“Wow. She’s good,” Alex said.
Jenna couldn’t have agreed more. Marissa definitely had a point. Why would diving hurt any more than jumping?
“Okay, but what if I hit a rock?” Jenna asked, pulling her wet bathing suit away from her stomach to make the sucking sound she loved and then letting it go.
“Did you even hit the bottom of the lake when you jumped in just now?” Marissa asked.
Jenna felt her face flush slightly. “Um . . . no.”
“Well then you’re not going to hit it when you dive,” Marissa told her. “Besides, there are no rocks down there. It’s all sand.”
“Swear?” Jenna asked.
“Cross my heart and hope to never wear eyeliner again,” Marissa said. She crossed her heart with her finger and held up a flat hand like a Girl Scout.
“And for her, that’s serious,” Alex said.
Marissa and Jenna laughed, and Jenna walked to the edge of the platform once more, looking down. Suddenly, the water didn’t seem as far away. Her stomach was still full of nervous butterflies, but for the first time, she felt like she might actually be able to do this. Marissa had done it when she was scared. Even Alex had told her that she had been a little frightened on her first dive. If they could both do it, why couldn’t she?
Jenna turned to Marissa and Alex with a smile. “Okay! I think I’m gonna—”
“Hey, Marissa!”
Jenna’s face fell when she saw her sister Stephanie walking the planks toward them. She was wearing her new pink tankini and her hair was back in a perfect French braid.
“Hold that thought, J,” Marissa said.
“What are you guys doing out here?” Stephanie asked, slipping on her Hollywood-style tinted sunglasses.
“We’re helping Jenna with her diving,” Alex announced.
Stephanie looked at Jenna sympathetically. “Oh, yeah, I heard about that, Boo.” She stepped over and gathered Jenna’s hair behind her head, running her fingers through it like Jenna’s mother always did when Jenna was sad. Who did Stephanie think she was, Jenna’s personal babysitter? This whole mothering thing was worse than ever this summer. “Anything I can do?” Stephanie asked. She stuck out her bottom lip slightly like she was talking to a pouting baby.
“Yeah. Stop calling me Boo,” Jenna replied, stepping out of her sister’s grasp.
“Oh, right! Sorry!” Stephanie said with a quick smile. She didn’t actually seem sorry at all. “Listen, can I borrow Marissa for a sec? It’s kind of important.”
“Sure,” Jenna said, mostly because Stephanie was already dragging Marissa aside.
“So, we need to talk about the social,” Stephanie said.
“I know!” Marissa said. “We have to decide on wardrobe, makeup, and, most importantly—”
“Guys!” Marissa and Stephanie said at the same time, then giggled like a couple of crazy people.
Jenna and Alex looked at each other and rolled their eyes. It seemed like all the older girls talked about was which boys they liked and which boys liked them. Didn’t they know there were about a million more important things in life? Like the fact that five seconds ago, Jenna had been ready to announce that she was going to take her first dive. Marissa was helping her with the most embarrassing problem of her life, and Stephanie had stolen her away. To talk about what? Stupid boys!
I’m never going to be able to dive now, Jenna thought, staring down at the water sadly. The moment of confidence had passed. She was back to being petrified. What had she been thinking?
“Hey! Here come the newbies,” Alex said.
Natalie and Chelsea jogged toward the pier, both practically bursting, they were so excited.
“Omigod, you guys! You are never going to believe what just happened!” Natalie said, grabbing Jenna’s arm. “Simon asked me to the social!”
“And Eric asked me!” Chelsea exclaimed.
Jenna’s and Alex’s jaw dropped. “What?” they both said in unison.
“I can’t believe it! We have dates for the social!” Natalie trilled, grinning.
“Why?” Jenna asked. It was the only word in her head. “I mean . . . why?”
“What do you mean, why?” Chelsea asked with that superior look on her face. “It’s a dance. You have to have a date for a dance or it’s no fun.”
“Uh, none of us has ever gone with dates before, and we always have fun,” Alex said.
“Well, maybe things are going to be different this year,” Chelsea replied.
Jenna could not believe it. Dates for the social? What was wrong with these girls? Why would they ever want to spend time with boys voluntarily? Jenna was forced to spend time with her brother and his friends all the time and it was just plain annoying. Plus, they were newbies and they were acting like the social was their thing. Like they knew how to make it fun. They had never even been to one before!
“Here they come!” Natalie whispered. “Act cool.”
“Great. And your uglier half is with them,” Alex joked.
Ugh! Could things get any worse? Adam, Simon, and Eric were all walking toward them, and Adam had that look on his face. That self-satisfied look he always got when he was feeling proud of himself about something. What had he done now, dove off the high dive?
Nat and Chelsea walked up to meet the boys and stopped a few feet up the pier. Alex shrugged and joined them while Adam stepped up to Jenna at the edge of the planks.
“Hey, Jen,” Adam said. “Why so bummed? No date for the dance?”
“Like I want one,” Jenna said. “Wait. Don’t tell me you have one.”
“Uh . . . no. No ball and chain for me,” Adam joked. “So if it’s not a guy, then what’s with the face? You’re all scrunchy.”
“I don’t know, it’s like all anyone can talk about is the social. Like it’s so important. Look at Stephanie,” Jenna grumbled, glaring at her sister and Marissa over her shoulder. “Marissa was helping me out, and Stephanie came over to discuss wardrobe and guys or whatever and now it’s like I’m invisible.”
“You could never be invisible!” Adam said. “Especially not in that bathing suit,” he added with a laugh, eyeing her yellow and pink Hawaiian-print tank.
“Shut up!” Jenna shot back.
“Okay! Okay!” Adam said. “God! Freak out a little more, why don’t you? What’s the big deal?”
Jenna glanced at Stephanie and Marissa, laughing and whispering. The big deal was Marissa was supposed to be hanging out with her. But once again one of her siblings had to come along and ruin her afternoon for her. And now Adam was here to rub salt in the wound. “Just forget it,” Jenna told Adam.
“Well, if you want help with your diving, I can help you,” Adam offered.
Like I really want my twin brother coaching me. How humiliating, Jenna thought. “Thanks, anyway,” she said.
“Come on, Jen, I’m already at blue level,” Adam said. “I can help.”
“Oh, you’re so cool,” Jenna said, annoyed. “You’re already at blue level.” I would kill to be at blue level, she added silently.
“I’m sorry I’m ahead of you, all right? But if you don’t learn how to dive, you’re going to be stuck back here in yellow while the rest of your friends move on to green and blue,” Adam said.
Like I don’t know this, Jenna thought, heat prickling at the back of her neck. Why couldn’t everyone just leave her alone? Why did they have to keep reminding her of what a failure she was?
I want to call Mom, Jenna thought, then felt like a big baby. Her mother had plenty of other things to worry about this summer. She didn’t need her daughter calling her up to whine about diving like she was some kindergartner.
“Come on. I’ll practice with you,” Adam said.
Why did everyone feel the need to push her? All it did was make her feel worse. Jenna had to get out of there before she did something embarrassing. Like burst into tears. Thinking about her mother had already made the hot prickling move into her eyes. The last thing
she wanted to do was cry in front of everyone.
“Thanks, anyway, but I . . . uh . . . I kind of need to go to the bathroom right now,” Jenna said, backing up. It was the first excuse that came to mind.
“Jenna—”
“Really, Adam,” Jenna said, turning. She was so frustrated, and somehow, even with all these people around, she felt really alone. “I gotta go.”
She turned and jogged to the beach, grabbing up her board shorts and flip-flops from the end of the pier. Jenna would have loved to have run back to the bunk and cry her eyes out, but she wasn’t allowed to leave the lake area during free swim. Some of the girls from 3C were lounging over by the first-aid shack. Jessie and Grace both had their noses buried in books while Candace, Valerie, and Alyssa flipped through magazines. Everyone else was swimming in the shallow end, but she couldn’t face her friends when she was all red-eyed and upset. Instead, she headed for a huge oak tree behind the water sports cabin, which also housed the bathrooms. She dropped to the ground in front of it, pulled her knees up under her chin and hugged them to her.
I am so sick of my brothers and sister, Jenna thought, burying her face behind her legs. Next year I’m going to a different camp. Or better. I’ll make Mom and Dad send all of them to a different camp.
“Jenna? Are you okay?”
Sniffling quickly, Jenna was surprised to find Chelsea hovering over her. Had she actually left the precious boys to see if Jenna was all right?
“I’m fine,” Jenna said grouchily.
Chelsea tucked her blond hair behind her ear and sat down next to Jenna. After two weeks at camp, Chelsea already had a deep tan, and the freckles across the bridge of her nose were more defined. She was wearing a baby blue bathing suit that brought out the stunning color of her eyes. In fact, Jenna now realized that all of Chelsea’s bathing suits were blue, and for the first time she wondered if Chelsea had matched her eyes on purpose. Jenna looked down at her own bright suit. Matching her clothes to her eyes was something she never would have thought of doing. But that was Chelsea.
“Hey, I’m sorry I picked on you the other day,” Chelsea said, putting her arm around Jenna. “I didn’t know it was such a big deal.”
“It’s not,” Jenna replied automatically.
“Okay,” Chelsea said quickly.
They both stared at the ground for a moment. Jenna watched a trail of ants returning to their anthill in a perfect line.
“I am so glad I don’t have a brother,” Chelsea said finally.
“Adam is such a jerk,” Jenna replied.“‘I’m in blue, you know.’ Like we don’t all know he’s ahead of the rest of us.”
“He’s so obnoxious,” Chelsea agreed. “We need to get back at him.”
Jenna lifted her head fully for the first time. Chelsea’s eyes gleamed with mischief. “Get back at him? How?”
“Nothing big,” Chelsea said with a shrug. “Just a small, innocent prank—like the one you pulled on us last night. To remind him who he’s dealing with.”
Jenna smiled slightly. A prank. Yes. That would make her feel better. Pulling a prank always made her feel better. It would take her mind off diving, off Adam and Stephanie, off her parents. She grinned at Chelsea. Just yesterday Jenna had been beyond mad at the girl for picking on her fear of diving, but suddenly that didn’t matter anymore. If there was one thing Chelsea would be good for, it was pranking. She was fearless and smart. And she didn’t care what anyone else thought of her, which could be a pain sometimes, but it made her the perfect partner in crime. And that was exactly what Jenna needed at the moment.
“We need a plan,” Jenna said. “A really, really good one.”
chapter FIVE
Chelsea and Jenna stood in the bunk bathroom that evening, huddled in the corner by the second toilet. It had started to drizzle outside toward the end of free swim, and the light rain tapped against the windowpane above their heads. As always, the rain brought out the slight moldy smell of the bathroom and made the air thick. Out in the bunk, the rest of Jenna’s friends killed the free time before dinner by writing letters to their parents and friends. Jenna, however, was doing what she did best: plotting.
“Are you sure you can do this?” she asked Chelsea under her breath. “I can, if you want me to. I can fake it better than anybody.”
“Come on, Jenna. Julie’s never going to believe you have a stomachache,” Chelsea said. “You’re you.”
“Yeah. I guess I have used it too many times,” Jenna said, checking her plastic watch. “Okay, we gotta do it now or we won’t have time.”
“Let’s go,” Chelsea said with a nod.
Jenna lifted a twenty-ounce bottle of Sunkist her dad had sent in a care package. She nodded at Chelsea, who coughed so that no one would hear the hiss as she
popped the bottle open. Then Jenna nodded again, and Chelsea started making some of the most convincing barfing noises Jenna had ever heard.
Stifling a laugh, Jenna quickly dumped the Sunkist into the toilet so it would sound like Chelsea was actually throwing up. When they heard an “Ew” and some movement in the bunk, Jenna tossed the bottle into the trash and Chelsea hit her knees, quickly flushing the toilet. Seconds later Julie appeared in the doorway with half the bunk gathered behind her.
“Who’s sick?” Julie asked, her eyes darting to Chelsea.
Chelsea took a deep, heaving breath. Her hair stuck to her forehead as she looked up at Julie with heavy eyes.
“I don’t feel so good,” Chelsea said.
“She threw up. A lot,” Jenna confirmed, doing her best grossed-out face.
Julie crouched next to Chelsea and pushed her hair back from her face. Jenna was impressed to see Chelsea swallowing hard and hanging her head. The girl knew what she was doing. If Jenna didn’t know better, even she would have believed Chelsea was ill. Suddenly Jenna had a whole new respect for this particular new girl.
“Can you make it to the nurse’s cabin?” Julie asked.
“I don’t know,” Chelsea said weakly.
“I’ll take her,” Jenna volunteered. As if the idea had just come to her.
Julie helped Chelsea to her feet, where she stood, leaning sideways slightly like she was about to fall over.
“Chelsea? Do you need me to go with you, or is Jenna okay?” Julie asked.
“No. Jenna’s fine,” Chelsea said, adding a burp. “You have to take everyone to dinner.” She put her hand over her stomach and grimaced. “Ugh. Dinner.”
“I’d better get her out of here before she ralphs again,” Jenna said, wrapping her arm around Chelsea. Together they staggered to the bathroom door, where everyone parted to let them through.
“Here, you guys,” Grace said, helpfully grabbing their windbreakers from the pegs by the door. “It’s raining out, and you don’t want Chelsea to get even sicker.”
“Yeah, you don’t want her to get even sicker,” Candace repeated.
“Thanks,” Jenna said, feeling a little guilty over Grace’s concern and thoughtfulness. She and Chelsea struggled into their jackets and headed out into the drizzle.
“Feel better!” Val called after them.
Then the screen door slammed shut, and Jenna and Chelsea made their way around the bunk. As soon as they were safely out of sight, Jenna stopped pretending to hold Chelsea up and they took off at a run, heading for the mess hall. The plan was simple, but it had to be done within the next five minutes, or they were sure to get caught.
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