Grace's Twist

by Melissa J Morgan

  “Ahem!” Brynn said loudly. Grace jumped. Brynn was staring at her, obviously expecting an answer. But Grace hadn’t even heard a word Brynn said.

  “Oh!” Grace cried. “I’m sorry. I was distracted by . . .” Think fast, she told herself. I can’t say I was distracted by a boy. “. . . by that mouse. I think it’s your culprit!” She pointed to a spot on the floor near Brynn’s black box.

  Brynn gave a little scream and stood up on her tiptoes to get even farther away from the “mouse.”

  Grace swooped down and pretended to pick it up by its tail. She squinted into thin air and nodded wisely. “This mouse is the thief.”

  “How can you tell?” Brynn asked.

  How can I tell? Grace wondered. She thought fast. “It has cheese breath,” she announced.

  Everybody laughed again, and most of the other campers applauded. Bethany joined in the applause as she walked toward Grace and Brynn at the front of the room. “Well done,” she said. “That was an excellent improvisation.”

  Grace glanced over at Brynn, who was beaming. She could feel the huge smile on her own face, too. Bethany had assigned each of them a character—the old lady and the detective—and given them the word “mouse.” Everything else they made up on the spot.

  “If you try out and get a role in the play, this is the kind of applause you’ll get,” Brynn murmured. “And it will be even more fun than the scene we just did.” She’d been trying to convince Grace to audition ever since Grace had said she wasn’t going to try out. Grace couldn’t tell Brynn the real reason she had to skip auditions, so she’d found herself avoiding her friend outside of drama class. It was awful.

  Grace pretended she hadn’t heard Brynn’s comment. “We’re a good team,” she said as they took their seats with their classmates.

  “Yeah, too bad you decided not to be my partner,” Brynn teased her. Grace knew her bunkmate had been annoyed at first, but Brynn seemed to like her new partner just fine. His name was Peter, and Grace had to admit that he was pretty cute.

  Her gaze wandered over to the blond boy who’d been laughing so loudly during their scene. To her surprise, he was looking right back at her. He gave her a smile and a thumbs-up. Shocked, Grace sat back so that she was hidden by Brynn. She leaned over to Gaby, who sat on the other side of her.

  “Who’s that boy with the blond hair?” she asked.

  Gaby immediately craned her neck to look over at him. “Devon Something,” she said. “He’s in 3F. Why?”

  “He really liked our improv. He was laughing the whole time.”

  “Well, it was pretty ridiculous,” Gaby said.

  Grace didn’t answer. She still had a hard time figuring out whether or not Gaby was kidding sometimes.

  “That’s it for today,” Bethany said. “Next time we’ll be doing movie scenes.” As everybody got up and began heading for the door, Bethany pulled Grace aside.

  “Your scene was really funny,” she said. “Have you done improv exercises before?”

  “Only once. In Drama Club at school,” Grace said.

  “Well, you’re a natural.” Bethany smiled. “I hope you’re planning to audition for the play.”

  Grace hesitated. “I don’t know. I’m only in the third division.”

  “I meant what I said, Grace. Anyone from any division can audition.” Bethany raised an eyebrow. “Just because a third-level camper has never gotten a lead before doesn’t mean it can’t happen.”

  Grace wasn’t sure how to answer. Had Julie and Kathleen talked to Bethany? It didn’t seem like it. For a brief moment Grace considered trying to lie to the drama teacher. Maybe if Bethany didn’t know . . .

  But Grace was no liar. She knew she couldn’t do that.

  “Just think about it,” Bethany added. “Someone as talented as you are should really try out.”

  “Okay,” Grace said. She forced a smile onto her face and left. If only people would stop telling her how talented she was! It only made her feel worse that she couldn’t audition for the play.

  By the time Grace got into her bathing suit and made it to the lake, free swim had already started. Talking to Bethany had made her late, and she’d had to stop at the camp office on the way back to the bunk.

  To her surprise, she spotted Natalie in the water with Alyssa. Natalie almost never went in during free swim, but it was unusually hot today. Obviously her latest fashion magazine could wait until after she’d cooled down. Jenna was swimming laps with her brother Adam, and Brynn and Alex were hanging out in a pair of inner tubes, talking. Well, Brynn was talking. Alex just bobbed in the water, listening intently and nodding. She wasn’t saying a word. Brynn must be practicing her audition scene with Alex as the audience, Grace thought. I wish Emily was here. She’d let me practice with her like that, too.

  A flicker of guilt stabbed at her. She still hadn’t finished that letter to her best friend. Grace kicked the sand in frustration. She didn’t seem able to do anything right this summer!

  She tossed her towel onto the ground and stuck her toe in the water. Camp Lakeview rules stated that no one could go in the lake without a swimming buddy, even for free swim. The counselors were pretty flexible about that rule, though. As long as campers didn’t swim alone, the counselors didn’t care how many buddies they had. Which was good when you were best-friendless. Grace squinted across the sparkling water toward her friends. Maybe she’d ask Nat and Alyssa if she could triple with them.

  “Hey, Gracie,” Gaby said from behind her. “You’re late. I was waiting for you to be my swim buddy.”

  “Oh.” Gracie? Grace thought. Why is she calling me that? She noticed that Gaby had already dumped her own towel right next to Grace’s.

  “Let’s go,” Gaby prodded. “I’m dying from this heat.” She waded into the shallow end of the lake without a backward glance. Grace almost yelled after her—Gaby would be in trouble if she swam without a partner. But obviously Gaby was assuming Grace would follow her.

  It was kind of weird. Gaby hadn’t even asked Grace if she wanted to be swim buddies. She’d just decided that they would be, and she expected Grace to go along with that. It was sort of rude. But again, it was also sort of flattering. Maybe Gaby simply figured that they were good enough friends that she didn’t have to ask. That’s how Grace acted with Emily at home. It was the sort of thing that best friends did.

  “Wait up,” Grace called, splashing in after Gaby.

  “Are you kidding?”

  It was just before lights-out that night, and Chelsea was looming next to Grace’s bed looking extremely demanding. As usual.

  Grace marked her page with her finger and looked at Chelsea. Karen hovered behind her, carrying Chelsea’s makeup bag. Grace had never figured out why Chelsea had to take the bag to the bathroom every night to wash off her makeup, but maybe there was some kind of magic face-cleaner stuff in there.

  “What are you talking about?” Grace asked.

  “That book.” Chelsea snatched it out of Grace’s hands, losing Grace’s place. Grace groaned. Now she’d never find the right page again. “Why are you pretending to read The Call of the Wild?” Chelsea asked.

  “I’m not pretending,” Grace said indignantly. “Why would I fake reading?”

  “Because there’s no way you’d want to read a book at night. You’re always the first one to answer every single magazine quiz question that Marissa asks,” Chelsea replied.

  A few of the other girls giggled. Grace couldn’t argue. The truth was, she would much rather listen to Marissa’s nightly reading from some magazine article or quiz. The book she was reading was boring with a capital B. But she had no choice. Marissa was settled on her own cot and ready to start reading aloud, but Grace was going to have to ignore her and read The Call of the Wild.

  But that didn’t mean she wanted to talk about it. Especially not with Chelsea. She held out her hand. “May I have my book back?”

  Chelsea shrugged and handed it to her. Grace rolled over on her stom
ach and flipped through the book, trying to find her place again. She skimmed the paragraphs, but they all blurred together in her mind. It was impossible to remember which parts she had read and which she hadn’t. I guess I haven’t been paying much attention to what I’ve been reading, she thought. Finally she just gave up, picked a likely place, and began reading again.

  “The movie will begin filming in October and is expected to be released next summer,” Marissa’s voice drifted into Grace’s attention.

  “That is so amazing!” Sarah cried. “I can’t believe your dad is making another ‘spy’ movie, Nat.”

  “Yeah, I thought he said he wanted to do more serious roles from now on,” Brynn put in.

  “He always says that. It’s just a way of negotiating with the producers,” Natalie explained.

  Grace found herself staring down at the page, reading the word “Yukon” over and over while she half listened to her bunkmates’ conversation.

  “I can’t believe we have to wait until next summer to see it, though,” Valerie was saying. “That’s forever.”

  “Can’t you tell us what the plot is?” Brynn asked.

  “Yeah, tell us what the plot is,” Candace put in.

  “I’m not allowed to,” Natalie said. “Dad has a confidentiality clause in his contract. He can’t even tell me everything about the plot.”

  Everybody groaned.

  “Tell you what, though,” Natalie went on. “I can ask Dad for a few sneak previews. He’s allowed to take pictures on location—he’s an amateur photographer, so he takes his camera with him everywhere.”

  “Wow, he’s really multitalented,” Alex breathed.

  “He’s so multitalented,” Candace agreed.

  “As long as the photos don’t show the sets or let you figure out what the plot is, I can mail them out to you guys,” Natalie said. “It’ll be pictures of him having dinner with the director, hanging out with the other actors . . . stuff like that.”

  “And you’ll send them to us?” Valerie cried.

  “I promise,” Nat said.

  That did it. Grace let the book close and sat up in her bed to join in the cheering. What was the point of reading some old, boring book when there was juicy Hollywood gossip to discuss?

  “Cool! And we can send pictures from camp to his movie set,” she said. “What do you think?” Grace jumped out of bed and struck a pose in the middle of the room, putting her hand on her hip and pursing her lips like a supermodel.

  “I think you look like a fish,” Chelsea muttered.

  But the other girls laughed, and Sarah leapt up to stand next to Grace in the same silly position. “Someone take a picture,” she joked.

  “Everyone join in!” Grace called. “Then Nat can send the photo to her dad, and the director will see it, and we’ll all be discovered.”

  “The fish-face girls of bunk 3C,” Alyssa said, cracking up.

  As her friends jumped around, striking other dumb model poses, Grace felt a rush of happiness. This kind of silly stuff was what camp was all about.

  She’d read her book tomorrow.

  chapter FIVE

  “Check it out. There’s Natalie and her boyfriend,” Sarah announced as they all filed into the mess hall for lunch the next day. She spoke loudly, clearly wanting Natalie to hear. Simon’s bunk, 3F, ate at a table only a few feet away from bunk 3C’s table.

  But Natalie just kept talking to Simon as if she hadn’t noticed. Grace wondered how she could stay so calm when people were teasing her—especially with Simon sitting right there.

  “Yeah, and I think Alyssa’s boyfriend is over there, too,” Jenna added loudly.

  Grace laughed. “You’re talking about your own brother,” she pointed out. “I don’t think you get to make fun of Alyssa for liking him.”

  “Are you kidding? He’s the last boy anyone should like.” Jenna pretended to bump into her twin brother, Adam, as she walked by bunk 3F’s table. But Adam was too fast for her. He grabbed her and gave her a noogie.

  “That’s one way to handle it,” said a voice from behind her.

  Grace jumped and turned to see Devon, the blond boy from drama class. “Oh. Um . . .” Grace’s heart pounded. She couldn’t think of a single word.

  “The guys in our bunk are always teasing Simon, and now they tease Adam, too,” Devon said. “At least when it’s his sister doing the teasing, he can stop her!”

  “Yeah.” Grace couldn’t remember whether she and Devon had ever spoken to each other. “I’m Grace,” she said.

  Devon looked a little confused, and instantly she felt like an idiot. He hadn’t asked her name. He’d been talking about Simon and Adam!

  “I know,” he said. “We’re in drama together.”

  “Oh.” Grace stared into his big eyes and tried to come up with anything to say. But all she could think about was the fact that the back of her neck felt sweaty and hot, and her heart kept slamming against her rib cage. What was going on with her?

  “I’m Devon,” he said. He stuck out his hand to shake. “I guess we haven’t really met officially.”

  Grace stared at his hand in horror. She hadn’t realized it until now, but her palms were totally sweaty, too. How could she shake his hand when hers were all wet?

  “Enough with the romance!” Alex cried, pushing in between Grace and Devon so she could get to Natalie. “Tear yourself away from the boys, and come sit down and eat.”

  Grace wasn’t exactly sure how it happened, but all of a sudden Natalie, Alyssa, Jenna, and Alex were all coming back from 3F’s table, talking and laughing. They pulled Grace along with them, yanking her away before she had a chance to shake Devon’s hand.

  She glanced over her shoulder to see Devon watching. Did he think she’d just snubbed him on purpose? Had she accidentally been really rude?

  Devon stuck his hand in his pocket and shrugged. But he was smiling.

  “I read this book about acting that said an actor’s true job is to audition,” Brynn said as they ate.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Grace asked. She stirred the meat loaf surprise around on her plate. The surprise seemed to be that it barely resembled any meat loaf she’d ever eaten.

  “Just that actors spend a lot more time auditioning for roles than actually playing those roles,” Brynn explained.

  “It’s true,” Natalie put in. “My dad used to go to hundreds of auditions every year and sometimes he’d only get one part, if that.”

  “Wow. I bet he’s happy he doesn’t have to go through that anymore,” Grace said.

  Natalie shrugged. “He figures someday he won’t be such a big star anymore, and then they’ll expect him to try out again. For now, he’s just enjoying the fact that he gets offered roles without auditioning.”

  “I can’t believe you’re not an actor, Nat,” Karen said quietly. “You know everything about Hollywood.”

  “Seriously, you know everything,” Candace agreed.

  “Ugh, no,” Natalie cried. “I would never want to live that way. Most actors spend their whole lives being waiters and never making enough money to live on. My father just got lucky.”

  “I don’t care if I have to be a waitress,” Brynn said. “As long as I can practice my craft.”

  Grace shoved a bite of the meat loaf into her mouth to hide her smile. Across the table, she saw Alyssa quickly look down to keep her own smile from showing. Everyone knew how serious Brynn was about becoming an actor. But it was still hard to imagine her carrying trays of food and waiting on other people. Maybe in four or five years she’d be a CIT like Marissa, and she’d get to practice being a waitress all summer long.

  “Who wants my pudding?” Alex asked. It was a daily ritual—Alex never ate her dessert.

  “Me!” Sarah cried, reaching for the little cup of chocolate pudding. She spooned a bite into her mouth and made a “yum!” face. “Are you ready for your audition, Brynn?” she asked. “You’ve been rehearsing nonstop.”

  “I have
my lines memorized, but I still have to practice my song more,” Brynn said. “How about you, Grace?”

  The meat loaf seemed to get stuck halfway down Grace’s throat. She’d been hoping no one would ask her about the play, but she should’ve known that Brynn wasn’t going to just drop it. Even though Grace had broken their pact to audition together, Brynn still kept trying to keep up her end. She really wanted Grace to try out. “Um, I’m still not sure I’m going to audition,” she mumbled.

  Her bunkmates all gasped. “Why not?” Natalie asked. “You’re such a good actress.”

  “Well, that’s just the problem,” Grace replied fake seriously. She waved them all in closer as if she had a big secret to tell. Once she had everyone’s attention, she lowered her voice and said, “I don’t want to embarrass all the other campers who can’t act at all.”

  Everyone laughed. “How thoughtful of you,” Natalie teased.

  “You really aren’t going to try out?” Jenna asked. “I mean, I know how competitive it is, but you could probably get a role as a Lost Boy or something.”

  “Or a pirate,” Valerie said.

  “Last year Brynn was the only one from our division to get a part at all, remember?” Alex pointed out. “The good roles always go to the older kids.”

  “But we’re a year older now,” Brynn said. “And I don’t care how it’s always been before. This year someone from the third division is definitely getting a part—me! I’m playing Wendy, and that’s all there is to it. And Grace can play Tinkerbell!”

  Grace couldn’t help admiring Brynn’s self-confidence. She was so determined to get a part that she might make it happen through sheer force of will. “You know, Brynn, Peter Pan is usually played by a woman,” she said. “The character is a boy, but lots of times they get women to play the role.”

  “Yeah, all the famous Broadway Peter Pans were women,” Natalie agreed.

  “Maybe you should try out for Peter instead of Wendy,” Grace suggested.

  Brynn wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know if I want to play a boy. Boys are kinda gross.”