Pranked (8 page)

Then I danced with two other guys—one named Brian and another guy who said his name was Franklin. Maybe he was giving me a fake name, or his last name.

But the next guy was Ethan, and he was definitely the nicest of the four so far. He was cute. He had long blond skater hair that covered his eyes, and he was wearing jeans and skateboarding shoes. He kept tilting his head back to see out from under his hair.

After about three dances, it looked like Ethan wasn't interested in dancing with anyone else, which was fine with me.

When I saw Reb at the refreshment table, I asked Ethan if he wanted to get a drink. Reb was with a really cute guy named Cole.

“You two know each other?” Reb asked Cole and Ethan. They mumbled at each other. Guys have this weird nonverbal way of communicating.

“Well, you guys wait here. Kelly and I need to talk.” Reb led me away.

“So how's it going? Do you like him?”

“Yeah, he's really nice. What about Cole? He's
cute
.”

“Yeah, but he's got an ego the size of Montana. Look at Jennifer.”

Jennifer was on the dance floor, still dancing with the same guy who'd first asked her. “Looks like she found her guy,” Reb said with a smile. “Hey, take a look.” She pointed to the dance floor. “Even Melissa found some poor loser to dance with her. He's definitely not her type.”

Melissa's “loser” was kind of cute. He had dark curly hair and a friendly face. If he'd asked me to dance, I would have. Melissa had pulled her hair back in a clip, and she had on a yellow cami and capri jeans. She looked sort of pretty.

“What's her type?” I wondered which of these guys Reb would consider my type.

“Social outcast.” Reb looked around. “Now there. That guy standing over there. He looks like he'd be perfect for Melissa.” She meant this skinny guy with a bad haircut and a lot of acne. “Want to do a little matchmaking?”

I looked over at Ethan. He looked bored. I didn't want to give him too many chances to find somebody else to dance with. “Maybe later. The guys are waiting for us.”

When I got back to Ethan, he suggested we go out on the porch. It was dark now, but the porch lights were on. A lot of people were outside sitting on the porch's wood rails. Rachel was talking with a group of Crockett and Pine Haven counselors at the end of the porch, and when she saw me, she gave me a little wave. I didn't mind being seen with Ethan. It was definitely better than standing around with a bunch of girls, like some people were doing. And Ethan was getting cuter as the night went on.

Ethan had lots of funny stories about the guys in his cabin. I told him about short-sheeting Melissa, and he said he didn't know girls did stuff like that to each other. Then some counselors came by and made us all go back in.

When we walked in, Reb came charging over. “Hey, I've been looking all over for you! Look, Melissa and that guy aren't dancing anymore. Now's our chance to do some matchmaking.”

“What happened to Cole? Where's Jennifer?” I just wanted to dance with Ethan right now. I wasn't sure what kind of matchmaking Reb was planning.

“I ditched him. And Jennifer's still attached to that same guy. So much for triplets. You and me are the Evil Twins on this one. Let's find Melissa the perfect match.”

“Is that the girl you were talking about?” asked Ethan.

“Yeah.” I looked at Reb. “I told him about short-sheeting Melissa. He thought it was funny.”

“What are you going to do to her?”

“We're going to fix her up with somebody more her type,” Reb explained. “Maybe that charming young man.” She pointed out the guy we'd laughed at earlier.

“Oh, no, I got it! This'll be perfect!” Ethan's face lit up. “It's got to be Dustin Nesmith. He's in
my
cabin, and nobody can stand him. He's taken one shower this whole week, and that was because the counselor made him. Look, I'll tell him I know somebody who wants to dance with him. You tell her the same thing.” Then he took off.

Reb grinned at me. “Ethan's cool. Okay, go over to Melissa and set it up. And don't act like it's any big deal for you to be talking to her.”

Okay. This was weird. I'd barely talked to Melissa in days, and now I was supposed to go over and start a conversation? But I had to do it. I was a twin, wasn't I?

I walked up to Melissa with a little smile. “Hi. Having a good time?”

“I guess so.” She was obviously surprised that I was suddenly talking to her again.

“Yeah, me too. I've been dancing with this guy, Ethan, and he has this friend who wants to dance with you. But he's kind of shy. He hasn't danced much, and”—she was giving me this weird look, like I had bean sprouts growing out of my ears—“anyway, he's over there. See those two guys? The one in the green shirt is Ethan, and that's his friend, Dustin.”

Ethan and Dustin were across the floor, looking at us and talking. Dustin had a smirk on his face that didn't make him look at all shy. Melissa folded her arms across her chest like she had motion sickness or something.

“He looks like a nerd,” she said.

“No, he doesn't.” Although he did. “Do you have any idea how hard it is for a guy to ask a girl to dance? C'mon, just one dance.”

“Well . . .”

Dustin was walking toward us, still with that awful smirk on his face. “Here he comes. Just don't break his heart.”

I kind of pushed Melissa toward Dustin and then met Ethan on the dance floor. I was looking around for Reb and finally saw her dancing with some new guy.

“So now what?” I asked Ethan.

Ethan shrugged. “Let's just wait and see what happens. When she gets a whiff of his body odor, she'll probably throw up on him.”

Melissa and Dustin danced the next few dances, and we kept an eye on them the whole time. It seemed like Reb was watching them too, but somehow she and her latest guy had ended up halfway across the room. Dustin was talking between dances, but Melissa wasn't saying much.

When the next song started, the lights dimmed. It was the first slow dance of the night. Ethan and I sort of grabbed each other in this weird way and started slow dancing. Watching Dustin and Melissa slow dance made me wonder if
we
looked that stupid. Dustin's knees were swaying back and forth like he was skiing down a mountain. Melissa had her hands behind his back, but it looked like she was trying not to touch him.

When that song ended, another slow song started. We just kept watching the two of them, which was good. It kept us from having to look at each other. It was the first time I'd ever slow danced with a boy. I was so glad I hadn't eaten any garlic bread.

Then something happened. Dustin and Melissa were slow dancing, and he had his hands on her back. But while I was watching them, I noticed that slowly, ever so slowly, he was moving his hands farther and farther down. Just how far was he planning to go? And didn't Melissa notice?

Then all of a sudden, when his hands went too far down, she jumped back out of his arms. Everyone around them looked at them. Melissa crossed her arms and walked away. She just left Dustin standing there.

Ethan was laughing so hard that now everyone was staring at
us
. “Did you see where his hands were?” he asked.

“YES! I can't believe she didn't slap him,” I said.

“I wonder if any of the other guys saw it,” he said, trying to make himself stop laughing. His eyes were watering and he needed a Kleenex.

I felt bad for Melissa. I wondered if Reb saw it. I looked around, but I couldn't see her in the crowd. Dustin had wandered off to stand with some other guys. He looked like he didn't care.

Then I had a thought—had Ethan put him up to it? Maybe he bribed him or dared him to do it. He sure thought it was funny. But would he do something that mean? Or was Dustin a complete freak on his own without any help from his friends?

Pretty soon they announced that it was the last song, and then the lights went back up and we all left the dining hall to go wait by the vans and trucks. Ethan walked out with me. “That was a lot of fun. I guess I'll see you at the next dance, huh?” he asked.

Wow, that was practically like asking for a second date! “Yeah! I had a good time tonight.” Because I did. And I wanted him to know it.

“Yeah, me too. I'll see ya, Kelly.” He kind of squeezed my hand before he walked away to where a bunch of guys were standing.

So. A hand squeeze. For a split second when we were saying good-bye, I had a thought. What if he tried to kiss me? Wasn't that what you did at moments like this?

But he didn't. He didn't even come close. We'd been standing about two feet apart, and that's a huge space. How do you ever even close up a space that big?

I looked around at the big crowd of people wandering around. It was dark, but you could still see from the lights of the dining hall porch. I let out a sigh. My face felt hot. I was relieved. But also a little disappointed. It's weird that I could be both at the exact same time.

I finally saw Reb waiting by the white van we'd ridden over in. She grabbed my arm and dragged me around to the other side of the van. “Did you see it? Did you see what happened?” she asked me.

“Oh, you mean Dustin and Melissa?”

“Of course! What else? Did you see how he grabbed her! Why didn't we have a camera to capture the moment?” She held out her closed fist for me to pound it. “Excellent job setting her up. I can't believe how great it worked out!”

“Thanks.” I'd been a good twin. But what if Ethan had done that to me when we were slow dancing? I probably would've reacted the same way Melissa did.

Then Rachel found us and made us get into the van. Jennifer had finally shown up. “That was the best dance I've ever been to.” She sighed. She looked lovesick and stupid.

“Ah, but you missed the highlight of the evening.” Reb started whispering to her so I knew she was filling her in. Rachel had turned the van around, and the wheels crunched on the gravel road. “Did everyone have a good time?” she asked.

“I had a great time,” Reb yelled. “Melissa, how 'bout you? Did you have a great time? I saw you dancing a lot.” She'd turned around to Melissa, who was sitting on the bench behind us.

Melissa didn't answer. I couldn't tell what she was doing, since I didn't dare turn around. Did she think it was my fault Dustin did that to her? I certainly didn't put him up to it. Maybe I should try to talk to her tomorrow.

Reb rested her chin on the back of our seat. “Mewissa. Did oo hear me? Did oo have a gweat time?” she said in this annoying baby voice.

“Yeah.” That was it. That's all she said. Why did Reb hate her so much? Sure, she was geeky, but I've seen geekier. There had to be a reason. What if, when camp started, I'd fallen into the “pick on” group instead of the “be nice to” group? What if Reb had really gotten mad that day I made the comment about her father, and she'd turned on me? It just seemed so random. What a relief to be Reb's friend, instead of her enemy.

“Hey, look,” said Molly. “Jockey shorts. Lots of them.” We looked out the windows, and hanging over the Camp Crockett sign, this wooden arch you drive under, were all these pairs of boys' underwear. And they were pink. And there was a huge sign made out of pink construction paper that said something we couldn't quite read.

“What did it say?” asked Jordan.

“Something about ‘Thanks for a great dance from the . . .' and then I couldn't read the rest,” said Erin.

“I think it said ‘from the Pink Team,' ” said Rachel. “What's up with that, Tis?”

Tisdale shook her head like she didn't have a clue. “Tsk, tsk. I guess some Pine Haven girls were up to some mischief.”

When we walked into the cabin from afternoon activities, we saw this huge canvas bag sitting by the door. On Sunday we'd sent all our dirty clothes out in a bag just like this one. “Yay! The laundry's here!” said Jennifer.