Friends Forever? (3 page)

“Zee's probably won't fit under the bed,” Chloe said.

Marcus got excited. “Which one is hers?”

Zee looked over at Jasper and noticed he wore an uncomfortable expression.

“Well—” Chloe began.

“Wait!” Zee cut her off. She nodded to Jasper. “What's going on?”

Jasper straightened up his body—and his face. “Not a thing,” he said.

“Still,” Zee said. “I think I'll keep an eye on my bag.” She dragged it closer to her. The boys were acting oddly. Was Zee going to have to watch out for them just as much as the bugs and bears?

T
he Beans followed the dirt path to the lodge. Kathi was already up ahead, and she was weaving to the left and right as she held her phone in front of her.

“What are you doing?” Jen asked when the group got closer.

“I can't get a signal!” Kathi sounded panicked.

“Maybe it's your service,” Zee said. She pulled her iPhone out of her pocket. It had a bright blue skin with a big pink Z. “Nope, I don't have even
one
bar.”

By now the students were wandering around in the forest, zigzagging past one another with their eyes fixed on their cell phones.

“Can anyone get any bars?” Missy asked.

“I can!” Conrad shouted. Everyone raced over to where he was now standing. “Oh, sorry,” he said, wiping the screen on his shirttail. “That was just a bug.”

“Ugh! This is like living in prehistoric times,” Jen whined. “How did they survive?”

“We should tell Mr. P,” Zee suggested. “He'll know what to do.”

“He better,” Kathi said as they moved along the trail. “My parents give a lot of money to the school. They won't be happy to hear I'm being treated this way.”

“I don't think it has anything to do with money,” Chloe said.

Kathi snorted. “
Everything
has to do with money.”

The group hustled into the lodge. Students from other science classes were already seated and waiting for the orientation to begin.

Mr. P was at the front of the room. “You guys look like you've just run a mile,” he told the Beans.

“We need your help,” Zee told him.

“It's an emergency!” Kathi added.

Mr. P looked alarmed. “What is it?” he asked.

“We've been trying to use our cell phones, but we can't figure out where to go to get service,” Zee explained.

“Oh, is that all?” Mr. P calmed down. “There's no service on Brookdale Mountain.”

“Nowhere?” Conrad asked.

Mr. P shook his head. “No.”

“As in…
no
where?” Marcus couldn't believe it, either.

Mr. P nodded.

“But what if there's an emergency?” Kathi said.

“Your parents have the camp phone number in their information packet,” Mr. P explained. “And we can call from the office if we need to reach them. Plus, you can log on to the computers here in the lodge and use the internet to email them.”

“Great!” Kathi said. “Where are they? I need to send an email now.”

“
Now
we're going to have a meeting. During free time, everyone will have a chance. But since there are so many
students and so few computers, there's a schedule.” Mr. P held up a piece of paper.

The students leaned in to read the list. “Aaaaaa!” Kathi shrieked. “Cabin one isn't until the end of the week!”

“A whole week without our cell phones?” Zee asked.

“Or IMs?” Ally added.

“There's no one left to IM and email,” Mr. P pointed out. “All your friends are here.”

Kathi harrumphed. “My
boy
friend isn't here,” she said. “What if he needs to talk to me?”

“Everyone should sit down now,” Mr. P said, ignoring her. “The meeting's about to start.”

The Beans sat together in the back of the room under an elk head that hung on the wall. “Gross!” Chloe groaned.

“At least he has a smile on his face,” Conrad said. “Maybe he died happy.”

“I bet he'd be happier running around in the woods,” Chloe told him.

“Welcome to Brookdale Mountain, seventh graders!” Ms. Merriweather enthusiastically greeted the group. She'd pulled her blond hair into a ponytail under a baseball cap, and she wore a loose floral dress over a pair of black leggings. “I'm going to go over a few camp rules. First, no food in the cabins. Snacks will be available in the dining hall, and
if anyone brought any food with them to camp, we can keep it in the kitchen.”

Zee tried to listen, but her mind wandered, and soon she was planning a makeover for Ms. Merriweather.

A shorter skirt would look great on her
, Zee thought.

“No leaving cabins after lights-out—unless it's for an outhouse emergency.”

Her face would look brighter with lipstick.

“Everyone will have a work assignment each day.”

Huh?
Zee thought. This was beginning to sound like even more work than school.

“We'll post the lists on the cabin doors,” Ms. Merriweather continued.

“These lists are killing me,” Zee mumbled.

Ally turned to her. “Do you think I'll have to work since I'm not an actual student?”

“You should have to do even
more
work since you're not paying tuition,” Jen said. Zee couldn't tell if she was kidding.

“Now, let's get to why we're here—the Science Scavenger Hunt,” Ms. Merriweather said, holding up a disposable digital camera and sheet of paper over her head. “This is a list of plants and animals that are on Brookdale Mountain. The class that finds and photographs the most items on the list by Friday will win the scavenger hunt.”

Jasper's serious face lit up. “Brilliant!” he cheered. Chloe gave him a thumbs-up.

Marcus raised his hand. “Are we going to have
any
fun?” he asked.

“Yes,” Ms. Merriweather said, laughing. “We'll have lots
of outdoor activities and build campfires in the evenings. We'll even roast marshmallows some nights.”

“And don't forget the talent show on Friday!” Mr. P called out from the side.

Yay!
Zee silently applauded. She had a few ideas for what the Beans could perform together and couldn't wait to talk to the other band members about them. She was sure the Beans' performance would be the perfect way to end the week.

“T
his is so cool!” Jasper said. He stopped beside the trail the fifth-period science students were walking on and bent down to get a better look at a bright orange plant. “I've never seen one of these before.”

“That's because they only grow in California,” Conrad told him.

“How do you know so much about plants?” Jasper asked.

“My grandmother likes me to help in her garden,” Conrad explained.

“I thought you lived in an apartment,” Zee said.

“Yeah. After Obachan moved in with me and Dad, she missed her garden so much, she volunteered to do the gardening for the whole building.”

“Then you should be a big help to us. We have to find a million things for the scavenger hunt,” Zee said, staring at a mysterious bug dodging the air in front of her. “And I'd like to do it as quickly as possible so we can get back to a bug-free zone.”

Chloe lifted a rock.

“
What
are you doing?” Kathi asked.

“I'm looking for worms and bugs and lizards,” Chloe told her.

Kathi looked like she was going to barf. “Why? They're gross.”

Ally backed away from Chloe, and Zee giggled. She didn't plan to come in contact with creepy crawlies on purpose, either.

“They're all animals. They're really no different from dogs…or that chipmunk over there.” She pointed into the woods. “Awwww! He's so cute.”

Kathi huffed. “He is pretty cute, but my dog is a
purebred cockapoo. We paid three thousand dollars for him. Chipmunks cost nothing, which means they're worth nothing.”

“My mom says the best things in life are free,” Marcus put in.

“Your mother's wrong,” Kathi said, curling her lip.

“Just trying to help,” Marcus mumbled.

“If we don't start finding stuff soon, we're going to fail,” Landon said, changing the subject.

“Landon's right!” Zee agreed, a little too enthusiastically. “I mean…um…that's what we're here for. Uh…not that you didn't know that.” She could feel her face turning red. “I'll stop talking now.”

Everyone held a copy of the scavenger hunt list. Next to each item's name was a photo of the plant or animal. Ally examined her sheet, then pointed to a picture of a tree with oblong leaves. “Let's look for this.”

“Okay,” Zee agreed.

Leaves crunched and rustled under her feet as Zee explored the woods with the Beans. But she could hardly concentrate on her assignment. Her mind kept wandering to the talent show. If they were going to be ready to perform on Friday, they needed to start planning right away.

“I was thinking the Beans should perform ‘Forever Fab
ulous' for the talent show,” Zee blurted out to the group.

“Is that the song you wrote?” Kathi asked.

Zee nodded. “Yeah.”

“That would be adorable!” Kathi told her.

“Great!”

“But I can't.”

“Why not?”

“I have a different idea,” Kathi explained. “I want to do a duet with Missy—kind of a dueling violins routine.”

A smile broke across Missy's face. “That sounds like so much fun.”

“Doesn't it?” Kathi said through gritted teeth.

Ohmylanta!
Zee thought.
Kathi doesn't care about having fun. She just wants to beat Missy.
And now thanks to Kathi, the Beans couldn't perform together. Zee was really disappointed.

Ally put her arm over her best friend's shoulder. “Cheer up!” she said, giving Zee a squeeze. “Now you don't have to worry about Kathi ruining the show for you,” she whispered, then added, “Poor Missy. She doesn't know what she's in for.”

Marcus, Conrad, Jasper, and Landon broke from the huddle they were in. “We're going to do a comedy sketch,” Conrad announced.

“We need a girl to be in it,” Marcus told the others.

Looking suspicious, Chloe shook her head. “Not me.”

Landon eagerly looked at Zee.

“I'll do it!” Jen said.

Darn!
Zee thought.

“If you take a girl, we should get a boy,” Ally said.

“We're not trading cards,” Conrad pointed out.

“Don't worry,” Ally said. “We'll leave you with your friends.” Her eyes locked on Jasper.

“I suppose I could do it,” Jasper agreed.

“Good—because we're going to give you a makeover,” Ally told him.

Jasper frowned. “What exactly do you mean?”

“Yeah, what are you gonna do?” Chloe sounded excited.

“You'll be the lead singer and Zee, Chloe, and I will be your band,” Ally explained. “We'll make you really hot—like Justin Timberlake.”

“Yes!” Zee cheered. “We can do choreography and sing.”

“I don't think I know how to be
hot
,” Jasper protested.

“Take off your glasses,” Ally said.

Jasper did. “I can't
see,
” he explained, squinting.

“You don't have to see,” Ally told him. “You just have to sing—and look good.”

“That's not going to be easy,” Zee heard someone mumble behind her. She turned to see Landon standing nearby.

“What did you say?” Chloe asked him, placing a hand on her hip.

“Nothing,” Landon said. Then he turned around and pretended to look for someone behind him.

Ohmylanta!
Zee thought. She didn't know why Landon and Jasper had trouble getting along. But she liked both boys, and she didn't want to have to choose between them.

Chloe looked at Zee as Landon walked away. “Why would he say something like that?”

“I guess he just knows how uncomfortable Jasper is when he's not wearing his own style,” Zee explained with a nervous giggle.

“Uh-huh,” Chloe said, but she didn't look convinced.

Jasper put his glasses back on and looked at Landon. “On second thought,” he began, “I'm looking forward to being
hot
.”

 

That night all the seventh graders gathered around the campfire for a singalong.

“The other day,” the boys belted out.

“The other day,” the girls echoed, sitting on tree stumps.

“I met a bear,” the boys came back.

“I met a bear,” the girls repeated.

“Out in the woods.”

“Out in the woods.”

“A-way out there.”

“A-way out there.”

Then together the group sang, “The other day/I met a bear/out in the woods/a-way out there.”

At first, Zee joined in on every round of call and response. Then she felt a tightness in her belly, and her face twisted in pain.

“What's wrong?” Ally asked.

“I don't know,” Zee told her. “My stomach hurts.”

Ally looked concerned. “What do you think it is?”

The pain went away as quickly as it had come. “I'm fine,” Zee said. “It's nothing.”

Zee started singing again. But she had to stop when another twist of pain made her double over. “Ohhhh,” she groaned, clutching her stomach.

“Omigosh!” Chloe said. “Maybe you should go to the camp nurse.”

“It's just a stomachache—probably from that delicious ground beef medley they called dinner,” Zee said.

“But we all ate it,” Jasper pointed out.

“Except me,” said Chloe, who was a vegetarian and got the tofu medley instead.

“The point is,” Jasper continued, “that no one else is sick.”

“Do you feel like you're going to throw up?” Ally asked.

“No,” Zee said. But what could make her stomach hurt this much all of a sudden?

Kathi leaned over. “Maybe you have a disease.”

Ally swung her head so that her brown hair whipped around like a horse's tail. “She doesn't have a disease. It's just a little stomachache.”

“Kathi's right,” Jen said. “I saw a show on TV about a girl who was really, really sick and—”

“She's not ‘really, really' sick!” Chloe said.

“Whatev,” Kathi said dismissively.

“You're not really, really sick, are you?” Chloe whispered to Zee.

“Actually, I feel okay now,” Zee told her friends. “It doesn't hurt anymore.”

As the campfire died down, some of the seventh graders
in other classes went back to their cabins, but fifth period was having too much fun to go anywhere.

“Let's tell ghost stories,” Conrad suggested.

“Okay,” Ally said.

“Don't make them too scary,” Chloe pleaded.

“Just keep reminding yourself there's no such thing as ghosts,” Ally told her.

“Maybe not,” Marcus said. “But there is such a thing as the Mountain Man.”

“You know about the Mountain Man?” Zee asked. Maybe Adam wasn't lying after all.

Marcus nodded. “He tried to attack my older brother Jordan when he went on the science trip.”

Ally shook her head. “Yeah, right.”

“You don't believe in him?” Chloe asked her.

“No,” Ally said. “Because he's not real. Right, Zee?”

“Well…” Zee hesitated, looking from Ally to Chloe to Marcus. “Maybe if he's just a really creepy guy who lives in the woods, he could exist. I mean,
people
are real.”

“I
know
he's real,” Marcus said.

“How?” Zee asked.

Marcus's eyes looked serious behind his dark-framed glasses. “Because of what happened to my brother.”

“Really?”

 

 

Marcus nodded. “A fog had settled on the mountain,” he began. “Jordan and his friends were on the trail, but the fog was so thick, they couldn't see three feet in front of themselves.”

Zee leaned closer.

“Then, out of nowhere—” Marcus's voice suddenly got loud, startling Zee. “He reached out and grabbed Jordan. He screamed, but everybody else just ran. No one stayed to help him. Just as the Mountain Man started to drag Jordan deeper into the woods, the Mountain Man grunted, ‘My leg! Something's got my leg.'”

“Give me a break,” Ally said under her breath.

“What had his leg?” Chloe asked.

“Jordan never found out.” Marcus breathed a sigh of relief. “He managed to pull free and ran away as fast as he could.”

“That's ridiculous!” Ally said.

“Adam told us the Mountain Man said something about his leg,” Zee reminded Ally.

“Since when do you believe Adam?”

Chloe wore a terrified expression. Zee was sure she believed the Mountain Man was real.

As Zee looked around to see if she could tell what the others were thinking, her eyes fell on Landon, who was
looking right back at her. Somehow he made her even more nervous than the Mountain Man. Lately, he always seemed to be watching her.

Does Landon know I still have a crush on him?
She would be humiliated if he did, since she was certain he liked her only as a friend.

Or maybe,
Zee silently continued,
Landon actually does have a crush on me, too
. She shook the thought out of her head. It was too much to ask for. Zee nervously turned away from Landon.