by Chloe Taylor
Her plans to have lunch with Priti were foiled by Brooke, who told her that for lunch, they had to eat with their bunkmates, as a bonding exercise. Zoey wondered if she was really helping Priti at all since they weren’t doing the same activities and couldn’t even eat together. But when she spotted her friend across the cafeteria, she seemed to be having a good time chatting with the girls from her cabin. Zoey got a burrito and went to sit with the girls from her own bunk. She liked the girls, but the burrito . . . not so much. But then Brooke made up for her burrito blues by handing her a letter from Marcus. He must have mailed it before she even left for camp!
Zoey read the letter on her way to arts and crafts:
Dear Zoey,
Hey! How are the creepy-crawlies treating you? Hope you’re surviving life back in uniform and with NO COMPUTER! *Shock, horror*
Life here at Casa Webber is pretty much the same as usual. Allie says hi! Yes, we’re still a thing, in case you’re wondering.
Any cute guy campers at Blue Mountain Camp? (Don’t worry, I won’t tell Dad-if you pay me enough to keep my mouth shut! )
Aunt Lulu and Buttons say hi and woof!
Xo,
Marcus
Zoey stuffed the letter into her pocket. It made her miss Marcus. And home. Luckily, when she walked into arts and crafts, she saw a sort-of familiar face—Campbell, the sweet girl from her cabin with the bright red sneakers. She waved Zoey over to sit at the same table.
“Hey, are you okay?” Campbell asked.
“I just got a letter from my brother,” Zoey confessed. “It made me homesick, and I only just got here!”
“This is your first time at sleepaway camp, right?”
Zoey nodded.
“Don’t worry. Lots of people get homesick at first. It’ll get easier.”
The girls chatted away as they painted. Campbell was a bit quiet at first, but soon she became really animated. Zoey was having so much fun talking that she accidentally spilled paint on her pants.
“Maybe this uniform thing isn’t such a bad idea after all,” she muttered.
“Yeah,” Campbell said. “Stuff gets really gross after six weeks in the woods. It’s better if it doesn’t happen to your clothes!”
After the crafts session, the two walked to dinner together.
“I hope dinner is better than lunch,” Zoey said. “My burrito was pretty barf-worthy.”
“I didn’t think it was that bad,” Campbell said. “I kind of liked it, actually. Maybe I was just really hungry?”
“Oh, sorry! Well, I think I’m going to get cereal for dinner,” Zoey said, “just to be safe.”
She went over to the cereal bar, which was offered as an option at every meal. After pouring herself a heaping bowl, she looked around for Priti, who she’d promised to meet for dinner. She spotted her . . . sitting next to Campbell!
How did Campbell and Priti know each other? And wasn’t she just talking to Campbell in the food line? How did she manage to sit down so fast?
Zoey turned around, and to her disbelief, Campbell was walking toward her with a tray.
“Where do you want to sit?” Campbell asked.
“Wait . . . ,” Zoey said, looking back over at Priti and the other Campbell. “Um . . . I think I’m starting to see things. Because my friend Priti is sitting over there . . . with someone who looks like your clone!”
Campbell started laughing.
“You’re not seeing things, and she’s not a clone. She’s my twin sister, Taylor. C’mon, I’ll introduce you.”
They walked over to where Priti and Taylor were sitting.
“Hey, Priti!” Zoey said, and then turned to Campbell. “Priti is my BFF from home.”
“Hi, Zo,” Priti said when she looked up from her plate . . . and then she saw Campbell. “Whaaaaa?”
She looked back and forth, from Campbell to Taylor and back again.
“I think I have sunstroke from canoeing all day,” she said. “I’m seeing double!”
“No, you’re not! We’re twins!” Taylor said.
“Identical twins,” added Campbell.
“OMG, you—you’re like carbon copies,” Priti said, shaking her head. “You guys even have matching French braids . . . and the same red sneakers. WOW.”
Zoey and Campbell sat down to join the other two girls.
“Sorry,” Taylor said. “We didn’t mean to freak you out, really.”
“Yeah,” Campbell added. “It’s just that we wanted to spend the first day at camp being ourselves first and then twins second, because we never get a chance to do that. We had no idea we’d end up making friends with two girls who were already friends!”
“We’re like BFF twins!” Priti said.
“Well, except that we don’t look anything alike,” added Zoey, scooping up a spoonful of cereal.
“So . . . I have to ask. Zoey, why are you having cereal for dinner?” Taylor asked.
“Well, I didn’t love the burrito at lunch,” Zoey explained. “But mostly because my dad’s really into health food, so I don’t eat sugary cereal at home. It’s so good, I might just have to eat it for every meal for the entire six weeks!”
“Warning, everyone! We might have to stage a cerealvention,” Priti announced. “We don’t want Zoey to go home from camp with dentures because all her teeth have fallen out from eating all that sugar!”
“Don’t worry, Priti, I’m only joking,” Zoey said. “Well, half joking.”
After dinner, the girls headed out to the camp’s kickoff bonfire down by the lake. Priti was the first to spot the picnic tables, where trays were piled high with graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate bars.
“S’mores!” Priti exclaimed. “This camp just gets better and better!”
They feasted on s’mores, sang songs, and looked for constellations in the darkened sky above the treetops. By the time they made their way back to their cabins, the four girls were already fast friends.
CHAPTER 8
Pining Over Pinecones
Dear Dad and Marcus,
I’m having a great time—in spite of the bug bites and burritos! Even though Priti and I aren’t in the same bunk, we’ve both made new friends, and guess what? They’re identical twins!! Not only that, in their uniforms, it’s impossible to tell them apart, especially since they wear their hair the same way and have the same bright red sneakers, too, so it can get pretty confusing. The sketch is inspired by the nature walk we took yesterday. The pinecones and tree rings were so beautiful. They almost made me forget to miss my cell phone! Almost, but not quite . . . Don’t worry Dad, I’m getting lots of fresh air. I’m turning into a regular outdoorsy girl, which is great except for all the mosquito bites. Thanks for reminding me to pack the anti-itch stuff. You rock! Even though I’m having fun, I miss you guys—especially your cooking, Dad. The food here is kind of yuck. I think you can send care packages, though (hint! hint!).
Xoxo,
Zoey
“So, are you guys going to try out with me for the play?” Priti asked at lunch the next day. “It’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. You know, Shakespeare? It’s about all these star-crossed lovers in a wood. There are nobles and kings and queens and fairies. Oh, and a guy called Bottom who gets turned into a donkey.”
“Wait? There’s a guy whose name is . . . Bottom?” Campbell said. “As in, like, you know . . .”
“Butt?” added Taylor.
Priti giggled. She told Zoey, “Tara and Sashi said there’re all kinds of funny stuff in Shakespeare’s plays, if you can get over the Old English-y way of talking.” Then, turning to Campbell and Taylor, she added, “My sisters are twins too, but they’re not identical. Actually, they couldn’t be more different from each other, and me. They wouldn’t dream of acting!”
“I’m not really an onstage kind of girl, either,” Zoey said. “That’s more your thing than mine, Priti.”
“Me neither,” Campbell said.
“I like singing, so maybe I’d lik
e acting, too. I wouldn’t mind auditioning if it means we get to hang out,” Taylor said. “But I don’t know if I want a big part.”
“Okay! Zoey . . . Campbell . . . you have to try out too!” Priti urged them. “We can all practice our lines together and chill at rehearsals and talk to”—she lowered her voice—“boys!”
Even though talking to boys wasn’t high on Zoey’s list of things to do at camp, it was hard to resist Priti’s enthusiasm.
“Okay, I’ll do it,” Zoey said.
“Me too!” Taylor added.
“Well,” Campbell said, “maybe I can work on set decorations instead of auditioning?”
“Totally!” Priti exclaimed. “Yay! This is going to be so much fun!”
At Priti’s suggestion, the girls practiced their lines together. Zoey found the Shakespearean English really hard to memorize, and she kept flubbing her audition piece. Campbell, though, was incredible. She seemed to have memorized the entire play flawlessly in no time, even though she wasn’t auditioning.
“How did you do that?” Zoey asked after Campbell helped her with a line she’d messed up for the fifth time.
Campbell shrugged. “I guess I have a . . . kind of . . . photographic memory,” she said. “It comes in handy for stuff like this.”
“I wish I had a photographic memory,” Priti said wistfully. “I really want to be cast as Titania, but she has so many lines.”
“Let’s do everyone’s audition scenes a few more times,” Campbell said. “I can’t teach you how to have a photographic memory, but I can try to help you learn your lines.”
“I can’t believe it!” Priti croaked at breakfast the next morning.
It was the morning of auditions for the camp theater production, and she sounded as if she’d swallowed a frog.
“Why do I have to wake up with a cold today, of all days!” she wailed dramatically. Well, wailed as much as her scratchy throat and stuffy nose would let her. “It’s the most important day of my life!”
“Mom tells us to gargle warm salt water when we have a sore throat,” Taylor suggested. “It sounds gross, but it helps.”
“Dad makes me hot tea with honey and lemon,” Zoey said. “I’ll go get you some.”
“That’s okay, Zo,” Priti rasped. “I’ll go gargle with warm salt water in the bathroom.”
Zoey went to get the tea anyway, and by the time she got back with a steaming mug of chamomile with lemon and honey, Priti had gargled an entire mug of warm salt water.
“Do you feel any better?” Campbell asked.
“It soothed my throat a little, but I still sound terrible.” Priti groaned.
She did sound terrible.
“Here, try drinking the tea,” Zoey said.
Even after a few sips, Priti still sounded very froggy. But like a true thespian, she vowed to perform the best she could, anyway.
“The show must go on!” she squawked.
There were more campers than Zoey expected in the theater for auditions.
“Wow, I never thought doing the play would be so popular,” she said.
Priti nudged her and then pointed to a good-looking boy. “See! Didn’t I tell you there would be cute boys here?”
The boy certainly was cute, but Zoey was more concerned with the auditions.
“Break a leg, Priti!” Zoey laughed. “And good luck with the cute boy, too!”
The boy’s name turned out to be Nick, and he aced his audition. Zoey was pretty sure he was going to get a lead.
Priti lived up to her promise to do the best she could, in spite of her voice.
“ ‘What angel awakes me from my flowery bed?’ ” she croaked, pretending to stretch and yawn as if she just woken up.
“Priti’s got so much personality,” Taylor whispered. “She’s great onstage!”
“I know,” Zoey whispered back. “But it’s hard to hear her because of her sore throat.”
Taylor and Zoey went backstage to get ready for their turns. Zoey was nervous but excited to try out. Taylor was visibly shaky, having never auditioned for a play before. Campbell hugged Taylor, then eyed her worriedly when Taylor was called to center stage.
Campbell whispered to Zoey that her sister secretly envied Priti’s comfort level onstage. Both twins were on the quiet side, but while Campbell dreamed about writing a book one day or becoming an artist, Taylor loved singing in the school choir and dreamed of being a star.
Taylor’s voice wasn’t big and showstopping, but it was beautiful. Since this was a play and not a musical, though, it wasn’t much help.
“I hope she gets a good part,” Zoey said. “Fingers crossed!”
But being center stage, with all eyes upon her, seemed to make Taylor’s mind go completely blank. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She glanced over at the wings, where Campbell and Zoey were standing, a panicked expression on her face.
That’s when Campbell called out the first few lines.
“ ‘O, I am out of breath in this fond chase! The more my prayer, the lesser is my grace,’ ” Campbell said softly from the wings.
Taylor’s face lit up. Zoey could almost see Taylor’s memory come back and click in. Taylor repeated the lines Campbell had given her and then continued flawlessly:
“ ‘Happy is Hermia, wheresoe’er she lies;
For she hath blessed and attractive eyes.
How came her eyes so bright? Not with salt tears:
If so, my eyes are oftener wash’d than hers.’ ”
When she came offstage after finishing her monologue, she hugged her sister. “Thanks for helping me out,” she said. “I couldn’t remember the first line for anything! I totally choked.”
Zoey was getting more and more nervous about trying out. She wished she’d never let Priti talk her into this.
“Zoey Webber. You’re up!” the director called.
“Well, here goes nothing,” Zoey said. She’d picked a short piece of Hippolyta’s dialogue to memorize, because she found Shakespeare so hard.
“ ‘I was with Hercules and Cadmus once,
When in a wood of Crete they bay’d the bear
With hounds of Sparta . . .’ and . . . um . . .”
Zoey froze. What’s the next line? she thought.
Luckily for Zoey, Campbell was offstage to prompt her.
“ ‘Never did I hear such gallant chiding . . . ,’ ” Campbell said in a loud stage whisper.
It was enough to jog Zoey’s memory, and she got through the rest of her audition piece.
“Who is the mysterious person backstage who seems to know the play backward and forward?” Ms. Natasha, the director, asked.
Campbell popped her head out sheepishly from behind the side curtain.
“Um . . . it’s me. Campbell.”
“When are you auditioning?” Ms. Natasha asked, checking the list on her clipboard. “I don’t see anyone named Campbell on the sign-up sheet. Oh wait, you look . . . Weren’t you just onstage? Didn’t you just audition?”
“No, that was my twin, Taylor. I wasn’t planning to audition,” Campbell said. “I want to do set design.”
“I’d like to see what you can do since you already know the lines,” the director said. “Why don’t you come on out and give it a try?”
“It’s really not my thing,” Campbell demurred.
“Humor me,” the director replied.
Campbell slouched out to center stage. “Which scene do you want me to do?” she asked.
“Pick a scene, any scene,” the director said. “You seem to know all of them!”
“O-Okay,” Campbell said.
Then she ran through Titania’s monologue, the one she’d spent so much time helping Priti to learn. Zoey was impressed. The sometimes-quiet Campbell was captivating. Even from backstage, Zoey could see the director scribbling notes furiously onto her clipboard.
After the auditions, the girls wanted to talk about anything but the auditions. They hadn’t gone as planne
d for any of the four friends, so it had all been a bit of a letdown—especially for Priti, who had the highest hopes for a big part.
“I really want the lead even more now,” she confessed to Zoey privately. “I’m sure Nick’s going to get a lead, and if I get one too, then we have to spend more time together. And some of the lead parts even get to kiss!”
“You have great stage presence,” Zoey said. “I’m sure Ms. Natasha could see that, even if your voice was a little croaky.”
“I hope so,” Priti said. “I just hate having to wait and see!”
CHAPTER 9
Bugging Out
Dear Aunt Lulu and Buttons,
Greetings from the great outdoors. Nature is really beautiful, except I’m not sure why there has to be so many insects—especially mosquitoes. I’ve sketched some imaginary outfits I would want to make for you if you came to visit. Basically, you’d be wrapped in mosquito netting from head to toe! I remembered you said insect prints are really popular in interior design, so I bet they’d make cool clothes, too.
Anyway, Priti and my new identical-twin friends, Campbell and Taylor, joke that the mosquitoes like me best because I’m so sweet—which just makes me want to do something mean to make the mosquitoes not bite me so much! Just kidding—but I do itch a LOT!! Priti’s scratching, but for a different reason—she can’t wait for the cast list to go up for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, so she can see if she got a leading role—especially one where kissing might be involved. To keep her from going crazy in the meantime, I’ve been trying to distract her with a different kind of kiss—the Hershey’s Kisses you sent in the care package. Thank you!! I miss you both—give Buttons an extra treat from me.
Xoxo,
Zoey
A few days later, the girls were almost done with lunch when Marisol mentioned that the cast list had been posted. Priti immediately said, “I’m finished,” took her tray up to the return, and raced off to the theater department.