Second Time's the Charm (14 page)

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Authors: Melissa J. Morgan

BOOK: Second Time's the Charm
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“And I was so disappointed that you overheard us, after we went to all that trouble to keep it on the downlow,” Alyssa cut in. “That's why I gave you such a hard time about listening in. I was a spaz. Do you forgive me?”
“Are you kidding?” Natalie exclaimed. She couldn't believe what amazing friends she had. Even when things were all screwy between them, they were helping her boyfriend out and making sure she had a special day. “You guys are, like, the best,
ever
. I won't even ask what you recommended to Simon.”
“No way,” Tori said. “There should be at least some element of the unexpected left. And you'd better act shocked when he gives you the gift, whatever it is!” She made a big, exaggerated motion of zipping her lips, locking them, and tossing away the key.
“Deal!” Natalie said. A thought crossed her mind. “Our anniversary! Maybe that's why he wants to, like, kiss me.”
“What?”
Tori and Alyssa shrieked in unison.
“This is what I was trying to tell you the other day when you were playing cards,” Natalie said, giggling. “But you wouldn't be disturbed.”
“Oh. My. God. You should have made us aware of the gravity of the situation,” Alyssa chided her. “Now. Spill.”
“But, of course,” Natalie said obligingly. There was nothing she'd rather do, after all, than have a nice, juicy, heart-to-heart with Alyssa and Tori.
Her
two
camp BFFs.
Second time's the charm,
Natalie thought, warming to her story.
Totally.
EPILOGUE
“How do you feel, Nat?”
“Does it itch?”
“Is your throat swelling?”
“Leave it to Princess Natalie to turn the campout into a high-drama scenario.”
Natalie was propped up on no fewer than three fluffy pillows in the camp infirmary, soaking in the cool AC and the good vibes and well-wishes of her friends from 4A and 4C. Well, everyone except Chelsea, who could never resist a snarky comment.
Natalie had thought that the rest of the campout would be perfect, once she, Alyssa, and Tori had worked things out. Even Simon noticed the renewed spring in her step. But early on Saturday morning, Natalie's legs erupted in hives, and she broke out into a serious fever. It seemed that when she had run out of the tent and away from Alyssa, she had run headfirst into a raging patch of poison oak and was suffering a massive allergic reaction.
So much for my dreams of Outward Bound
, Natalie thought wryly.
I guess I still have a ways to go when it comes to becoming One with Nature.
Susan, the head counselor of the fourth division, had whisked Natalie back to camp in her car, which was, not surprisingly, a much smoother ride than any yellow school bus, and Natalie had spent Saturday and Sunday in the infirmary with cold compresses pressed against her legs and hopped up on baby aspirin. Nurse Helen had even rolled an ancient black-and-white television set into Natalie's room.
All in all, it wasn't exactly the worst way to spend forty-eight hours. Ceaseless, merciless itching notwithstanding.
“You missed the
best
time, Natalie,” Jenna said. “On Saturday night, someone snuck into the boys' tents and went through their backpacks.
And
they tossed their underwear into the lake. It
wasn't
me,” she swore. She grinned devilishly. “But it was
awesome
.”
Natalie cracked up. “It sounds awesome,” she agreed. “I'm sorry I missed it.”
“We're sorry, too,” Alyssa said. “I'd hug you, but . . .” She gestured at the compresses.
“Right, right, we need to contain the damages,” Natalie said. “Wouldn't want to spread my cooties or anything.”
Nurse Helen came into the room, waving a thermometer. “Natalie, this room's getting a little crowded, don't you think?” she asked, not unkindly.
Natalie grinned. “Yes, I'm stunningly popular. It's my cross to bear.”
“We can take a hint,” Grace said, pretending to pout. She waved a finger. “But we
will
be back tomorrow,” she said, making it sound like a threat.
The girls filed out, followed by Nurse Helen.
“Oh, Nurse Helen,” Natalie called after her, not wanting to shout too loudly and irritate her throat. “What are the chances you'd bring me a cup of tea?”
“I'd say your chances are excellent. But, unfortunately, I'm not a qualified RN.”
Natalie looked up to see Simon walking into the room bearing a steaming Styrofoam cup of what she knew was her favorite—peppermint tea. “Hey,” she said, brightening at the sight of him. “I thought visiting hours were over for the day.”
Simon winked. “Nurse Helen was willing to cut me a deal when I explained how our anniversary got busted up.”
Natalie blushed. “I'm sorry I had to leave the campout early.”
Simon glanced at the television set, and then back at Natalie. He raised an eyebrow. “No, you're not.”
“Busted,” Natalie said, smiling guiltily. “But I'm sorry I missed our anniversary.” That much was definitely true.
“Well, I, um, got you something,” Simon said, suddenly looking incredibly uncomfortable. It was adorable how nervous he was. Natalie had no problem whatsoever pretending that Alyssa and Tori had never given her a heads-up.
“A present?” she asked. “No way. That's too sweet.”
He thrust a small, delicately wrapped box at her awkwardly. “Tori helped me wrap it. And Alyssa picked it out. Well, she made the suggestion. And then my mom sent it up once I told her what to get.”
“I can't believe you went to so much trouble,” Natalie said in amazement. She fingered the box gingerly. “Can I open it?”
“You'd better,” Simon quipped. “The suspense is killing me.”
Natalie eagerly ripped into the gift wrap. “Ooooh,” murmured, fishing out a dainty silver charm bracelet. “Wow.”
“Do you like it?” Simon asked, sounding insecure.
“I
love
it,” Natalie said. “Thank you so much.” She held out her wrist. “Will you help me put it on?”
Simon leaned over and fastened the bracelet to her wrist. They both admired it for a moment, not saying anything. Then Simon broke the silence. “I'm really excited about our anniversary,” he said.
“Me too,” Natalie agreed. She couldn't help but notice that his face was very close to hers. Was this it—the big kiss moment? With Nurse Helen right in the other room? Was she ready?
Simon leaned in before she even had time to decide. Natalie squeezed her eyes shut, her stomach exploding like a packet of pop rocks. And then she felt it. Simon's lips touch down, ever so lightly.
On her forehead.
Natalie's eyes flew open. Her
forehead
! It was perfect! Simon wasn't ready for kissing yet, either. Natalie exhaled, only at that moment realizing that she'd been holding her breath in anticipation. She reached out and squeezed his hand, more sure than ever that he was, without a doubt, the sweetest, most perfect, most understanding boyfriend in the whole wide world. “Happy anniversary,” she said, beaming.
“You too,” Simon replied, looking quite pleased with himself. “Are you glad you came back this summer?”
“Are you kidding?” Natalie asked. “Second time's the charm.”
Turn the page for a sneak preview of
camp CONFIDENTIAL Second Summer
WISH YOU WEREN
,
T HERE
available now!
chapter
ONE
Hey, Diane!
I was so glad to get your letter yesterday, you have no idea. And thanks for sending the books—I've never read
The Phantom Tollbooth
or
Elsewhere
, but if they're as great as you say, I'm sure I'll love them! I've finished up all the assigned summer reading, too, so I've been looking for a new book. I can't believe we're going to be eighth-graders next year! That makes us practically high schoolers! Can you believe it?? I feel like we were just in Mrs. Underhill's first-grade class, learning how to sound out words and yelling at the boys for calling her Mrs. Underwear!
So how are things back home? Have you been hanging out with Taylor a lot? Are you and your family still going up to Lake Winnipesaukee this year? I never thought I'd say it, but I've been thinking about home a lot lately. It's not that I don't l
ove
being back at Camp Lakeview—I do. But so much has changed this year. Like I wrote you, they split up all the girls who were in my bunk last year, 3C. It's not so bad—we still all hang out together, and some of the new girls are pretty cool—but I still miss having everyone together.
And then, well—can you
believe
who showed up at camp this year? Maybe that's why I can't stop thinking about home—this year, “home” has come to camp. You'd think it would be nice having a girl from back home here at camp. We could tell stories about home, introduce each other to our new friends, and hang out. Instead it's just . . . I dunno . . .
awkward
. I try to be nice, but I really get the feeling she doesn't want to hang out with me, like I'm not popular enough or something. But this is
camp
, not school! ARRRGGH! It's so frustrating. Everyone thinks we should be best buddies because we're from the same town, but I think she'd rather eat bugs than be my friend. I don't know why. I've always thought she was sorta cool . . .
“Sarah?”
At the sound of her name, Sarah felt herself jump about three feet in the air. As soon as she looked down at the person calling her, she felt her face flush bright red. She knew there was no way that Abby could have known she was writing about her, but she still felt funny. She and Abby weren't friends, exactly, but they'd never out-and-out fought, either. Pasting a big smile on her face, Sarah shoved the unfinished letter into the envelope and stood up from the low tree branch she was sitting on.
“Yeah?”
Abby pulled her long brown hair out of its ponytail and piled it in a messy knot at the back of her neck. “Becky wants us all back inside the cabin,” she explained, not quite looking Sarah in the eye. “She sent me out here to get you. They're telling us what free-choice activities we got this session.”
Sarah felt her smile turn into a real one at that news, even though Abby turned around and started walking back to the cabin without even waiting for her to catch up.
Activities,
she thought.
Meaning hopefully, by this time tomorrow, Alex, Brynn, Valerie, and I will all be in sports together again. Awesome!
Even though camp had only been in session for two weeks, Sarah felt like she might lose it completely if she didn't get to take part in some athletic activity very soon. Each session, every camper was assigned two elective activities, and Sarah
always
signed up for sports—along with Alex, Brynn, Valerie, and a bunch of their other friends from 3C. Last session, though, Sarah ended up getting photography and nature. And while she'd enjoyed them both, she felt like a piece of her body was missing. She
needed
to play sports. And this year—with Abby McDougal, Jock Extraordinaire from Sarah's very own middle school, not only at Camp Lakeview but in the same bunk as Sarah—she felt like she had a lot to prove.
Sarah ran to catch up with Abby, still wearing her big smile. Abby looked a little surprised, like she hadn't expected Sarah to smile at her. “So . . . ” Abby said awkwardly, “what did
you
sign up for?”
“Sports,” Sarah replied. “And something else. I don't remember. Sports is the most important.”
“Really?” asked Abby. If she'd looked surprised before, now she looked shocked. “I didn't think you were that great an athlete. I thought you would have signed up for, I don't know—
newspaper
or something.”
Sarah cringed. Abby said “newspaper” like it was the lamest thing imaginable. Abby was about the best female athlete at Winthrop Middle School, and since sports were really important in Winthrop, that made her one of the popular kids. Sarah didn't play sports at school, and was
not
one of the popular kids. She felt like Abby was trying to tell her she wasn't
cool
enough to play sports.
“
Actually,
” Sarah replied, “I really like playing sports at camp. Me, Alex, Brynn, and Valerie always sign up to play. We all try to be on the same team, and we have an awesome time together. Maybe we'll see you there.”
Sarah ran ahead and opened the cabin door, letting it bang behind her. As she entered the cabin, she saw her bunkmates all collected in their bedroom, sitting in small groups on the bottom bunks. Abby followed close behind and went to sit with Gaby, and Alex, Brynn, Valerie, and Grace waved at Sarah and motioned for her to come sit down with them. Sarah shoved her letter into her cubby and scooted over to join her friends.
“Can you believe it's time to switch activities already?” Alex was saying. “I feel like camp just
started.
Pretty soon it'll be time for the social.”
“Ugh, don't remind me,” Sarah muttered. She loved almost everything about camp but, having zero interest in boys, couldn't care less about the social.
“Oh, come on,” Brynn teased. “You don't know, Sarah. Maybe one of the guys out there has a
mad
crush on you. He'll watch you make the winning goal in sports and then run over and tell you how much he
luuuuuurves
you. . . . At the social, you guys can sit in the corner cuddling and talking about the Red Sox scores or whatever.”

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