Holly's Heart Collection Two (45 page)

I glared at Jared, who was acting disgustingly innocent. “Don’t ever touch me again!” I shouted at him while scrambling around on the floor, gathering up sloppy joe buns.

“Sorry,” Jared managed to mumble amidst the chaos.

I leaped up. “No, you’re not!”

Unexpectedly, he showed me both of his hands, palms open. Empty!

“Where’s my hair tie?” I demanded.

Jared began pulling the lining out of his pockets.

“Give it back!”

Jared turned tail and ran. “Later,” he called.

“Why, you…!” I shouted, but by then the camp director had come to see what the commotion was about.

“Holly? Is everything all right?” Mr. Boyce asked.

I didn’t know what to say. If I tattled on Jared, he’d have it in for me for the rest of the week. Yet if I didn’t tell on him, I’d probably never see my pink hair tie again.

“I can handle it,” I said, playing down the incident. Lucky for Jared.

Mr. Boyce looked at his watch. “You girls don’t have much longer for lunch.”

“C’mon,” I said to Andie and the rest of the girls. “We better finish eating.”

“I’m starved,” Joy said.

“Me too,” Andie said.

We hurried down the narrow aisle between the rows of fold-away tables. I wound my hair around in a makeshift bun as we headed back to our table. Then I snatched a clean fork out of the utensil tray and stuck the long end into my hair, securing the thick wad.

Wouldn’t you know it, that’s precisely when the Buena Vista cowboy caught my eye. Feeling suddenly shy, I smiled and rolled my eyes to show that this fork thing wasn’t usual with me. His face lit up in return, surprising me.

I quickened my pace and caught up with the others. While I ate the rest of my lunch, my cabinmates shared again the woes of their past associations with males.

“I’ve had it up to here with Stan,” Andie spouted off, touching her eyebrows. “He’s a living, walking, breathing nightmare!”

Kayla spoke right up about how horrible she thought Danny Myers had been treating her. And Paula could hardly wait to launch off on Billy Hill.

I thought we’d taken this guy thing as far into the ground as possible when Amy-Liz pushed her plate aside. “I can’t believe this is happening to the rest of you. I mean, I thought I was the only one suffering from male burnout.” She muttered something about being sick of that flirt Jared.

Not surprised, I asked, “Is Jared bugging
you
now?”

“He’s been calling nearly every day, talking sweet and all…then Shauna and I wised up and started comparing notes.” Here she glanced down the table at Shauna, who nodded coyly. “We found out he’s calling her after he says good-bye to me!”

“It’s true,” Shauna said. “Jared’s doing what he does best—playing one girl against another.” She looked sympathetically at Amy-Liz. “The thing is, he doesn’t think he’ll get caught.”

“Well, he’s got another
think
coming,” Andie said.

Andie’s comeback got the giggles started at our table. But across the dining hall, Stan was heading toward us, wearing a determined look.

Andie spotted him, too. “Oh, this is great,” she muttered. “What’s he want?”

I glanced up as Stan approached our table.

“Hey, Andie,” he said. “Thought I’d pick up that magazine you borrowed.”

Andie shrugged like she couldn’t care less.

Stan kept looking at her like the magazine was real important. “It’s the one with the article on John Wayne,” he explained.

“I know which one it is, and I didn’t borrow it; you gave it to me,” she said.

“Well, I want it back.”

“Fine,” Andie snapped. “It’s over there with my music folder.” She pointed to a row of shelves near the entrance. And without another word, Stan left.

“If you wanna know the truth, I never really liked John Wayne,” Andie whispered.

“Too bad Stan’s obsession with his Old West movie hero hasn’t rubbed off on him,” I said, laughing.

Andie snickered, too. “Yeah, John Wayne could teach Stan Patterson a thing or two about women.”

Kayla held her fork in midair. “Our church guys treat us with essentially zero respect.”

“Who needs guys, anyway,” I announced, forgetting about the cute blond cowboy four tables away.

“I’ll say amen to that,” Kayla blurted out.

“Not a-men,” Andie giggled. “Not any-men.” And once again, we totally lost it.

When all of us finished eating, we waited at the door while Andie went to get her music folder. I happened to glance over to where she was standing. By the frustrated look on her face I figured there was a problem. I told the others I’d be right back. Rushing to Andie’s side, I discovered her plight.

“I’m gonna be in such trouble for this.” She gestured wildly. “My piano music for choir practice is gone.”

I looked around. “Where could it be?”

“I put it right here before lunch.” She pointed to the lower shelf next to the window. “Mr. Keller won’t be happy about this.” She looked at her watch. “And choir’s in two hours!”

I felt her rage. Probably because Andie and I had been best friends forever. The way I figured, she had a right to be angry. After all, Andie shouldered the sole responsibility of accompanying our camp choir. And she was good…the best around.

Today was our first scheduled rehearsal. Mr. Keller, the youth choir director from our church, expected promptness and perfection. Nothing less.

“Do you think Stan took it?” I asked, remembering the thing with his movie magazine.

Andie’s countenance changed from frustration to pure anger. “That rat!”

I groaned. “Why did God have to give me such a louse for a brousin?”

Andie frowned. “What’s brousin mean again?”

“It’s the combination of cousin and stepbrother—”

“Never mind!” Andie was freaking out. “What’s Stan want with my music, anyway?”

“He’s probably ticked because you dumped him.”

Her face turned a rare shade of bright purple. “Well…serves him right.”

To top things off, Danny flagged us down as we were about to leave the dining hall. “Holly! Andie!” he called.

“Make it quick,” Andie said.

“I saw what happened with your music,” Danny said.

“We know—we know. Stan took it,” Andie said sarcastically.

Danny’s auburn hair was neatly combed, as usual, and he wore one of his button-down Sunday shirts. He looked like he was ready to claim the nearest pulpit.

“Calm down, girls. ‘A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger,’ ” he said.

“Save your breath, Danny,” I replied. “It’s too late for soft answers or whatever. Stan’s a toad.” I almost added, “and so are you,” but bit my tongue.

Once again, Danny had found one of the many proverbs stored in his vast memory bank and used it against us. Some friend.

Without looking back, Andie and I joined the girls from Cabin B, leaving Danny in the dust.

NO GUYS PACT

Chapter 10

Andie told the girls about Stan and her missing music on the walk to our cabin. “I’ve got to have it back before choir,” she insisted.

“Well, it’s quiet time now,” Paula commented. “Stan’s probably off trying to be quiet somewhere like a good boy.”

I smiled at her insightful remark. Coming from Paula’s lips the comment was hilarious.

“Well, it won’t be quiet around here for long when I get ahold of him!” Andie exclaimed.

Shauna had an idea. “Maybe he’ll just bring the music along to choir.”

“Right, like
that
’ll happen,” I said. “Not unless Andie begs him first.”

Andie fussed. “Well, I’ll just have to go track him down.”

“I’ll go with you,” I offered. So did the rest of our cabinmates.

A sudden breeze came up, making the aspen leaves rattle. I noticed that the sky had darkened; clouds were rolling in from the south. A summer storm was on its way.

Reaching back, I pulled the fork out of my bun and twisted my hair into an even tighter knot, hoping it would stay.

“Why don’t you just let your hair hang free?” Amy-Liz suggested. “It’s so long and thick.”

“And glamorous,” Kayla added.

Andie disagreed. “What she really oughta do is trim it—about ten inches worth.”

“Don’t you wish,” I said. Andie was always hinting that I should lop off my locks.

“I know, I know, your hair is your best feature, right?” Andie said. I knew she was still fuming over Stan, so I overlooked her cutting remark. A loud clap of thunder and a burst of wind sent us scurrying up the path to the safety of our cabin.

Inside, I dug through my luggage and pulled out my bag of toiletries. Lip gloss. Sunscreen. Deodorant. Toothbrush…I groaned as the truth set in.

“What’s the matter?” Andie asked.

“I forgot to pack my hair ties,” I moaned. “Anyone have some I can borrow?”

I looked around. Everyone had that sorry-can’t-help-you look on their faces. Paula and Kayla usually wore their hair down. Andie was definitely not into hair clips and things. And Shauna, Joy, and Amy-Liz didn’t wear their hair up, either. I was sunk.

“Maybe someone from another cabin might have one you could borrow,” Amy-Liz suggested.

“I can’t ask a complete stranger.” I couldn’t believe this. At home I had zillions of hair ties—at least two for every day of the month. But in my early morning rush, I’d forgotten to pack extras. How could I have been so stupid?

Wrong,
I corrected myself.
How can
Jared
be so stupid.

I stood up, a frown of determination on my face. “It’s time we women unite,” I declared.

Kayla looked up. “How?”

Our first quiet time at camp turned out to be full of noise—booming thunder outside, pounding rain on the roof, and heated discussion inside. Fortunately, Rhonna Chen was occupied for the moment in a counselor’s meeting somewhere. I’m not sure what she would have thought of the conversation we had.

“We could report Stan to the camp director and get him kicked out,” Shauna said. But by the looks on everyone’s face, no one was in favor of that.

“Or…we could form a society,” I suggested, lowering my voice. “A secret society.” I motioned for the girls to gather round. “We could make a pact—a no-guys pact. It’s fabulous.”

“Yeah,” Paula said softly. “For girls only.”

“Tell us more,” Amy-Liz said, fooling with her tie-dyed tights.

I nodded. “Here’s the deal: We create a pact with rules and stuff. And the first big rule will be to ignore boys.”

Andie cheered. “Count me in!”

“You’re amazing, Holly,” Amy-Liz remarked. “What’ll we call our secret society?”

“How about…” I thought for a second, then began laughing nearly uncontrollably.

“What?” Andie grabbed my arm.

I still couldn’t stop.

“What’s so funny?” Joy asked.

I coughed and sputtered, choking down the giggles. “It’s perfect. Are you ready for this?”

My cabinmates leaned in even closer.

“Since the guys need a little help from their friends,” I began, “we’ll call it SOS, which stands for Sisters of Silence. Get it—SOS? Help for the guys—to teach them how to treat women.”

The girls applauded.

“You and your wild abbreviations,” Andie said.

“Remember that scrutiny test she put Jared through last fall?” Kayla asked. “What did you call it again?”

“STAN—Scrutiny Test to Analyze Nascence,” Andie recited.

“Thanks,” I said, tickled that they’d remembered. “So…what do you think about SOS?”

“I’d be delighted to join,” said Kayla. “Show me where to sign.”

“I’ll show you, all right,” I said, pulling my suitcase out from under Andie’s bed. Thank goodness I’d packed my new spiral notebook.

I sat on the floor, using the top of Andie’s suitcase as a desk. With pen in hand, on lined paper, I wrote the pact. The girls sat on the floor peering over my shoulder, some of them whispering to themselves as they read each sentence. Bottom line: We would ignore all boys to the best of our ability for the rest of camp week. Here’s what I wrote:

The No-Guys Pact

We, the Sisters of Silence, on this twenty-third day of June, do promise and resolve to ignore the boys at Camp Ouray for the space of one week.

We may speak quickly to them, such as “Hey,” or respond to a boy’s greeting, but we will not be involved in any extended conversation.

We will not walk anywhere with a boy alone.

We will not sit with a boy in chapel.

We will not eat meals with a boy.

We will not sit around the campfire with a boy.

By following the above provisions, we hope to help the male population of this camp learn to respect us.

Everyone cheered when I wrote the final words. Andie was the first to sign her name. She handed the pen back to me, and I signed next. Then Paula, Kayla, Amy-Liz, Shauna, and Joy.

We sealed the pact with bright pink nail polish, the Miller twins’ expensive stuff. When the polish dried a bit, I pressed my pen into the gooey substance and printed the letters SOS.

There. Now our pact was signed and sealed.

This was just the beginning.

NO GUYS PACT

Chapter 11

Paula broke the solemn silence. “When does the pact legally begin?” She flipped her hair for no obvious reason.

“Immediately,” Amy-Liz replied.

“Hurray!” shouted the Sisters of Silence.

It was time for celebration all right. If I’d been at home, I would be reaching for my journal. So I went to the cabin window and stared out just as I did every day on my window seat at home. The rain had slowed up, and the sun had created a golden ribbon around the thunderclouds above.

Andie came up to me. “What’s up?”

“Oh, just thinking about that rotten Jared person we used to fight over. Remember?” I turned to face her.

“The first crush of your life is a thief, Holly,” she said softly.

Sadly.

I nodded. “I want my hair tie back so bad I can taste it.”

Andie stopped nibbling on her candy bar and offered it to me. “Here, try this.”

I laughed. So did Amy-Liz, who’d overheard us talking. But the missing piano scores were no laughing matter. Andie had to find her music before choir. And I mean
had
to!