Camp Confidential 03 - Grace's Twist (11 page)

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Authors: Melissa J Morgan

BOOK: Camp Confidential 03 - Grace's Twist
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“Should we catch up to Marta and Sharon?” Grace asked, spotting two of Gaby’s bunkmates on the path ahead of them.
“Nah.” Something in Gaby’s voice made Grace suspicious. She looked around. None of the other girls from 3A were anywhere near them. In fact, none of Gaby’s bunkmates were ever around. It didn’t seem as if Gaby hung out with them at all away from the bunk. And based on her nasty stories during free swim, Gaby didn’t seem to mind.
“So who’s your best friend in the bunk?” Grace asked.
Gaby shrugged. “No one. It’s better to have a best friend from outside the bunk.”
Grace didn’t answer. She’d given up on thinking that Gaby could be her best friend at camp. Gaby was too unpredictable to count on. One minute she was nice, and the next she was mean.
“Oh, hang on,” Gaby said suddenly. “I have to fix my shoe.” She dropped to her knees and began fiddling with the Velcro on her sandals. But Grace noticed that there was nothing wrong with the shoe to begin with. Gaby had just pulled it open and then started playing around with it. Was she trying to hide from someone? The only people on the path behind them were Julie and Lizzie, Gaby’s counselor. All the other campers were way up ahead.
Julie and Lizzie stepped around them and kept walking. The second they were gone, Gaby popped back up. “Okay, let’s go,” she said cheerfully.
But Grace didn’t buy it. Gaby had been trying to avoid Julie and Lizzie—she was sure of it. “Hey, Julie!” she called without warning Gaby. “Wait up!”
Julie and Lizzie turned around and waited for them.
“What’d you do that for?” Gaby whispered. Grace ignored her and hurried to catch up to the counselors.
“Hey, Grace, I was surprised to see you without your book,” Julie said. “Are you finished with it?”
Gaby snorted. “Yeah, right. With how slow she reads?”
Grace felt a wave of anger wash through her body. How would Gaby know how fast or slow she read?
“Don’t be nasty, Gaby,” Lizzie said seriously. “You finally finished your week in the yellow zone. Do you want to make it another week?”
Gaby shot Grace an angry look. “Sorry,” she said, not sounding sorry at all.
Grace waited until they’d reached the bunk area before pulling Gaby aside. “What did Lizzie mean back there?” she demanded. “She said you had a week in the yellow zone.”
Gaby rolled her eyes. “Oh, my stupid bunkmate Christa went whining to Lizzie about me using up her shampoo. So I got in trouble. Christa’s such a baby.”
A hard knot formed in Grace’s stomach. “You were being punished?” she said angrily. “You had to stay in the shallow part of the lake with the yellows?”
“Yeah, can you believe that?” Gaby said. “No swimming in the deep end for a week! Just because I borrowed some shampoo.”
Grace had a feeling that Gaby hadn’t borrowed anything. Christa was a shy girl in 3A. She’d always reminded Grace of Karen. And knowing their two personalities, Grace thought Gaby had probably just used up Christa’s shampoo and expected her not to tell. But that wasn’t what bothered Grace most.
“You mean, all week you’ve tried to keep me from swimming in the deep part just so you would have company while you were being punished?” she asked.
“Well, I didn’t want to hang out with the little kids all by myself,” Gaby said.
“They’re not all little,” Grace pointed out. “Some of them just aren’t strong swimmers yet.”
“Still,” Gaby said. “I’m not friends with any yellows.”
“Why didn’t you just ask me to stay in the shallow part with you?” Grace said, exasperated. “If you’d asked me as a friend, I would’ve been happy to do it for you.”
“What’s the difference?” Gaby said.
“You’ve been lying all week!” Grace cried.
Gaby shook her head. “You should talk. You lied to your bunkmates about the field trip.”
“Well, I shouldn’t have,” Grace retorted. But Gaby was already walking away.
Grace turned toward her bunk with a heavy heart. She clearly wasn’t going to be friends with Gaby at all: She hadn’t had any fun during free swim, and worst of all, she’d missed an hour’s worth of reading time!
chapter NINE
“Hang on a minute, Grace,” Julie said as Grace reached for the door of bunk 3C. Julie and Marissa were sitting on the rickety railing around the porch. “We need to talk to you.”
Uh-oh,
Grace thought. If there was one thing she’d learned in a summer and a half at camp, it was that when both the counselor and the CIT wanted to have a talk with you, it meant you were in trouble. But what could she possibly have done in the five minutes since she last saw Julie on the trail?
She followed them over to the picnic table and sat down.
“Grace, your parents called during free swim,” Marissa said. “I had to tell them you couldn’t come to the phone because you were busy swimming.”
“Oh, no.” Grace dropped her head onto the wooden table. “And they were mad that I wasn’t reading.”
“Yes,” Marissa said. “Although I told them that you’d been reading all day, and that I didn’t think there was any harm in taking one hour off to let your eyes rest.”
“Thanks,” Grace mumbled without lifting her head.
“But that’s not what we’re worried about,” Julie said. “You really buckled down and worked today, Grace. So why did you decide not to read during free swim?”
“Gaby talked me into being her swim buddy,” Grace said, looking up at them. “I figured doing a few laps might wake me up a little so that I could read all night tonight. But then we spent all our time in the shallow end, so I didn’t even get to do laps.” Grace sighed. “Believe it or not, I would rather have been reading.”
Julie chuckled. “That’s a new Grace, all right.”
“Didn’t Gaby tell you that she had to stay in the shallow part when she asked you to be her swim buddy?” Marissa asked. “Stephanie told me a week ago that Gaby was being punished.” Jenna’s sister Stephanie was the CIT for Gaby’s bunk.
“Nope.” All of Grace’s annoyance crept back into her voice as she spoke. “She didn’t bother to mention that until
after
free swim.”
Julie and Marissa exchanged a glance. “How come you agreed to be swim buddies, Grace?” Julie asked. “I don’t mean to sound harsh, but it doesn’t sound as if you even like Gaby that much.”
“I don’t know,” Grace said. “She’s weird, but it’s nice having a friend at camp.”
“You have a million friends,” Marissa cried. “Everybody loves you, Grace!”
“Yeah, I know. But I don’t have a best friend,” Grace said. “Everybody pairs off, but not with me. I guess I thought it would be cool to have one best friend here.”
“It’s okay to have a lot of friends,” Marissa said. “It doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you if you don’t have a best friend, you know. It just proves that you’re well-rounded!”
“But I miss my best friend from home,” Grace said with a sigh. “If she even is my best friend anymore. I owe her a letter, big time.”
“You miss your best friend, so you thought you’d feel better if you found a best friend here,” Julie said. “And you thought that Gaby was that friend?”
Grace frowned. “At first I thought she was cool, but then she started being mean a lot. Still, every time I try to disagree with her, it’s like she turns my words around or something.”
“Do you want me to have a talk with Lizzie about it?” Julie asked.
“No!” Grace cried. “It’s totally fine. I can handle her.”
“You sure?” Marissa asked. “We’re here to help if you need us.”
“Thanks, but no. Gaby’s fine. I’m just mad at myself because I knew I should be reading during swim.” Grace stood up. “In fact, I’m not putting that book down again until I’m finished.”
She gave them a little wave and headed for the bunk, her heart beating fast. She hoped she’d convinced them not to talk to Lizzie. The last thing she needed was Gaby to think she’d snitched on her. She knew Julie and Marissa meant well, but she also knew that campers weren’t supposed to complain about other campers. It just wasn’t cool. From now on, she’d simply stay away from Gaby. If she didn’t have a best friend, then she could just take care of herself.
“Mind if I join you?” Natalie asked. She held up a romance novel. “Shove over.”
Grace grinned at her and moved over on the old park bench. She’d come to the clearing around the flagpole to get in some quiet reading before dinner. Sarah and Valerie had promised to come get her on the way to the mess hall.
“My book is more fun than yours,” Natalie said apologetically.
The cover showed two teenagers holding hands and looking all gooey and in love. Grace wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think so,” she said. “I’d rather read about a noble dog than read some stupid love story.”
Natalie shook her head. “I don’t know what’s wrong with all you guys,” she said. “I can’t believe I’m stuck in a bunk with so many boy-haters.”
“I don’t hate boys,” Grace said. “I just don’t
like
them.”
“You’re hopeless.” Nat opened her book, and Grace went back to reading
The Call of the Wild
. As the minutes passed, the late-afternoon sun; the thick, hot air; and the buzz of cicadas in the trees all drifted away from her mind as she lost herself in the story. She was so focused on it that she didn’t even hear anyone approach until Natalie started talking.
Grace looked up and jumped in surprise. Simon and Devon stood two feet away, and she hadn’t even known they were there. Simon and Natalie were discussing the WetWorld trip. And Devon was watching Grace. Immediately her cheeks grew hot. Why was he staring at her that way? How long had he been there?
He reached out toward her. Instinctively, Grace pulled away, dropping her book. But before she could grab it, Devon bent and picked it up. “I love this book,” he said, handing it back.
“Oh.” Grace couldn’t think of a single thing to say to that.
I’m only reading it because my parents are forcing me to
didn’t seem like the correct response.
“Did you get to the part where he pulls the thousand-pound sled yet?”
“I’m in the middle of that right now,” Grace said. “Don’t tell me how it ends.” She could hardly believe it herself, but she was dying to know whether Buck made it back to his master with the sled. His master had bet a lot of money, and Buck really wanted to win it for him.
“We got a puppy last year, and I made my parents name him Buck after this dog,” Devon said. “Wow. You really
do
love this book,” she replied. He blushed a little, which only made him look cuter. Grace couldn’t believe she thought he was cute.
He’s gross
, she told herself.
All boys are gross.
“It’s cool that you like to read,” he said. “It really helps with acting. You know that scene we did the other day? That’s from a movie based on a book.”
“It is?” Grace asked in surprise.
Simon groaned. “Believe it. Devon made me read the scene from the book
and
memorize the lines from the movie.” He glanced at Natalie. “Drama is turning into a tough class, not just your average fun and easy free choice.”
“It’s all these actors,” Natalie joked, her eyes shining as she nudged Grace with her arm. “They take everything so seriously.”
“Didn’t reading the book help you understand the characters better?” Devon challenged.
“I hate to say it, but yes,” Simon replied.
“See?” Devon winked at Grace. “It’s good to be a book lover.”
“Uh-huh.” Once again, she couldn’t think of anything to say. Since when was she at a loss for words? The other three were managing to have a perfectly normal conversation, and all she could do was sit there stupidly.
“See you at dinner,” Simon told Natalie. She beamed back at him. “Okay.”
“Later,” Devon added.
“Uh-huh,” Grace said again.
Natalie turned in her seat and stared at Grace until the boys left the clearing. Then she burst out laughing.

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