Sleepaway Girls

by Jen Calonita

  They all looked at me. "I'm thankful for the sleepaway girls."

  And on that note, it was time to stop recording.

  Ten minutes later, we'd made it to the cabin and we were grabbing our stuff for the sleepover -- our sleeping bags (which hadn't been used once all summer since we didn't go on the optional overnight camping trip in the mountains. I refused for fear of wolf sightings), warm sweatshirts, extra socks, snacks that Em's mom sent us, extra pillowcases and a Sharpie, so that we could all sign each others' pillowcases. It was a camp tradition, kind of like a school yearbook. We were down the steps when I realized I forgot my disposable camera. Court groaned.

  "We're already late," she complained. "Do you really need it?"

  "Yes, I need it," I told her. "I want to take pictures of the four of us."

  "She means she wants to take pictures of her and Cole," Grace said dryly.

  I didn't deny it. "You guys go on ahead and I'll meet you there. Get me a good spot!" I headed back up the steps and walked inside the now bare bunk. It had been stripped down. The walls were empty, the cubbies were clean, and Meg's tattered pink rug was rolled up in the corner along with the rest of her stuff. Before I got too depressed, I located my camera, rushed back out of the bunk and -- OOOF!

  "Sorry about that," I laughed as I banged smack into someone walking by. I looked up.

  It was Hunter. I hadn't seen him since the talent show. He looked as cute as ever in a backward Dodgers ball cap, jeans, and a red American Eagle sweatshirt. His black eye was gone and his cherubic face was annoyingly, once more, perfect.

  "Hey," I said, feeling awkward.

  "Hi, champ." He grinned, and his smile practically lit up the path. "How have you been? I haven't wanted to get too close for fear Cole might deck me again."

  I blushed. "Yeah, about that..."

  He cut me off. "You don't have to say anything. I get it. My man Cole won. I can handle defeat."

  Defeat? What was Hunter talking about? I stared at his face, so smug. How did I not see what a flirt he was on that first day? "Funny," I deadpanned. I clutched my sleeping bag to my chest, hoping it would somehow put more space between us. "I've got to go." I started walking away and then I turned back around. Hunter was still standing there, watching me. I had the overwhelming urge to say something, and if I didn't do it now, the words would haunt me all winter.

  "You kissed me, you know," I told him.

  Hunter kind of chuckled, and looked down at the ground. "I know that," he said, and adjusted his cap. "You made that painfully clear in your video." Then he looked up at me and his stare moved right through me. "But as I told you that night, I wouldn't have kissed you if I didn't want to."

  Freaked, I gripped my sleeping bag tightly to keep from passing out. I knew if I answered him, I'd say the wrong thing. So I said nothing and just turned around again, feeling Hunter's eyes on me as I walked away and tried to keep his words out of my head.

  "Hey!" Alexis said, spotting me as I made my way onto the great lawn a few minutes later. She was talking to our peeps, who were lined up in a row, snuggled close together. A few of them were crying as they signed each other's pillowcases.

  The lawn was packed. There were so many red, blue, yellow, and purple designer sleeping bags; I had no clue where my friends had put theirs. A huge projector had been set up at the edge of the lawn and was playing Iron Man. Beaver was in one corner serving hot chocolate and cookies. Everywhere you looked, people were hugging, or laughing, or crying. It felt like a high school graduation.

  "We were wondering when you'd get here," Alexis said to me. "The girls have been asking. They have something for you."

  Mackenzie reached into her sleeping bag and pulled out an oversized card made of poster paper. I could see it had hearts all over it and notes scribbled in crooked handwriting. She handed it to me. On the front it said, "TO THE BEST CIT EVER!"

  I thought I might cry. I began hugging each and every one of them, sitting down for a few minutes to sign their pillowcases and to have them sign mine. Serena actually cried when I hugged her. I was going to really miss all of them.

  "They loved having you as a CIT," Alexis told me a few minutes later. "And I have too."

  "Really?" I asked softly. "Even after everything that's happened?"

  Alexis laughed. "You certainly haven't kept in line as well as some of the other CITs I've had over the years," she admitted. "But you have spunk, and you've got a great way with kids." Her face turned serious. "I couldn't be happier with my CIT choice for this summer and I think my father will be lucky to have you as a junior counselor next summer, that is, if you'll come back."

  "UGH, Alexis, do you have to fawn all over her?" Ashley appeared, hovering over us, her cranky expression the only thing darkening her beauty.

  It may have been close to 10 PM, but Ashley looked like she was ready for a party. Her hair was down and sort of curly and she was wearing a Juicy tank and low-slung jeans, even though it had to be 75 degrees. Ashley would suffer through anything for beauty. "You're not coming back, are you?" she asked hopefully.

  She already knew my answer, but I guess she wanted to hear me say it. "Sorry to disappoint you, Ash," I said sweetly, "but I am definitely coming back next year and the year after that one."

  Ashley rolled her eyes. "At least I have ten whole months to forget about you before we do this all over again."

  "My thoughts exactly," I agreed. If there was one reason to look forward to the camp off-season, it was not having to see Ashley.

  Alexis tried to stifle a laugh, but she couldn't help it. She was looking at us both, and she covered her mouth, but the laughter was uncontrollable. "I'm sorry," she practically panted, "but if you could see your faces. I just, you guys, I hate to break this to you, but I have a feeling you're going to be seeing each other this winter and I have to say the thought of that makes me smile. You may not like each other, but by next summer, I predict this rivalry will be long over."

  "Why?" we both asked at the same time, our arms crossed defiantly.

  Alexis didn't say anything. Instead she just pointed in the direction of the Pines offices, a few feet away from the end of the great lawn. The lights were on in the windows and you could see the outline of two people standing with their arms around each other in a tight embrace. I already knew who the mystery couple was.

  "Our dad's and your mom's little flirtation appears to be sort of serious," Alexis told us, trying not to laugh too hard. "I overheard them talking a few minutes ago, and they were definitely planning on some more get-togethers that just might include the two of you. I'll be at college so I'm spared."

  "SHUT UP!" Ashley looked like she might pass out. "You're joking, right?"

  "I'm not joking. Sam's mom came up early to go on a date with Dad," Alexis explained cheerfully. "She's so sweet, Sam. This is the first time I've met her, but she seems great for Dad. I'm rooting for them to make a go of things. And, of course, I can't wait to watch you two squirm during family dinners when I'm home on break."

  "You're lying," Ashley said over and over again. Alexis kept shaking her head. I felt a little dizzy. I knew there was a chance this could happen, but I had been pushing it out of my head. On the one hand, I did not want to spend weekends with Ashley. On the other, if Mom was driving up here, we were only half an hour away from Cole.

  "I'm going up there," Ashley declared and stomped off. I quickly followed. The two of us had to sidestep dozens of sleeping bags to get to the office. Several people said hi to Ashley along the way, but she ignored them. Her face was determined and her jaw was locked in concentration.

  "Hi, sweetie," Hitch said, when he looked down and saw Ashley standing by the deck with her arms crossed. "Hi, Sam." He nudged my mom, who lifted her head and looked at me guiltily.

  "Hi, Ashley. It's nice to meet you. Hi, honey!" she said to me cheerfully. Her hair was a little longer than I remembered it, and she was wearing makeup and perfume. She hadn't done that in a while. "Just prete
nd I'm not here. I don't want to ruin your sleepover party. I wasn't going to bother you till tomorrow. I came up early to see, um, well, Alan."

  "You don't say," Ashley muttered under her breath, but thankfully Mom didn't hear. Daughter or no daughter, Mom would have had something to say about Ashley's attitude, even if Hitch did put up with it.

  "We were going to tell you both tomorrow," Hitch said worriedly. "We're both so new to this dating thing we're not sure how it will work with the distance, but we're hoping to take some weekend trips -- you guys coming up to us, us coming down -- to see how things go."

  Cheering erupted behind us and I saw on the big screen that Robert Downey Jr. had slipped into his Iron Man costume.

  "You both should get back to your friends," Mom insisted as Hitch put his arm around her waist again. "We have plenty of time to catch up -- and get to know each other -- tomorrow."

  "Your house better have a guest room and more than basic cable," was the only thing Ashley said to me as we walked back across the lawn.

  "Ditto," I told her and was thankful when Ashley veered right to sit down next to Gabby, Gavin, Patrick, and a bunch of girls from 8A.

  "What took you so long?" Court wanted to know when I finally, FINALLY dragged my sleeping bag over to the girls and collapsed on top of it. I mumbled my response to my pillow. I was afraid to turn around and see Hitch and my mom kissing.

  "We thought you got eaten by wolves," Grace told me. This made me sit up.

  "You guys saw wolves?" I freaked. "And you let me walk down here alone?"

  The three of them laughed. "I can't believe you still fall for that one," Grace marveled. She was in her sleeping bag and all I could see was her head. She had the bag rolled up to her neck. Em and Court were on either side of her.

  "There you are," Cole said, as he, Dylan, Tim, and some of their bunkmates made their way over to our little patch of grass. They placed their sleeping bags in a row behind us -- Hitch kind of made it clear that guys should not be sleeping directly next to girls -- and took a seat. Em scrambled out of her bed and shyly sat next to Dylan. I noticed that for the first time she didn't have a book with her to read before bed. Tim crouched down next to Grace and the two of them started whispering. I looked over at Court and she rolled her eyes.

  "I guess I'll go get some final flirting in," she said, and slid out of her sleeping bag. She walked over to Donovan, who was sitting with a few other counselors.

  "Hey," Cole said as he leaned down and kissed me. It was just as good the hundredth time as it was the first -- I felt like the Fourth of July fireworks were exploding over our heads. And even though my Mom could technically be watching from a distance, I couldn't help but enjoy the moment. It was hard not to when you were with Cole. After more than a week of not talking, we'd spent the last few days talking till our jaws locked.

  When we came up for air, I said: "My mom is here. She's on a date with Hitch, and -- are you ready for this? -- they're going to try to do the long distance thing."

  Cole looked surprised. "Are you serious?"

  I shook my head and laughed. "Ashley and I were just with them and they were talking about mom and me coming up to visit some weekends."

  Cole's eyebrows shot up. "You mean up here? A half-hour from my house?"

  "Mmm-hmm."

  He broke into a wide grin. "That's not such a bad thing."

  "No?" I questioned. I mean, we were inseparable here, in the Pines bubble, but back in the real world, would Cole like me just as much? As much fun as I'd been having, the nagging thought had entered my mind a million times over the last few days.

  He shook his head. "I know you can't stand Ashley, but if your mom dating Hitch means you get to come upstate more, which means I can see you, then I think it's a win-win situation."

  "So you're not sick of me?" I joked.

  "Samantha Montgomery, I don't think I could ever get sick of you," Cole said seriously.

  And you know what? When he said it like that, all brooding and sexy like he was Nate on Gossip Girl, I believed him.

  "I don't think I could ever get sick of you either," I said shyly.

  "Good," Cole said with a grin and put his arm around me, right where I knew it belonged.

  Acknowledgments

  Sleepaway Girls couldn't have been written without my fabulous editors, Cindy Eagan and Kate Sullivan. This story changed so much--for the better!--from the initial proposal to the final edit and became something I grew to love more and more with every edit. Thanks so much for all your suggestions and camp knowledge ("Is it sleepaway or sleepover camp?") and for your pep talks along the way.

  The same goes for my wonderful agent, Laura Dail, who patiently reminded me there was a whole book to write, and not just the first nine chapters, which I crazily rewrote four (yes, four) times and then later wound up rewriting a fifth. Thank you for always helping me keep my head on straight.

  To the amazing team at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers--Ames O'Neill, Melanie Chang, Andrew Smith, Lisa Laginestra, Melanie Sanders, and Tracy Shaw (who amazes me time and again with her great cover designs)--I'm so lucky to work with all of you.

  To the always knowledgeable Mara Reinstein--this time the questions were more of a camp than a Hollywood variety, but still! You always had the answer I needed. The same goes for my camp and non-camp-going friends who put up with my teen romance questions, camp q's and everything in between--Lisa, AnnMarie, Joyce, Joanie, Elena, Miana, and Erin. A special thanks to Christi, my high school best friend and fellow camp counselor--who was nothing like the Mal in this book!

  To my mom, Lynn Calonita, who helps out more than a grandmother ever should just so I make all my book deadlines. It's because of you that I always get everything in on time! Love also to my dad, Nick Calonita; my grandfather, Nick Calonita; Nicole and John Neary; and Gail and Brian Smith for their endless support.

  Finally, to my wonderful family--my husband, Mike; my sons Tyler and Dylan; and our super-pampered Chihuahua, Jack--thank you for all your love, laughter, and large supply of kisses.