Pranked (12 page)

Green lake water swallowed me up for a couple of seconds before I could come up for air. The water was so cold it kind of shocked me, falling in like that.

“Are you okay?” Reb yelled. I'd come up between the two canoes, and I couldn't see either her or Jennifer.

“Yeah, fine,” I answered. I snorted to get the water out of my nose and flipped the wet hair out of my eyes.

“Wow, that was worth seeing.” Reb sounded like she was trying not to laugh.

“Just get me back in before I freeze to death, okay?”

Jennifer was trying to help me in. It wasn't easy because when I was climbing in, the canoe was tilting like crazy. Jennifer came real close to falling out on top of me.

When I finally got in and sat down, Reb and Jennifer both looked like they'd just wiped smiles off their faces. I tried to look mad, but then I started laughing, which made them both laugh too.

“I'll have to change now!” I complained. “Take me back to shore.”

So we paddled back across the lake. Michelle Burns, the canoeing counselor, looked at us like we were a bunch of goofs. She was busy with serious canoers who went on river trips, and I could tell she was a little annoyed that we were playing around.

“Did you have a little trouble?” she asked us as I climbed out of the canoe.

“Yeah. Those two—they're a bad influence. I've got to change.”

Reb dragged her canoe up on the bank and then waded out into the water to climb in with Jennifer. “Well, hurry. You can paddle solo when you get back.”

“Aren't you coming with me?” I looked at them both.

“Hey, you're the one who needs to change, not us,” said Jennifer, which made me mad. I never would've fallen in if I hadn't been trying to help her.

“Just hurry and come back,” said Reb. “We'll be waiting for you.”

I could tell they weren't going anywhere. I thought about just staying in my wet clothes, but it was cloudy and I was already starting to shiver.

As I walked away, I saw Libby Sheppard waving at me. She was across the lake, giving a swimming lesson. Ever since that night in Solitary, Libby had been really nice to me, smiling every time she saw me and always saying hi. I felt bad. She thought of me as a sweet little homesick camper who needed some extra attention. Little did she know I was a bold-faced liar.

I walked up the hill, my shoes squishing with every step. I was really shivering now. Thick clouds covered the sky, and it looked like it was going to rain.

When I got to the cabin, I was about to walk in when I heard something. I flattened myself against the wall and ducked down so I wouldn't be seen through the screen.

Inside, somebody was crying. Slowly I raised my head up. I pressed my forehead against the screen so I could look inside the dark cabin without being seen.

I already had a pretty good idea who it was, and I was right. I could just see the end of Melissa's bed, and she was lying there, facedown, crying into her pillow. I ducked down again to keep out of sight.

Great. I really needed to change. My clothes were absolutely sopping wet. I couldn't go back to the lake like this. But I didn't want to go in there now and face Melissa. What was wrong with her, anyway? Well, I had a pretty good idea. I stood there, trying to decide what to do. Then it sounded like the crying stopped. I was about to take off running because I was afraid she'd come out the door any second now, and she'd catch me. But then I heard her moving around inside. So very carefully, I stood up a little to peek inside again.

What I saw almost gave me a heart attack. Melissa was kneeling over Reb's trunk, digging through all her stuff! I couldn't believe it! I was catching her in the act of stealing something from Reb's trunk! But wait, that wasn't it. She was
searching
it.

She was going through all of Reb's stuff very carefully, and she looked like she was trying to put everything back where she'd found it. If she was looking for something to steal, she was being awfully selective.

Then she closed the lid. And next she moved on to Jennifer's trunk! Now I had no doubt. Melissa was definitely looking for
something
.

I couldn't believe it! I freaking couldn't believe what I was seeing. Should I go get Reb and Jennifer right now? Or just burst in and catch her in the act? Before I could make up my mind, Melissa made it up for me. Because when she'd finished with Jennifer's trunk, she moved over to mine! Now she'd really gone too far. I jumped right up and rushed for the door. I slammed the screen door open as I burst inside. Melissa was still sitting there in front of my open trunk when she turned around.

“You better shut that trunk before I slam it on your
face
!”

Melissa was so shocked, she almost fell right into my open trunk. I was furious! It was bad enough that I'd seen her looking through my best friends' trunks, but here I'd caught her—red-handed—looking through mine.

“What do you think you're
doing
?”

Her mouth hung open and she was still frozen, squatting there in front of my trunk. “Ah. . . .” That was all she could manage to say.

“And not just
my
trunk. I was watching you! I saw you going through Reb's and Jennifer's trunks. Are you
stealing
from us?” I yelled. I stood there, dripping wet, my arms crossed in front of my chest. I felt like I had to hold myself in so I didn't punch her.

She drew back a little, staring at me. “Why are you so wet?”

“I fell in the freaking lake! What are you doing in my trunk?”

Melissa glanced down at the open lid. One of my shirts had fallen out and was lying on the wood floor. She knew she was busted. “I . . . I lost something,” she finally mumbled.

“Lost something? Well, you didn't lose it in Reb's or Jennifer's trunks, and I can guarantee you didn't lose it in
mine
!”

Melissa frowned at me. “I know this looks terrible. But honestly, I was just looking for something of mine. I've looked everywhere for it. Maybe I lost it.” Then she looked directly at me. “Or maybe it was stolen.”

My mouth fell open. “Okay, let me get this straight. I catch you searching all our trunks, and now you're accusing us of stealing? We would never steal anything.”

“Oh, no!” Melissa yelled all of a sudden. “No,
you
wouldn't do
that
.” Even though she was mad, her voice was all quavery. “But you
would
short-sheet a person's bed, and you
would
take a person's towel when she's in the shower, and you
would
fly a person's underwear from the flagpole for the whole camp to see and laugh at! You
would
do all
those
things, but you would never
steal
anything!”

She was so obviously out of line, going through our trunks. But now . . . now I couldn't think of how to turn things back around to blaming her. We just stood there, glaring at each other. There was a little puddle around my shoes where I'd dripped. My arms and legs were all broken out in goose bumps, and I just wanted to put on some dry clothes. I wasn't looking for some major fight.

“What did you lose, anyway?” I finally asked her.

“My bracelet!”

And then she started to cry. Not a little sniffle, with tears welling up in her eyes. She was bawling. Out loud. “I lost my bracelet! My grandmother gave it to me! It was hers when she was young. And she died last year!” Man. She was sobbing!

“I never take it off. Except to swim or take a shower. And then I always put it in a safe place in my trunk. And now it's gone! It's lost forever!”

I just stood there, shocked by how upset she was. I should say something. Or do something. I just didn't know what. What I really wanted to do more than anything was just walk out the door. But she was crying so hard, I was kind of scared she might hyperventilate or rupture a blood vessel or something. She sat down on her bed, and now she was holding her head in her hands and was making that hiccuping sound you make when you've been crying for a really long time.

Finally, after standing there for what seemed like an hour, with her crying and me dripping, very quietly I went over to my trunk. It was still open. I got out some dry clothes and changed as fast as I could.

Now I could leave, but I knew I had to say something. “Look, Melissa. I'm sorry you lost your bracelet. Obviously it means a lot to you. But I swear—we didn't steal it.”

“Oh, and I'm supposed to take your word for it?” She looked up at me. Her face was all blotchy, and her eyes were red and swollen, but also full of anger that almost looked like hatred. “Why do you go along with them on
everything
? Why are you so
mean
to me?”

I never tried to be mean. Reb was always coming up with these ideas, and . . . I just went along with them. Melissa never seemed that upset about it, until now.

I hung up my wet clothes so I'd have something to do, but I could feel her staring at me. “It was just a few practical jokes. It's not like we hate you.”

“You used to be my friend. And then you got in with Reb and Jennifer. That was the worst part. I never expected the Evil Twins to be nice, but I thought you were.”

I felt like Melissa had given me a karate chop on the back of my neck. All along, I'd thought I was the nice one. But then I knew. Reb and Jennifer could have done anything—set Melissa's bed on fire, tied her to an anthill, shaved her head and made her go naked to the dance. None of that was as bad as me making “tinkle, tinkle” jokes after we'd gone canoeing together that day. It was worse. Worse for me to do what I did than anything they could've done to her. Melissa didn't expect them to be nice to her. But she'd thought for a little while that I was her friend.

All I wanted was to be to a triplet. A Terrible Triplet.

Melissa's eyes were boring through my back. I stood there with my back to her, both my feet cemented to the floor. “Want me to help you look for your bracelet?” I asked softly over my shoulder.

“Don't bother.”

I didn't turn around to face her.

“Well, I hope you find it.”

I walked out the door and headed toward the lake. But I could still feel that karate chop.

When I finally got back to the lake, morning activities were just ending, and everyone was pulling the canoes ashore.

“What took you so long?” asked Reb. “Did you get lost?”

“Really? I wasn't gone
that
long.”

Reb and Jennifer came out of the shed where they'd hung up their paddles. Reb stared at me. “Are you okay?”

“Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?” Could they tell by looking at me what had just happened? Was my face still red?

Reb shrugged. “I don't know. You just look a little funny.”

“I'm fine!” The last thing I needed right now was the third degree.

“Good. Then let's go.”

“Go where?”

“Back to the cabin, of course. You know—hang out, wait for lunch. Do what we do pretty much every day.” Reb looked at me.

“Oh, yeah. I guess activities are over now.” I took a deep breath, trying to act normal. But as we walked to the cabin, my stomach was doing backflips. What if Melissa was still there?

Would she still be in the middle of a nervous breakdown? Would she accuse them of stealing her bracelet too? She wouldn't if she knew what was good for her, but she was practically out of her mind right now. Who knew what crazy thing she might try? I couldn't take any more drama. At least not in the next fifteen minutes.

I held my breath and crossed my fingers behind my back. If only I could think of some excuse for us not to go back to the cabin. But I couldn't. Anyway, they'd see right through that, and then they'd be really suspicious, wondering why I was trying to keep them away.