“Umm. I don’t know about your parents, but mine—” Natalie began.
“Both our dads will be there. They just finalized the deal on that movie they wanted to do together. They’ll be shooting there for months,” Reed explained.
“Okay. Then I will see you in New Zealand,” Natalie told him. “I’ve got to go. We’re at the airport. But I’ll call you from the best place in the world.”
“The best place for pizza, anyway,” Reed answered. “Bye.”
Tori raised her eyebrows when Natalie hung up. “You’re meeting Reed in New Zealand?”
“Our fathers are doing a movie together,” Natalie said. Bingley opened the door for her. “I guess we’ll have to finish our lists on the phone or IM.”
Tori nodded. “See you at camp.”
“See you at camp,” Natalie agreed, giving Tori a hug. She knew this summer they’d be better friends than ever. Fighting and making up and making plans did that.
chapter
ONE
Posted by: Alyssa
Subject: Camp Preview—6th Division Rocks!
Hello all 6th Division Lakeview chickadees! School’s out and it’s time for camp. Just want to let you know that I have done my research and I have a STRONG feeling this is going to be the best summer ever! All signs point to yes!
And in case you’re wondering how I know this, I had my first ever tarot card reading yesterday and Lady Gisela told me that camp is going to kick it this year. She also told me I’m seriously psychic! So I bought a book about new-age phemonoma and am busy gathering tools to help “bring my gift to the surface,” as Lady Gisela says. Turns out a psychic needs a lot of stuff, like crystals, tarot cards, astrology books, tea leaves… I’m just getting started.
Here’s what I know so far about the next three months:
Horoscope: “As Jupiter moves into Cancer and squares with Mercury, this summer is all about magic! Friendship, love, and nature play strong roles.” Friendship, love, and nature? Sounds just like camp!
Ouija board: A friend of mine from school, Tally, slept over last night and we used the Ouija board. We asked the spirits what kind of summer we’ll have. The spirits told Tally that she’ll be fighting off a cold for most of July, but they told me that this summer will be full of sun and fun. Poor Tally—but yay us!
The I Ching:
Li/The Clinging, Fire
The Judgment: The Clinging.
Perseverance brings success.
Care of the cow brings good fortune.
Can’t argue with that, can you? Maybe there will be a cow at camp we can take care of. Or something. OK, I don’t really know which cow the I Ching is talking about, but whatever, trust me, it’s good.
So buckle your seatbelts—it’s going to be one for the record books! Can’t wait to see you all on Sunday!
Love, Alyssa
Posted by: Natalie
Subject: Re: Camp Preview—6th Division Rocks!
you’re psychic now? i guess that fits with the rest of your personality, your royal artsiness. but you forgot one great fortune-telling source—what did the magic 8 ball say?
xo nat
Posted by: Alyssa
Subject: Our Future
Hate to break it to you, Nat, but everyone knows the Magic 8 Ball doesn’t really tell fortunes. It’s a toy. But since I’m thorough, I checked it anyway. I asked, “Will this be the best summer ever for the 6th Division at Camp Lakeview?” Answer: “Reply hazy, try again.” I tried again. This time the answer was: “Cannot predict now.”
Which only proves my point: the Magic 8 Ball doesn’t work.
“Just as I predicted,” Alyssa said. “This summer is starting off right.”
She stepped of the bus from Philadelphia onto sacred soil—Camp Lakeview soil. The camp grounds looked even better than last year, with fresh paint on the bunks and the lodge and the mess hall, the dirt paths newly swept and repaired, and even a sparkling new CAMP LAKEVIEW sign at the entrance.
Alyssa took another step and lost her footing. A small, round rock rolled under her foot and nearly tripped her. She bent down in front of the bus door and picked it up. Chelsea, who was getting off the bus behind Alyssa, bumped into her.
“Ohh!” Chelsea said. “Sorry, Alyssa.” She wound her long blond hair into a knot on top of her head and popped her gum.
“Look at this!” Alyssa showed Chelsea a rock the size of a walnut, rough and mostly grayish brown, with a few glints of deep purple shining through.
Could it be an amethyst? Alyssa wondered. She had been looking for one. She’d read that amethysts promoted healing and psychic awareness, especially when touching the skin. They also helped people interpret dreams. They were practically magic! Every psychic should have one.
“So?” Chelsea said. “It’s a rock. This place is crawling with them.” She moved Alyssa aside so Natalie, Gaby, and Valerie could get off the bus. They all gathered around to see what Alyssa had found.
“It’s not very pretty,” Gaby said. “Except for that purplish part.”
“I think it’s an amethyst, and amethysts are very lucky,” Alyssa said. “I’m going to go to the nature library and find out.”
“I’m going to go to the kitchen and lock myself in the walk-in freezer,” Chelsea said. “It’s so hot!”
“Tell me about it.” Gaby wiped the sweat off her forehead. “It’s only June. I thought the mountains were supposed to be cool.”
“Maybe it will cool off tonight.” Alyssa tossed her long black braid over her shoulder and hoisted her duffle bag. The girls started down the path to their bunk, 6A. Their division was still small, like last year, so all the Sixth Division girls would share one cabin.
The weather was unusually hot for the Poconos, but Alyssa didn’t like to complain. She was fourteen now; this could be her last summer as a camper at Camp Lakeview and she was determined to enjoy it. Her parents had hinted that next year she might have to get a summer job.
As part of the camp’s new look, each freshly-painted bunk had a different-color door: red, yellow, green, blue, orange, pink, turquoise…
“Look at the bunks!” Valerie said. “The doors have been painted new colors.”
“I wonder what color door our bunk will have?” Natalie said.
“Care to make a prediction, O Mighty Alyssa?” Gaby said.
Before they reached 6A, Alyssa guessed, “Our door will be purple. In honor of the good-luck rock I just found.”
She and Chelsea rounded the corner in the path at the same moment. Alyssa gasped. Natalie, Valerie, and Gaby gasped too.
“Oh my gosh,” Natalie said. “Alyssa, you were right!”
There, nestled among the trees, stood their brown wooden cabin. The bright purple door had a white “6A” painted on it.
Alyssa rubbed the stone between her fingers. “Huh,” she said. “I had a feeling about this thing.”
“That was just a lucky guess,” Chelsea said.
“Pretty lucky,” Valerie said. “I never would have guessed purple.”
The girls stepped inside their cabin. Alyssa dumped her duffle on a top bunk near the window. Natalie took the bunk below hers. The other girls began to settle in.
A tall, glamorous blond girl sat on a bunk, painting her toenails fuchsia.
“Tori!” Alyssa said.
Tori jumped to her feet. “You’re here!” She hugged Alyssa and all the other girls, one by one.
“Where is everybody?” Alyssa asked.
Tori lay back down on her bunkbed, propping her feet on the wall and wiggling her fuchsia toes. “They were complaining about the heat, so Kerry took them down to the lake for a dip. They’ll be back soon.”
“Kerry’s our new counselor?” Valerie asked.
“Uh-huh,” Tori said. “She’s nice, but she’s not the kind of girl who understands the need for fresh toenail polish when you first get to camp—know what I mean? I had to do some talking to convince her to let me stay here and wait for you
guys.”
“We’re glad you did,” Gaby said as she began unpacking.
“It’s so great to see you!” Natalie said.
“It’s so great to see everybody!” Alyssa said. “But I have a little errand to do. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
She hurried off to the nature cabin, clutching the rough stone. Why did she feel so attached to it already? So excited about it? Something about those glints of purple…
The nature cabin was quiet and deserted. Alyssa went to the library shelf and grabbed a book called The Geologist’s Handbook. She paged through until she came to a picture of a rock that looked a lot like the one she’d found. There were two photos, sort of like “before” and “after” shots. The first picture showed a rough, grayish-brown rock with a slight grape tinge, like the one she held in her hand.
The other photo made her gasp.
It showed a glorious, gleaming cut and polished purple gem. An amethyst.
“I was right,” Alyssa said to herself. The rock she’d found was an uncut, unpolished amethyst. Just what she needed to enhance her psychic powers.
Alyssa rubbed the amethyst happily. She was sure now that her predictions were right. This summer was going to be magic.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Charmed Forces
And the Winner Is...#18 Page 11