Second Time's the Charm (11 page)

“RAID!!!”

“WOO-HOO!”

“4C RULES!”

“You guys never saw it coming, did you?”

Stunned, Natalie sat up in bed so quickly that she banged her head against the top bunk. “What the—” she asked no one in particular. “Ow,” she added as an afterthought.

In a flash, the lights were on and the campers of bunk 4C were weaving in and out of the bunk beds. They were cheering as quiet-loudly as they could and tossing toilet paper and confetti. They'd painted their faces in faux-camouflage, and the effect was startling. Alex and Brynn, in particular, looked very . . . intense.

“
What
are you guys doing here?” Natalie asked, finally wide awake and ripped from her stupor.

“We have to hand it to you,
Bloom
,” Brynn said, shooting Jenna a knowing look. “That was pretty awesome, putting fake flies in our scrambled eggs.” She made a face. “Gross, but awesome.”

“We told you we'd get you back,” Val put in.

“We figured we owed you one,” Sarah chimed in.

“Yeah, we owed you one,” Candace said. Candace had a habit of repeating what other people said.

“That's so stupid,” Chelsea spat. “I mean, really. If you
owe
us one, why don't you
prank
us back? Not come by with”—she gestured toward the bags of what everyone knew were goodies in Sarah's and Tiernan's arms—“food and stuff. When someone pranks you, you don't throw them a party.” She wrinkled her nose. Even with her nose wrinkled and nasty words coming out of her mouth, Chelsea was pretty. It really wasn't fair.

“That's exactly what I said,” Gaby chimed in, looking sullen.

It was funny, Nat thought, to see the two camp bullies side by side. They were so similar and they didn't even realize it. But she couldn't dwell, she knew, when Jenna was reaching into her trunk and pulling out the mother lode of chocolate, chips, and pretzels.

“Listen, guys,” Jenna protested, “I had nothing to do with that prank. But as long as you're here . . .” She rustled a package of potato chips noisily.

“Well, they surprised us, that's for sure,” Natalie said, sliding out of her bed and making her way to the food without further delay. “And that's what counts. Let's eat!”

“Is there food for Alex?” Alyssa asked.

“Covered,” Alex said, brandishing a small bag of what the girls knew was sugar-free gummy candy.

The two bunks settled into their impromptu party, laughing, talking, and teasing one another. Natalie was definitely impressed that her friends from 4C had managed to pull this off and keep it a total surprise until the last minute.

“Yeah, we had to wait, like,
forever
until Sophie went out. It's her night off, so even after Becky had gone to the staff meeting, she was hanging around and getting ready for some date or something,” Grace said. She rolled her eyes.

“Oh, don't play it so cool, Gracie,” Natalie said, laughing. “You know if you had a date with Devon, you might spend a few extra minutes gettin' pretty!”

Grace blushed to the tips of her earlobes, and the girls cackled. Devon had been Grace's partner in drama the summer before, and the two had totally crushed on each other. They weren't boyfriend and girlfriend the way that Nat and Simon were, but there was something there. Definitely.

“You should talk, Natalie,” Grace said, smiling. “I hear you and Simon are in
looooove
.” She made a kissy face and loud, smacking sounds.

“Come on—” Natalie said, starting to protest.

“—They completely are,” Alyssa said, cutting in. “They're together 24/7.”

The way she said it, it didn't sound like a harmless throwaway comment. Nat paused, wondering how to respond. Alyssa wasn't ever nasty, and certainly not on purpose. Maybe she was being too sensitive. Maybe.

But Nat just didn't think so.

“Girls!
What
is going on in here?”

The girls looked up in unison to find Mia and Andie bearing down at them. Their tone was stern and their arms were crossed over their chests, but their eyes were twinkling.

“Uh . . . it's a raid,” Jenna offered. “And, for once, it's totally not my fault.”

Everyone had to laugh at that, even the counselors.

“But I'm guessing that
is
your food,” Andie said, pointing accusingly at the stash lying on the floor.

Jenna nodded. “Guilty as charged.” She shook her head. “We had guests, I had to offer food. It's just good manners.”

Andie gave an exasperated smile, but she looked amused. “Right, Bloom. Manners.” She clapped her hands authoritatively. “You've got ten minutes to clean this up and return to your beds—that goes for the 4As and the 4Cs. I have a feeling Becky's on to you by now. If you can get this place back into the shape it was in before I left, and get out of here, we'll go easy on you.”

Andie was being seriously cool. After all, they could have gotten in a lot of trouble for being up after lights-out. The girls sprung into action, relieved to be escaping punishment. The stomachaches they would have in the morning would definitely be punishment enough.

It wasn't until later, just before she finally drifted off to sleep for real, that Natalie's mind wandered back to the comment Alyssa had made. Was she spending too much time with Simon? Was that what was bothering Alyssa? It seemed like Alyssa was spending just as much time with Tori as Nat was with Simon. Would they be able to get their friendship back on track before it was too late?

chapter
NINE

Like Saturday, Sunday at camp was a day of rest, where the schedule was relaxed and the girls could spend some time just chilling out, easing back into the week. Natalie had a feeling that the weekend vibe was as much for the counselors as it was for the campers, but she'd take it, no complaints! Any morning where she got to sleep late (if nine could really be considered late) was a fabulous, fun-filled morning for Natalie.

On Sundays, Dr. Steve skipped flag-raising and let the campers go straight to breakfast. It was his idea of “dispensing with the formalities,” as though he never realized that nothing about camp was all that formal, anyway. No one minded taking a leisurely brunch, though. Of course, nothing that was served in the mess hall was exactly gourmet, but the cooks made an effort to do something special for Sunday breakfast: pancakes, French toast, and sometimes, when the campers were particularly lucky, something that didn't require any actual cooking at all (and therefore, couldn't be spoiled).

“Doughnuts! Awesome!” Jenna shrieked, seeing a buffet table set up along the far wall of the mess hall on this particular Sunday. “Out of the way, girls, I'm getting me a jelly!” She darted forward in a flash, her curly brown ponytail bobbing blurrily in her wake.

Everyone clamored to be first on line for the delicious—and thrillingly
non
-homemade—pastries. Suddenly a loud whistle pierced the air. It was Dr. Steve, standing on a chair at the head of the room, holding a clipboard and looking, for him, quite official.

“Yes, we're all very hungry and we all want to have a chance to get our first pick of doughnuts, but we're going to have to form a
single file line
at the buffet table.” In response to the chorus of groans that rang out, he raised his voice. “I know, I know, it's a huge hassle,” he teased. “But if you can't keep to the line, you will be pulled out of it, and you will have to wait until everyone else has gone.”

Immediately, the campers fell into perfect formation.

“I thought that might be the encouragement you needed,” Dr. Steve said knowingly. “Now. Announcements. First off, anyone who wants to e-mail his or her parents should talk to your counselor about setting up a time. I should warn you, it will mean giving up some of your siesta time, so please take that into consideration. Also, on Thursday night, we will be having our first division campout—so, fourth years, get set, because you're the lucky winners!”

Cheers erupted on par with those emitted for the doughnuts. This was great news—even for Natalie!
Whatever,
she thought.
Last summer I learned to appreciate the value of a great campout.

This year, she'd actually know what she was doing. He'd be so impressed.

But—oh. This would be a great opportunity to take a step toward Alyssa, Natalie realized. They could tent together. She spotted Alyssa a few paces back in the doughnut line, so she sacrificed her own slightly cushier position for the sake of catching up with her friend.

“Hey, Lyss,” she said, feeling suddenly more nervous than she would have expected, “maybe we can—”

“Natalie! We were just talking about the tent situation!” Tori said brightly. Somehow she already had what looked suspiciously like a glazed blueberry doughnut tucked away on a small paper plate, despite being reasonably far from the buffet table. Nat's eyes almost bugged out of her head; blueberry doughnuts were her own favorite. They were also
very
hard to come by. “You
have
to be in our tent!” Tori continued.

“You—you want me in
your
tent?” Natalie asked in disbelief.

“Of course,” Tori said. “You're, like, my soul sister here. I think you were meant to be my Girl Scout.” She winked. “I hear you know nature inside and out.”

Tori had misunderstood her shock, Nat realized. It wasn't that she couldn't believe that Tori would want to be in a tent with her.

Rather, it was that she couldn't fathom that she was being invited to join her BFF and another random girl—albeit a very nice girl with great fashion sense and a good sense of humor—as though she were some sort of hideous third wheel. She was mortified.

She looked quickly to Alyssa who, instead of rolling her eyes reassuringly or saying something normal, like, say, “Duh, of
course
you're going to be in our tent,” just glanced downward. “Do you want to?” she offered halfheartedly, after an excruciating beat.

Did she want to? Natalie wondered. Not exactly. Not in this freaky, upside-down world where she and Alyssa were about as friendly as Superman and Lex Luthor. But she couldn't exactly say no. Saying no would be like throwing in the towel, quitting, giving up her friendship with Alyssa without even a fight. And Natalie for sure wasn't a quitter. Especially when her friends were involved.

“I'm in,” she said, gritting her teeth determinedly. And marched off to find another blueberry doughnut.

Later that afternoon, the fourth division was involved in a heavy game of capture the flag. It was boys against girls, which was always good for drumming up people's competitive spirits. Jenna's twin brother, Adam, was guarding his team's flag very earnestly, making taunting faces at any of the girls who dared to get close.

Natalie hung to the back of the field, feeling uninspired. She thought she might have used up her summer's allotment of athleticism the other day during kickball. So far this afternoon, Alyssa hadn't spoken much to her. Of course, a huge division-wide competition wasn't the best time to get all up close and personal, but then again, somehow that had never stopped them before.

Bored, Natalie let her gaze wander around the field. She saw Gaby and Chelsea huddled together, strategizing—though whether it was about the game or about how to terrorize their bunkmates, Nat couldn't be sure. She saw Sarah streaking across the green like her life depended on it. Another girl from her bunk—was it Abby?—was hot on Sarah's heels. Maybe they had a sort of bait-and-switch plan of action going on. She saw Priya guarding Jordan, as usual.
Just friends, huh?
she wondered.
Well, maybe.

All around her, Natalie's friends were Highly Involved in capture the flag. No one looked as quiet, moody, or—let's face it—as downright lonely as Natalie felt. Jenna and Jessie were screaming, tearing forward, and laughing hysterically. Valerie and Brynn were standing off to one corner, eyeing the boys' defense. In fact, the only other people on the field who looked as subdued as Natalie felt were . . .

The only other people on the field who looked as subdued, as intensely withdrawn as Natalie felt, were two people who, in Natalie's opinion, had no business shoving their heads quite so close together.

Tori and Simon.

What on earth could Simon and Tori be discussing so . . .
passionately
?

It's not enough that she steals my best friend?
Natalie thought, fuming.
Now she has to go after my boyfriend, too? Nice.