The Pretty Committee Strikes Back

by Lisi Harrison

  Claire, now only a few feet away, was able to make out Cam's silhouette. She felt the urge to run again but somehow managed to control herself. Cam's torso looked a little wider than usual and Claire assumed he was hunched over, trying to stay warm. As she got closer, she heard his soft voice. She smiled. He was talking to himself. Knowing Cam, he was rehearsing a romantic poem he had written just for her.

  “I've been wanting to do this for a long time,” Claire heard a girl say.

  “You have?” Cam sounded surprised.

  “Uh-huh.” The girl inched closer and slowly leaned in toward him.

  He made no effort to push her away.

  Every muscle in Claire's body tensed up except her heart. It pumped faster than it ever had before, like it was about to burst through her chest and pummel the slutbag who was moving in on her guy. And Claire was more than happy to step aside and let it.

  “Cam, stop! What are you doing?” Claire didn't care how desperate the outburst made her look, or who heard.

  Cam whipped his head around and jumped to his feet. The girl stood up slowly, staying close to his side. The moonlight shone at their backs, making it almost impossible to see their faces. But Claire assumed it was Strawberry. Who else could it be?

  But when the girl turned to face Claire, she recognized her silhouette immediately: the thick, full hair … the thin frame … the big boobs …

  “Alicia?” Claire whispered softly.

  “Given.” She didn't seem the least bit sorry.

  “Is this your way of getting back at me?” Claire wasn't exactly sure who the question was directed at. It could easily have applied to both of them.

  “Now you know how I feel.” Alicia put her hands on her hips, letting beams of light through the spaces between her arms. The dramatic lighting made her look like an evil sorceress.

  “What?”

  “You kissed Josh when you knew I liked him,” Alicia said. “And now you know how it feels.”

  “Wait, you were using me?” Cam asked Alicia. He sounded slightly hurt.

  Both girls ignored him.

  “Alicia, I never would have kissed Josh if I thought you still liked him. You told me at the game that you were over him.” Claire could hear her voice trembling. “Besides, I don't even like him. I never did.”

  “Well, I don't like Cam, but that doesn't make you feel any better, does it?” Alicia said.

  “Thanks a lot.” Cam ran his hands through his wavy black hair and stepped away from Alicia.

  Claire was torn between wanting to comfort him and wanting to kick him in the neck.

  “Why did you go along with this?” Claire shifted her anger to Cam. “Was this your way of getting revenge too? Because kissing Josh was a mistake, okay? A mistake! I'm sorry. What else do I have to do to prove it?” Tears flooded Claire's blue eyes. She blinked them back but they fell forward and spilled down her cheeks anyway.

  “Me, out for revenge?” Cam took a step toward Claire. “I thought you were out for revenge.”

  She stepped back. “Me? Why?”

  “Because you never showed up tonight.” Cam lowered his voice. He no longer sounded angry. It was worse than that. He sounded heartbroken.

  “What are you talking about?” Claire's voice sounded higher than usual. “I gave Alicia a note to give to you. It said I'd be late.”

  No one said a word. It was suddenly very clear what had happened.

  “Ooops.” Alicia covered her mouth with the palm of her hand. “I must have forgotten to deliver it. My bad.” She skipped toward the bushes and met up with Olivia, who had been crouched down and hiding behind a pine tree. The girls burst out laughing and speed walked toward the cabin, because Alicia refused to run.

  “Claire, I'm sorry.” Cam took another step toward her. “Nothing happened. It was a big misunderstanding.”

  But Claire didn't want to hear his excuses. She knew what she'd seen and couldn't bear to look at him anymore.

  “Where are you going?” Cam called after her.

  The rhythm of her footsteps on the ground along with the jagged breaths she took in between sobs formed a melodic beat that gave Claire something to focus on besides the desperation in Cam's voice.

  Claire hid along the side of her cabin and waited for her tears to stop. She thought about splashing water on her face in the shower house but knew it would probably be full of girls getting ready for the evening program, and she didn't feel like explaining the reason for her tears. In fact, she wished someone would explain it to her. The more Claire thought about it, the more the situation reminded her of what she'd done with Josh. She'd given in to his advances because she'd been hurt by Cam and had wanted to feel loved. And technically, that was what Cam had been doing with Alicia. He'd thought Claire had blown him off. He'd been hurt and vulnerable and…

  A piece of white satin buried under a pile of dirt suddenly caught Claire's attention. She kicked the leaves aside and found her underwear, once again. Only this time, the discovery made her burst out laughing. At this point, what else could she do?

  Claire cautiously opened the door to her cabin and peeked inside. Was Alicia in there waiting for her? Was she updating the girls on what had happened? Were they going to laugh at her?

  But no one even noticed Claire when she finally stepped inside. Everyone was crammed together on Massie's bed, applying a green mud mask to Doose's face and recounting the details of her horizontal lip kiss for the unfortunate girls who'd missed it.

  Claire made it to the back of the cabin unnoticed and changed into her plaid flannel pajamas. She breathed a sigh of relief once she realized Alicia and Olivia were not there.

  Claire and Layne sat in the very back of the group during the evening bonfire. From there Claire could catch glimpses of Cam, who looked down the whole night and played with the zipper on his leather jacket. Alicia and Olivia sat as far away from him as possible, pretending to listen to Mr. Myner read from Hatchet, but they were really more focused on braiding each other's hair. Massie sat beside Derrington and giggled while the MUCK girls studied her every move. Claire couldn't wait to crawl under her covers and disappear for the next ten hours.

  When bedtime finally came, everyone fell fast asleep. The cool fresh air and the long, active day had made it almost impossible to stay awake. Claire's body felt heavy and sore from crying all night, and the minute she hit the goose-down pillow, she melted into its fluffy embrace.

  A few moments later, she opened her eyes and looked around. It was still dark outside, and in the fog of sleep she wondered what she was doing awake.

  “Claire,” whispered a girl. She was sitting on the edge of Claire's bed wearing shiny lip gloss that smelled like doughnuts, black eyeliner, and tons of red blush. Her wavy hair was pinned off her face with rhinestone barrettes and a short, cream-colored cashmere tie-front cardigan hung around her broad shoulders, leaving the rest of her naked torso exposed. Claire sat up and looked around to see if anyone else saw what she did.

  “Shhh, it's me,” said the girl. That was when Claire noticed her eyes. One was green and the other was blue.

  “Cam?” Claire whispered.

  “Call me Camille,” he said in falsetto.

  Claire giggled. He looked like a transvestite version of Massie. The thought of this ah-dorably handsome soccer star applying lip gloss in front of the mirror made staying mad impossible. He'd obviously gone to Massie and poured his heart out or she never would have lent him her precious tie-front cardigan. And here he was, dressed as a girl, risking his pride and his position on the soccer team just for her.

  “Here.” Cam pulled a clear bag filled with gummy feet and sours out of his demin miniskirt pocket.

  “Where did you get these?” Claire wanted to throw her arms around him. It had been weeks since he'd brought her candy. She untied the knot on the plastic bag and dug into it.

  “I brought them from home and hid them under my mattress,” Cam said shyly. “You know, just in case we made up.”<
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  “So you wanted to make up too?”

  Cam nodded and smiled brightly, unable to play it cool.

  “Then why were you ignoring me?” Claire smacked him playfully on the arm.

  “Because I wasn't sure if you liked Josh,” Cam said. “You know, until some dude showed up in my cabin and set me straight.”

  Once again, Massie Block had been right.

  Claire pulled out a red sour and popped it in her mouth. Then she took out an orange foot and fed it to him. They watched each other chew with huge grins on their faces. Once they swallowed, Cam wiped his glossy lips on the back of his hand, then tilted his head to the right. Claire did the same. And without hesitation they leaned in toward each other.

  Cam's lips were soft and full and sweet. His kiss didn't feel cold and foreign like Josh's had. It felt more like trying on a pair of jeans and realizing they were made just for her.

  The longer their lips touched the hotter Claire's cheeks became, until she found herself wondering how much longer she could kiss before her head exploded.

  Finally Cam came up for air. “I better go before I get kicked off the soccer team.”

  “Okay,” Claire tried to say but no sound came out of her mouth. All she could do was watch him walk away in Massie's moccasin boots and giggle.

  Her first kiss with Cam was nothing like she'd imagined it would be.

  It was much better. And well worth the wait.

  LAKE PLACID, NEW YORK FOREVER WILD CAMPSITE THE DINING PAVILION

  Wednesday, February 25th 7:29 A.M.

  “Can someone please pass the butter?” Claire refused to ask Alicia, even though the silver tray was right next to her plate.

  Alicia ignored her and continued dumping ketchup on her egg whites.

  “The butter, please,” Claire insisted.

  Alicia poured herself a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice. “Want some?” she asked Olivia, who was seated beside her.

  “Sure.” Olivia smiled and held out her glass.

  Claire stood up and stomped to the other side of the table. She leaned over Alicia's shoulder and grabbed the butter tray. The bell sleeve of her gray J.Crew cowl-neck sweater brushed against Alicia's cheek. She didn't apologize.

  Claire moved with a confidence Massie had never seen before. Her chin was lifted, her shoulders back, and she had a fearless look in her eyes, like she was being protected by some invisible force field that let her act however she wanted.

  “Kuh-laire, what's going on?” Massie whispered in Claire's ear once she was seated. “You're acting so un-Claire-ish.”

  Claire beamed. “We did it last night.”

  “You did?” Massie forced herself to smile. She was happy for Claire but couldn't help wondering why she hadn't been told the big news right after it happened. Was she the first to know or was Layne? Who else had Claire told before her?

  “Uh, should I keep it a secret?” Massie widened her amber eyes, hoping the innocent expression masked her true feelings. “Or does everyone know?”

  “No one knows yet.” Claire took a sip of grape juice.

  Massie sighed. “That's so awesome.” She smiled for real this time. “Tell me everything. Don't leave one thing out.”

  While Claire recounted Cam's romantic late-night visit as Camille, Massie placed the hunter green cloth napkin on her lap and lifted her silver knife and fork. In one swift movement she sliced through her eggs Benedict. The bright yellow yolks cascaded over the crispy ham, spilled off the toasted English muffin, and dripped onto her white china plate. It reminded her of the paint-splattered Jackson Pollock paintings in Alicia's house. She stabbed the cut piece with her fork and stuffed it in her mouth, grateful to have her appetite back. Her clothes were starting to sag in all the wrong places.

  She lifted the green napkin to her mouth and dabbed at the corners of her lips, trying her hardest not to wipe off her lucky Cinnabon gloss in the process. Derrington was at the table beside hers, flinging a knifeful of grape jelly at Kemp. Massie quickly turned away before he caught her checking him out. How long would it be before they kissed again? Would they start doing it in the day? Or would it stay an après-dinner thing? And what would happen when they got back to Westchester? Massie's stomach locked up again and she pushed her plate to the side.

  “It looks like everyone around here is getting action except for me.” Dylan twisted her long red curls into a chignon at the nape of her neck.

  Claire turned red when she realized Dylan had heard everything she'd said about Cam. “I was totally going to tell you.”

  “It's not that.” Dylan leaned across the table so that she was face-to-face with Claire and Massie. “It's just that I've been so stressed about my mom and Mr. Myner that I haven't had any time to devote to my crush on Chris Plovert.”

  “So?” Massie shrugged. “There's still time.”

  “Totally.” Claire rested her hand on Dylan's shoulder. “We can come up with a plan for you to kiss him after dinner tonight. That's our specialty.” She winked at Massie.

  “What I need is a plan to get rid of Olivia.” Dylan glared at the perky blonde at the other end of the table. “Plovert is totally into her.”

  “How do you know?” Massie insisted, even though she knew Dylan was right.

  “Last night he asked me to find out if Olivia was into anyone.” Dylan smacked her stack of syrupy pancakes with the back of a spoon.

  “Oh.” Massie slid her compass charm back and forth on the gold chain around her neck.

  “Attention, please,” Mr. Dingle announced from the front of the room.

  Massie was grateful for the interruption. She wanted to make Dylan feel better but had no idea what to tell her. Everyone knew Plovert was into Olivia. He had been stalking her like a hungry bear ever since they'd stepped off the bus.

  “Your attention, please.” Mr. Dingle pushed his big square glasses up on his nose, then clasped his hands behind his back like he was hiding something back there. “Qui-et!”

  The room was silent except for the scraping and clinking of knives and forks against china plates.

  Once he had everyone's attention, Mr. Dingle revealed what he had been concealing. Everyone burst into hysterical laughter when he held up a tree branch with a pair of satin underwear dangling from it.

  “I found this hanging from a tree at the beginning of Honeysuckle Trail behind the girls' cabin,” he said. “And the worst part is, it was hanging a few feet away from an innocent snowy owl's nest.”

  The room exploded into more laughter. Claire turned bright red and looked at Layne. But Layne didn't notice. Her face was buried inside her backpack. She was pretending to search for something of great importance.

  “Not only is dyed satin a huge environmental hazard …” Mr. Dingle took off his glasses. His beady eyes searched the crowd. “But I'd hoped a few days in the wilderness would have taught you to respect nature.” He waved the stick and underwear around like a shredded battle flag. “I demand to know who is responsible.”

  The room was silent, except for a few false accusations from the boys' table.

  “If no one comes forward, you will all pay.” Mr. Dingle put his glasses back on and pushed them into position with his index finger. “How does a six-mile hike and no lunch sound?”

  The murmurs built until everyone was speaking at full volume.

  “Claire, isn't that your underwear?” Alexandra shouted from the other girls' table. “You have, like, ten pairs of those.”

  “She'sright,” Carrie said. “She'stheonlyone who wears fullpanties. Weallwearthongs.”

  The boys cracked up and started punching Cam. He turned bright red and whacked them back.

  Claire hunched over and rubbed her forehead.

  Massie glared at Layne, silently threatening her to speak up, or else.

  “Uh, I know who did it,” Layne offered softly.

  “Louder,” Massie said through her teeth.

  Claire looked at Layne with a worried look on h
er face. She obviously didn't want her friend going down like this. Layne already took enough heat for her crazy outfits and disgusting food obsessions. If everyone found out she'd hidden dirty underwear in a tree, she'd never recover. It would be the final nail in her social coffin.

  “I know who did it.” Claire jumped to her feet.

  The room was silent. Massie's heart was pounding. She couldn't bring herself to look at Claire, even though she was dying to see what would happen next.

  “They're hers.” Claire pointed at Alicia.

  “What?” Alicia screeched. She slapped her hand against her chest. “What are you tawk-ing about?”

  Everyone started whispering.

  “Alicia, is this true?” Mr. Dingle asked.

  “No,” Alicia insisted. Her cheeks turned the color of Claire's grape juice. “’Course not.”

  “Because if you're lying, everyone in this room is looking at a six-mile hike and—”

  “It's true,” Livvy piped up. “I saw Claire lend her a pan-when we got here.”

  “I saw that too,” Alexandra said.

  “Me too,” Layne shouted. When no one was looking she mouthed “Thank you” to Claire.

  “Ew, why would I ever borrow Claire's underwear?” Alicia shouted. “I think I can afford my own.”

  “You borrowed it, remember?” Olivia was obviously trying to be helpful. “It was the day we got here. We were unpacking and Claire gave you—”

  Alicia elbowed Olivia in the stomach.

  “Ow,” Olivia wailed. “What'd you do that for?”

  Alicia glared at Olivia until she finally realized she had made matters worse for her friend. “Ehmagawd, I am soooo sorry,” she whispered.

  Massie was too shocked to get involved. She could not believe Claire had the guts to blame Alicia. But then again, Alicia kind of deserved it for putting the moves on Cam. But hadn't Alicia just been paying Claire back for kissing Josh? The situation was too complicated to pick a side, even for Massie. She popped a home fry in her mouth and crossed her legs. It was nice to watch someone else's social life crash and burn for a change.