Jenna's Dilemma (9 page)

chapter SEVEN

After half an hour of sitting by herself in the sand, Jenna got bored and asked Tyler for a special pass to go back to her bunk. She told him she didn't feel well, and all he had to do was take one look at her sad face and he believed her. Normally campers weren't allowed to wander off by themselves, but Tyler took pity on Jenna. He told her that since she knew the camp so well, being a fourth-year and all, he would let her go, but she had to keep to the path and go straight back. For once, Jenna had no problem following a rule. At that moment, all she wanted to do was lie down on her bunk and sulk.

But as she cut through the woods, Jenna started to feel a little better. Here she was, walking back to her bunk all by herself. Natalie never would have been allowed to do that. She wasn't experienced enough and didn't know her way around. There were still perks to being Jenna.

High above, the sun started to break through the clouds, causing the droplets of rain on the leaves to dance and sparkle. The birds in the trees woke up and started chirping as if it were morning and not late afternoon. Jenna passed by the rock where she, Alex, and Brynn used to hang out and trade gum when they were second-years. She saw the tree where Matt had carved his initials with the rest of his bunk. When she came to the edge of the clearing by the cabins, she saw the old, crumbling tool shed where she and her friends had hid last year after raiding the boys' cabin. This was Camp Lakeview, her home-away-from-home. It was impossible to stay depressed here for long.

Hey, maybe Marissa's hanging out in the cabin
, Jenna realized suddenly, quickening her steps as she passed by the other bunks. Marissa and the other CITs usually got a break during free swim since they had to work meals and all other hours of the day. Hanging out with Marissa would cheer her up. Maybe Jenna could even get her to tell the story of her first dive again and try to get back some of that confidence.

Jenna bounded up the steps and yanked open the screen door, hoping to find Marissa on her cot, flipping through the latest copy of
Allure
. Instead, she found Marissa and Stephanie sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bunk floor, doing their nails. The whole bunk was filled with the sour scent of nail polish remover. Jenna stopped in her tracks.

“Hey! What are you doing here?” Marissa asked. Her tone was totally normal, but the question made Jenna feel like an outsider in her own bunk.

“I didn't feel well, so Tyler said I could come back,” Jenna replied.

“What's wrong?” Stephanie asked, her face all-concern. “Is it your stomach? Your head?”

“Don't worry about it,
Mom
,” Jenna said, instantly grouchy again. “I just want to lie down.” She so didn't want to be babied right now. Why did her sister have to be there? Couldn't Jenna ever get Marissa all to herself? Marissa was supposed to be Jenna's CIT. She was supposed to be here for
Jenna
, not Stephanie.

“Okay, but if you need anything, you just let me know,” Stephanie said. “We Blooms have to take care of each other,” she added with a wink.

Gag me
, Jenna thought.

“You're lucky you have your sister at camp with you,” Marissa told Jenna with a smile. “Especially since I never know what to do when campers are sick. I become Panic Girl. The not-so-super-hero,” she joked.

“Yeah. So lucky,” Jenna said flatly. “Nice polish, Marissa,” she added, standing awkwardly off to the side. She wasn't sure whether she should join them or stick with her story and crawl into her bunk. Could she really just lie there while Marissa and Stephanie had fun without her?

“Thanks,” Marissa said, snapping her gum as she held up her fingers to check them. “It's called Very Berry. Wanna try some?”

Jenna was about to say yes when Stephanie cut her off. “Oh, please. Polish is pointless on Jenna. She bites her nails to bits.”

Flushing, Jenna hid her hands behind her back. Her nails
were
a little destroyed, but Stephanie didn't have to announce it like Jenna was some kind of joke.

“So, you're going to wear your red sundress?” Stephanie asked Marissa.

“I think so,” Marissa replied. “And you have to wear that new mini. The boys will go speechless.”

“You guys are talking about the social, aren't you?” Jenna asked, dropping onto Natalie's bottom bunk.
“Again.”

“Like there's anything else to talk about around here,” Stephanie said with a laugh.

How about we talk about you getting out of my cabin?
Jenna thought, though she knew she'd never say it.

“So, Jenna, what are you going to wear?” Stephanie asked. “I hope you brought something cool this year.”

Jenna's expression darkened. Was Stephanie trying to say she had looked like a dork at every other camp dance? Jenna thought of the lavender dress with the lace on the sleeves that she had brought for this year's event. When she had packed it she'd thought it was perfect, but with Stephanie and Marissa talking about red dresses and denim minis, now it just seemed way too babyish.

“Who cares what I wear?” Jenna said. “It's just the stupid camp dance.”

“Social,” Marissa and Stephanie reminded her, then laughed as if there was some kind of personal joke between them.

“Whatever,” Jenna said, finally giving up. She climbed up into her bunk and lay down on her side, on top of the covers. Staring at her colorful collection of bumper stickers that were taped to the wall, Jenna fumed over her sister. Who did she think she was, criticizing her clothes and trying to take care of her like a mother? And why did she have to hang around Jenna's bunk so much? Couldn't she just leave her alone?

Jenna sighed. She reached out and flattened the bent corner on her Six Flags Great Adventure sticker.

I should prank her next
, she thought as she listened to her sister and Marissa discussing all the CITs and counselors at camp, predicting who would kiss by the end of the summer and which couples would break up. Totally boring.
Oh, yeah, Stephanie is in total need of a pranking
, she thought.
If only because it'll give her something else to talk about!

 
 
“Where are they?” Jenna asked, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

“I don't know, but I'm getting worried,” Alex said. “3A just ran by, and they looked psyched.”

“We cannot let 3A win,” Brynn said. “We just can't.”

It was the middle of the scavenger hunt, and Jenna and the rest of her bunk were waiting for Val, Sarah, and Grace to return from the sports shed. At Jenna's feet was a pillowcase full of items from the list. All they needed to complete it were a horseshoe, which Val and the others were getting, and the last bonus item, which even Jenna hadn't figured out how to get. Not yet, anyway.

“There they are!” Natalie cried, pointing toward the edge of the woods.

Sure enough, Valerie, Grace, and Sarah were all running toward them, red-faced and gasping for air.

“We got it! We got the last horseshoe!” Valerie whispered.

“Did 3A get one?” Chelsea demanded.

“Yeah,” Sarah said, bending at the waist. “They got there right before us.”

“Now we
have
to get this last item to win,” Jenna said, holding up the list. “But how are we supposed to get a picture of the top of a counselor's head?”

“What kind of scavenger hunt
is
this?” Alyssa asked.

“Yeah! What kind of scavenger hunt
is
this?” Candace echoed.

“An unfair one,” Sarah said, gesturing at a couple of counselors as they walked by. “They all saw the list beforehand, so they're all wearing hats. We can't get a picture of the top of their heads if they won't take their hats off.”

“We can't even get a picture,” Jenna pointed out. “We don't have a camera! I have to return mine to the lab after each class.”

“Jessie has a camera,” Karen piped up. “A Polaroid.”

Everyone turned to look at Jessie, who was leaning against the flagpole, staring off into space.

“You have a Polaroid camera?” Chelsea asked, nudging her.

Jessie blinked a few times as if she'd just woken up. “Oh . . . yeah. I forgot about that.”

Jenna and Alex exchanged a glance. What a space case! She was holding onto the one item that might help them win, and she just forgot about it?

“Let's go!” Alex said.

Together the whole bunk ran back to their cabin. On the way they saw a bunch of boys from 2E trying to jump up and grab Nate's hat off his head. As far as Jenna could see, they didn't even have a camera, but it didn't matter, anyway. Nate was dodging and weaving and ducking and running. He wasn't letting them anywhere near his head. Back at 3C, Jessie dug through her cubby until she found the unused camera. Luckily there was a whole cartridge of film in it.

“Great. Now all we have to do is come up with a plan,” Brynn said.

“What if we just tackle one of them?” Grace suggested breathlessly. “We could tackle Julie and hold her down and take her hat and—”

“I don't think we should gang-tackle Julie,” Alex said. “We have to live with her for the rest of the summer. But we do have to get one of them down low so we can grab their hat.”

“And then
we
need to get up high so we can take the picture,” Valerie pointed out.

“We just need to get creative here, people,” Alyssa said, biting her lip.

Get them down low and get us up high
, Jenna thought.

Suddenly she was hit with a brilliant idea. “I've got it, you guys! I know what to do!”

 
 
“Um . . . Jenna? Nat? Don't you think this is kind of dangerous?” Jessie whispered as they tiptoed their way through the storage room on the second floor of the main cabin.

“Come on, Jess! Don't you want to win?” Jenna asked, sidestepping a very dusty stack of ancient board games. What in the world was Uncle Wiggly, anyway?

“Yeah, but um . . . I'm kind of afraid of heights.”

Outside, a bunch of girls squealed and a few other people applauded. Time was running out. They had to get this last item before someone else won the scavenger hunt.

“Don't worry. Natalie and I will do it,” Jenna said. “Right, Nat?”

“I grew up in a skyscraper,” Natalie said, determined. “No problem.”

They got to the window above the cabin's front porch, and Jenna undid the latch. Her pulse pounded in her ears, and she pulled up on the old window. It wouldn't budge.

“I don't think this thing has ever been opened,” Jenna said.

“Here. Let's all try,” Natalie suggested.

Together, the three girls gripped at the bottom of the old window and suddenly, without warning, it flew open, slamming into the top of the frame. Jenna and her friends froze, but luckily someone outside shouted at the exact same moment. It didn't seem like anyone down below had heard.

“No screen. Thank goodness,” Jessie said.

“Okay, Nat. Let's go,” Jenna said.

“Good luck, you guys!” Jessie whispered.

Jenna was the first to crawl out. She placed her foot on the roof of the porch's overhang and carefully put all her weight on it. The roof was sturdy as could be, and she realized she had been silly to worry. Matt had once told her that he and the other counselors sometimes snuck out here to look at the stars. Of course it would hold her.

“We're good. Come on,” Jenna said to Natalie.

Natalie swung her leg over the windowsill and followed Jenna out. They crept to the edge of the roof and lay down on their stomachs to stay out of sight. Jenna picked her head up carefully and saw Alex signal her from the trees across the way. Jenna lifted her hand in response, and Alex nodded.

“Here we go,” she said to Natalie.

Giggling, they pulled themselves forward so they could see over the edge of the roof. Down below, Pete, Tyler, Marissa, and Stephanie were all hanging out, each wearing a baseball cap. A bunch of boys from 5F ran by, and the counselors cheered them on. They were followed by four very familiar faces.

“Here they come!” Natalie whispered.

Jenna held her breath. Valerie, Karen, Grace, and Chelsea all came running into view, right in front of the counselors. Val was holding the horseshoe again. A little touch to make it look real. It had been Alex's idea.

“Get ready,” Natalie whispered.

Jenna propped the camera up and focused in on Tyler's head. One of these counselors was going down.

“We got it!” Valerie shouted again. “We got the last horseshoe!”

Just then, Karen tripped and fell right in the dirt in front of the counselors. Everyone stopped.

“Omigosh! Are you okay?” Chelsea asked.

And then, Karen started to wail. “My ankle! My ankle!” She even produced actual tears. Jenna and Natalie looked at each other. Little, quiet, mousy Karen was not a bad actress.

“She's like a secret weapon,” Natalie said, her eyes bright.

“No joke,” Jenna replied.

Instantly, all the counselors rushed to Karen's side. Tyler crouched down next to her and pulled her shoe off.

“Karen? Can you move it at all?” Marissa asked.

At that second, Alex and Sarah sprinted out of the trees across the way. Before anyone could even look up, Alex snatched the baseball cap off Tyler's head and Sarah got Pete's. Jenna snapped the picture, ripped the print from the side of the camera, then snapped another for good measure.

“Hey!” Pete shouted at Sarah.

“Where did you come from?” Tyler cried.