A Fair to Remember #13

by Melissa J Morgan

  A Fair to Remember #13

  Melissa J. Morgan

  PENGUIN group (2010)

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  * * *

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  Title Page

  chapter ONE

  chapter TWO

  chapter THREE

  chapter FOUR

  chapter FIVE

  chapter SIX

  chapter SEVEN

  chapter EIGHT

  chapter NINE

  chapter TEN

  chapter ELEVEN

  chapter TWELVE

  chapter THIRTEEN

  Teaser chapter

  GROSSET & DUNLAP

  Published by the Penguin Group

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  Library of Congress Control Number: 2006027929

  eISBN : 978-1-101-04307-3

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  PROLOGUE

  Posted by: Jenna

  Subject: Memorial Day fun!!!

  Hey there, peeps of 4A and 4C, have I got a surprise for you! This Memorial Day weekend my father has offered to take us all up to the lake house so we can pig out, stay up all night talking, work on our base tans, and make up for lost reunion time.

  Ladies . . . pack your bags!

  I mean, even though the reunion weekend turned out all right in the end, we were split up. And that, we all agreed, was no good. I think it’s about time we get the girls back together for a little two-bunk bonding, don’t you? Plus, Memorial Day at the lake is out of control. They do this whole old-fashioned, weekend-long, picnic/carnival thing with tons of food and rides and tons of food and shows and tons of food and fireworks.

  Did I mention the tons of food?

  (You know how much I love my stomach.)

  Anyway, the point is, you are all invited and I hope to see each and every one of you there. And for those of you who are wondering (and I know you’re out there), no, this is not one of my practical jokes. I can see why you would think so, but I’d never joke about a thing like this. I am perfectly and totally serious. But if you really need to confirm, you can have your parents call my dad. He’s totally willing to answer their questions.

  So pack your bags, ladies! It’s time to have the real reunion we’ve all been waiting for! Can’t wait to see you!!!

  chapter ONE

  “Bathing suit . . . check!” Jenna Bloom sang to herself as she shoved her one-piece into her duffel bag. “Greenwood Lake sweatshirt . . . check! Baseball cap . . . check!”

  She yanked open the drawer to her bedside table and considered her stash of practical joke paraphernalia. Should she bring the whoopee cushion? The foaming mouth gum? The skin cream that looked like it was from some chichi makeup counter, but in fact turned your skin green? That could be fairly hilarious if she could convince Tori or Natalie that it was the latest in makeup technology from France or whatever.

  But no. This weekend was not about pranks. It was about bonding with her friends. Being a “gracious hostess,” as her mother had told her ten thousand times. And she had a feeling that Martha Stewart had never purposely turned her guests’ faces green. With a deep breath and some serious willpower, Jenna slammed the drawer shut. No pranks this weekend. This Memorial Day was going to be about good clean fun.

  “Jenna! Are you ready yet?” her mother called up the stairs. “Your father is going to be here any minute!”

  “I’m trying, Mom!” Jenna shouted back, shoving her flip-flops into the bag. “But this packing thing is complicated.”

  “Your brother was done an hour ago!” her mom called. “It’s just three days!”

  Jenna rolled her eyes and yanked her bag off the bed. It dropped to the floor with a thump. How could Adam have been done an hour ago? They had just gotten home from school around that time. It had taken Jenna a half hour just to locate her duffel bag and find herself three T-shirts that weren’t covered in wrinkles.

  But it made sense that her twin brother was all ready to go. That was just the way he was. What Jenna couldn’t figure out was why he wanted to go at all. Did he really want to spend the entire weekend in a house full of girls? How could that possibly be fun for him?

  “Well, at least we’ll outnumber him eight to one,” Jenna said with a smirk, dropping down in front of her computer.

  She had saved all the response e-mails from the friends who were coming to the lake and put them in their own little folder. On the list were Alex, Natalie, Grace, Brynn, Tori, Alyssa, and Valerie. Definitely a fun group. Jenna could not wait to see them all. She only wished that Sarah had agreed to come, but she had e-mailed a few days ago to decline. Apparently she had a big softball game that weekend that she just couldn’t miss. Jenna understood that, being a sports fiend herself. Plus this was Sarah’s first year on her school team. She had tried out and made it after Abby, another camp friend who also went to Sarah’s school, had talked her into it. Jenna was happy that Sarah was finally using her sick softball skills somewhere other than camp, but Sarah was going to be missed this weekend.

  “Jenna! Please finish up and come down!” Jenna’s mother shouted. “Your father is going to want to hit the road as soon as he gets here.”

  “Just have to shut down my computer, Mom!” Jenna yelled back.

  She quickly typed up an e-mail to Sarah.

  To: SarahSports

  From: Aries8

  Subject: The Big Game

  Hi, Sarah!

  Just wanted to wish you luck on your softball game this weekend! We’ll be rooting for you from Greenwood Lake. Wish you could be there! We’ll miss you!!!

  Love,

  Jenna

  Jenna quickly logged off and shut down her computer. She heard her father’s car pull up outside and her heart started to pound with excitement. This was it! The weekend was about to begin. In just a couple of hours, she would be hanging out with all her friends.

  With some effort, Jenna hoisted her heavy bag from the floor and struggled through the door with it. She shut off her bedroom light and clambered down the stairs.

  “He’s here! He’s here! He’s here!” she cheered, jumping down the last few steps.

  Her feet hit at an odd angle and she tripped forward, taking out a potted plant with her bag and tripping right into someone’s chest.<
br />
  “Easy there, killer,” the victim said, steadying Jenna with his hands on her arms.

  Okay. That was not a member of her family. Jenna stood up straight and looked right into the light green eyes of David Carson. David, Adam’s friend from camp. David, Sarah’s boyfriend. Jenna’s heart took a nose-dive and she stepped back. Practically jumped back.

  “What are you doing here?” she blurted.

  “Good to see you, too,” David said with a smile. His floppy brown hair had been cut so that it didn’t flop completely over his eye anymore. It just sort of grazed his eyebrow. “And you’re welcome.”

  “For what?” Jenna asked.

  “For catching you,” he said.

  “I was fine, thanks,” Jenna said, straightening her T-shirt.

  “Yeah. Tell that to the wallpaper that almost rearranged your face,” Adam said from behind her. “And David is here because Dad said I could bring a friend this weekend. You know, because you’ve got, like, four thousand of them coming.”

  Jenna whirled on her brother, whose curly brown hair—so much like her own—was matted down by a Yankees baseball cap. “Maybe that’s because this whole thing was my idea. You should have told me you were bringing someone.”

  “Why? So you could stick itching powder in his bed or something?” Adam asked, glancing out the window. He lifted his backpack as their dad started up the front walk. “I don’t think so.”

  “No. I just, this whole weekend was my idea and . . . and . . . I would have wanted to know, that’s all,” Jenna said awkwardly, crossing her skinny arms over her chest.

  “Well, now you do!” David told her with a smile.

  Jenna narrowed her eyes at him. She just could not believe this was happening. Not just one boy on her perfect reunion weekend, but two. And why did it have to be this boy? The only boy she had ever had a crush on? A totally humiliating crush that only ended when Jenna found out that Sarah liked him and that he liked Sarah back. The two of them had danced together all night at the camp social while Jenna had looked on and tried not to be jealous. Now he was here and Sarah was not, and the whole thing was just making her feel all hot in the face.

  The doorbell rang and Adam rushed to respond. There stood Jenna’s dad, a huge smile on, his sunglasses perched atop his head.

  “Everyone ready for a fun weekend?” he asked, spreading his arms wide.

  “Yeah!” Adam and David cheered.

  Jenna yanked her bag up off the tile floor and sighed, following after the boy brigade. So much for her perfect weekend.

  Grace sat at the breakfast bar in her kitchen on Friday afternoon, eating her daily snack and staring at her history textbook. She knew that she should be excited about her weekend at Greenwood Lake with her friends, but somehow she just could not get psyched with that big, ugly book laughing up at her. She took a sip of her milk and let out a huge, dramatic sigh.

  “Something wrong, Grace?” her mother asked, turning off the water in the kitchen sink. She wiped her hands on a towel and walked over. “Shouldn’t you be bouncing off the walls about now? Alyssa and her mom are going to be here to pick you up any second now.”

  “I know,” Grace said, tucking a stray lock of curly red hair behind her ear. “It’s just . . . do I really have to bring . . . that?” she asked, throwing her hand out toward the thick book.

  “Grace,” her mother said in her stern, warning tone. “We’ve been over this and over this.”

  “I know,” Grace said. “It’s just that this weekend is supposed to be fun. How am I going to have any fun if I have to study?”

  Her mother stood up straight and sighed. She looked, as always, perfectly put together in a pair of light khakis and a plaid, button-down shirt. Grace wondered if she’d ever look that perfect and pressed in her life.

  “The only reason we’re letting you go on this trip is because we have a deal. Don’t tell me you’re trying to back out of it. Because if you want to stay home . . .”

  “No!” Grace blurted, suddenly on high alert. “No! I’ll make good on the deal. Two hours of studying each day.”

  “Exactly,” her mother said with a smile. “We only want you to pass that test on Tuesday. Because if you don’t pass the test, you might not pass history for the year. And if you don’t pass history for the year . . .”

  “I know. I know. Summer school,” Grace said, feeling heavy.

  “And if you have to go to summer school . . .”

  “It means I’ll have to miss camp,” Grace finished. And that would be a nightmare. It would basically be the punishment to end all punishments. Grace could not miss out on camp. She only looked forward to it all year long, from the moment she left her bunk for the last time in August until the moment she got back on the bus at the end of June. There was no way she could stay home from camp and study history instead.

  Grace knew that she had brought this upon herself. It was just that every time she had gone to open her history textbook, something more important—and interesting—had seemed to come up. Like IMs from her camp friends, or practice for the school play, or some great soap opera marathon on cable. She had just always thought she would have the time to catch up, but now time had basically run out.

  “At least it’s only your history book,” her mother said. “I could reconsider our deal and add your English book, too . . .”

  “Just the history book is enough! My English test isn’t for another whole week. Don’t you think it’s totally unfair to give a huge test the day after Memorial Day weekend?” Grace asked, getting up to put the bag of chocolate chip cookies back in the cupboard. “Come on, Mom. Even you have to admit that’s evil.”

  Grace’s mother hid a laugh behind her hand.

  “Doesn’t Mr. Joseph know that people have lives?” Grace added, throwing her hands out, hamming it up.

  Her mother shook her head and smiled. “I’m sure your friends won’t mind letting you alone for a few hours here and there this weekend,” she said. “After all, they’ve always helped you study in the past. Like that summer when you had to catch up on your reading.”

  Grace smiled. “Yeah. They were really great about that.”

  A horn tooted in the driveway and Grace’s excitement finally kicked in. “They’re here!” she cried, grabbing her mini-suitcase and sleeping bag off the floor. “Bye, Mom!” she said, jumping up on her tiptoes to kiss her mother’s cheek. She turned and ran for the door, yanking her denim jacket from the hook in the hallway along the way.

  “Ahem!” her mother said loudly.

  Grace stopped in her tracks and turned around. Her mom was standing a few feet behind her, holding her history textbook up in one hand. Grace blushed.

  “Oops! Don’t know how I forgot that!” she joked, tromping back to her mother. She took the book in one arm and almost fell over from its weight. “That’s only the most important thing for me to bring with me!” she said.

  “Uh-huh,” her mother said with a smirk. She leaned down and kissed Grace on top of her curls. “Have fun, honey. And study hard!”

  “I will!” Grace said, running for the door again.

  She rushed outside, closed the door behind her, and lifted her sleeping bag to wave awkwardly at the car. Alyssa waved back excitedly before jumping out of the backseat to help Grace with her things. Grace tucked her history book under her jacket as her friend ran up to her. The last thing she wanted to do was explain its presence to Alyssa. She wanted to forget all about the thing—for now.

  “Hey, Grace!” Alyssa cried.

  “Hey yourself!”

  Alyssa looked amazing. She had cut her long black hair to just below her shoulders and had one small braid worked into the front with a colorful ribbon woven through it. She wore a beaded tank top and a long denim skirt, and her flip-flops had hand-painted flowers all over them.

  “It’s so good to see you!” Alyssa said, grabbing Grace up in a hug. Grace dropped her sleeping bag, and the book, of course, stabbed right through her jack
et and into Alyssa’s stomach. “Ow,” she said, rubbing her tummy. “What was that?”

  “Oh, nothing,” Grace said. “Just a little light reading.”

  Alyssa looked at Grace like she was nuts, but didn’t question her. “Let me get your bag. I’m dying to get up there already! We’ve been on the road ever since school let out. Sometimes I think South Jersey is just too far from everything.”

  “Except the shore,” Grace pointed out.

  Alyssa grinned. “Yes. I love that.”

  Grace smiled and picked up her sleeping bag again before following Alyssa back to her mom’s station wagon. The book felt as if it was burning a hole through her New Jersey Devils T-shirt. She just couldn’t imagine three whole days at Greenwood Lake with this thing taunting her the whole time, reminding her of what was at stake. Maybe she could “accidentally” drop it out the window somewhere along the drive.

  Then she could actually have some fun this weekend.

  chapter TWO

  Jenna jumped out of the front seat of her dad’s car practically before it had come to a stop. All she could think about was getting away from Adam and David already. During the entire long drive to the lake, they had played every car game from “I Spy” to “Would You Rather?” and they hadn’t let Jenna take part in any of them. Boys were so irritating. What she really needed right about now was some quality time with the girls.

  Luckily, a few of them were already there, ready and waiting. Natalie’s mother’s SUV was sitting in the wide driveway and as soon as Jenna stepped around the back of the car she spotted her friends. Natalie, Alex, Valerie, and Brynn roused themselves from the rocking chairs on the wide porch of the house.

  “You’re here!” Jenna cried, running up the wood steps to meet them.

  “You’re here!” Brynn cried back. She threw her arms wide and Jenna crashed right into her, nearly knocking her off her feet. Then Natalie threw her arms around the both of them and soon all five girls were wrapped up in one giddy group hug.