, but that’s a different story.)
By now the bed was covered with stuff. Hazel pulled Alice even closer.
‘Sit there,’ she said, ‘and I’ll do your eyes for you.’
Alice didn’t argue. She just tilted her head back, and closed her eyes.
I felt like closing my eyes too. I so did not want to watch this.
What was Alice at?
Why was she going along with Hazel?
Why was she so keen to please her?
I pretended to be busy tidying my locker, and a few minutes later Hazel was finished. Alice stood up and went over to the mirror. Then she turned to me.
‘What do you think?’
I didn’t know what to say. Her eyes did look lovely. Kind of brighter, and bigger. But she didn’t look like Alice any more.
‘It’s nice,’ I said quickly.
Alice didn’t seem to notice that I wasn’t very enthusiastic.
‘Do Megan now, Hazel,’ she said.
Hazel looked at me. She didn’t seem very pleased. Still, how did she think I felt?
‘I’m sure Megan doesn’t want her eyes done,’ said Hazel.
‘Of course she does,’ argued Alice.
For one second I was glad that they were arguing, but then I remembered that it was my eyes they were arguing about, and I didn’t feel so great.
‘You don’t want your eyes done, do you Megan?’ said Hazel in a voice that was almost threatening.
She was right. I didn’t want my eyes done, but I didn’t want to sound stupid either. And I didn’t want to find myself agreeing with Hazel, and going against Alice.
So I didn’t resist when Alice pushed me down on to the bed. Hazel gave a sigh, like this was a total pain, and then she picked up a few bottles she hadn’t used before, and did my eyes.
When she was finished, I went and looked in the mirror. Hazel hadn’t been trying, and it showed. My little sister Rosie could have done better than that. My two eyes didn’t even match. And one was kind of black, like someone had punched me.
Hazel stood up.
‘Come on, let’s go down to breakfast.’
I hesitated. I couldn’t go down to breakfast with my eyes looking like that. Everyone in the camp would laugh at me.
Alice looked at me. She knew I felt stupid, but she didn’t want to offend her new friend by saying that the make-up she’d put on me looked awful.
We all stood there for a minute. Hazel had a real mean look on her face, like this whole thing had been a battle, and she’d won.
Then Alice leaned over and looked closely at my eyes.
‘One of your eyes has gone a bit red, Meg,’ she said. ‘Maybe you’re allergic to that eye make-up.’
I went and looked in the mirror. My eyes didn’t look red. They looked green, and mauve, and black and pink. In fact they were very, very colourful. But they weren’t red. I opened my mouth to say so, but Alice poked me in the ribs and made a face at me.
‘Look closer. You’d better take it all off. Quick.’
At last I understood what was going on. She’d thought of a way of saving me from being mocked, but still she hadn’t hurt Hazel’s feelings. She handed me a nice-smelling wipe from Hazel’s stash on the bed, and I wiped my eyes until I looked normal again, and then we all went down to breakfast.
I’d only been up for half an hour, and already I was exhausted.
Chapter six
The first week of camp went fairly quickly. In the mornings, I quickly put on one of my old tracksuits, and then watched while Alice and Hazel made a big fuss about choosing their tennis dresses. Then I watched them while they put on their make-up. (After the morning when Hazel made a mess of my eyes, there was no way I was letting her near them again.)
After breakfast every morning, I played basketball, and hung out with Sarah and her friends, while Alice and Hazel skipped off to their tennis and fell more and more in love with their handsome coach.
In the afternoons and evenings, Hazel and I jostled to be near to Alice. Alice must have noticed, but she didn’t say anything. She’d had a difficult year, with her parents splitting up, and all the moving around, so she probably just wanted an easy life.
One really warm morning, Sarah and I were really tired after basketball, so we lay down under a tree in the garden to rest for a while. Sarah was telling me a really funny story about a girl in her class, when we heard the sound of laughing. Sarah sat up and looked towards the sound. She sighed.
‘Oh, it’s just the tennis group, coming back from their “wonderful” tennis lessons.’
I sat up too. Alice and Hazel were surrounded by three other girls. They were so busy chatting and laughing, they didn’t notice Sarah and me. I watched Alice. She was still giddy, and funny and daring – she was still the same girl I’d been friends with for most of my life.
And yet she wasn’t.
With her make-up, and with her hair tied up a cool new way, and in Hazel’s tennis dress, suddenly she didn’t seem like my friend any more.
Was she turning into one of the ‘popular’ girls?
Had Alice turned into one of the girls who wouldn’t want someone like me hanging around with her?
‘Hello?’ said Sarah. ‘Have you heard a single word I’ve been saying?’
I could feel my face going red.
‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘I was thinking of something else. What did you say again?’
Sarah shook her head.
‘It doesn’t matter.’
Now I felt really bad.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘Tell me again.’
Sarah smiled at me.
‘It’s OK, honestly.’ She hesitated, and then said, ‘You and Alice have been friends for a long time, haven’t you?’
I nodded, and then Sarah continued.
‘So you must really hate the way Hazel is
trying to push you out.’
I didn’t say anything. I picked a long piece of grass and wrapped it around my finger. So I wasn’t imagining it. Even Sarah, who hardly knew us, could see that Hazel was being really mean to me.
‘You can tell me if you like,’ said Sarah. ‘I’m a good listener.’
For a second I was tempted. It would have been nice to tell someone how I felt. Just then Alice saw us.
‘Hi Megan. Hi Sarah,’ she called. ‘How was basketball?’
She ran over and threw herself onto the grass beside us. Hazel looked like she was going to follow her, then she changed her mind.
‘Hey, Alice,’ she called. ‘Aren’t you going to come and get changed?’
‘In a minute,’ called Alice.
‘I have this really cool t-shirt upstairs. I’ll lend it to you if you like.’
Alice started to stand up.
‘Sorry, I’ve got to ……’ she started to say to me, before Sarah interrupted her.
‘Tell us again about your tennis coaches,’ she said. ‘I think the one with the dark hair is really cute.’
I could see that Alice didn’t know what to do. She really wanted to follow Hazel, but she didn’t want to be rude to Sarah. After a minute she sat down again.
‘You go ahead,’ she called to Hazel. ‘I’ll be there in a while.’
Hazel tossed her curly hair and stamped off towards the school.
I smiled at Sarah, trying to thank her, and she smiled back.
Chapter seven
Soon it was Sunday, the only day of the week when normal camp activities stopped. That meant no basketball for me and no tennis for Alice and Hazel. In the morning we got to stay in bed for another hour, and for me there was the extra-special treat of not having to watch Alice and Hazel dancing around our bedroom in their tennis-dresses.
While we were on our way down to breakfast, Gloria appeared.
‘I need some help with something,’ she said. ‘Alice, Hazel, can you give me a hand for a minute?’
‘Sure,’ they said together, and followed her back upstairs.
‘I’ll keep you both seats,’ I said, as I continued down the stairs.
A few minutes later, Alice and Hazel joined me.
‘What did Gloria want you for?’ I asked.
Hazel made a face.
‘None of your business.’
I looked at Alice who had gone red.
‘Nothing really,’ she said. ‘Gloria just wanted us to help her with something. It’s no big deal.’
If it was no big deal, why did Hazel look so cross? Just then Sarah and Sam and some of Sam’s friends came and sat down next to us, and I forgot all about it.
As soon as breakfast was over, Gloria shushed everyone, and then made an announcement.
‘Tonight is a very big night,’ she said. ‘Tonight you are all invited to a star-studded show in the big hall.’
There was a moment’s silence and then lots of chatter. Sarah raised her hand.
‘Who are the stars?’ she asked.
Gloria smiled at her.
‘I’m glad you asked me that,’ she said. ‘Because you are the stars.’
There was more excited chatter and then Gloria shushed us all again.
‘It’s a talent show. You can sing, dance, juggle, whatever.’
A boy I didn’t know put up his hand.
‘Do we all have to do something?’
Gloria nodded.
‘Yes. It’s an official camp activity so everyone takes part. No exceptions.’
I started to feel nervous. Mum always says that I have heaps of talents. Maybe she’s right, but none of them is really suitable for a talent show. I couldn’t go on stage and bake a chocolate cake, or show off my basketball dribbling skills, could I?
Another boy put his hand up.
‘Do we have to be on our own?’
Gloria shook her head.
‘No. Everyone will work with a partner.’
‘Can we pick our partners?’ a girl asked.
‘Yes,’ said Gloria. ‘And as there’s an even number of you, no-one will be left out. Now you have all day to practise, and the show is on at seven thirty. So pick your partners, and get practising.
There was a flurry of activity as kids jumped up from their tables and grabbed their friends.
For me, time seemed to slow down. Alice looked at Hazel, and then looked at me. At the other side of the table, I could see that Sarah was already arm in arm with one of her school-friends. I didn’t dare to say anything. If I couldn’t be with Alice, I really didn’t want to be in the show at all, but I knew Gloria would never allow that.
Still, I didn’t want to ask Alice to be with me.
After she picked tennis with Hazel instead of basketball with me, I was afraid.
What if she said no?
What if she picked Hazel again?
After what felt like hours, Alice turned to me again.
‘You and me together, Meg?’ she said.
I could have hugged her.
Why hadn’t I trusted her?
She’d been my best friend since forever, so of course she would want to be my partner.
Then I nodded, like it was no big deal.
‘Sure,’ I said. ‘Why not?’
I looked at Hazel, who had a funny expression on her face. Suddenly I felt sorry for her – even though she’d been mean to me. It must have been hard not having a best friend to rely on.
‘What about you Hazel?’ I asked. ‘Who are you going to be with?’
Alice pointed to the other side of the room.
‘Look over there, Hazel,’ she said. ‘There’s lots of people over there who don’t have partners yet.’
Hazel stood up.
‘Yeah, all losers I suppose,’ she said as she walked away. ‘Now I’d better get over there or I’ll be stuck with someone totally useless.’
Just then Gloria came over.
‘Anyone who’s got a partner, get out of here. Go find yourself a quiet spot and get practising.’
So Alice and I went outside to plan our big performance.
Alice had a great idea for an act where I was a patient and she was an incompetent doctor, who kept misunderstanding what was wrong with me. We both thought of heaps of great jokes, and we practised for ages. It was such fun.
As soon as we were happy with our act, we went to the basketball court and hung out with all the other kids who were finished their practice. There was no sign of Hazel. I felt really good. We were going to have a great night – I just knew it.
Chapter eight
After tea, everyone was nervous as we went into the big hall.
Alice and I were due onstage in the second section of the show, so in the beginning we sat in the audience, and watched the first few acts.
Sam and his friend went first. They were dressed up like girls and sang a pop song in high-pitched voices. They were really bad singers, but everyone was laughing so much, it didn’t matter. After that two girls told jokes, and then a boy and a girl sang together. Next came Hazel and another girl, Lisa, singing a Michael Jackson song. During the chorus, Hazel did a proper moonwalk, and everyone clapped and cheered.
Next it was time for Alice and me to go backstage. As we waited to go on, my hands were shaking so much I could hardly hold the blanket I was supposed to lie under.
‘I’m so nervous,’ I whispered to Alice. ‘I’m going to make a complete mess of our act. I just know it.’
Alice hugged me.
‘Don’t be silly. You were great this afternoon when we practised, and I know you’re going to be great now. In fact, you’re going to be fantastic.’
She sounded so sincere, I felt better, and even managed to smile at her as Gloria waved and called for us to go on stage.
I followed Alice onto the stage, blinking in the bright spotlights. I so wanted to be somewhere else. I took a deep breath, and lay down under my blanket, as Alice sat on the small stool she’d carr
ied on with her.
Alice gave me a big wink.
‘Well, what seems to be the trouble Mrs Wobblebottom?’ she said.
The audience roared with laughter, and I knew everything was going to be OK.
When our act was finished, everyone clapped and screamed, and I knew that we’d been good.
‘You were great,’ said Alice as we ran off stage.
‘So were you,’ I said.
Then we hugged each other. For the first time since Hazel had come barging into our lives, I felt really happy.
Then we found our seats and watched the rest of the show.
* * *
When the show was over, we all went in to the dining hall for orange juice and biscuits. Everyone was excited. Some people were still in their stage clothes, and some were wearing crazy make-up. There were lots of shouts of ‘You were great!’ and ‘You were so funny!’ and ‘I was soooo nervous at first!’
After a while, the dining hall got really hot, and I decided to go out into the garden for a while to cool off. I was walking around, letting the night air cool my face, when I heard a familiar voice from behind a tall hedge. It was Hazel. Now that I was having such a good time, I didn’t hate her so much any more, and I wanted to tell her that her moonwalk had been really cool. Maybe she’d teach Alice and me how to do it.
I started to walk around the hedge when I heard another voice. It was Jordan, a boy from Alice and Hazel’s tennis group. I took another few steps, and then stopped. Hazel was always going on about boys and boyfriends. Maybe she and Jordan weren’t just chatting. Maybe this was like a date – and if it was a date, I so did not want to be part of it. Luckily they hadn’t seen me, and I decided to sneak away before they did.
I was turning to go back inside when I heard Jordan say,
‘Your act was really good, Hazel. That moonwalk was fantastic.’
I stopped walking, and heard Hazel give a happy little sigh.
‘Thanks, Jordan,’ she said.
‘And your friend Alice was great too. Really funny.’
