“An unfair one,” Sarah said, gesturing at a couple of counselors as they walked by. “They all saw the list beforehand, so they’re all wearing hats. We can’t get a picture of the top of their heads if they won’t take their hats off.”
“We can’t even get a picture,” Jenna pointed out. “We don’t have a camera! I have to return mine to the lab after each class.”
“Jessie has a camera,” Karen piped up. “A Polaroid.”
Everyone turned to look at Jessie, who was leaning against the flagpole, staring off into space.
“You have a Polaroid camera?” Chelsea asked, nudging her.
Jessie blinked a few times as if she’d just woken up. “Oh . . . yeah. I forgot about that.”
Jenna and Alex exchanged a glance. What a space case! She was holding onto the one item that might help them win, and she just forgot about it?
“Let’s go!” Alex said.
Together the whole bunk ran back to their cabin. On the way they saw a bunch of boys from 2E trying to jump up and grab Nate’s hat off his head. As far as Jenna could see, they didn’t even have a camera, but it didn’t matter, anyway. Nate was dodging and weaving and ducking and running. He wasn’t letting them anywhere near his head. Back at 3C, Jessie dug through her cubby until she found the unused camera. Luckily there was a whole cartridge of film in it.
“Great. Now all we have to do is come up with a plan,” Brynn said.
“What if we just tackle one of them?” Grace suggested breathlessly. “We could tackle Julie and hold her down and take her hat and—”
“I don’t think we should gang-tackle Julie,” Alex said. “We have to live with her for the rest of the summer. But we do have to get one of them down low so we can grab their hat.”
“And then we need to get up high so we can take the picture,” Valerie pointed out.
“We just need to get creative here, people,” Alyssa said, biting her lip.
Get them down low and get us up high, Jenna thought.
Suddenly she was hit with a brilliant idea. “I’ve got it, you guys! I know what to do!”
“Um . . . Jenna? Nat? Don’t you think this is kind of dangerous?” Jessie whispered as they tiptoed their way through the storage room on the second floor of the main cabin.
“Come on, Jess! Don’t you want to win?” Jenna asked, sidestepping a very dusty stack of ancient board games. What in the world was Uncle Wiggly, anyway?
“Yeah, but um . . . I’m kind of afraid of heights.”
Outside, a bunch of girls squealed and a few other people applauded. Time was running out. They had to get this last item before someone else won the scavenger hunt.
“Don’t worry. Natalie and I will do it,” Jenna said. “Right, Nat?”
“I grew up in a skyscraper,” Natalie said, determined. “No problem.”
They got to the window above the cabin’s front porch, and Jenna undid the latch. Her pulse pounded in her ears, and she pulled up on the old window. It wouldn’t budge.
“I don’t think this thing has ever been opened,” Jenna said.
“Here. Let’s all try,” Natalie suggested.
Together, the three girls gripped at the bottom of the old window and suddenly, without warning, it flew open, slamming into the top of the frame. Jenna and her friends froze, but luckily someone outside shouted at the exact same moment. It didn’t seem like anyone down below had heard.
“No screen. Thank goodness,” Jessie said.
“Okay, Nat. Let’s go,” Jenna said.
“Good luck, you guys!” Jessie whispered.
Jenna was the first to crawl out. She placed her foot on the roof of the porch’s overhang and carefully put all her weight on it. The roof was sturdy as could be, and she realized she had been silly to worry. Matt had once told her that he and the other counselors sometimes snuck out here to look at the stars. Of course it would hold her.
“We’re good. Come on,” Jenna said to Natalie.
Natalie swung her leg over the windowsill and followed Jenna out. They crept to the edge of the roof and lay down on their stomachs to stay out of sight. Jenna picked her head up carefully and saw Alex signal her from the trees across the way. Jenna lifted her hand in response, and Alex nodded.
“Here we go,” she said to Natalie.
Giggling, they pulled themselves forward so they could see over the edge of the roof. Down below, Pete, Tyler, Marissa, and Stephanie were all hanging out, each wearing a baseball cap. A bunch of boys from 5F ran by, and the counselors cheered them on. They were followed by four very familiar faces.
“Here they come!” Natalie whispered.
Jenna held her breath. Valerie, Karen, Grace, and Chelsea all came running into view, right in front of the counselors. Val was holding the horseshoe again. A little touch to make it look real. It had been Alex’s idea.
“Get ready,” Natalie whispered.
Jenna propped the camera up and focused in on Tyler’s head. One of these counselors was going down.
“We got it!” Valerie shouted again. “We got the last horseshoe!”
Just then, Karen tripped and fell right in the dirt in front of the counselors. Everyone stopped.
“Omigosh! Are you okay?” Chelsea asked.
And then, Karen started to wail. “My ankle! My ankle!” She even produced actual tears. Jenna and Natalie looked at each other. Little, quiet, mousy Karen was not a bad actress.
“She’s like a secret weapon,” Natalie said, her eyes bright.
“No joke,” Jenna replied.
Instantly, all the counselors rushed to Karen’s side. Tyler crouched down next to her and pulled her shoe off.
“Karen? Can you move it at all?” Marissa asked.
At that second, Alex and Sarah sprinted out of the trees across the way. Before anyone could even look up, Alex snatched the baseball cap off Tyler’s head and Sarah got Pete’s. Jenna snapped the picture, ripped the print from the side of the camera, then snapped another for good measure.
“Hey!” Pete shouted at Sarah.
“Where did you come from?” Tyler cried.
But Alex and Sarah were already sprinting away, followed by the rest of the bunk, who poured out of the trees, laughing and whooping all the way.
“Oh my God! We did it! I can’t believe we did it!” Natalie cheered.
All the counselors looked up, and their jaws dropped when they saw Natalie and Jenna holding the camera triumphantly above their heads. Down below, Karen stood up, took a little bow, and raced off with Val, Grace, and Chelsea. Her ankle was totally fine.
“Hey! She didn’t even hurt herself!” Pete shouted, picking up his hat from the ground where Sarah had tossed it. “Foul! Foul!”
But he was laughing. They all were. The counselors knew when they had been outsmarted, and they appreciated a game well-played.
Jenna held the pictures in front of her as they came into focus.
“Did they come out?” Jessie asked from the window.
“They’re perfect!” Natalie announced. “We got both of them!”
“We are so awesome!” Jenna cheered, and she and Natalie stood up and hugged. “Ha-ha! Bunk 3C rules!”
“Jenna Bloom!” Stephanie shouted up. “Get down from there! You’ll kill yourself!”
“Oh, I’m coming down!” Jenna shouted back. “We have a scavenger hunt to win!”
chapter EIGHT
By the time the bugle sounded to wake the camp the following morning, Jenna was still glowing from her bunk’s scavenger hunt victory and she had a perfect prank in mind for Stephanie. The only problem was, she had no idea how she was going to pull it off. The planning was going to require some inside knowledge—some info even Jenna didn’t have. And the even bigger problem was, the only people who could help her were the girls in Stephanie’s bunk. The dreaded bunk 3A.
At breakfast, Jenna glanced over at the table where Stephanie was sitting with her campers, trying to figure out which one of the girls might h
elp her. Danielle? No, everyone knew she was a total jerk. Christa? Not likely. That girl talked even less than Karen did. Ashley? No way. She had hated Jenna ever since Jenna planted that frog under her pillow two summers ago. Of course Jenna had only done it because 3A had short-sheeted all the beds in 3C. It was all just part of the rivalry.
“Jenna, why do you keep staring at 3A like that?” Alex asked toward the end of breakfast.
“She’s probably trying to send them psychic ‘I
hate you’ messages,” Grace joked, munching on her toast.
Brynn, Valerie, and Alex all giggled, throwing dirty looks at the other table. Jenna wasn’t even sure when the war between the bunks had started. It was as if it had always been there.
“Oh! Leave the poor girls alone!” Brynn said, pretending to be sympathetic. “They’re probably still all boo-hooing about how we beat them in the hunt last night.”
“Yeah, we did!” Jenna cheered, high-fiving with her friends and letting out a little cheer. Bunk 3C had been the one and only bunk to get the bonus photo and had brought back the blue ribbon for the third year in a row. 3A had been on top until Jenna’s bunk had raced in with the pictures just before the time had run out. Victory was sweet, but it was even sweeter when your lifelong enemies ended up moping all night.
“They’re such losers,” Alex said, rolling her eyes.
“I don’t know. Some of them aren’t that bad,” Alyssa put in. “Like that girl Regina? She works on the paper with us, and she’s really funny.”
“Oh. My. Gosh. You did not just say that,” Val said, dropping her hand to the table.
“Only a newbie would ever say that,” Alex put in.
“You cannot like a 3A girl, Alyssa. It’s, like, totally against the code,” Chelsea said. Even though she was a newbie herself, she seemed to live for the rivalry as much as the veterans did.
“The code?” Natalie said with a laugh. “You sound like you’re in the army or something.”
“Well, pretend we are and they’re the enemy,” Brynn said. “Right, Jenna?”
Jenna looked guiltily at her friends. Normally, of course, she would be the first one talking about how annoying and jerky the 3A-ers were. But now, she needed them. Pretty soon one of her friends might even see her talking to them. What was she supposed to say?
“Well, most of them are awful,” Jenna replied. “But not all of them.”
“I can’t believe I just heard Jenna Bloom say that,” Alex said. “Do you have a fever or something?”
“Yeah, J, way to go against everything you’ve ever said. Ever,” Sarah put in.
Jenna reddened and was relieved when breakfast was dismissed. Alex and Brynn rushed out, whispering, and Jenna knew they were talking about her and how she had turned on them. At the moment, she didn’t care much, though. Jenna would do pretty much anything for a good prank, and that included letting her friends think she liked the girls in 3A. While the rest of her bunk trailed out the door, Jenna slowed her steps until bunk 3A caught up to her.
“Oh, look! It’s a Bloom!” one of the veteran 3A girls, Sharon, said with a sneer.
“Oh, look! It’s a slug!” Jenna shot back.
Two girls, including Regina from the paper, laughed at her joke, and Jenna realized that Alyssa was right. Regina was pretty cool. And her friend Marta had also been around forever, and had been in on some good raids. (Not as good as 3C’s raids, but still good.) These two were definitely Jenna’s best bets.
“Hey, Regina! Marta!” Jenna said, falling into step with them as they walked outside. “Can I talk to you?”
Regina glanced at Marta, who shrugged, and all three of them stepped aside to let the other campers pass by.
“Listen, I want to pull a prank, and I need your help,” Jenna whispered, glancing around.
“Our help?” Regina asked, tucking her short blond hair behind her ears. “Don’t you have enough people in your own bunk?”
Even with the nicer, more normal girls, the bunk rivalry was strong.
“Yeah, but this prank only you guys can help me with,” Jenna said. “I want to prank my sister.”
“Stephanie? No way! We love Stephanie!” Marta said, pushing her big glasses up on her nose.
“I know! I do, too!” Jenna said, growing impatient already. She couldn’t let too many people see her talking to girls from 3A. It was way too suspicious. “She’s my sister. And I swear I wouldn’t do anything to her if she didn’t love pranks as much as I do,” she added, crossing her fingers behind her back. “She’ll think it’s funny.”
“I don’t know . . .” Regina said, looking at Marta. Marta twisted a strand of her long black hair over her finger until her fingertip turned purple.
“Come on, you guys, it’ll be fun,” Jenna said. “And your bunkmates will think it’s totally cool, right? Everyone loves a good prank.”
Marta released her hair and started to smile slightly. Jenna knew she had her. The girl had some mischief in there somewhere. All Jenna had to do was wake it up.
“Well . . . what were you thinking of doing?” Marta asked.
Yes! Jenna thought. Let the games begin!
“You’re absolutely sure she’s in there? She always does her beauty routine on Sunday nights when we’re at home,” Jenna whispered on Friday afternoon. She, Regina, and Marta were all crouched below the back window of bunk 3A. Jenna had Jessie’s Polaroid camera clutched in her sweaty hands, filled with film and ready to go. She had “borrowed” it out of Jessie’s cubby, but was sure the girl would never notice. Aside from the scavenger hunt, she hadn’t used it once all summer.
“Well, she’s been doing it on Fridays ever since we got here. I promise. Every Friday during free swim,” Regina said. She pressed her fingers into the ground to keep her wet bathing suit from hitting the dirt. They had all snuck out of free swim to do the deed, and Jenna could tell that the others were as nervous about getting caught as she was.
“Let’s just do this and get back to the lake,” Marta said, blinking rapidly.
“Okay, do one of you guys want to take the picture?” Jenna offered. “You got me the info, after all.”
“No way. I don’t know how to work that thing,” Regina said.
“I can’t even see without my glasses,” Marta put in, swinging her long dark hair over her shoulder. “You’re just a big yellow blur right now.”
“Okay. Then I guess it’s me,” Jenna said, her heart slamming into her ribs. “Here goes nothing.”
Jenna stood up and lifted the camera to her eye. The second she saw her sister, she almost cracked up laughing. Stephanie was lying on her cot a few feet from the window, her hair wrapped up in a towel, her face covered in a blue facial mask, with cucumber slices over her eyes. Where she got cucumbers out here, Jenna had no idea, but she was glad her sister was so resourceful. It made the picture all the more funny.
“Just take it!” Regina whispered.
Jenna quickly snapped the photo and hit the dirt. “Let’s go!”
The girls got up and ran, giggling, all the way back to the edge of the path that led to the lake. By the time they got there, the photo had already developed. There, in full color, was Jenna’s perfect sister, looking like some kind of creature from the black lagoon.
“Omigosh! It’s so great!” Marta said.
“I thought you couldn’t see,” Jenna reminded her.
“Yeah, but I can imagine how great it is,” Marta said.
Jenna rolled her eyes. “Do you have the note?”
“Here. I wrote it in my mother’s handwriting so no one would know it was from me,” Regina said, handing over a piece of Stephanie’s own pink stationery.
“You can do your mother’s handwriting?” Jenna asked, impressed.
“She never lets me go on class trips. I had to learn to do her signature,” Regina said with a shrug.
Wow, Jenna thought. Wish this girl was in my bunk.
She quickly scanned the note:
Dea
r Tyler,
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
I love cucumbers,
Hope you do, too!
Love,
Stephanie
“I love it!” Jenna squealed. Regina was good! “Now all we have to do is slip it into Tyler’s bag. This is going to be so great.”
“I hope Stephanie isn’t too mad,” Regina said, biting her bottom lip.
“Don’t worry. She’ll think it’s funny. I swear,” Jenna said, crossing her fingers again.
“I can’t wait to see what happens next,” Marta said with a grin.
Neither can I, Jenna thought, grinning. I cannot wait.
That night all the campers in Jenna’s year, along with their counselors and CITs, gathered by the lake to tell ghost stories. A campfire blazed on the sand, the lake shone in the moonlight, and the stars twinkled high overhead. All around them the woods were black as pitch. There wasn’t a sound except for the crackling of the fire, the chirping crickets, and Pete’s deep voice. Everyone was riveted by his story of the little old woman in the deserted house. Even people who heard it every year were still on the edge of their seats.
“The little old lady felt an icy chill creep down her back,” Pete said in his most spooky voice. “All the tiny white hairs on her neck stood on end . . .”
Jenna, herself, felt like she was on red alert. Every nerve in her body was sizzling. But it was not because of Pete’s story. On the edge of the crowd were the CITs. Tyler was lounging back against the lifeguard’s chair with some of the other guys while Stephanie and her friends sat on the old, overturned boat in the sand where the campers painted their bunk numbers at the end of each summer. Every once in a while Tyler would shoot a look at Stephanie, and every once in a while Stephanie would notice and smile back.
Tyler had to have seen the picture and the note. There was no way he could have missed it sitting right on top of his sunblock in his bag. Something was going to happen tonight. Jenna could feel it.
“Slowly . . . slowly . . . the little old lady crept toward the door,” Pete said, the light from the fire dancing in his eyes and throwing eerie shadows across his face. “Step after step after step, she knew she might be walking to her doom . . .”
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