Alex's Challenge

by Melissa J Morgan

  “Oh my goodness!” Valerie said, turning bright red.

  “They are so cute together,” Alex said, tugging on Valerie and Sarah’s arms.

  Julie was sitting in the back of the room holding hands with their woodworking instructor, Jeremy. They two of them were nuzzling like love-struck puppies. Julie had never looked sparklier—and it wasn’t from the lotion she had borrowed from the girls in 3C.

  The applause continued throughout the drama shack. All the kids—four hundred of them—were standing and cheering for the young actors. Still smiling, Alex turned to watch Brynn and Grace take their final bows as Nibs and Wendy from Peter Pan.

  Alex was so proud of them.

  chapter TEN

  After the play, Alex rushed to the stage to hug Brynn and Grace. Then she rushed to the mess hall with Natalie and Alyssa because she was helping with the banquet dinner. She helped pull several pans of vegetable lasagna and several more pans of meat lasagna out of the oven.

  Pasta was especially good for kids with diabetes—the sugar released more slowly into their bodies—and so were vegetables. So she picked her favorites to help everyone make with the meal: green beans cooked with bacon, salad with cheese, and honey cookies for dessert. (She could have those because honey was better for her than other kinds of sugar.)

  Alex was more careful about what she ate than most kids with diabetes were. She figured out when she was first diagnosed that if she watched her food carefully—saying no to all the yummy stuff she really wanted to eat—she didn’t have to get as many insulin shots during the day. She was down to one per day, and she didn’t have to sneak off to see Nurse Helen anymore. Now that everyone knew, she could walk there without making excuses. She realized how much more relaxed she was with the counselors’ support, and without having to hide or sneak off and make excuses. And most of all, without someone like Chelsea tormenting her every other day.

  When Alex worked in the kitchen, she was happier than ever. She and Brynn were better. Valerie and Sarah had patched things up. The play had been awesome. And even she had to admit it: Color War was still fun, even from the sidelines.

  She was suddenly surprised by a towel that snapped in her direction. The whip of it just barely missed her right knee. Pete was at the other end of the weapon, laughing his face off.

  “I know you’re not really going to get me with that thing,” Alex said, grabbing a goofy-looking hairnet. She was required to wear it whenever she helped out. Pete and the others had them on, too.

  “So I hear you whipped some tail at Scrabble this morning,” he said, turning around to stir a huge bubbly pot of bright red tomato sauce that was making a mess all over his stove. Alex thought she had better taste it. Pete wasn’t the best cook—someone might have to sneak in and fix that sauce so it didn’t wind up tasting like Play-Doh. He was busy fixing extra spaghetti in case the campers ate up all the lasagna.

  “I did pretty well!” Alex answered, grabbing a towel to snap him. If she got his attention away from the pot, she’d be able to sneak in and taste the sauce.

  “More than well,” Pete said, snapping her back as she washed her hands, preparing to dunk her finger.

  What Pete said was true. Alex had taken the entire Scrabble tournament that morning. She had beaten the older kids, the counselors, even Chelsea. And she was beaming about it.

  She didn’t want to brag or anything, so she tried really hard to beam inwardly. The thing with Chelsea had been pretty easy. They wound up playing against each other in their division—after they’d already won for the Blues. So they played it out to see who could be the ultimate winner.

  Alex, Natalie, Candace, and Alyssa helped Pete and the other cooks in the kitchen for fifteen more minutes before dinner was finally ready. Alex chopped while Marissa scrambled in and out to finish setting the tables. Alex couldn’t wait to sit with her friends and have fun at the formal banquet that night.

  “Alex, do you want me to save you a seat?” Brynn yelled into the kitchen.

  “Yes, please!” Alex yelled, taking off her hairnet and rushing out to hang with her friends.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Pete asked, pretending that he was about to flip sauce onto her navy blue shirt.

  “I gotta eat,” she yelled, knowing that she was done for the night. She had helped plan and prepare, and now she just wanted to have some fun.

  In honor of the banquet, the mess hall had been completely transformed. All of the banners that different campers had made for Color War were plastered across the wall, and red and blue streamers hung from the rafters. A centerpiece of red and blue balloons had been placed on top of every table. The entire room was abuzz with excitement—the fun and glamour of being dressed up for a special occasion, as well as the imminent announcement of the winners of Color War had everyone hopped-up like three-year-olds on a sugar rush.

  “I’m sure everyone wants to know which team won the Color War,” Dr. Steve said, stepping up to the front of the room with a devilish glint in his eye. Everyone clapped and cheered in anticipation. “It should be no surprise to anyone that the victors were. . . the Blues!”

  The campers went crazy, stamping their feet and pounding on their tables. Dr. Steve laughed. “The point totals were . . .”—he paused, dragging the moment out for all it was worth—“Red, three-seventy-five. And Blue . . . four hundred!”

  The room shook with noise and energy. The Blues—what sounded like six thousand of them—whooped and hollered. The Reds booed in good nature. They were pretty upset, because if they hadn’t broken Color War rules by raiding the camp the first morning—and losing twenty-five points for their team—then there would have been a tie.

  “Ha! In your faces, Red!” Chelsea shouted, pumping her fist in the air.

  “No one lost, Chelsea,” Brynn said. “Not really.”

  Green beans and dinner rolls were thrown through the air until the Julie and Marissa convinced everyone to stop before the mayhem got out of hand. Alex was glad there wasn’t a food fight that particular night: She had her good clothes on for once in her life!

  As the Most Valuable Players were announced—in their division, Jenna was named for the Blues—everyone cheered some more. Alex was glad that Jenna had won. Jenna had played a great game of basketball earlier that day and she had two more overall points than Alex did. When Jenna got her award—an MVP necklace made out of clay—Alex clapped the hardest.

  “And we can’t forget Alex Kim,” Julie announced, still all rosy-cheeked. She stood up at the front of 3C’s table. “She is our top-winning Scrabble player ever.” With that announcement, Alex turned the color of a lobster and picked up a ceramic necklace Julie had made just for the occasion. The gift was so thoughtful that Alex almost cried. Even if she hadn’t been able to be in ceramics for her last free choice, she still got the necklace she had wanted to make.

  The winners—the Blue team—got up to serve the chocolate chip cookies to all of the losers. Alex only ate one—others had three, four, or five—and no one gave Alex any trouble about it. Not even Chelsea, who had seemingly made up with Karen. They were sitting together at the end of the table, laughing and talking. Karen was doing a lot of talking!

  Chelsea didn’t seem to mind too much. She turned to Alex. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, even if I do think you cheat at Scrabble.”

  Alex smiled despite herself. Chelsea could always be counted on to be . . . well, Chelsea. It was almost endearing.

  The mood was happy but quiet as the girls, totally exhausted but running on adrenaline, made their way back to the bunk for the last night at camp. Alex was satisfied that she had learned a lot that summer—about bullies and sports and Twinkies and friendships.

  Did I learn anything about crushes? she wondered as she saw Adam walking with Jenna, whispering to her about something. They saw her looking at them, and they started coming her way. Her heart sped up by about a hundred beats.

  “So, um, Adam,” Alex said, her voice quiv
ering from way too many nerves, “I heard you won blob tag for the Blues. Congrats!”

  “Thanks. Can I talk to you?” he asked, his eyes serious and wide.

  “Um, I guess. What do you want?”

  “Uh, excuse me,” Jenna said, a tad overly loud. “I have to talk to . . . Natalie!” She turned her whole body away to “subtly” give Alex and Adam some privacy.

  But why? Alex wondered.

  “I just, um, wanted to see if you’d be here next summer?” Adam asked her, while he bent down to tie his shoelaces. Alex could see that his hands were trembling. Why are his hands trembling?

  “I’m here every summer. They’re good about catering to kids with diabetes here, kids like me,” she answered, proud to be talking about her condition in the open. She wished she had just blurted the truth out before—her summer could’ve been a lot easier. “I can’t wait to come back here.”

  “Me neither,” he said, looking at her.

  “Cool, see you later!” Alex said, smiling as she took off toward her friends in 3C. Next summer will be even better! she thought.

  chapter ELEVEN

  “You what?” Natalie was screaming when Alex got back into the bunk.

  “I broke up with Trevor,” Alyssa said. “It’s the end of the summer. Why not?”

  “You’re such a heartbreaker!” Natalie teased Alyssa, throwing her pillow at her best-camp-friend.

  “It’s about time it’s that way around,” Alyssa answered, flipping her Day-Glo hair up into a high, messy ponytail. “I was so bummed when Adam told me said he just wanted to be friends.”

  Alyssa looked directly at Alex, meeting her eyes. Alex froze, but luckily, Alyssa just smiled and looked away.

  Adam dumped Alyssa? Why? Alex asked herself. This certainly put a new and confusing spin on things. Alex figured she wouldn’t think about it anymore. This stuff just wasn’t her business.

  Before Alyssa could get another word in, Natalie dove into her bed headfirst. “I can’t believe the summer is over!” she whined.

  “Oh, Simon, how I love thee!” Grace teased. “I can’t go back to Manhattan without you! My dahhhlling!”

  “My dahhhhhhling!” Candace yelled, getting a laugh from the rest of the bunk.

  Another pillow flew into Alyssa’s face, knocking her off balance and into her sheets.

  “Oh, stop it,” Alyssa said to everyone. “Natalie will see Simon in the fall.”

  “Really?” Grace asked, still beaming from her performance as Wendy. She looked happier than she had all summer.

  Grace had something else to be proud of, too: She’d caught up on all of the summer homework her parents had given her. She’d be heading back to school well-prepared in the fall. Her bunkmates had enjoyed helping her when she couldn’t get through a book like Call of the Wild. Alex had really liked getting to know Grace better. Alex was going to miss her!

  “I hope we get to hang out,” Natalie said. “He lives in Westport, Connecticut. That’s close to New York City. We think we’ll hang out in September.”

  Her facial expression got all dreamy. Alex was pretty sure she wasn’t ready to get that into a boy.

  “Brynn, will you be auditioning for all the school plays?” Natalie asked, clearly trying to get the attention off her romantic possibilities.

  “Um, yeah, and Grace is going to audition for parts at her school, too,” Brynn added while doing a post-drama-production sun salutation, a yoga move.

  Brynn told Alex that it helped her calm down. Alex was used to Brynn’s moves.

  In the other corner of the room, Valerie was talking to Chelsea, and Karen was standing there, too. Alex definitely wanted to get the full story later.

  When the excitement died down, and that took at least twenty minutes after all those honey cookies everyone had eaten, Valerie ran over to Alex and hugged her. She added, “You didn’t forget, did you?”

  “Of course not!” Alex reached around under her bed and dug into the large suitcase to find a few sacks she had hidden there. Inside the sacks were two wooden boxes. “Now is the perfect time.”

  Valerie grabbed Brynn and Sarah. The three of them came over to Alex and walked just outside the bunk.

  “Don’t go too far, girls,” Julie yelled.

  “We have to give out the bunk awards next! Alex, I think you might be getting one . . .” Marissa teased from the bathroom mirror where she was fixing her hair.

  “Okay,” Alex said, trembling. “This is for you.” She handed one sack to Brynn.

  “And this is for you,” Valerie said, handing the other one to Sarah.

  Both girls looked puzzled. The girls tore into them. Once they realized what the gifts were, they shrieked with excitement. “This is amazing!” Brynn said as she opened and closed the box. Hers had flowers carved on it. The wood was cedar, and Brynn stuck her nose in to take a whiff and went, “Ahhh.”

  “It is. But why did you do this?” Sarah said, admiring the stars and moons that were carved on her wooden box.

  “There’s one more, actually,” Alex said, feeling suddenly shy. She dashed back into the bunk, pulled another bag out, and rushed back outside to hand it to a very surprised Valerie.

  “One for me, too?” Valerie asked, bewildered. Her box had a simple, round elephant carved on it.

  “Valerie, you are awesome. Yours is a huge thank-you,” Alex said, hugging her friend. She looked at the other girls.

  “Brynn and Sarah, Valerie and I made these thinking that they would help us all make up and be nice to one another again—it was a gift we wanted to give you.” Alex blushed, feeling like she was in an after-school television special. “Valerie thought of doing it. She’s the generous one, not me,” Alex said, admiring Valerie’s cornrows that were piled festively on top of her head. “She’s also the talented one, I mean, she taught me how.”

  Brynn wiped tears from her eyes—she really could cry on cue—and ran over to hug Alex. “This means so much to me. I’m so sorry for everything the past few weeks.”

  “Stop it. That’s so yesterday!” Alex yelled. “I’m just glad you like it!”

  Brynn reached over and hugged Valerie, too. But she had to wait her turn. Sarah was saying something to Valerie that got Valerie all teary-eyed.

  “Enough of this sappy stuff,” Alex said, wanting to party and not get sad. She would miss her camp friends sooo much.

  “Wait, Alex,” Brynn answered. “You’re the only one without one of these!”

  “No, she’s not,” Valerie said, smiling from cornrow to cornrow. “Here you go, girl.” Valerie handed Alex a wooden jewelry box with soccer balls carved on it.

  “You are too much!” Alex said, hugging Valerie.

  She did feel like these girls knew her well. She didn’t have anything to hide. She was sure that this summer she had belonged at Camp Lakeview. She really wanted to cry because she was so happy. But she held back—she wanted to celebrate, not get sappy.

  After the gift exchange, Alex, Valerie, Brynn, and Sarah went back inside the bunk with the rest of 3C.

  “Snack time!” Jenna yelled, pulling out a small cardboard box—the last of her snack stash.

  Alex’s throat tightened because that was her conditioned response. Every time Jenna had snacks, Alex would have to dodge them.

  But then her muscles relaxed all over. This time was different because everyone finally knew the whole truth.

  “Alex, you first,” Jenna said.

  Alex’s throat tightened again—this time because she was surprised. Jenna knew she couldn’t have any.

  Alex’s face scrunched up. She had hoped that awkward moments like this one were in the past. She thought it was all over!

  “Just look in the box! Go on,” Jenna chided, smiling and giggling. The other girls stood back like they were all in on a joke.

  Alex looked in and she saw packs of sugar-free pudding. Her face broke out into an enormous grin. She reached in and took one, along with a spoon. The other girls waited their t
urn.

  “We want you to know we love you,” Brynn said, passing out the sugar-free treats to everyone.

  Even Chelsea took one, looked up, and smiled at Alex. “We’re with you this time.”

  Alex just beamed, and finally, she couldn’t hold back the waterworks that gushed out of her eyes. She wiped her cheeks with the insides of her arms and then she tore open the pudding. It was the very best thing she could’ve eaten. And that’s because she was eating it with her very best friends.

  She held up her plastic tub filled with smooth chocolate yumminess and yelled, “Cheers to 3C!”

  Turn the page for a sneak preview of

  camp

  CONFIDENTIAL

  TTYL

  available soon!

  Natalie:

  Saturday

  Aries8: Natalie! U there?

  NatalieNYC: JENNA!!! OMG, what’s up? camp only ended saturday but I miss u so much already. how’s home?

  Aries8: ok. I’m at my dad’s—totally boring. Just looking at stuff online with adam.

  NatalieNYC: Hi, adam.

  Aries8: He’s getting food right now—I had to im u and say he got a text message from Simon last night—just saying hi and whatever and then he was like, “I am totally glad to be home—just miss my friends and obviously Natalie.”

  NatalieNYC: Aww, that’s so sweet, J.

  Aries8: Totally. R u gonna keep seeing him?

  NatalieNYC: ?? Don’t know. CT isn’t that far but… there’s Kyle. He’s here, in NY, and I’m kind of into him.

  Aries8: U mentioned him at camp.

  NatalieNYC: Gotta go—Hannah’s here, we’re going back-to-school shopping!!! Totally the best thing about fall…right? talk to u on the msg board! Bye!

  Aries8: I’d luv to go shopping, if I wasn’t stuck at my dad’s.

  NatalieNYC: NATALIENYC is unavailable

  Natalie couldn’t believe how excited she was to see Hannah. It had only been a couple of months since Hannah had jetted off to Europe and Natalie had boarded the bus to Camp Lakeview, but it felt like a lifetime—and so much had happened in Nat’s life that she knew a huge catching-up session was in order. So the obvious thing to do the second she got home from camp? Call Hannah, and invite her to go shopping the next day! Natalie was beyond thrilled to be back in New York City, where no one considered denim overalls and a tank top to be the height of fashion.