Jenna's Dilemma (8 page)

“Come on, Jenna. Tell me,” Grace said. “I'm dying over here.”

“Okay, yeah, we did,” Jenna said with a sly grin.

Grace squealed in delight and slapped her hand over her mouth.

“But don't tell anyone!” Jenna added. “Nurse Helen backed up our story, but if Julie finds out, she's going to murder us.”

“I'll never tell. Even if they torture me,” Grace said with a grin. She kept giggling as she sorted through her film negatives, and Jenna knew that Grace was happy to be the only one let in on the prank. “Chelsea totally tricked me. I thought she was really sick.”

“Yeah. Sorry about that,” Jenna said, her guilt from the other day returning. “I felt bad for making everyone worry.”

“Eh. It was Chelsea. We weren't
that
worried,” Grace joked. Then her face fell. “Oh! That was mean! I was just kidding!”

“I know! I know!”

Jenna laughed and finally managed to get the film strip straight in the negative carrier, which was a flat plate with a slot in the middle.

“Grace? Can you read me the next step?” Jenna said over her shoulder.

Faith had given them all a list of the steps for printing photographs, and Grace had one on the table in front of her.

Grace looked down at the paper and shrugged. “Here,” she said, handing the list to Jenna. “I . . . I don't know how much you've already done.”

“Oookay,” Jenna said, taking the page from Grace. She read the directions quickly and found the next step:
Insert negative carrier into enlarger.

The enlarger looked kind of like a projector. She put the carrier into the machine. Then she turned on the light, and her picture appeared on the empty tray below.

“Wow! It actually works!” Jenna said.

Her picture was of a squirrel holding an acorn. She could see the image projected onto the tray in front of her. Jenna was sure that Faith, the photography instructor, had explained the science behind the whole process, but Jenna had zoned out during that part, replaying in her mind the scene of Adam choking on his beef Stroganoff.

She had been replaying the scene a lot over the last few days, actually. It was just so perfect!

Jenna focused her image so it would print as sharply as possible. Then she switched off the light so she could insert the photographic paper into the tray without exposing it. Once it was ready, she flipped on the light that was going to magically affix her picture to the paper. She sat back to wait. In her mind she saw Adam, hands grabbing for his throat in slow motion as he tasted his beef-with-sugar. She saw him gagging, saw Eric knocking over the bug juice, saw the splash and Adam's surprised face. Jenna only wished she could have videotaped the whole thing to show over and over and over . . .

“Jenna! What're you doing!?”

Startled out of her daydream, Jenna stood up to find Adam glaring at her. Oh, no! Had she zoned out so far, she had actually confessed to the crime or something?

“Your paper's not straight! Your picture's gonna be all crooked,” Adam said, gesturing at her enlarger.

“Geez! Sorry, Mr. Perfect.”

She undid the little flaps that held the paper in place and adjusted it.

“No! You can't move it once the light's already on!” Adam said, his eyes wide.

“Oh, right,” Jenna said, remembering the instructions. Her face flushed, and she resecured the paper, but it was too late now. She had already moved it. What was going to happen to her photo?

“And how long has the light been on, anyway? Did you even set the timer?” Adam asked.

“The timer!” Jenna exclaimed. She had been so focused on daydreaming about her prank, she had missed the most basic step. She reached over and turned the light off, and Adam shook his head like he just couldn't believe how stupid she was.

“What?” Jenna said, pulling her photo paper out of the tray. “I'm sure it's going to come out fine.”

Trying to look more confident than she felt, Jenna walked over to the tubs of chemicals near the wall and slid her photo into the developing liquid. Much to her disappointment, Adam followed as if he was determined to see if she had messed up. Jenna snapped on a pair of plastic gloves and waited.

See? I remembered the gloves. I know what I'm doing
, Jenna thought.
I paid attention!

Grace joined Adam and Jenna at the developer and they all leaned in to watch as the image appeared. This was the best part, as far as Jenna was concerned. Watching Faith's photos magically appear during her demonstration had been totally cool.

“Which picture did you choose, Jenna?” Faith asked, joining them. Her small glasses were perched at the end of her nose, and her long brown hair was pulled back in a low ponytail. She wasn't much older than Julie and the other counselors, but she tried to make herself look like she was.

“It's a picture of a squirrel holding an acorn,” Jenna said proudly. “I think it's really good.”

That moment something started to appear on the page, but it didn't look anything like a squirrel. At first, there was a big black blob right in the middle, surrounded by other fuzzy blobs that could only be the leaves and rocks the squirrel had been sitting on. Behind the center blob, there were a bunch of gray speckles. Then the image started to turn darker and darker.

Pressing her lips together, Jenna grabbed the photo out of the developer and put it into the stop bath, which was what they called the liquid in the next bin. At least she remembered that part.

“Oh, Jenna,” Faith said. “It's okay. The great thing about having a negative is that you can try to print from it again and again until it comes out the way you want it.”

“And you definitely didn't want it
that
way,” Adam said.

“Don't listen to him,” Grace said. “Your next one will be fabulous. I know it,” she added, looping her arm around Jenna and sticking her tongue out at Adam.

Jenna couldn't have been more grateful for Grace's save, because she never could have said anything herself. She knew that if she opened her mouth, she was going to burst into tears. She stared down at her blackened photo, her face burning with embarrassment. For a veteran Lakeview camper who thought she knew how to do everything, Jenna was certainly getting a lot wrong lately. And she didn't like the way it felt.

 
 
By that afternoon the rain had stopped, though the sky remained overcast. It was a little windy and chilly, but as long as there was no water falling from the sky, free swim was still on. As the rest of the campers streamed from their bunks, laughing and screeching, their towels billowing behind them as they ran for the lake, Jenna trudged behind her friends. It used to be that free swim was Jenna's favorite part of the day. Now she was just wishing the rain would come back so they could all hang out in the cabin and play cat's cradle and checkers and Clue. Jenna was starting to hate the lake.

“Cheer up, Jenna,” Julie said, falling into step with her. “If the weather keeps up like this, at least we'll still get to have the scavenger hunt tonight.”

Jenna brightened a bit as Julie quickened her steps to catch up with Marissa at the head of the crowd. Scavenger hunts were the best evening activity there was. And since Jenna knew the camp like the back of her hand, her group always completed their lists and brought home the blue ribbon.

“What's a scavenger hunt?” Natalie asked as she and Valerie caught up with Jenna.

“What's a scavenger hunt?” Jenna repeated, her jaw dropping. “You've never done one?”

“Um . . . no,” Natalie said. “Doesn't sound like a New York kind of event.”

“Omigosh, scavenger hunts are the best,” Jenna said, warming to the topic. She loved being able to teach the newbies like Natalie about camp traditions. “You get this whole long list of things that you have to find, and whoever finds the most stuff on their list, wins.”

“What kind of things?” Natalie asked, interested.

“Everything from a single acorn to a four-leaf clover to a napkin from the mess hall, or one of Pete's baseball caps,” Jenna said. “It's different every year.”

“Yeah, but last year we were the only ones to get one of Pete's caps,” Grace added, joining the group. “Thanks to Jenna.”

“You stole one of his caps?” Natalie asked.

“I would have, but he found out that they were on the list, so he hid them all,” Jenna replied. “Not even his own bunk could find them.”

“So how did you get one?” Natalie asked.

“She talked him into giving her one,” Valerie replied, hooking her arm around Jenna. “The girl is good.”

Jenna grinned as everyone agreed. It was the baseball cap that had helped them beat out bunk 4A last year and take first place.

“So? How did you talk him into it?” Natalie asked.

“Well, last year my big brother Matt was still a counselor here and he had these two tickets to that AlternaFest concert at the end of the summer,” Jenna said. “Everyone knew he had them and that he hadn't decided who to bring yet, so I just told Pete that if he gave me the cap, I'd tell Matt how he had helped me out. Then Matt would think he was really cool and take him to the concert. After that, he finally gave in.”

“Jenna? That's not talking him into it, that's bribery,” Natalie said with a laugh.

“Whatever it was, it worked,” Valerie said.

“So did Pete get to go to the concert?” Natalie asked.

“Nah,” Jenna said. “Matt took his new girlfriend, Keira, but Pete said he understood because she was ‘so totally hot,'” she added, doing her best Pete impression.

Everyone laughed as they reached the lake. As Grace and Valerie dropped their stuff, a couple of guys from 3F walked over to them.

“Hey, Val. You swimming?” one of them asked.

Valerie flushed and smiled. “Yeah. I'll be right in.”

“Cool,” he said. Then he and his friends turned and ran for the water.

“Who was that?” Jenna asked.

“His name's Christopher. He's a newbie,” Val said. “He asked me to the social this morning.”

Jenna's heart dropped. “
You
have a date, too?”

Val shrugged, and Grace groaned. “Everyone is going to have a date except me!” Grace said.

“No way,” Jenna said. “
I
am not going to have a date, and neither is Alex or Sarah or any of us who haven't gone totally boingo bonkers.”

“Yeah, Grace,” Natalie said. “Don't feel like you have to have a date or something. It's not a big deal.”

“All right, but you have to swear that you will not have a date,” Grace said to Jenna, her face more serious than Jenna had ever seen it. Apparently this whole date thing was really getting to her.

“I swear on my life I will not have a date,” Jenna said.

Grace broke into a grin. “Thanks, Jenna. Come on, Val. Let's swim!”

Valerie and Grace raced to the water, but Jenna hung back. Natalie placed her bag on the ground and glanced at Jenna.

“You going in?” Natalie asked.

“I don't really feel like swimming,” Jenna said. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to look cold.

Natalie looked from her friends splashing in the water back to Jenna. “Do you want to practice diving? 'Cuz I could come with you.”

Jenna instantly tensed. “That's okay.”

“I learned how to dive when I was really young. My mom made me take lessons from the time I could, like, stand up,” Natalie said. “It took me a while, too, but it's totally fun once you get into it. Maybe I could help.”

“Why does everyone think I need help?” Jenna snapped, her good mood gone. Her arms dropped to her sides, and her fingers curled up into angry fists.

Natalie's face fell. “Well, I just—”

“I don't, okay? I don't need help from you or Adam or anyone,” Jenna said. “I just don't feel like swimming.”

With that, she placed her towel down on the grass and sat, her knees pulled up under her chin. Natalie hovered for a second, but Jenna just stared out at the gray sky and the even grayer water. She couldn't believe that Natalie, a first-year camper, was offering to help her out with something. Jenna was a total veteran compared to her.
She
was supposed to be helping
Natalie
with stuff. Not the other way around.

“All right,” Natalie said with a shrug. “I'll be hanging out with Simon if you change your mind.”

Jenna stayed angry for only a few seconds as she watched Natalie join the boys and saw the rest of her friends doing gymnastic moves in the water. Then she started to feel awful. Jenna had practically bitten Natalie's head off, and Natalie had still left the door open for Jenna to ask for help. Natalie was so friendly, and Jenna had just treated her like a jerk. What was wrong with her?

Normally, Jenna was pretty easygoing, but she just couldn't seem to take it anymore. She couldn't take everyone reminding her of what a loser she was. She had thought that coming to camp would help her get her mind off the things that were going on back home, but it was like the longer she stayed here, the worse she felt. And the worse she felt, the harder it was to keep from showing it. The first two weeks of camp had been okay, getting to know new people and getting back into the swing of things, but the more she settled into her routine, the harder it was to act like everything was okay. All she wanted to do was go back to last summer, when camp was still fun—back when she knew what she was doing.