A Fair to Remember #13

by Melissa J Morgan

  Alex sighed and took a sip of her own water. Now not only did she have to talk to Adam, but they all had to talk to Jenna? Who knew that a fun weekend away could turn into such a soap opera?

  chapter SIX

  Jenna smiled at her reflection in the bathroom mirror as she brushed her teeth. Today had been a very good day. She had won first place in the three-legged race with the added bonus of beating Adam. Grace had made some headway with her studying, and Jenna had gotten to dance with her friends. Plus there was all the delicious food and the sunshine and the rides they had gone on after dinner. All in all, it couldn’t have been better.

  “Hey, Jenna,” Natalie said, appearing in the doorway in her tank top and pajama bottoms. “Can we talk to you for a sec?”

  Jenna blinked. Who was “we,” and what did they want to talk to her about? “Sure,” she said through a mouth full of toothpaste. “I’ll be right out.”

  Jenna rinsed her mouth out and wiped her face with a towel. When she walked back into the guest room, everyone was totally silent. Grace and Alyssa had already tucked their feet under the covers of one bed and Tori and Alex were sitting on the other. Brynn and Val sat on the floor on top of their sleeping bags with their backs propped up against one of the beds, and Natalie was just sort of hanging by the door.

  “What’s going on?” Jenna asked, feeling as if a spotlight was shining on her face.

  Natalie looked at Alex, who nodded at her. This was really freaky. Never in her life had Jenna seen all of them so quiet all at the same time.

  “We were just wondering what’s up with you and David,” Natalie said finally.

  “Not that anything is up,” Grace added quickly. “Personally, I don’t think there is.”

  “But some of us kind of thought we maybe saw some . . . you know . . . sparks between the two of you at dinner tonight,” Brynn said, her face screwed up apologetically.

  Jenna’s heart started to pound in her ears. The spotlight on her face grew hot. “You guys have to be kidding me,” she said. “There were no sparks.”

  “That’s what I thought!” Grace said with a breath of relief. “See? Now we can all just go to bed.”

  “Jenna, if you like him . . . it’s okay, you know,” Alyssa said, pulling her knees up under her chin.

  “I don’t like him!” Jenna replied. “He’s Sarah’s boyfriend.”

  “Exactly,” Val said. “And Jenna would never, like, go after one of her friend’s boyfriends.”

  “Yeah. Jenna’s one of the most loyal friends on the planet,” Grace put in.

  “Thank you,” Jenna said.

  “I didn’t say she was going after him,” Alyssa said. “I just said she might like him. And if she does, it’s okay. As long as she doesn’t do anything to hurt Sarah, that’s all.”

  Jenna felt angry tears prickling behind her eyes. How could her friends corner her like this and basically accuse her of trying to steal Sarah’s boyfriend?

  “Are you okay, Jenna?” Natalie asked, stepping forward. “I hope you’re not mad. We were just worried about you, so we thought we should talk.”

  Suddenly Jenna realized that by standing there about to cry, she probably looked like she really was crushing on David again. And she so was not. She had gotten over that a million years ago. Besides, she would never start liking a friend’s boyfriend. It just wasn’t her.

  So she pretended to laugh. “You guys are nuts,” Jenna said, waving them off. “Just because David and I had fun competing today, that doesn’t mean I have a crush on him. So you don’t have to worry about me. I’m fine.”

  “You’re sure,” Alex said.

  “Yes! I’m sure!” Jenna told them. She crossed over to the bed she was supposed to share with Tori that night and plopped down. “Now can we please talk about something else? I’m sick of boys already.”

  She saw Natalie and Brynn exchange an unconvinced glance and chose to ignore it.

  “Hey! How’s the routine coming?” Jenna asked Valerie, knowing that Val would jump at the chance to talk about the talent competition. It had become Valerie’s favorite subject of the weekend.

  “It’s great!” Valerie said, sitting up on her knees. “Brynn, Tori, Nat, and I finished it up this afternoon.”

  “Now all we have to do is teach it to everyone else,” Tori said, checking her long blond ponytail for split ends.

  “Wanna do it now?” Brynn asked, jumping up.

  Jenna, Alex, and Grace all groaned. Jenna, for one, was exhausted from the day’s excitement. And maybe she was crashing from a bit of a sugar high, too, what with all the cotton candy and ice cream she had eaten at the carnival.

  “How about we do it first thing in the morning?” Alyssa suggested. “It’s getting late, anyway.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Jenna said, crawling under the soft covers. “Nat? Could you get the light?”

  “Got it!” Natalie said.

  The room was doused in darkness and Jenna cuddled into her pillow, listening to the rest of her friends giggling and whispering as they settled into their sleeping bags. Tori lay flat on her back and closed her eyes, and Jenna rolled over on her side to face the wall. She closed her eyes and waited for her sleepiness to overtake her.

  But two seconds later her eyes popped open again. Jenna stared at the striped wallpaper, her heart pounding. Because the second she had closed her eyes, all she had seen was David’s face: the cute way he tossed his bangs off his forehead, the grin he’d given her before grabbing her into that hug. Somehow she suddenly couldn’t stop thinking about him.

  Were her friends right? Was she really crushing on David again?

  Something smacked Grace in the face and she woke up with a start. Her eyes crossed as she tried to figure out what was lying across her nose. Finally she recognized Alyssa’s woven bracelet and giggled to herself. Apparently Alyssa was kind of a restless sleeper. Grace carefully lifted her friend’s arm and placed it on the mattress next to her. Alyssa sighed in her sleep and rolled over. Grace would have to tell her about that one later.

  The guest room was bathed in light and Grace glanced at the digital clock across the room. It was seven o’clock and everyone was still out cold. But in a couple of hours Valerie would be rousing them all for dance practice and another busy day would begin.

  Grace yawned hugely. Part of her would have loved to have gone back to sleep, but she knew she had to study today and she didn’t want to miss any of the fun. Maybe if she got up and got the work over with now, she wouldn’t have to miss out. It sounded like a solid plan to her. So with some effort, she forced herself to get up out of bed and grab her textbook from the top of the dresser. She gathered up the flash cards Alyssa had helped her make the day before. Then she tiptoed across the room, stepping over Val’s outstretched hand and Brynn’s mop of hair, and opened the door as quietly as possible. She slipped out and closed it behind her, then let out a breath.

  “I’m so good,” she whispered to herself. “I should be a spy.”

  Downstairs, Grace poured herself a glass of orange juice and took it to the dining room table where her book and flash cards were already laid out. She sat down and pulled the first card to her. Suddenly she felt very proud of herself for being so responsible. Her mother was always telling her that if she made time for her work she would enjoy her fun time that much more, but Grace had never really listened. Imagine how surprised her mother would be if she could see Grace now!

  Grace read the block lettering on the front of the first card. “Lincoln elected president,” she whispered. She squeezed her eyes closed and concentrated. “1850!”

  She turned the card over and her heart sank. “1860,” she read aloud. With a deep breath, she set it aside. “Okay, that was just the first one,” she told herself. “Just getting warmed up.”

  The next card stared up at her. The block letters read: FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. Grace stared back at the card. Her mind was a complete and total blank. Suddenly, she started to panic. She ha
d known this yesterday. She was sure that she had. So why could she not remember it at all today?

  “Okay, think about this logically,” she told herself. “You know the Civil War got started after President Lincoln was elected, so if he was elected in 1850 . . .”

  She glanced at the last card and winced. “I mean, 1860 . . .”

  Grace covered her face with her hands. What was wrong with her? She couldn’t even remember one fact for five seconds? Suddenly her body let out a huge yawn and she sighed.

  Maybe she was just too tired. Maybe studying this early in the morning wasn’t a good idea. But she had to. She had to try to concentrate if she wanted to hang out with her friends later. The last thing she wanted was to have this book hanging over her head all day. But her head felt so heavy.

  Grace took a deep breath and rested her chin on her arms. She stared at the card.

  The Battle of Bull Run . . . The Battle of Bull Run . . . she repeated in her head. Pretty soon, her eyes were drooping. Then hundreds of bulls were running through her mind, stampeding over thousands and thousands of flash cards. And before Grace knew it, she had fallen completely asleep.

  “I’m voting for pancakes!” someone shouted at the top of their lungs.

  Grace’s head popped up and she blinked a couple dozen times. Nothing around her was familiar. Where was she? Why was there a piece of paper stuck to her face? She yanked it away and saw one of the flash cards with the smudged word ANTIETAM on the front. Everything came back to her in a rush. She was at Jenna’s lake house, at the dining table outside the kitchen. She had gotten up early to study and . . .

  She couldn’t believe it. She had fallen asleep in the middle of studying! Grace checked her pink plastic watch and her eyes widened. Apparently she had been asleep here for an hour. How embarrassing! She hoped no one had seen her!

  With a disappointed sigh, Grace looked around at her books and notes. Instantly, she felt overwhelmed. She had absorbed exactly nothing and now, from the sounds of it, everyone else was already up.

  Why am I so bad at this? Grace wondered, her shoulders slumping. Why can’t I just concentrate and learn something?

  Seconds later, Jenna, Natalie, and Val all bounded into the room, showered, dressed, and full of life.

  “Pancakes with butter and syrup and . . .”

  Jenna stopped short when she saw Grace sitting all bleary-eyed at the end of the table. Natalie and Val almost barreled right into Jenna’s back. Valerie was already wearing her workout clothes for their dance rehearsal. A rehearsal it looked like Grace was going to have to miss—again. Grace could hear all the other girls on the stairs, chatting and laughing as they made their way down.

  “There you are!” Val said. “We were wondering what had happened to you!”

  Natalie stepped forward, her expression concerned. She must have noticed how miserable Grace looked.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “No. No, I’m not,” Grace said, slapping her book closed. “It’s Sunday already and I’ve learned exactly nothing! There’s no way I’m ever going to pass this test, and then I’m going to have to go to summer school and miss camp!”

  Grace was on the verge of tears. Frustrated, tired tears.

  “It can’t be that bad,” Jenna said. “You studied for two whole hours yesterday and you knew it then.”

  “I know! But now I don’t remember anything,” Grace said, pushing away from the table. “I missed out on dancing and all that for nothing.”

  The other girls had joined them now and they were all looking at Grace with wide eyes as if she might explode. Well, she kind of felt like exploding. That’s how frustrated she was. But with everyone staring at her, she just felt like a big old baby. A big old baby who was spoiling everyone’s good time.

  “Sorry. Forget it,” she said. “I’ll be upstairs.”

  Then she turned on her heel and made a break for it, taking the steps two at a time. By the time she got to the bathroom off the guest room, she was working really hard to keep from bursting into tears. She ran inside and closed the door behind her, dropping down on the toilet seat.

  What was she going to do? If she didn’t find a way to pass this test, she wouldn’t be seeing her friends again for a whole year. They would all go off to camp without her and she would have to spend the whole summer studying and feeling left out. Sometimes being a seventh-grader could be really unfair.

  chapter SEVEN

  Grace stood up and ran some cold water into the sink. She splashed her face with it and stared into her own eyes in the mirror. That felt a little better. Now if only she could erase the last five minutes from her friends’ memories.

  There was a light knock on the bathroom door.

  “Grace? It’s Alyssa.”

  “And Val,” Valerie added quietly.

  Grace grabbed a towel and held it to her face. She felt so silly for storming out. She didn’t want to talk to anyone. “I kind of want to be alone right now,” she said, her voice muffled by the towel.

  “Please open the door,” Alyssa begged. “We just want to make sure you’re okay.”

  Grace took a deep breath. She stared at the happy flowers on the shower curtain for a moment before turning and cracking the door open. With one eye, she peeked out.

  “Hey,” Alyssa said sympathetically.

  “Hi,” Grace replied, biting her lip. “Sorry about that.”

  “It’s okay. You’re stressed out,” Valerie said with a shrug. “It happens to everyone.”

  One look at Valerie’s stretchy shorts and tank top and Grace’s heart sank. She didn’t know a single step of Valerie’s dance routine, and it looked as if she wouldn’t be learning them. Not this morning, anyway.

  “I think I ruined your whole morning-rehearsal idea,” Grace said, opening the door the rest of the way. “I’m sorry.”

  “Please!” Val said, walking into the small bathroom. She leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms over her stomach. “Your test is a lot more important. Who cares about some random talent competition?”

  “You do!” Grace pointed out. “You’re so excited about it, and so are Brynn and Tori and Nat. But there’s no way I’m going to have time to learn a whole dance. I feel like I’m letting everyone down.”

  “First of all, you’re not letting anyone down,” Alyssa told her, slinging her arm around Grace’s neck. “It’s not like everyone’s downstairs right now crying into their pancakes. They’re all trying to figure out ways to help you.”

  “They are?” Grace asked.

  “We want you to come to camp,” Alyssa told her. “That matters more than anything else.”

  “It wouldn’t be the same without you,” Valerie agreed.

  Grace felt warm from the top of her head all the way down to her toes. She smiled. “Thanks, guys.”

  “Besides, this weekend is supposed to be fun,” Valerie said. “And we always have fun as long as we’re hanging out together, right? Whether we’re dancing or studying.”

  “That is true,” Grace said. She was so glad she had such amazing friends. A few minutes ago she had been miserable, but already she was feeling much better.

  “Wait a minute! Val! You just gave me an idea!” Alyssa said, her eyes brightening.

  Val looked at her, confused. “I did? How?”

  “Dancing and studying!” Alyssa said, clasping her hands together. “Why didn’t I think of this before?”

  Grace and Valerie stared at each other. “Do you have any idea what she’s talking about?” Grace joked.

  “Not a clue,” Valerie replied. “She may have finally lost it.”

  Alyssa ignored them. She was clearly too excited to care about their teasing. “I think I know of a way that we can help Grace with her studying and still pull off the talent show,” she said.

  Now Grace was downright interested. She pushed herself away from the sink just as Valerie stepped away from the wall. They faced Alyssa together.

  “Tell u
s more,” Valerie said.

  It was a beautiful, summery day and the sun was high in the sky as Jenna walked over to the starting line for the wheelbarrow race. All morning she and her friends had helped Alyssa, Grace, and Val work on Alyssa’s new studying plan, and it had been a lot of fun. They had already decided to work on it some more later that afternoon, but for now, Jenna was ready to focus on racing—and hopefully winning.

  Excitement skittered through her veins when she saw all the competitors getting ready to go. There was nothing Jenna loved more than a good race. She just wished her friends hadn’t spent so much time talking about David the night before. Because now, no matter what she did, she couldn’t stop thinking about him.

  Which was really annoying her.

  What would Sarah think if she knew that Jenna had been stealing glances at David all through breakfast? What would she think if she knew that right now Jenna’s heart was beating extra fast as she wondered where David was? Did she really have a crush on David? Again?

  I am the worst friend ever, Jenna thought as she lifted her foot behind her and grabbed it to stretch her quad muscle.

  But then she remembered what Alyssa had said. If she did have a crush on David, which she wasn’t willing to admit yet, there was nothing wrong with that. A person couldn’t control their feelings. What she could control were her actions. As long as she didn’t do anything about her crush, she was okay. In fact, ignoring her feelings made her an even better friend. Because she was doing it for Sarah.

  Besides, it wasn’t like David was crushing on her. Then she would be in real trouble.

  “Hey, partner.”

  Jenna’s heart jumped and skipped about ten beats. Somehow David had snuck up behind her.

  Okay, it’s just David. Just one of Adam’s dork friends. Just think of him that way. It’s no big deal, she told herself.

  She turned around slowly. David grinned down at her. He was wearing a white track T-shirt from his middle school and his arms and face were all tan from spending yesterday in the sun.