Dylan cracked up.
“Oh, that'll happen,” Massie assured her. “You'll see.”
Claire regretted having said anything, knowing Massie would now make it a point to force the sexes together just to prove that OCD was as cool as any public school in Florida.
Mr. Myner and Merri-Lee walked out of the dining pavilion laughing, the two-man camera crew following closely behind.
Mr. Myner's smile faded when he noticed that everyone was on time. “Sorry we're late. I had an important meeting with the chef.”
Merri-Lee rubbed her flat belly, licked her lips for the camera, and gave it a thumbs-up.
“If they were eating while we were left out here to starve, I'm suing.” Dylan folded her arms across her chest.
“I doubt they were eating,” Strawberry chimed in. “It looks like your mother hasn't had a meal in five years.”
“Say one more thing about my mother and you'll be speaking out of your butt.”
Strawberry lifted her hand in the air and shook it, to joke about how nervous she was. Then she went to join the other girls on the outskirts of the tree.
Merri-Lee waved at her daughter and mouthed, “Hi, Pickles.”
“Gawd, I'll never make out with Plovert as long as she's here,” Dylan moaned.
Cam jumped off Powwow Log when Mr. Myner and Mr. Dingle stepped up.
“Okay.” Mr. Dingle clapped his hands, then quickly rubbed them together. “Who's ready to get started?”
“What about lunch?” Kemp Hurley shouted. His hands were in the pockets of his baggy skater pants and he swayed from side to side.
A chorus of yeahs rose up from the crowd.
“Lunch comes after,” Mr. Myner explained.
Everyone groaned.
“It's all part of surviving. I need you hungry and motivated.”
Merri-Lee stood beside Dylan, put a bony arm around her, and smiled for the camera, like this was how they always stood. Dylan shook free immediately and rolled her eyes.
Mr. Myner rested his man-hands on his hips and waited for silence before he continued.
“We are going to divide you into three different survival pods and those are the people you will be working with this afternoon. They are your lifeblood. You must work together to traverse the terrain, interpret the maps, and reach the final destination.”
Mr. Dingle jumped in. “The first pod to arrive will get a gourmet lunch in the dining pavilion, consisting of lobster mac and cheese, Caesar salad, and prime rib with herb-and-butter sauce. For dessert you will have your choice of bananas Foster, deep-fried ice cream, and double-fudge chocolate brownies. The losing pods will be served deviled eggs and saffron rice by the outdoor fire pit. No dessert. Aaaand the winners will also go on a hot air balloon ride so that they can admire the park's breathtaking topography.”
Everyone started talking at once until Mr. Myner put his hands on his hips again.
“Now, these maps are very basic. We've been teaching you how to read them in class for the last two weeks. If you've been paying attention, your only challenge will be working together.” Mr. Myner pulled a rolled-up stack of papers out of his back pocket and handed them to Mr. Dingle, who just stood there, looking from the maps to Mr. Myner, then back to the maps.
Mr. Myner thrust them in front of Mr. Dingle's face. “The fabulous Mr. Dingle will hand out the maps while I divide you into your pods.”
Mr. Dingle must have loved being called fabulous, because he finally wiped the offended look off his face and lifted the maps above his head.
Claire took her copy and examined it closely. It looked pretty simple. Some squiggly lines that indicated a river, a few solid black lines that represented the different trails, and a circle in the bottom left-hand corner of the page that must have been their endpoint. How hard could this be? Claire's mouth watered as she pictured herself digging into a steaming bowl of lobster mac & cheese.
“Pod one,” Mr. Myner announced, “is Alexandra Regan, Kemp Hurley, Livvy Collins, Derrick Harrington, Steven Parker, and Dylan Marvil. Your captain is Paul Danno.”
“Who's that?” Dylan hissed.
Massie, Alicia, and Claire shrugged.
“Uch, there's no one on my team,” Dylan sneered.
“You have Derrington,” Massie whispered.
“And how does that help me?” Dylan snapped. “Last time I checked he was your crush.”
Massie shrugged.
“Don't worry, Pickles.” Merri-Lee pinched her daughter's butt. “I'll be with you.”
Dylan rolled her eyes and left to join her LBR group. Merri-Lee and her crew hustled to catch up.
“Pod two,” Mr. Myner continued.
Massie, Alicia, and Claire held hands, hoping they'd be together.
“Claire Lyons, Olivia Ryan, Josh Hotz, and Cam Fisher, and your captain is Coral McAdams.”
Strawberry jumped for joy. “I love that I'm captain!” She stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled. “Over here, team!”
Claire looked at Massie and silently begged for help. Cam and Josh? She didn't know if she should celebrate or tie a rock to her leg and walk straight into Lake Placid.
“Olivia,” Alicia whispered.
“Yeah.” Olivia stepped under the tree.
“Find out who Josh likes,” Alicia ordered. “But don't let him know I want to know.”
“Given.” Olivia nodded. “Come on, Claire.”
Claire looked back at Massie one last time, but all Massie could do was wave goodbye with a half-smile on her face. Was she actually enjoying this?
“Pod three is Alicia Rivera—”
“You're hot!” shouted one of the boys.
Mr. Myner ignored the interruption. “Carrie Randolph, Layne Abeley, Marc Cooper, B. J. O'Brian, Adam Freeman. Your captain is Massie Block.”
“Wait, what about me?” Chris Plovert asked, perplexed.
“I thought you might want to sit this one out because of the leg,” Mr. Dingle said.
“No way, man,” Plovert snapped. “That's discrimination. I can do this.”
“Are you sure, Mr. Plovert?” Mr. Dingle pushed his glasses up his nose. “It is a race, you know.”
“I know.”
“O-kay.” Mr. Myner sounded doubtful but willing to give Plovert a chance. “Who would like to welcome Chris to their team?”
No one volunteered. Not even Dylan.
“Aw, come on, guys,” Chris pleaded.
“Dude, we're playing for fooood.” Kemp rubbed his skinny belly. “No hard feelings, but you gotta understand.”
“He can come on our team,” a sweet voice offered.
Chris's face lit up when he saw that it belonged to the beautiful Olivia Ryan, the blond half of the Twenty.
Dylan stomped her foot and scowled.
“O-livia,” Strawberry snapped. “What are you doing? I'm the captain and I say who joins this team.”
But it was too late. Plovert was already hobbling over.
“You just kissed our chance at a good lunch goodbye.” Strawberry punched the trunk of a spruce tree. “What were you thinking?” Her face turned dark red.
“Trust me, it's part of my strategy,” Olivia whispered. “If one of us gets hurt, we'll have a pair of crutches.” She winked. “How smart is that?”
Strawberry punched the tree again while the rest of her pod welcomed their newest member.
“Are all pods ready?” Mr. Myner asked.
“Ready,” everyone said, almost at the same time.
“On the count of three I want you to head toward the back of the cabins and find your pod's trailhead. I have marked a different entry point for each: green for pod one, blue for two, and yellow for three. Ready? One—”
And they were off.
Strawberry marched ahead of her pod, tearing down every leaf and branch that crossed her path. She swung her arms like the speed-walking mothers that Claire and Massie always passed on their way to school.
“Let's go, people!” Strawberry shout
ed without turning around.
Claire looked at Cam and rolled her eyes, hoping he would join her in making fun of Strawberry, but he immediately looked up at the blue sky. It was obviously going to take more than an eye roll to win him back.
The thick woods swallowed up the competition's voices and crunching footsteps as they all went their separate ways. Soon silence hugged them like a sleeping bag. Claire wondered if anyone could hear how hard her heart was pounding.
“Hey, Claire, want me to take your picture?” Josh scurried up beside her and pulled a digital camera out of his blue wool pea coat. He twirled it around his finger by its gray string.
“Hey, how'd you get that?” Claire stopped and looked into his warm dark brown eyes. “Mr. Myner took mine.”
“I didn't tell Dingle I had it.” His eyelashes were so thick and dark, Claire wondered if he was wearing mascara. And then she realized why Alicia thought he was so cute: he looked exactly like her.
“I wish I'd thought of that.” Claire kicked a pinecone. It accidentally hit the back of Strawberry's hiking boot.
“Let's go, people!” she shouted again. “Less kicking and more walking, please.”
Claire snickered and looked at Cam again, but Josh was blocking him.
“I feel so bad you don't have your camera.” He shook his head and smiled affectionately. “You're too honest. That's what I like about you.”
Claire whipped her head around to see if Olivia had heard that. If she had, then Alicia would, and … The rest was too terrifying to think about.
But Olivia was too busy scraping a mud clump off the end of Plovert's crutch to hear.
“Hey, Strawberry, can I take a look at that map?” Cam shouted as he ran ahead. A faint trace of his sweet-smelling Drakkar Noir cologne lingered behind in his absence. Claire inhaled deeply as she moved through it, hoping to reclaim a little piece of him. But Josh inched closer to Claire. Now that Cam was gone, Josh's spicy Polo cologne seemed to chase the last bits of Drakkar away for good.
“Who's hungry?” Strawberry barked.
“Me,” everyone answered at once.
“THEN MOVE!”
Two white-breasted sparrows darted out of their nest and everyone jumped.
“Relax,” Plovert said. “You're scaring the wildlife.”
“Less talking and more hopping, gimp-boy,” Strawberry hollered.
Olivia and Plovert scurried to catch up.
“So, Josh.” Olivia cut Claire off the narrow trail so she could walk beside him. “Let's play a game.”
“Can I play?” Plovert was out of breath.
“Later.” Olivia quickly dismissed him. “You need your energy right now to keep up. This game is just for Josh.”
“Uh, okay.” Josh sounded a little afraid.
Claire could barely see Cam. He was up ahead with Strawberry. Did he like her? Maybe he thought her pink-dyed hair was edgy and cool. What if she liked the Strokes as much as he did? What if they were talking about their-favorite Strokes song right now? She searched her mind for an excuse to catch up to them.
“Okay, Josh, I'm going to name two girls and you tell me which one you would rather lip kiss,” Olivia said.
“’Kay.” He tucked his camera away and stuffed his hands inside his coat pockets.
“Jessica Simpson or Ashlee?”
“Jessica.”
“That one was easy,” Plovert shouted.
“Okay, how about Principal Burns or Hillary Clinton?”
“Ew, neither.” Josh made a face like he had just sniffed dog poo.
“You have to pick one, that's the game.”
“Fine, Hillary.”
“Good. Okay, Strawberry or, uhhhhm, Alicia,” Olivia whispered.
Claire suddenly realized what Olivia was doing. It was a clever yet subtle way to figure out who Josh liked.
“Alicia,” Josh answered.
“What about Alexandra or Alicia?”
“Is Alexandra the one with the green braces?” Josh asked.
“Yup.”
“Alicia.”
Olivia smiled to herself.
“Carrie, Livvy, or Alicia?”
“Alicia.”
“Layne Abeley or Alicia?”
“Alicia.”
“Nice.” Olivia smiled.
“Claire or Alicia?”
Claire and Cam stopped walking at the same time. This was not happening. Please, no!
“Don't you want to give Plovert a chance to play?” Claire quickly chimed in.
“Yeah, ask me one,” Plovert huffed.
“Okay, Merri-Lee Marvil or me?” Olivia's short attention span had never been more appealing.
“Dylan's mom or you?” Plovert asked.
“Come awn, you guys,” Strawberry whined. “Focus.”
Cam and Claire started walking again.
“Yeah.” Olivia giggled. “Merri-Lee or me.”
“You.”
“You liiiike me. You liiiike meeee,” Olivia sang.
“Hey, that's not fair.” Plovert pretended he was angry. Then he fell. “Owww!”
Everyone stopped to help him up. But as soon as he was standing, he fell again. Strawberry checked her manly Seiko diving watch and sighed while Cam and Josh lifted him back up.
“You okay, man?” Cam's hand was still resting on Plovert's shoulder.
“Yeah, thanks.” Plovert looked at Olivia and turned red. “I'm fine. I think the doctor gave me a pair of bum crutches.”
“You should sue him,” Olivia suggested. “Alicia's dad is a very successful lawyer. He can help.”
“Plovert, buddy.” Cam studied him. “Try to take it easy.”
Claire found herself wanting to trade places with Plovert. She would have gladly taken a broken leg if meant Cam would be nice to her.
“Hey, Josh.” Olivia beckoned. “Did you know Alicia's dad was a successful lawyer?”
“Uh, no.”
“Well, he is.” She nodded slowly, like she was giving him some very privileged information. “Very successful.”
“Cool.” Josh smiled politely at Olivia. He obviously had no idea how this information related to him.
Strawberry and Cam stopped walking once they came to a fork in the road. One trail led up into the woods and the other continued along the lazy river. They pored over the map, trying to decide which way to go.
“Hurry,” Olivia urged. “I'm getting hungry.”
“We're trying,” Strawberry barked.
Claire expected her to scold Olivia for complaining and not helping. But Olivia's flowing blond hair, navy eyes, and clear white skin made her look like a fragile woodland fairy. And Strawberry probably thought it was wrong to shout at someone who looked so innocent.
“Why don't we just follow the sound of those cheering voices and go left,” Plovert suggested. He was leaning on his crutches, with his head cocked to the side.
“What cheer—” Cam started to ask but stopped once he heard them.
“Who's that singing about loving mac and cheese?” Olivia asked.
“Dylan,” Claire confirmed.
“Sounds like we lost.” Strawberry sulked. She turned left and everyone followed in silence. “It's not like we didn't try, right? I mean, Olivia, you were great at finding out who Josh wants to kiss. And Plovert, every time we started to pick up speed you really helped out by falling. And Claire—”
“All right, enough,” Cam snapped. “We lost a stupid race—it's no big deal.”
Had Cam just defended her? Claire felt a jolt shoot through her body. It recharged her. It made her want to sprint through the woods as quickly as she, could. It made her want to hug Cam and sniff the side of his neck.
Strawberry karate-kicked a low tree branch. It snapped and dropped to the ground. “Loser!” she shouted at the fallen wood, then stormed off.
Claire picked up her pace, quietly leaping over errant logs and rocks so she could catch up to Cam without sounding like she was trying to. In a matter of secon
ds she was back in the Drakkar zone.
“Thanks for coming to my rescue.” Claire felt her hands go clammy. It was the first time she'd spoken to Cam in days.
“It was no big deal,” Cam said to his beat-up hiking boots. “I was just tired of hearing her voice.”
Then he sped up.
Claire stopped walking and hunched over. She couldn't tell if Cam had really punched her in the stomach or if it just felt like he had.
“You okay?”
She felt Josh's hand on the small of her back.
“Fine, thanks.” Claire straightened up and hurried down the trail.
She was one of the last people to step into the clearing. Almost everyone else beat her to it and was either celebrating their victory or mourning their loss.
“Congratulations to pod number one. You really worked well as a team,” Mr. Myner announced.
“And my crew got some great shots of you boys crossing the river,” Merri-Lee added. “It was like The Amazing Race,” she gushed.
“Fixed,” someone coughed.
“Fixed,” someone else coughed.
Suddenly everyone was coughing, “Fixed,” because Dylan's team, the only one with its own camera crew, had happened to win.
“Jealous,” Dylan coughed back. Her teammates joined in.
“All right, that's enough.” Mr. Myner raised his hand. “Nothing was fixed. Team one showed some wonderful ingenuity. You could all learn something from them. While they are enjoying a delectable gourmet lunch, the rest of you will eat by the fire pit. After a short break, Mr. Dingle will take you back into the woods for a quick tutorial on map reading and I will lead the hot air balloon expedition. Have a good afternoon, everyone.”
The losers, including Mr. Dingle, groaned while the winners jumped up and down and hugged one another.
“Hey, Block,” Derrington shouted from the winner's circle. “Aren't you going to give me a kiss goodbye?”
Everyone stopped and faced Massie. But she just stood there with a shocked expression on her face. Claire looked away. It was hard to see Massie at a loss for words. It seemed unnatural.
“What if I die in the air balloon?” Derrington said. “It may be your last chance.”
Massie took off her Oliver Peoples sunglasses and tapped one of the arms against her bottom teeth. Claire could tell she was trying to think of a comeback, but everyone else probably thought she looked like a seductive movie star.
The Pretty Committee Strikes Back Page 10
