“Do we really need to print a list of all the competitions and who’s won them?” Jenna asked, tossing her pen down and stretching out her aching fingers. The fan in the corner swung slowly in their direction, and she lifted her ponytail to feel the cool air on the back of her neck. It actually seemed hotter in here than it was outside. Why wasn’t she out in the sun kicking a soccer ball around right now instead of being cooped up inside doing busy work?
Natalie stopped tapping her red pencil against the edge of the long wooden table and smirked at Jenna. “I thought you would love doing that list. Your name is on it, like, at least five times.”
“Yeah. You’re like Queen of Camp Lakeview,” Alyssa put in.
Jenna couldn’t help smiling at the compliment and almost wished Alex were there to hear it. She did have to admit, her name and her bunk appeared very often on the rundown she was working on. Bunk 3C had not only won the scavenger hunt, but they were in the semifinals of the summerlong capture-the-flag-tournament and had won the girls’ kickball competition. Jenna herself had taken home the blue ribbon in the obstacle course in her age division and second place in the cross-country race (just behind Sarah). It was kind of cool getting so much recognition. Maybe putting this list together wasn’t as boring as she had thought.
“Okay, but when I’m done with this, I get to do something fun,” Jenna said, sitting up again. She sifted through the stack of slips on which the counselors had written their campers’ many triumphs. Even though Julie’s slip had Jenna’s name all over it, the list couldn’t record Jenna’s biggest news of the summer. She had pulled two huge pranks, and no one had figured out it was her! That should have been front-page news.
“Hey! Maybe I’ll write a story about all the pranks that have been going on!” Jenna suggested.
Natalie and Alyssa exchanged a look as the newspaper supervisor, Keith, walked by. Keith was Nate’s older brother and had been a counselor at Lakeview until a couple of years ago. He worked on a computer magazine in South Jersey and was going to be some big reporter one day. He looked just like Nate, only taller, skinnier, and nerdier.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Jenna,” Keith said, pausing by their table. His thick glasses hung on the edge of his nose, making him look like an owl.
“Why not?” Jenna asked. “It’s an interesting story. And funny. I mean, you guys think those pranks were funny . . . right?” she asked her friends.
“Yeah . . . sure,” Alyssa responded slowly, looking away.
“I understand why you think it would be a fun story, Jenna, but this issue is for parents’ day,” Keith said. “I don’t think the parents really want to hear about pranks being pulled on their kids, do you?”
Jenna flushed slightly. The only parents who would be reading about pranks pulled on their kids would be her own. After all, the only pranks so far this year had been pulled on Adam and Stephanie. And Keith was right. Her parents would not want to hear about those jokes. Not this summer, especially.
“All right,” Jenna grumbled, never too willing to give up, even when she knew she should. “But I think you should check the Constitution. I know there’s something about the press being able to write whatever they want.”
Keith smiled. “Well, not whatever they want, but that’s a lesson for another day.”
Jenna sighed and returned to her repetitive task, wincing when she heard a huge cheer from outside. Someone had clearly scored a goal. Jenna was missing all the fun.
“Oooh! I love this one,” Alyssa said, holding up a picture across the way. “It’s so artistic.”
“Totally,” Natalie agreed. “Who took it?”
Alyssa flipped the photo over. “Adam Bloom,” she read, sounding surprised. “Hey, Jenna, your brother’s a great photographer.”
Jenna looked up from her work. “Let me see,” she said, sure it was going to be some random picture of Adam’s friends making faces or something.
Alyssa turned the photo around and held it up for Jenna to see. It was a shot of the lake at sunset with the light reflecting all the trees in the water. Even Jenna had to admit it was totally gorgeous. It was like something a person could frame and hang on the wall.
“Wow,” she said, burning with jealousy. “That is good. But you can’t use that for the paper, right? I mean, there are no campers in it and it doesn’t show an activity, so what’s the point?”
“Oh, well, Keith said we could print some of the more artsy shots in the parents’ day edition,” Natalie said, placing Adam’s photo aside. “You know, to show off to the parents what we’re doing at camp.”
“Yeah. We’re picking out the best ones,” Alyssa said.
Jenna shifted in her seat, staring at Adam’s photo. “Oh. So you’re picking that one?”
“Definitely,” Alyssa said. “That’s the best one yet.”
“Hey! You’re in photography now, right?” Natalie said, her eyes bright. “Why don’t you hand in some of your pictures?”
Jenna pressed her pen into the page in front of her, scowling. “I don’t think so,” she said. Natalie and Alyssa had no idea that Jenna had basically underexposed, blurred, or blackened out almost all of her pictures when she’d tried to print them. She just couldn’t seem to get that machine to work right.
“Why not?” Alyssa asked. “If Adam’s are this good, yours are probably awesome. I mean, he is your brother.”
“Yeah! Maybe it’s in your blood!” Natalie added with a grin.
“My pictures stink, all right?” Jenna said flatly. “Can we please talk about something else?”
Natalie and Alyssa fell silent for a moment. A long moment that seemed to drag out forever. Jenna couldn’t believe she had snapped at her friends again. What was she doing—turning into an even jerkier version of Chelsea or something?
“Hey! I know what we can talk about!” Alyssa said finally, glancing around the room as if to check if anyone was watching. Jenna leaned forward, curious, as Alyssa bent down and rummaged through her black messenger bag. “Check it out,” she said, lifting a small box just into view at the end of the table. Jenna’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. It was a box of hair dye. Red hair dye.
“Who is that for?” Jenna asked as Alyssa slipped the box out of sight again.
“For me,” Alyssa said, grinning wildly.
Jenna stared at Alyssa’s long black locks. She couldn’t believe she was actually thinking about dyeing her hair! Alyssa had always been a little . . . different, what with her wardrobe of ripped jeans, paint-spattered cargo shorts, and black T-shirts. But this? This was totally off the deep end!
“Where did you get it?” Jenna asked.
“That senior girl Daphne gave it to us,” Natalie said, lifting her chin toward the other end of the room. “Plus, the bleach we have to use first.”
“Bleach?” Jenna said, her mouth dropping open. “Are you crazy?”
“Daphne says she does it all the time,” Alyssa replied. “It’s no big deal.”
Jenna turned around to check out Daphne, a thirteen-year-old girl with white-blond hair. She was sitting at a table in the back of the room, chopping up newspapers with a pair of huge scissors. Jenna wasn’t sure what good her task was doing anyone, but as always, no one was bothering her. Daphne had been wearing black eyeliner ever since Jenna could remember, and whenever anyone asked her a question, she just grunted. She also cracked her knuckles constantly. Jenna had always been totally afraid of Daphne. Most of the counselors were even afraid of her. How had Natalie and Alyssa even gotten her to talk to them?
“She changes her hair color every five minutes,” Natalie said.
“Yeah, wasn’t she a brunette last week?” Jenna asked.
“Yep,” Alyssa said. “She was saving the red for the end of the summer, but I traded her my pastel set for it. I wanted to do something cool and different for the social.”
“Wow. Well, it’ll definitely be different,” Jenna said. “So, when are we going to do it?�
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“Tonight,” Natalie whispered. “It’s Julie’s night off, and you know Marissa sleeps like she’s practically dead or something,” she added with a giggle.
“Aren’t you afraid of getting in trouble?” Jenna asked Alyssa.
“It’s never stopped you, has it?” Alyssa said with a grin.
Jenna grinned back. How cool! She was inspiring Alyssa to take a chance! “No, I guess not.”
“Besides, what are they going to do to me?” Alyssa asked with a shrug. “By the time they see what I’ve done, it’ll be too late. And it is my hair.”
They could do a lot of things to you, Jenna thought. Like give you extra chores or make you help out in the mess hall. Jenna had gotten enough punishments in her life to know that Alyssa could get in big trouble. But still, it was cool to see how calm Alyssa was about it all.
“Wow,” Jenna said, leaning back in her chair again. “I’m impressed.”
“And she’s going to look so fahb-u-lous with red highlights,” Natalie said, fluttering her lashes and tilting her head back.
“Thank you, dah-ling,” Alyssa replied, flipping her hair.
Jenna giggled, her boredom and irritation over Adam and his pictures entirely forgotten. Tonight was going to be so much fun. And for once, she wasn’t going to be the one getting yelled at or having suspicious looks thrown at her. For once, something big was going to happen, and no one would be able to blame it on her.
chapter TEN
Dear Matt,
I can’t believe you think it was Me who pulled the pranks on Stephanie and Adam. First of all, they’re total whiners for telling you about them, anyway, because they were no big deal. But just because I am the “common link” (your words) between them, that doesn’t mean I did it. Besides, the sugar prank was pulled on Adam’s entire table, not just Adam. How do you know someone wasn’t trying to prank Eric? Or Simon? Or Nate?
Besides, you know that if it WAS me, I wouldn’t be able to tell you, anyway. The less people that know you did a prank, the better—right? And when did you get so parental? Wasn’t it you who replaced the morning bugle sound track with “You Gotta Fight for Your Right to Party” that summer? People still talk about that. And you KNOW you love it.
Just in case you’re interested in the good things I’M doing this summer, we won the scavenger hunt AGAIN, and I’M on the planning committee for the camp social. It’s going to be the best one ever. And Mom and Dad still haven’t gotten any freak-out phone calls. So there.
I hope you’re having fun with your beakers and test tubes!
Love,
Jenna
Jenna
P.S. Thanks for the “I Eat Glue” bumper sticker. Very funny, you know, since I actually used to eat glue. Gum! Ha-ha. I swear I don’t eat glue anymore.
That night, after lights-out, Julie left to meet up with the other counselors and do whatever it was they did on their nights off. Probably a lot of kissing and holding hands, Jenna thought. Gross.
Jenna lay in her top bunk, staring at the ceiling, holding her breath and listening to the sound of her heartbeat. In the other bunks the rest of her friends were doing the same. Jenna turned her face and stole a glance at Valerie who grinned back. Everyone was psyched for what they were about to do.
The minutes dragged on for what seemed like days, but soon enough Jenna heard the soft whistle of Marissa’s snoring. Somewhere in the bunk someone snorted a laugh and clapped her hand over her mouth. Jessie and Karen giggled and twittered until Alex shushed them. Finally the tiny beeping alarm on Sarah’s sports watch went off, and everyone sat up. Fifteen minutes had passed. Nothing but the trumpet reveille could wake Marissa now.
Ever so quietly Jenna slipped from her bed and down the ladder, bumping butts with Alex as she came down from her own.
“Are you ready?” Grace asked Alyssa as they all gathered in the center of the bunk in socked-feet.
“Yeah. Let’s do this,” Alyssa said.
“Yeah,” Candace added. “Let’s do this.”
A few of the girls giggled and started to whisper.
“Shhh! No more talking till we’re in the bathroom!” Jenna hissed, causing everyone to immediately shut up. Jenna smiled, happy she had come up with the order before Alex, and they all tiptoed past Marissa’s cot and into the bathroom.
Brynn went for the light, but Alex grabbed her hand to stop her.
“Pull the curtain first!” Alex said in a whisper.
Jessie yanked the burgundy curtain across the door opening to shield some of the light from spilling into the bunk area, and then Brynn flicked the light on. Alyssa, Natalie, Valerie, and Grace were already gathered at the back sink.
“This is going to be so cool!” Natalie said, tearing the box open. It made a hugely loud noise, and Jenna’s heart jumped into her throat. Everyone looked at the door. When they heard Marissa snore again, they let out a big sigh of relief.
“She’s in dreamland,” Chelsea said. “Don’t worry about her.”
“Okay, we’ve already read the directions about ten times,” Natalie said. “Let’s just go for it.”
“Are you sure you want to do this, Alyssa?” Alex asked, ever the cautious camper. She looked at Alyssa’s reflection in the mirror, and Alyssa gazed steadily back.
“I’m sure,” she said with a nod. “Let’s go.”
“I can’t believe we’re doing this. I can’t believe we’re doing this!” Grace babbled excitedly.
Jenna grabbed one of Alyssa’s towels and draped it over her shoulders. Natalie wiggled her fingers into the plastic gloves while Grace removed the safety cap from the bottle of dye. Valerie used a comb to help Natalie work parts into Alyssa’s hair. Then Natalie held up the dye bottle.
“This is it!” Natalie said with a grin. Alyssa nodded quickly, and Natalie applied the dye. After a few seconds of watching them work, a sharp, sour smell hit Jenna’s nostrils, and she scrunched her nose.
“Ugh! That stuff smells gross!” she whispered.
“Sometimes you have to suffer for beauty,” Natalie replied, still working. “Or at least that’s what my dad’s girlfriend always says.”
Everyone nodded at this piece of wisdom. Natalie’s dad was Ted Maxwell, the huge Hollywood star. His current girlfriend, Josie McLaughlan, was a starlet on the rise who had appeared on the cover of nearly every women’s magazine last spring. If anyone knew about beauty, she did.
“Everything okay out there, Karen?” Valerie asked, glancing toward the door.
Karen moved the curtain slightly and peeked out. “Yep,” she whispered with a nod. “She’s still asleep.”
“Okay,” Natalie said when the bottle of dye was empty. “Now we just wait fifteen minutes and rinse it out.”
Sarah pressed a few buttons on her watch and nodded. “Okay. Timer’s set.”
Jenna looked around the bathroom. What were they going to do for fifteen minutes? With no other options in sight, she finally shrugged and sat down on the rough wooden floor. The other girls soon joined her and they all sat in a circle, breathing in the fumes from Alyssa’s head.
“How does it feel?” Jenna asked.
“It burns a little, but the box said it would,” Alyssa replied calmly. Jenna couldn’t believe how brave she was, sitting there like there was nothing going on. If Jenna was changing the color of her own hair, she would be losing it right then.
“I can’t wait to see how it looks,” Grace said.
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