Authors: Nancy Krulik

Camp Rules! (10 page)

BOOK: Camp Rules!

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But Katie didn’t mind the silence. In fact, it was kind of a relief to be by herself.

Katie pulled out the green paint and found the banner she had been working on. Suddenly she felt a cool breeze blowing on the back of her neck. At first she was happy about that. It was nice to feel some fresh air on such a hot, sticky day.

But then Katie noticed that the wind didn’t seem to be blowing anywhere else. Not in the trees. Not in the grass. Just on her.

The magic wind was back! Katie wasn’t going to be herself for much longer.

“Oh no! Not now. Not during Color War!” Katie shouted out. But the magic wind didn’t stop blowing. In fact, it blew faster and faster, spinning wildly just around Katie.

And then it stopped. Just like that.

Katie Carew was gone. One, two, switcheroo.

She was someone else.

But who?

Katie didn’t even have to open her eyes to figure that out. Her itchy mosquito-bitten arms and legs told her right away!

Katie had turned into Alicia—right before the big race.

This was sooo not good. There was no way Katie could win the swim marathon. She’d never been to the raft in the middle of the lake before.

And now was not the time to try it.

Katie was not going to try to be Alicia in the race. She knew what a disaster
that
could wind up being.

Like the time she switcherooed into Kevin before his big karate tournament. She hadn’t been able to break a board. In fact she hadn’t even hit the board. Instead she’d missed and landed on her tush.

And then there was the time the magic wind turned her into Suzanne during a fashion show. She’d put her pants on backward and walked down the runway like Frankenstein in those awful high heels. Suzanne was so embarrassed—and it hadn’t even been her fault.

But a swim race? This could be the biggest disaster of all time.

Katie didn’t like Alicia. But she didn’t want to make a fool out of her. She had to find a place to hide. A safe place where no one could find her.

How about the woods?

No. That wouldn’t work. It was scary out there. And besides, that was against the rules.

The bunk! That was it. No one would be there. Everyone was out at Color War activities.

Quickly Katie raced to the Bumblebee bunk, taking care not to be seen by anyone.

Phew.
A few minutes later she was safe inside. No one could find her.

Or could they?

Chapter 19

Clomp. Clomp. Clomp.

Suddenly Katie heard footsteps coming up the stairs toward the bunk. Oh no! Someone was coming. Quickly she dove beneath the bottom bunk of Alicia’s bed.

If she stayed really still, maybe she wouldn’t be noticed. Because if she was seen, she would be taken for Alicia and would be forced to swim.

But staying still wasn’t easy. Katie’s nose was right up against one of Alicia’s smelly gym socks. She’d thrown it under there instead of sending it to the laundry. A skunk would have smelled better than that sock did.

But Katie couldn’t move the sock. Any move could reveal her hiding place.

“I haven’t seen Alicia anywhere,” Katie heard Chelsea say.

“Me neither. I checked the mess hall, the nature shack, and the canteen,” she heard Rainbow add.

“Leave it to Alicia to mess up Color War for us,” Gianna added.

“Maybe Katie’s seen her,” Chelsea suggested.

Katie frowned. Seen her? She
was
her.

And at the moment, being Alicia was getting more and more difficult. Alicia never swept under her bed. The dust bunnies made Katie want to sneeze.

The mosquito bites all over Alicia’s body were making Katie itch.

And that smelly sock was making her kinda sick to her stomach.

But Katie didn’t dare sneeze, scratch, or puke.

“Katie’s in arts and crafts working on the banner,” Rainbow told Chelsea. “Alicia wouldn’t go there.” She plopped down on the bed just above Katie. The mattress sank down right in the middle, hitting Katie on the back.

“Mmmph . . .” Katie let out a small groan, shoving her fist in her mouth to muffle the sound.

“Did you hear that?” Chelsea asked nervously.

Katie’s heart began to pound. What if the girls found her now? They’d make her swim for sure. What a mess that would be!

“Come on, Chels, there are no ghosts here,” Rainbow said in her gentle voice. She shifted her weight slightly. Now the mattress sank into the back of Katie’s head. That pushed her face farther into the stinky sock.
Blech!

“This is the worst thing Alicia has ever done,” Gianna said. “The Green team is in second place. We need Alicia to win that race to pull us into first.”

“I know. All the older girls on our team are in the soccer match,” Rainbow said. “We have no one to swim in that race.”

The girls all looked at one another and frowned.

“Oh yes, we do!” Chelsea exclaimed suddenly. She jumped up.

“Where are you going?” Shannon asked her.

“To put on my bathing suit,” Chelsea replied. “I’m taking Alicia’s place.”

“But you can’t swim,” Gianna reminded her.

Chelsea shook her head. “I never said I
couldn’t
swim. I said I didn’t
want
to swim. I’ve been swimming since I was four years old. I’m really good—and fast.”

“But what about your hair?” Rainbow asked her.

Chelsea shrugged. “This is an emergency. But my blow-dryer better be working when I get back!”

Chapter 20

“AAACHOOO!”

The second the girls left the bunk, Katie let out the biggest sneeze of her whole life. Then she scratched the mosquito bites on her legs and took a deep breath of fresh air.

It was good to be out from under the bed. Hopefully no one would come back to the bunk. But just in case, Katie decided to stay on the floor near Alicia’s bed.

And that’s when she noticed the diary on the floor next to Alicia’s bed. It must have fallen out from her cubby. Now there it was, lying open on the floor.

Katie knew it was wrong to read someone else’s diary.
Really
wrong. But it was lying there, wide open.

She couldn’t help taking a peek.

Alicia had written a poem on one of the pretty pink pages.

No letters for me again today.

It’s no surprise I have to say.

I never hear from Mom and Dad.

Do they know it makes me sad?

Not even one letter.

Mosquitoes like me better.

Katie thought back to all the times Shannon had brought the mail to the bunk. She hadn’t really noticed it before, but Alicia never seemed to get any letters or packages like everyone else did.

No wonder she was so angry all the time.

Just then Katie heard lots and lots of cheering. It was coming from the waterfront area. The big swim marathon was on!

Katie really wanted to be down there at the lake cheering on her bunkmate. But she couldn’t. Not as long as she was Alicia.

Still, she sure wanted to know who was winning.

A few minutes later Katie had her answer. One of the swim counselors shouted the results through a megaphone:

“First place: Blue team.

Second place: Green team.

Third place: Orange team.

Fourth place: White team.”

Wow. Second place was great. Especially since Chelsea hadn’t been swimming all summer.

But it wasn’t enough to bring the Green team to first place.

Just then, Katie felt a breeze blowing on the back of her neck. The cool wind felt nice as it gently blew on her.

But then, suddenly, the breeze wasn’t so gentle anymore. It was getting stronger and stronger. Now it was a powerful tornado.
A tornado that was swirling just around Katie.

The magic wind was back! It whirled and swirled, lifting Katie’s legs right off the ground.

And then it stopped. Just like that. Katie was back.

So was Alicia. And, boy, was she surprised.

“What am I doing here?” Alicia asked Katie.

“You . . . uh . . . you came back to the bunk to . . .” Katie didn’t know what to tell her. There was no way she could explain this.

Luckily, Alicia wasn’t waiting for an explanation. She looked at the alarm clock on top of Shannon’s cubby and gulped. “Oh man, I’m late. I was supposed to be at the lake twenty minutes ago. I’ve got to get my bathing suit on and get down there.”

“Don’t bother,” Rainbow said as she and the other Bumblebees walked into the bunk. “The race is over.”

“Chelsea swam in your place,” Gianna added.

Alicia bit her lip. “How did you do?” she asked Chelsea.

“Second place,” Chelsea replied proudly. “Not bad, considering it’s the first time I swam all summer.”

“I would have come in first,” Alicia murmured quietly.

“Yeah, well, you weren’t there. You let us down,” Gianna yelled at her.