Read Camp Confidential 06 - RSVP Online

Authors: Melissa J Morgan

Camp Confidential 06 - RSVP (8 page)

BOOK: Camp Confidential 06 - RSVP
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Alex decided to think about it as she got on her soccer uniform. But after she had dressed in her dark blue shorts and white jersey, pulled her hair into a ponytail, and brushed her teeth, Brynn was still fast asleep.
On her way into the kitchen, Alex spotted a book balanced on the arm of the recliner. She picked it up and examined the title. It said, NEW YORK CITY: 101 COOLEST PLACES TO GO.
She turned to a page that Brynn had marked by folding down the corner. It was labeled THEATER SCENE. In the margin she had written,
Ask Natalie about this!
There were a lot of other pages turned down at the corners. Brynn had read and studied her guidebook with as much care as Alex would give a textbook. Being rested for their trip to the city was surely more important to Brynn than watching Alex’s stupid soccer game.
Alex scrambled some eggs and toasted English muffins. Everything was ready when her mom walked into the kitchen. She was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt that read SOCCER MOM! ASK ME HOW!
Yawning, she said, “Good morning, honey. Ready for your game?” They talked in low voices so they wouldn’t wake up Alex’s father and brother, who both had the luxury of sleeping late.
“Yes,” Alex replied. She dished the scrambled eggs onto two plates.
“What about Brynn?” her mom asked, as she picked up the plates and carried them to the dining room table. “Isn’t she joining us?”
“She stayed up really late. I think she’d rather sleep,” Alex said, sitting down. She picked up her fork and began to eat the fluffy eggs.
“Oh?” Her mom cocked her head. “At dinner she said she couldn’t wait to see you play.”
“That was before she stayed up all night reading,” Alex confided. “I know she doesn’t want to be tired for the reunion.”
“Maybe you should ask her what she wants,” her mom said.
“Then she’ll be awake,” Alex pointed out. “Anyway, there’s no time now.” She gestured with her fork at the clock. “We have to leave as soon as we’re finished eating.”
Her mom glanced at the clock. “Oh! You’re right about that. But I hope she’s not too disappointed.”
“Trust me, Mom,” Alex said. “I know what I’m doing.”
Only, she didn’t, exactly. She really, really, really hoped she was doing the right thing. But she wasn’t totally positive she was.
I hope Brynn’s okay with this.
“Hey, sleepyheads,” Natalie’s mom called to the four girls cocooned in their sleeping bags. “It’s time to get up, or you’ll miss your spa day.”
Natalie slowly raised her head, to see her mom in a pair of black yoga pants and a tight-fitting black workout top. She had probably worked out in her bedroom, something she did when she was too busy to get to the gym.
“Hi, Mom,” Natalie said sleepily.
She and the others had rolled out their sleeping bags after
Dying Too Young
(luckily, the cute doctor had saved the mom’s life and then they had gotten married)
.
They must have dozed off during their next movie. It was a silly comedy titled
Summer Secrets
, directed by Natalie’s dad’s friend, Haley Schricker.
“I’ve got fresh croissants and muffins heated and waiting,” her mother said. “And hot chocolate.”
“You know how to tempt a kid,” Natalie told her. She sat up and yawned. “But I’m still half-asleep!”
Jenna, Grace, and Alyssa were also slowly waking, stretching and murmuring good morning to each other. Although the scene was very different from the post-bugle call rush of their bunk, it reminded Natalie of their mornings at Camp Lakeview. It gave her a comfortable feeling, reminding her that these girls were old friends of hers.
Plus, they had done an awesome job cleaning up the pizza disaster. There was no stain on the thick gray carpet!
“I need to go into the gallery for a while,”Natalie’s mom told her. “I’ll take you to the spa on my way, but you’re going to have to hurry to make it on time. Then you guys can relax and enjoy all your beauty treatments.”
It was a lucky thing there were three full bathrooms in the apartment—one in Natalie’s mom’s suite; one in Natalie’s room; and the guest bathroom. Since Natalie’s mom had to get ready for her day, too, that left two bathrooms for four girls. What a luxury compared to the single bathroom at camp!
But everyone seemed to be out of practice with hurrying. Despite her efforts to be patient, Natalie was almost pacing by the time it was her turn to take a shower. Then after that, she had to blow-dry her hair and do her makeup.
All four of them devoured the buttery, flaky croissants and muffins loaded with blueberries and walnuts. No one ate the cold pizza. Natalie drank down her sweet, warm hot chocolate in four gulps.
As they finished up and carried their plates into the kitchen, Natalie relaxed a little. Even if they were a teeny bit late, the next three hours were fully planned. Everyone was sure to have fun at an exclusive New York spa!
They took the car to the spa. Natalie’s mom accompanied them. As Noah pulled the car over, Natalie’s mom called Skye, the spa receptionist, on her cell phone.
“Okay, they’re on their way,” she told Skye. She hung up and gave Natalie a kiss as the girls piled out of the car.
They went inside the building and into a brass elevator.
“Take a last look at the old us!” Grace said as she stuck out her tongue at herself in the reflective surface.
They zoomed to one of the highest floors, and the elevator opened. Ahead stood the frosted glass double door of the spa.
Natalie led the way. Skye greeted them, rising from behind her oval glass desk. She was wearing a white gauze tunic and flowing jade green skirt. Her hair was gathered back in a sloppy bun and she wore hardly any makeup. Her skin glowed.
There was a simple stone wall behind her desk. A sheet of water flowed gently over it. Soft flute music played softly in the background.
“It’s so nice to see you, Natalie,” she said, as Natalie introduced each of her friends. “Welcome to our spa.”
She handed each girl a little booklet outlining all the beauty treatments the spa provided. Natalie had seen it before, of course, and she had already planned out what she was going to have: a manicure, a pedicure, and a facial.
“Oh,” Jenna said slowly, turning the pages. “There sure is a lot to pick from.”
“I’ll say,” Grace agreed, scratching her head. She looked at Skye. “What do you recommend?”
“Well, it depends on what you’d like to get out of your session. Some of our clients come to relax. Others come to have makeup applied, or to get a haircut.”
One of the spa employees, a young woman with short, spiky hair, appeared from behind the stone wall with a flat stone-colored tray. There were four handleless cups and a plate of flat orange discs.
“Please refresh yourselves with some herbal tea and dried mango,” Skye invited them.
“Dried mango?” Grace asked, looking hesitant.
“Thank you.” Alyssa took a cup of tea and a piece of mango. She bit into the mango. “Oh, this is great,” she enthused.
Jenna and Grace picked up teacups and pieces of mango. Natalie took the last teacup. She glanced up at the clock. Because they were late, they were already almost fifteen minutes into their three-hour booking. She started to feel nervous.
“You guys, you need to decide what you’re going to have done,” she said.
“Okay, okay,” Grace said, drinking down her tea.
“What I would recommend for you is a nice spa manicure and a pedicure,” Skye told Grace. “And perhaps a hot oil treatment for your hair.”
“My hair?” Grace frowned and touched her crazy mass of curls. “Is there something wrong with it?”
“No, of course not,” Skye said easily. “It’s beautiful. The hot oil treatment is simply to pamper it.”
“Oh.” Grace exhaled, looking a little happier. “Okay, that sounds fun.”
Jenna said, “I’d like to get a French manicure and pedicure. I’d like to get flowers painted on my nails, too.”
“Fingers and toes? We can do that. We can use little jewels for the centers of the flowers,” Skye told her.
“Cool!” Jenna cried.
“Can I get my hair cut?” Alyssa asked.
“Ah, a brave one,” Skye said approvingly. She cocked her head and studied Alyssa, as if seeing her in a brand-new look.
“Brave? A haircut
is nothing
for this wild child,” Jenna scoffed. “You should have seen what she did to her hair last summer.”
Everyone giggled at the memory of Alyssa’s dye job—instead of the cool red tint she had been aiming for, she had wound up looking like Ronald McDonald. But Alyssa had figured out a way to make that fashion disaster seem cool.
“Well, I’d like a haircut and some acrylic nails,” Alyssa said decisively. “And I want the nails to be dark, dark purple.”
“Whoa.” Grace, Jenna, and Natalie stared at her.
“You do realize,” Skye said, “that if you get acrylic nails you’ll have to maintain them once you get home?”
Alyssa nodded. “Or take them off, right? With acetone?”
At the stares the others were giving her, Alyssa said, “What? Nat and Marissa spent all summer reading fashion magazines. I
did
listen.”
Skye lifted Alyssa’s hand and examined her nails. She said, “We could easily paint your own nails dark purple. Perhaps instead of the acrylics, we could add some temporary purple highlights to your hair.”
“Purple highlights . . . hmm,” Alyssa considered. “Let me think.”
Think quickly, Lyss!
Natalie glanced again at the clock. Now they were almost
twenty
minutes into their three hours. She tried to signal to Alyssa that she had to make up her mind. But Alyssa was glancing down at the pages of the spa booklet.
“Let’s see . . .” Alyssa said.
“Alyssa,” Natalie blurted. “Please hurry.”
Alyssa glanced at her. “Oh, sorry.” She shut the booklet. Her cheeks were pink. “Whatever.”
“The haircut, the highlights, and a manicure with purple polish?” Skye asked her.
“Sure.” Alyssa smiled, but she didn’t look totally okay with the plan.
“You should get what you want,” Natalie said, feeling bad for rushing her best friend.
“It’s cool. I’ll love it,” Alyssa told her.
“Okay. Natalie, you’re the last one to pick,” Skye said. “What would you like?”
“A manicure, a pedicure, and a facial,” she said.
“Oh.” Skye crinkled her forehead. “I’m not certain we’ll have time for all that. But we can try,” she said, smiling. “All right?”
I knew it!
Natalie thought. She was disappointed. But she reminded herself that she would have plenty of other chances to come to the spa. She smiled politely and said, “All right.”
“Okay.” Skye gathered their little booklets. The other employee collected their teacups. “If you will all follow me, I’ll show you where to put your clothes.”
“Put our clothes?”
Grace cried. “Are we going to get undressed?”
“Not if you would prefer to stay in your own things,” Skye explained. “We provide special robes for you to wear while you’re here.”
“Oh.” Grace looked at the others. “Are you guys going to wear them?”
“I am,” Natalie told her.
Alyssa nodded.
“O-kay, then,” Grace said, taking a deep breath. “Let’s do it!”
chapter
SEVEN
Alex’s soccer game was a disaster.
And it was Alex’s fault.
She was distracted, and it showed in her playing. She was nervous about winning the game for her team—or at least, not losing it for them! The pressure made her try too hard, and she started kicking the ball out of bounds twice in a row. After that she hung back, letting another team member—
any
other team member—take the ball.
She tried to remember her mantra—
I know I can, I know I can
—but she just couldn’t keep her mind on the game. Her teammates looked more and more unhappy with her as the other team continually took the ball and scored off her errors.
BOOK: Camp Confidential 06 - RSVP
4.96Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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