Summer State of Mind

  “After that, it’s free periods all day, people,” Courtney adds, and the girls cheer.

  Suddenly I have a headache. People aren’t this peppy at pep rallies!

  I am frozen as the girls take off around me. Zip line time already? I’m left staring at the back of Jeanie’s beautiful head. God, I want her hair.

  “Come on, New Girl,” Courtney tells me.

  “My name is Harper,” I say, watching the girls walk ahead. No one asked me to join them.

  “For now, it’s New Girl,” Courtney says.

  Sam whispers in my ear. “Don’t let her scare you. She’s a total teddy bear.”

  Courtney laughs. “I heard that! Do not repeat that teddy bear thing. So have you had a proper tour of this place yet, New Girl?”

  “I haven’t—” I start to say, perking up at the offer.

  “Well, no time for one now,” Courtney cuts me off. Sam gives her a look. “But I will point stuff out along the way. This, for example, is the upper campus.”

  She gestures to the long row of cabins surrounding us. The creepy cabins I saw in the distance look even older close up. Please don’t say we’re sleeping in one of those.

  “The only reason you’ll have to come up here is if you break your arm on the zip line, get written up for bad behavior, or get a nasty case of poison ivy. Watch where you’re walking,” she warns as we pass the nurse’s office and the post office. We head farther down the trail, and I notice the buildings get bigger and look newer.

  Courtney points out a large cabin with a wraparound porch and a sign that says mess hall. “Most of your meals will be eaten in here—no food fights—and over there,” she says, pointing to another cabin, “is the theater. Last summer we did Guys and Dolls. Again. Sam, didn’t we do that the summer you started, too?”

  “Yes.” Sam groans. “We’ve got to get some new plays in here. I can’t sit through The Pajama Game again.”

  We pass another two rows of smaller cabins. They look as creepy as the ones on the upper campus. “What are those for?”

  “Indoor activities,” Courtney explains. “We have art, photography, dance, yoga, the camp newspaper, and cooking classes. You name it, they probably have a class for it here. Since you’re older you can pick and choose most of your electives. There are only a few sessions a day that you’ll do as a group.”

  This place can’t be that archaic if they have yoga. “Where are our cabins?”

  “Over that hill.” Courtney points to large cabins with porches that surround a lake. From here, the cabins look like tiny red, green, and white dollhouses. I’ve seen them before! McDaddy has a picture of himself and a group of very muddy-looking guys in front of them in his office. I bet Hitch is one of them. “The porches are my favorite part of the cabin,” Courtney adds. “They give you a great view of the lake.”

  Lakefront living! That’s cushy.

  But it also means being a mosquito’s snack. Yuck.

  “There is an upper and lower campus to divide the age groups, but all the bunks are housed together with boys and girls in the same area.” Courtney gives me a stern look. “Don’t get any ideas.” Sam bursts out laughing. “What?” Courtney demands.

  “You’re telling someone to stay away from the boys’ bunks,” Sam says and shakes her head.

  Courtney colors. “Tour paused while I talk to my best friend about counselor dos and don’ts.” Courtney grabs Sam, and the two walk ahead, their heads close together as they whisper to each other.

  Their closeness makes me miss my friends. I look at the group of girls walking way ahead of me but choose not to run over and join them. The way they are jabbering about a sleepover in Atlanta and a New Year’s party in New York makes me think I wouldn’t be welcome. I miss Margo and Kate. I wonder what they are doing at the beach club right now. Since Courtney isn’t looking, I pull my phone out of my pocket to try to text Margo. “OEUF!” Someone bumps into me, and I fall.

  “Are you okay?” A girl bends down to help me up. “I guess testing out my I-could-find-my-way-around-this-place-blindfolded theory was not a good idea.” The girl’s wearing funky black glasses, and her hair has pink tips that are the same color as the Bubblicious gum vintage T-shirt she’s paired with bright yellow shorts. We definitely do not have a dress code here.

  “No biggie,” I say, dusting off the dirt on the bottom of my dress. “I have the opposite problem—I have no clue where I’m going.”

  “Give it three hours and you’ll know the whole camp backward and forward.” She reaches down and spots my cell phone before I do. “Is this yours?”

  An alarm goes off inside my head, and I practically pull it out of her hands. She looks at me strangely. “Sorry.” I feel my face flush. “Lifeline.” I hold up the phone. “I’ve already gotten the ‘you can’t have one of those’ speech from another camper, so I’m a little paranoid about having my phone confiscated.”

  She pushes a loose strand of pink hair behind her ear. No one I know has ever dyed her hair anything other than auburn or honey-colored brown (my favorite highlight color, natch, which closely resembles actress Kaitlin Burke’s).

  She looks around, then pulls a phone from her back pocket. It has a bright pink, zebra-stripe case on it. “I can’t live without mine, either.”

  I like her already! “I’m Harper,” I introduce myself.

  “Angelina,” she tells me, “but everyone calls me Lina. Where are you from?”

  “Long Island. You?”

  “Pennsylvania, but I’m on Long Island all the time. My grandparents live in Westbury.”

  “Brookville,” I say.

  Angelina’s eyes widen. “Isn’t that where JLo lived?”

  And she knows celebrity stuff! Yep, we’re going to be friends.

  “Supposedly, when she was married to Marc Anthony she had the house near ours,” I confide. “We just moved there two years ago. I actually grew up in Mineola.”

  Lina seems to be studying my clothes, hair, and shoes, the same as I just did hers. From the outside at least, we are nothing alike. “If I lived in Brookville, I would spend my whole summer floating in my pool,” she says. “How’d you wind up here?”

  I sigh. “My father forced me after seeing my credit card statement. I’ve got a teeny shopping habit, and he says I need a shot of reality.” I’ve been holding in that secret all morning. For some reason, it feels better to tell someone, especially when Lina doesn’t judge me. “My dad came here when he was a kid and it changed his life, so he’s hoping it will do the same thing for me. I doubt it,” I tell her. “I’m homesick already, which is why I need to hold on to my phone. If I can’t text my friends or phone my mom, I think I would have a complete breakdown.”

  “I don’t text that much,” she says to my surprise. “I wanted to keep my phone so I can go on YouTube.” She types something in, then shows me the screen. XTREME SPORTS NUT, the website says. “I’m a total junkie when it comes to sports stunts, and this guy does them all. I’m addicted to his videos. I’m dying to skydive, but I haven’t gotten up the nerve.” Her cheeks flush. “Most people find my obsession weird.”

  “I won’t be skydiving with you, if that’s what you’re asking,” I say. “My hair looks horrible windswept. But it’s not weird. My brother is a sports freak, too.”

  Wait a minute… matchmaker! Scratch that. Kyle is the enemy during competition. I will not wear Kmart to school! Finding him a girlfriend would help him win.

  I see a familiar app on Lina’s phone. “Is that the London Blue My Mind app?”

  Lina’s face turns as pink as the tips of her hair. “No. Maybe. Why do you ask?”

  I remember when London was testing that app. I was on McDaddy’s shoot, and she wanted to know if girls would want an app about her videos, blog, Twitter feed, favorite websites, and so on. “Self-absorbed, no?” she asked me. Me! And I said, “If your fans are asking you where you buy your sparkly Converse, then why not give them a link to it?” I think she really liked
that answer. She called me McCool for the rest of the shoot.

  But I am not telling Lina that story. If she’s a Londonophile then that will make her want to talk to me about London all the time. So instead I just say. “I like London, too. I have that app.”

  Lina blushes. “Sorry. My friends at home make fun of how into London I am. I never miss her blog posts. She gives away prizes, like VIP passes to her concerts. I’m dying to meet her.” She sounds so animated. “You think I’m completely cheesy now, don’t you? Cool girl with pink hair likes pop tart.”

  “I’m the one who showed up at camp wearing cork wedges.” We look at my feet. “I couldn’t leave them home alone for a month. They are too cute to go unworn.”

  Lina frowns. “They are cute, but not the best footwear for zip-lining.”

  “Oh, I’m not zip-lining. I’m more of a spectator.”

  “What? Zip-lining is awesome!” she says, getting really excited again. “Flying through the air with the wind in your face and the ground zipping by is such an incredible high. I zip-line every day while I’m here if I can.”

  “My stomach hurts just thinking about getting up there once,” I say, and Lina laughs. “But I will happily watch you. Any chance you’re in bunk 10A?” I ask hopefully.

  “Yep! I’m a Courtney girl,” Lina says, and I breathe a sigh of relief. “She has a bark, but she will always have your back. She doesn’t favor the Lifers, either.”

  “Lifers?” I ask.

  Lina rolls her eyes. “The ones who think they own the place because they were practically born here.” She gestures toward Jeanie, Camilla, and a bunch of other girls I haven’t met yet. “Our bunk is all Lifers except for Addison.” She points to a blonde talking a mile a minute in a very animated voice. “She’s in because her brother, Hunter, was a god here before he gave up being a counselor to run a surf clinic in Malibu.”

  I hear a burst of laughter from the girls’ cluster, which is moving at warp speed ahead of us. “How long have you been coming here?” I ask.

  “This is my third year.” Lina plays with her funky black-rope necklace. “I love the sports program, so I ignore the bunk nonsense. I’ve made friends with some of the guys. They are much easier to get along with.” Lina smiles, and I notice the gap between her two front teeth. On me it would look strange, but it gives her character.

  Courtney walks back to us. “You’ve met Lina. The girl is crazy daring, and she can draw, too. You should see the murals she did for last summer’s Guys and Dolls.”

  I’ve been so busy talking to Lina, I stopped looking around. We’ve reached a grassy area that is surrounded by trees. The lake is to my left, and to the right you can see for miles. It’s hilly, too, which is something we don’t have on our flat-as-a-pancake island back home. I’ll get a good leg workout as I go up and down these hills and in the… woods! Wow, that’s like a real forest back there. The basketball courts are right near it, along with a baseball diamond with a turf field and lights.

  We go around a bend, and my heart stops along with my feet. In front of me is the scariest sight I have ever seen (even scarier than the year wearing feathers was in style again): It’s a rock wall—and I suspect they’re going to force me to climb it.

  I turn around and prepare to run.

  5

  IN THE LINE OF FIRE

  LINA GRABS ME SO FAST that I almost twist my ankle. “Where’s the fire?”

  “I am not climbing that rock wall!” I say, hyperventilating.

  “Relax,” Lina says calmly. “We’re passing through on our way to the zip line. Although I wish I were staying. I’m dying to test out the new rock wall!”

  “You test it and let me know how it is,” I say.

  The rock wall must tower twenty-five feet in the air. I’ve seen rock walls before, but watching people scurry up and down it like they’re being offered a free Red Mango yogurt is bizarre. A group of boys in helmets and gear are waiting to go up.

  “Yes!” I hear someone yell as they reach the top and hit the bell. Everyone cheers, and the guys hanging from the wall by harnesses high-five the guy. Hey, that’s Kyle! He rappels off the side and swings around even as a counselor reprimands him. When he sees me, he hollers, “Top that, Harper!”

  I blush as everyone turns and stares at me. God, he’s such a show-off. I can’t even do a chin-up. Not one! Ms. Schnarz wrote that on my gym report card to prove that I’m slacking. I’ve got to find a way to show him who is boss.

  “That’s your brother?” Addison says in astonishment. This is the first time any of the other girls have actually spoken to me.

  “Yeah, we’re twins,” I say.

  “Your brother is hot,” Addison says, and the girls start whispering. “Is he single?”

  I watch my brother continue to swing like an ape. Or a toddler. “What do you think?” I ask dryly. Addison just blinks. “Yes, totally single.”

  I can tell the girls suddenly see me in a whole new way. They move closer, and one tries to push Lina out of the way. Eww!

  “Um, excuse me,” Lina says. They ignore her.

  “Are you close?” Jeanie asks me, playing with a strand of her beautiful red hair.

  “Harper is going to lose!” my brother sings, completely unembarrassed by his public display. “Let’s see you try to zip-line in heels, Camping Barbie!”

  Grr… “Two points for me if I do!” I yell back before I realize what I’m doing.

  Oh man, did I just commit to getting up there? Why do I open my big mouth? Kyle always does this to me! Winds me up and then I make a fool of myself.

  Jeanie is still looking at me. “No,” I say angrily. “We’re not close at all.”

  That’s all the girls have to hear. They back away and re-form their own circle.

  “Your popularity certainly was short-lived,” Lina whispers to me sarcastically.

  “Well, it looks like we’ve got some competition,” says a guy counselor with short, wavy brown hair, wearing a red tank top. Wow, he’s really cute. “What do you say, bunk 11A? Want to give the girls a run for their money?”

  The guys in line for the rock wall cheer as Kyle is lowered back to the ground.

  “Cole,” Sam says through gritted teeth, “you’re not starting a rivalry between the guy and girl bunks already, are you? They’ve been here an hour!”

  Cole’s green eyes glint mischievously. “It’s never too early to start. What do you say, Court? Guys versus girls on the zip line? Whoever has the shorter group time has to clear the other bunk’s plates at dinner for a week?”

  “Court…,” Sam warns.

  “Deal!” Courtney says. The two shake on it, and Sam groans. “To the zip line! The boys will go first and then will go back up to spot the girls.”

  “Works for me,” Cole says, grinning widely.

  Sam slugs him in the arm. “Some guys never grow up.”

  “So true. That’s why you only dated me for a few months.” Cole pulls her in for a bear hug, and Sam laughs.

  “Exactly why,” Sam agrees. “But now that we’re just friends, I am free to school you. You and your boys are going down!”

  I watch the boys unhook and run to the zip line course. Kyle winks at me as he runs by with a group of cute guys. “Is that your sister?” I hear one of them say. I don’t hear Kyle’s response because my heart is beating so loudly. I think I’m getting a migraine.

  I grab Lina’s arm as the panic squeezes me. “I didn’t sign up for zip-lining! What camp thinks it’s safe to send kids flying through the air on a rope?”

  “It’s easy. I swear!” Lina says. “I only choked up there once, and that was because my harness wasn’t secured properly.” My eyes widen. “But that won’t happen to you!” she backpedals. “I’m sure you’re going to love it once you’re in the air. It’s so freeing.”

  I think of what’s at stake if I don’t take the plunge. Fashion disaster the first week of school if I fail! No, I have to do it… but I don’t want to. We reach t
he zip line, and I notice it’s even taller than the rock wall. The course must be the length of a football field. The first half is an obstacle course with a rope wall and a log to walk across. One guy from another group—probably the CITs—is already on there, and he’s attached to a safety rope that runs the length of the course. I hear people squealing as they step off a pillar and let themselves fly all the way to the next one. There are two pillars, which means we have to fly twice.

  No. Way. They are not getting me up there.

  Cole brings his group in for a huddle, and I hear more cheers during his pep talk. Kyle is right in there with them. How’d he get accepted by the Lifers so quickly? Why are girls so catty?

  Kate’s catty, too, a voice in my head says. Just not toward you. Most of the time.

  “So, gang, are you ready for this?” Courtney asks. “All we have to do is beat their time. I know you girls can do it. You are zip line pros!” All the girls holler, including Lina.

  Not all of us are zip-lining pros. Gulp.

  I watch the boys get into harnesses and put on helmets as Cole heads to the first pillar to spot them. Watching him move across the course is mesmerizing. He looks like he could do it blindfolded. Another counselor, Thomas, who Lina says is the counselor for bunk 11B, heads up after him. I watch him stop at the first pillar, high-five Cole, and then zip across to the second one to be the spotter there. They must be standing thirty feet in the air! And all they have is a hook keeping them from falling to their death? Kyle and the other boys in the bunks cheer them on, which only gets me more worked up.

  I cannot let Kyle win this. But I don’t want to get up there. I can’t let Kyle win. But I am not falling to my death. AAAH!

  Before I know what’s happening, Courtney has her stopwatch and is counting down to the boys’ challenge. They’ve lined up and are now completely serious. Kyle jumps up onto the course first and speeds through it. I’m doomed.

  “None of you better screw this up,” Jeanie threatens. “I am not cleaning their plates. Boys are so sloppy.” The rest of the girls murmur their agreement. I notice her glare at me. I attempt a smile, but I’m perspiring and don’t want to open my mouth.