Chelsea seemed stunned by this news. She just stared at Natalie, her eyes glazing over.
After another long, awkward silence, Jenna spoke up again. “Nat, that was a really honorable thing you did,” she said, laying a hand on her friend’s shoulder.
“We had a hard time believing you’d be that careless from the start,” Sarah said.
“I can only imagine how torn you must have felt,” said Priya.
It was like a weight had been lifted off Natalie’s shoulders. She was glad that she’d told her friends everything. Their support meant so much to her.
“Sloan is going to be very happy to hear this,” Joanna said.
“Actually, there’s another part of the story that you guys don’t know,” Natalie remarked.
“Oh, no. Is it bad news?” Brynn asked.
“It’s good news,” Natalie said with a smile. “Sloan was able to come up with a great excuse for why the trash was outside our bunk. The reporter bought it, so there won’t be any scandalous news article to print.”
“That’s incredible!” Priya said excitedly.
“What was the excuse?” Jenna asked,
“That the trash bags were actually for an anti-littering skit I was doing for the festival,” Natalie explained. “And now I have to go through with it, so I’ll need some help.”
“Count me in, Nat,” Joanna volunteered with a smile.
The rest of the girls nodded in agreement.
“Great! But first we have to find Sloan and thank her for everything,” Natalie said.
The sound of the dinner bell echoed through the camp’s new energy efficient speaker system, startling everyone for a second.
“Thank god. All this stress is making me hungry!” Jenna joked.
All the girls laughed, except for Chelsea, who looked more sullen than when Natalie had first walked into the tent.
“I bet we’ll run into Sloan at the dining hall,” Sarah commented.
“Yes, and then everything will go back to normal,” Brynn added.
Natalie smiled. She was hopeful that speaking to Sloan would go as smoothly as it had with her other friends.
“Not so fast, guys. We still don’t know who took those pictures and sent them to the Gazette,” Priya said.
“Yeah, that person has a lot to answer for,” Joanna agreed.
“Well, we can talk more about it over organic pork chops,” Jenna said, licking her lips. “Let’s go!”
As the girls filed out of the tent with a spring in their steps, Natalie caught a glimpse of Chelsea over her shoulder. She was sitting on her bed, staring out into space.
“Aren’t you going to come with us, Chelse?” Natalie asked.
“No, you go ahead. I’m not feeling so well,” Chelsea said.
Natalie remembered how Chelsea had told her how much she’d admired Tricia and how she’d wanted to get to know her so badly. Now that Natalie had revealed that Tricia was far from perfect, Chelsea must be really disappointed. That had to be why she was so sad.
“You want me to take you to see the nurse?” Natalie inquired.
“That’s okay. I’m just going to lie down here,” Chelsea said with a small smile.
As Natalie left the bunk, she couldn’t help but wonder how Tricia would react when she found out that Natalie had revealed the truth about Walla Walla’s newest camper.
Dinner was a bit of a bust for Natalie. Not only were the pork chops overcooked and tough, but Sloan was nowhere to be found. Natalie even went over to Miles’s table and asked him if he knew Sloan’s whereabouts, but he was just as clueless as everyone else.
The girls figured Sloan had gone back to the bunk or something—she’d had an exhausting day, after all. Natalie decided to make a visit to Tricia’s tent before heading back to her own. She knew she had to fill Tricia in on all that had gone down.
Natalie knocked on the tent door and waved hello to Shepard the bodyguard, who was busy talking with another member of the security team on his push-to-talk phone.
“Come in!” Tricia called out.
Natalie walked in and saw Tricia feeding a Chicken McNugget to her dog. Of course, there were McDonald’s bags and Styrofoam all over the floor next to Tricia’s bed.
You’ve got to be kidding me! she thought.
“Hey, Natters! Where have you been?” Tricia said as Paris yelped.
“I was at dinner,” Natalie said with a sigh. “How is Paris feeling?”
“She’s such a brave girl,” Tricia said as she ruffled Paris’s fur. “She got a nice medicated bath and is totally flea free.”
“That’s great,” Natalie replied, quite unenthusiastically.
“So why is all your stuff gone?” Tricia said. “I was worried that someone, like, kidnapped you.”
Natalie rolled her eyes. Tricia hadn’t shown her a lot of consideration since she’d set foot on Camp Walla Walla soil, but the sweet look on her pretty face was going to make it hard for Natalie to tell her that her dirty, nasty garbage habits had almost cost Camp Walla Walla its reputation, and Natalie her friends.
I guess I’ll just ease into it.
“Well, I went back to my old bunk,” Natalie said. “My mattress there is so much more comfortable.”
Tricia gazed at Natalie with skepticism. “Why don’t you just tell me the truth?”
“What do you mean?” Natalie replied. “I am telling the truth.”
“You’re mad at me, aren’t you?”
“For what?”
“Wow, Nat, you’re a terrible liar. I guess your family’s acting gene must have skipped a generation.”
Natalie put her hands on her hips. “Excuse me?” she said defensively.
“First of all, I was kidding. Second of all, I’m the one who should be excused, Nat.” Tricia’s cheery face quickly turned pensive as she continued to pet Paris. “I feel so bad about everything that happened.”
“Wait, you know?”
“Yes, Dr. Steve left a message on my cell this afternoon,” Tricia said, her voice superserious. “And then Sloan stopped by a little while ago, looking for you.”
“Oh, I see,” Natalie said.
“I can’t believe that you took the rap for me. I also can’t believe what a slob I am. I’m not that way on purpose. I just forget. It’s something I really need to work on. Anyway, I just can’t thank you enough. You’re such a good friend.”
Although Natalie was touched that Tricia was finally showing some gratitude, Tricia’s use of the phrase “friend” made Natalie’s head throb, especially after all that she had gone through with her camp friends over this debacle. She had to set the record straight with Tricia here and now. Maybe she’d see the error of her ways.
“Look, Tricia. There a few things I want to say,” Natalie began. “I don’t really feel like I’m your friend just yet. Actually, I’ve kind of felt like your personal assistant.”
“I’m not following you,” Tricia said, perplexed.
Oh boy.
“Okay, um . . . I was supposed to show you around camp as a friend,” Natalie explained. “But you’ve been giving me so many things to do, and I’ve been cleaning up after you so much that—”
“Oh my gosh. Why didn’t you say something sooner?” Tricia’s eyes widened with surprise.
“I don’t know,” Natalie said, shrugging. “I suppose I didn’t want to hurt your feelings. I really wanted you to like it here.”
Tricia’s face fell a little and her posture stiffened. “I do like it here, Nat. A lot, in fact.”
Natalie grinned. She was happy to hear Tricia say that, regardless of how unbalanced their relationship had been.
“I’m glad,” Natalie said. “I mean, I’d like to be friends with you, just as long as it doesn’t feel like I work for you. There’s a big difference.”
Tricia sighed. “You’re absolutely right. I guess I’m not used to having real friends.”
Natalie could feel herself choking up, thinking of how her friends h
ad rallied around her a little while ago. “I felt that way for a long time, too, especially when I first came to camp.”
“But now you have lots of cool peeps,” Tricia said. “You’re very lucky.”
Natalie swallowed hard. She had to tell Tricia that her friends knew about her sloppiness, and she had to do it now before she lost her nerve.
“They are really cool,” Natalie murmured. “Which is why I had to be honest with them about whose garbage that was.”
Tricia stopped petting Paris and froze. “You did?”
Tricia’s obvious surprise worried Natalie. “I’m sorry if you’re embarrassed or anything. It’s just that I couldn’t stand my friends being so upset with me, and I didn’t want to lose—”
“Fine, I understand,” Tricia interjected, her tone somewhat deflated.
“They all promised not to say anything. I know they—”
“I have to take Paris back to the nature hut now,” Tricia interrupted again. It was clear as day that Natalie had upset her quite a bit.
There was nothing else she could do but give Tricia some space. So Natalie left the tent quietly, hoping the president’s daughter would be more forgiving tomorrow.
chapter FOURTEEN
Later that night, Chelsea lay quietly in her bed as all her friends talked about two very pressing matters: 1) why Sloan still hadn’t come back to the bunk; and 2) who took the picture of Tricia’s nasty trash heap.
“All I’m saying is, we should think about putting a search party together,” Sarah pleaded with her friends as she zipped up her purple fleece hoodie.
“I’m sure Sloan is fine, Sarah,” Jenna said. “If she were really missing, Dr. Steve would know by now and everyone would be out looking for her.”
“She’s probably just neck-deep in Green Festival stuff,” Priya said as she closed the last window in the tent and rubbed her arms. There was definitely a chill in the air tonight.
“Yeah, instead we should really focus our energy on trying to figure out who set me and Tricia up,” Natalie remarked.
Chelsea pulled the covers over her head, wishing that she’d find some wormhole in her bed that would take her back in time. That way she could warn her other, more idiotic self not to take those dumb pictures and write that stupid e-mail.
Truth be told, Chelsea had been a mess of nerves since she’d accidentally sent that awful e-mail to the National Gazette. She felt absolutely horrible about betraying Camp Walla Walla, all because she was both jealous of, and embarrassed by, Natalie. And now that she knew what a good friend Natalie had been to Tricia—how she’d stuck up for her even though it had caused her a lot of pain—Chelsea couldn’t possibly feel worse about what she’d done.
“Do you think it could be one of the new campers?” Jenna said. “Maybe it was an initiation dare.”
Chelsea’s jaw clenched. Hearing her friends attempt to guess the identity of the Camp Walla Walla mole was more than she could bear.
“I don’t think so,” Brynn said. “No one would suggest a dare that would do so much damage to the camp.”
“Yeah, well, whoever it is, I’d really like to give that jerk a piece of my mind,” Natalie said, scowling.
“I’m with you. Whoever ratted you and Tricia out to the press was a big traitor,” Brynn added.
Chelsea could swear that her tongue was swelling. She just couldn’t listen to her friends bash the mystery e-mailer any longer.
“I’m going to the bathroom.” Chelsea had never heard her voice sound this downtrodden before. “Be back in a few.”
Once Chelsea got to the bathroom, she splashed some cold water on her face, hoping that would make her feel better. But it didn’t help at all. Although she’d been upset at Natalie when she’d written that e-mail, Chelsea would never willingly betray anyone at Camp Walla Walla. If only she could admit what she’d done and plead temporary insanity.
After a few more minutes passed, Chelsea was able to calm herself down enough to return to her bunk. But as soon as she stepped out into the chilly summer air and saw Natalie and Sloan—who was holding Chelsea’s laptop—talking outside the tent, she knew she was in for it.
“W-what are you guys talking about?” Chelsea stammered. There was a brief pause, punctuated by Natalie’s best death glare.
“I was just telling Sloan who the trash really belonged to.”
“Okay, but why do you have my computer?” Chelsea asked, her teeth practically chattering.
Sloan glared at Chelsea. “I borrowed it earlier today to e-mail Dr. Steve.”
“You used it without my permission?” Chelsea knew deep down that being confrontational wasn’t the greatest idea, but she couldn’t help it. Regardless of what she’d done wrong, she kind of felt like her privacy had been violated.
“Well, it was an emergency. Besides, you weren’t around to ask,” Sloan countered, stone-faced. “Now I know why.”
Sloan opened the laptop up so Chelsea could see that in her crazed state she had forgotten to close the Web browser that linked to her now not-so-anonymous e-mail account.
“Guys, let me explain. Please. It’s not what you think,” Chelsea begged.
“How could you do this to us?” Natalie growled, practically spitting nails.
“Just hear me out,” Chelsea urged, her eyes watering.
“You hung Camp Walla Walla out to dry, Chelse!” Sloan’s voice was just below shouting level.
“I’ve been in a confidential counseling session with Jasmine for hours, trying to figure out what to do.”
“It was an accident, I swear. I meant to delete the e-mail, not send it. You have to believe me!”
“I can’t believe that you even thought about doing something like this!” Natalie said sharply. “How deceitful can you be?”
Suddenly, Chelsea’s unbearable sadness gave way to bubbling anger. Natalie had some nerve calling Chelsea deceitful! Yes, Chelsea shouldn’t have taken those pictures and orchestrated a plot to hurt Natalie—she was so sorry about all of it. But Natalie was acting as though she’d been a saint this summer, when she most certainly hadn’t!
Chelsea figured it was about time someone reminded her friend about a certain secret they both shared. What did she have to lose, now that the cat was out of the bag and everyone was attacking her?
“While we’re on the subject, why don’t you come clean with Sloan about the essay contest?” Chelsea said, crossing her arms defiantly.
Natalie immediately seemed rattled. Her hands started shaking.
“What is she talking about, Nat?” Sloan asked warily.
“I . . . um—” Natalie couldn’t seem to get any more words to squeak through her tight lips.
“Natalie wanted to win that chairperson spot so bad, she had me write her essay for her!” Chelsea blurted out.
“What?” Sloan gasped. “You cheated in the essay contest?”
Natalie immediately tried to reason with Sloan. “No, it wasn’t cheating exactly. Chelsea offered to help me with the essay, so she interviewed me and kind of ghostwrote it.”
“So were you trying to return the favor by blabbing to Tricia that I was her ‘biggest fan’?” Chelsea said through gritted teeth. “I can’t believe you told her about that Oprah shirt. You promised you wouldn’t say anything!”
“Well, excuse me for trying to get you some extra face time with your idol. I guess the rest of Camp Walla Walla and I really do deserve to be embarrassed in front of the national media!” Natalie barked.
“Save it!” Sloan snapped. “You are both in the wrong.”
Chelsea felt her ears get hot as Sloan stared her and Natalie down. Couldn’t she see that Chelsea was genuinely sorry for her mistake? Or that she had a valid reason to be upset with Natalie?
“As far as I’m concerned,” Sloan continued, her voice very strained, “You two owe the whole camp an apology. Until you do that, I’m going to keep a lid on all this so it doesn’t destroy camp morale before the festival.”
&n
bsp; Sloan shoved the laptop into Chelsea’s hands and walked into the bunk with her head hung low.
“Happy now?” Natalie asked with an icy stare.
Chelsea’s heart was beating like crazy, and she could barely think straight, let alone come up with a good retort. It didn’t matter, though. Natalie had already turned around and stormed into the tent.
chapter FIFTEEN
The sun never shone as brightly as it did that Saturday morning. The temperature was a perfect seventy-two degrees and the air smelled like fresh wildflowers. On a day like this, the grounds at Camp Walla Walla would usually be crowded with kids running from the lake to the archery field to the horse stables. But since today was the opening of the Green Festival, the grounds were also crowded with families from the surrounding area.
As Sloan weaved her way through the crowd, she took in the sights of the festival. There were colorful tents spread out over the main promenade, which were filled to the brim with people of all ages. Sloan walked by a few crafts tents, where Priya and Sarah were checking out the items that the CITs had for sale, like beeswax candles and frames made out of recycled newspaper.
Then she stopped into a couple of the vegetable garden tents, where the counselors and campers were serving up organic food. She caught Jordan and David sampling some ripe red tomatoes and sweet strawberries. Next she visited the entertainment tent, where a bluegrass band made up of a few counselors was playing up-tempo songs that Brynn and Jenna were square-dancing to, in a goofy way, of course.
Sloan wanted to kick back and join in all the revelry—she’d worked so hard in preparation that yesterday went by in a blur—but she just couldn’t shake her sour mood. The other day she’d found out that two of her best friends had done some pretty crummy things. Sloan was still baffled by Chelsea’s and Natalie’s behavior. It was so out of character. Sure, both of them had had their scheming moments in the past, but never when the stakes were as high as this.
How was Sloan supposed to trust either one of them again?
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