Second Time's the Charm (15 page)

Everyone laughed, but Sarah felt her face start to burn. “Well, that's only if I
get
sports this session,” she said, quickly changing the subject, “which I really hope I do. Plants are nice, but I can't deal with much more leaf rubbing and algae collecting.”

Grace chuckled. “Come on, that was fun. Especially when you fell in the lake.”

Sarah snorted, recalling the sample-collection-gone-awry. She'd come out covered in green goo and had to run back to their bunk to change while Grace tested their sample for pollution. “Yeah, fun for
you.
”

At that moment, their counselor Becky walked into the room, holding a notebook and followed closely by their CIT, Sophie. “All right, guys!” Becky said with a smile. “Time flies when you're having fun, but here we are two weeks into camp, and it's time to switch activities. Everyone enjoy what you had last time?”

Most of the girls shouted “Yes!” or cheered, but Sarah was a little more subdued. “Sort of,” she muttered.

Alex glanced over at her and winked. “We'll all have sports together this time,” she whispered. “I can feel it.”

Becky looked around at the girls and smiled right at Sarah. “Sarah, you're first up.”

Sarah felt her heart start to pound as she got up and followed Becky into the small counselor's bedroom. It wasn't a
scared
excited she felt, it was a
good
excited. The last two weeks had been kind of weird, what with 3C getting split up, Sarah not getting into sports, and Abby, the biggest jock at Sarah's middle school, suddenly showing up in her bunk. Though she'd been glad to be back at Camp Lakeview, among her camp friends, Sarah had been feeling a little out of place—not the sports star she usually was at camp, not getting to hang with
all
of her friends, and not quite knowing how to approach Abby, who only knew her as quiet, bookish Sarah from back home.

But now, everything was about to shift into place. Sarah would be in sports again with all her buddies, and she'd surely impress the pants off Abby with her athletic skills, which would make Abby see how much they had in common and that they should be friends. Just like that, the summer would go from “okay” to “awesome.” And Sarah could stop worrying about whether she fit in and just go with the flow, like last year.

“All right, Sarah,” Becky said, sitting down and flipping open her notebook. “Good news for you, I think. I know you were bummed not to get sports last time, but just like I promised, I tried extra hard to fit you in this time. So you've got sports and arts and crafts, babe. You can thank me later—I accept cash, checks, and jelly beans.” Becky looked up at Sarah and winked. “Just kidding about the cash and checks. But seriously—jelly beans are always welcome.”

Sarah jumped up and whooped. “That's awesome, Becky! Thank you so much!” She threw her arms around her counselor in a quick hug. “I don't have any jelly beans, but if I come across any, they're yours. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Becky squeezed Sarah and smiled. “No problem, Sarah. You were a great sport about it last session, no pun intended, and I really appreciate that. So have a great time, and send in Alex next.”

“Sure.” Sarah felt like she was walking on air back to the other room. It was amazing how fast things could start to look up! She walked back over to her friends and told Alex to head in to Becky.

“So what'd you get?” Alex demanded before leaving.

“Sports and arts and crafts,” Sarah replied with a grin.

“All
right
!” Alex patted her on the back as Grace, Valerie, and Brynn all squealed their excitement.

“This session is going to be the
best,
” Valerie announced. “Just like old times!”

The four of them chatted about the year before while Alex was gone, and when Alex emerged from the counselor's room and walked over, they pounced on her. “What'd you get, what'd you get?”

Alex shrugged sheepishly. “Nature and newspaper,” she replied quietly. She didn't sound as disappointed as Sarah felt, but she didn't sound psyched, either. “Oh well. Looks like algae collection for me. Val, she's ready for you.”

Valerie left, and Sarah scooted over to make room for Alex on the bunk. “That stinks, Al,” she said softly. “Sports won't be half as much fun without you to compete against.”

Alex grinned. “You mean
lose
against,” she said. “But think of these two weeks as a practice time. You'll have two weeks to get up to speed, before we go head-to-head in the last session.”

Sarah looked up and saw Val walking back from Becky's room. Her small smile gave away nothing.

“
So?
” Sarah asked when Val reached the bunk.

“Photography and nature,” Val said with a shrug. “Oh well. I guess you'll have to kick butt for all of us, Sars. Grace, you're up next.”

As Valerie sat back down and the discussion turned back to the social, Sarah tried to push back the rising panic in her chest.
Okay, so Alex didn't get sports. And neither did Valerie. But that doesn't mean it won't be fun! If all the other 3C-ers were in sports with me—even Natalie and Jenna—it would still be fun. It'll still be fun, it'll still be fun, it'll still be fun . . .

Grace came back then. “Nature and photography,” she said with a sigh. “I don't know what's going on, guys. Why aren't any of us getting sports when it was our first choice?”

“It's weird,” Alex agreed. “Poor Sars is going to have to play kickball or whatever with herself.”

Grace rolled her eyes. “There
are
other campers besides us in 4C, Al.”

“That's right,” Candace piped up. “There're plenty of other campers. Like 4A and the whole third division, and the—”

“All
right
,” Alex interrupted. “What I meant was, everyone that
matters
won't be in sports.” She gave Sarah a quick wink to let her know she was kidding.

But Sarah felt herself growing quieter and quieter as the conversation went on.
It's true—nobody's in sports,
she thought when Brynn came back and excitedly announced that she'd gotten drama and ceramics. (“Sorry, Sarah,” she'd said with a shrug.)
So I get to play sports, but I'll be all alone. Where's the fun in that?

Gradually, all the other girls in bunk 4C went in to meet with Becky and came back out with either big smiles on their faces or the more surprised looks of not getting what they expected. For the most part, everyone seemed pretty happy—even Sarah's friends, though they hadn't gotten sports, seemed pretty eager to try out the activities they had. To Sarah's amazement,
none
of the other girls came back and announced they'd gotten sports. Between Gaby and Tiernan, Becky came back out to the girls' bunks and got everyone's attention. “I'm not done yet, but I heard some grumbling out here.” Sarah and her friends exchanged guilty glances. “I know some of you are kind of surprised by not getting your first choice, sports.” Sarah looked around the room. About half her bunkmates were nodding in agreement.

“I just wanted to explain that we had way too many girls sign up for sports this session, so we tried to move anyone who'd had it for the last two weeks into their second choice. Hopefully, next session, things will even out a little bit. So buck up, little campers.” She grinned and returned to the other room.

“Well, that explains things,” Alex said. “Sarah, you're the only one who didn't get sports last time. So you get it this time.”

“I guess.” Sarah shrugged. She didn't know how to say that she'd rather not have it at all than have sports without her friends.

As the last girl met with Becky, the rest of 4C started getting ready for dinner. Sarah ran into the bathroom, washed her hands, and splashed some water on her face. As much as she was trying to keep a positive attitude, Sarah couldn't help feeling like her great, everything-in-place summer had just been destroyed.
I'm going to be all alone in sports and arts and crafts. How could this get any worse?

Sarah heard a whoop from the bunks and walked back out with Alex and Brynn. All of her bunkmates were standing in a group by the door, ready to go to dinner.

“So what'd you get, Abby?” Alex asked in a friendly way as they passed Abby and Gaby on their way out the door.

Abby turned to Alex with a big grin. “I'm so psyched! I got nature and
sports
!”

Sarah felt her heart drop into her stomach. She'd been looking forward to being in sports . . . with her friends. Abby had been cold to her since camp started, and every time they spoke it just seemed to emphasize the fact that Sarah wasn't cool enough for Abby. Being in sports alone with her would ratchet the Awkward Meter up from 5 to about 5,000.

“Okay,” Alex was saying as bunk 4C strolled over to the mess hall, “so we won't have many activities together. But the good news is, this time every summer, the counselors start taking volunteers for the social committee!”

Sarah glanced at her friend and sighed. Alex had been coming to Camp Lakeview for years and years, and she always enjoyed sharing all the tips and secrets she'd gained as a Camp Lakeview veteran. Usually Sarah found that part of Alex's personality kind of funny. But in her current mood, it just annoyed her.

“
And?
” she asked. “And that's relevant to the whole activity thing
because
. . .”

Alex glanced back at her and pouted. “Well, if you'd let me
finish
, I'm definitely signing up for social committee because I want to help make sure this social is the best ever!” Her face brightened as she turned to Brynn and Valerie. “Not that it would be hard to beat last year. Remember that whole animal disaster?”

Sarah couldn't keep herself from smiling. The year before, the campers had agreed upon a square-dance theme—and Jenna and Chelsea, in some fit of really awful judgment, had thought it would be a funny “prank” to bring real animals from the nature shack into the dance. At the time, it had been awful—the animals had panicked, the campers had freaked out, and mayhem ensued. Looking back on it, though, it seemed kind of funny.

“Anyway,” Alex was saying, “
I'm
definitely signing up.”

“Me too!” said Brynn quickly. “I think that's a great idea. And I have all kinds of experience with set decoration and lighting for the stage, so I bet I could really help out with those things.”

“Me too!” squealed Valerie. “I mean, I just want to help plan the dance. Maybe make it a little more elegant than last year?”

Everyone chuckled. It would be hard to get less elegant than last year's disaster.

“I think that's a great idea,” Grace agreed. “I'll sign up. Maybe Devon will want to go.”

Sarah remained silent. She felt her friends all looking back at her, but she didn't say anything. The truth was, she'd rather poke herself in the eye with a sharp stick than spend all that time thinking about a stupid dance. She wanted to get to spend time with her bunkmates, but not
that
way. She'd go crazy listening to them go on and on about boys and who was cuter and who might ask who out . . .

“What do you think, Sars?” Alex asked hopefully. “All four of us on social committee? We'd plan a dance that would keep them talking for years!”

Without looking up from the ground, Sarah shook her head. “I don't think so.”

“Why not?” asked Brynn. “I'm telling you, it's going to be
great
this year. And like I said, maybe there's a great sporty guy out there for you—”

“I said
no
, all right? I really don't care about the stupid social.” Sarah's friends all stopped short in surprise. Sarah felt her eyes start to burn with tears.
I will not start to cry. I will not start to cry. I will not start to cry
. She'd spent the last two weeks feeling out of place, separated from her best friends, and freaked out that Abby had somehow brought all the stress of Winthrop Middle School to Camp Lakeview. Any day now, Abby might tell her bunkmates how
different
she acted back home—all quiet, a teacher's pet. Not at all jokey or competitive, like she was here. For the most part, Sarah was happy being sort of bookish at home—but camp was her chance to be anyone she wanted to be, away from the watchful eyes of her classmates. When she'd first tried sports, she'd been shocked to discover just how good an athlete she was. Even more surprising was how much fun she had doing it.
But now I'm stuck in sports alone with Abby
, she thought miserably.
I won't get to hang out with my best friends—they'll all be too busy planning the stupid social. Why did I have to be put in bunk 4C?

She forced her way through her friends without looking any of them in the eye and plodded forward to the mess hall.

“Hey, Sarah! Sarah! Sarah!”

Sarah blinked and looked right toward the sound of her name. Her friend Jenna, formerly of 3C and now of 4A, was standing on the mess-hall lawn surrounded by a few 4A-ers. She started waving crazily as soon as Sarah looked up, her messy brunette braid flailing as she moved her head to follow Sarah's approach.

“What did you get?” Jenna demanded before Sarah even got all the way up to her.

Sarah sighed. “Sports and arts and crafts.”

Jenna's whole face lit up. “Awesome! I'm in sports, too. We're going to kick some boy butt!”

Standing close by, Natalie and Tori laughed. Sarah glanced over and saw that Alyssa and Chelsea were also there.