“Atta girl,” Court says. “One more thing—you’re on kitchen duty all week.”
My head almost spins off. “Why?” I cry. “I already worked there this morning.”
“Beaves said after he taught you how to wash a pot, you were a huge help. Being on duty is your punishment for stealing his phone and me not telling him about it.” Courtney glares at me. I swallow hard, but I don’t say anything. “Now go take a mud bath and stop blowing fuses and the Barbie comments will go away, I promise.” She hits me on the back.
Lina guides me to the contest area where Kyle, Heath, Matt, Ethan, and several guys from their bunk are testing the mud. My bunk is already there, and the girls from Sam’s bunk have arrived just in time to watch. Kyle sticks a toe in, and some of the girls squeal.
“That is disgusting!” Jeanie screams and laughs at the same time. I see she has her hair pulled up in a high ponytail and is wearing old clothes. So are some of my bunkmates. Smart. If only I’d known what I’d be getting myself into.
“We have three challenges for Mud-a-Thon,” Sam tells us. “For each, you’ll get three minutes to get the job done. The first team to complete the assignment wins.” She grins. “Guys versus girls.” Everyone cheers.
“Are you sure you guys want to lose again?” Cole taunts.
“It’s you guys who are going to lose,” Melody yells.
“You wish, Mel!” Justin hollers. The guys give a lot of smack talk.
Kyle pushes his way through the crowd to get to me. He’s already got Whispering Pines spirit with his camp logo tee. “Bet you’re looking forward to this, huh?” His laugh has always reminded me of a hyena. “Remember our bet? One point for every round won,” he says. “You could so use the points—not that you’re going to get them.”
My blood boils. “I will get all of them,” I say, getting in his face.
Lina claps. “Yes! Get pumped! It always helps me to stay in the zone before a game. Don’t let anyone get in your head. Especially him.” Lina stares him down. I’d told her all about Kyle and my bet. She’s on Team Harper, obviously.
“Don’t be like that,” Kyle flirts in a smooth voice. “You don’t even know me yet, but we can make that happen right now. Want to go to the canteen with me later?”
I know that goofy look on my brother’s face. He gets it when Nina Dobrev is on TV. He likes Lina! I glance at my friend. Could she like him, too? They do have a lot in common.
“Sorry, I’m going with Harper,” Lina says, and I bite my lip. Kyle deflates like a balloon.
“See ya,” I say, pulling Lina away. “That was awesome,” I whisper.
Lina looks at me blankly. “What was?”
“How you shot down Kyle!” I say. “I’ve been dying for a girl to turn him down.”
Lina uses a long strand of pink hair to cover her face. “You mean he was asking me out?” Her voice is shrill. “I’m such an idiot. My friends at home always say this stuff goes over my head.” She holds her head. “And your brother is really cute, too.”
Now I feel bad. Lina’s been so helpful. “You turning him down will only make him want you more,” I say. “We’ll see to that.” She smiles with relief as we sit down on a log to take our socks and shoes off. The last thing I’m expecting is for Ethan to walk over.
“Hey,” he says.
“Hey,” I say stiffly.
“So you blew the fuse in the cabin this morning, huh?”
I feel my blood start to boil. Lina looks at me. “Did you come over here to throw salt in my wounds?” I snap at him. “It wasn’t enough to humiliate me on the zip line?”
Ethan’s face colors. “Actually, I was going to tell you I did the same thing last year.” I look at him. “I snuck a DVD player in so we could watch Top Gun. Knocked the power out to three bunks, but no one remembered it was me after a few days.”
I’m not sure what to say. “At least you picked a classic.”
He grins. “I’m sorry about the zip line. I went a bit overboard. It’s just, when I saw you here it made me think of Kate trying to get me fired. She treats everyone at school like they’re servants,” he says. “I guess I took it out on you. I’m sorry.”
“Kate did not get him fired,” I say to Lina. I feel the need to defend myself. “He’d already given notice.”
“She still wanted to get me fired.” He looks at me strangely. “What are you doing here, anyway? Kyle I get, but you I picture at Surf and Sand Beach Club or in Sea Cliff taking sailing lessons. Not at the Pines.”
“I wanted to come, okay?” I lie, getting angry all the same. “You don’t need to know why, and you don’t need to humiliate me because you think I don’t belong here.”
“You’re right.” Ethan backs off immediately. “It is none of my business. I just wanted to say that was pretty cool of you to take kitchen duty this morning all on your own. Not many girls would do that.” I realize he isn’t trying to be cocky. If anything he seems to be looking at me with a newfound appreciation. We hear a whistle blow. “Time to play, I guess,” he says. “See you out there.” He walks to the edge of the playing field.
I’m too stunned to move.
“Wow, what was that about?” Lina asks.
“I don’t know,” I say. I’m not going to find out now, either. The two of us head to the playing area. I look at my stained Chloé top that is about to be completely destroyed. Kate is going to kill me.
“It’s time to get in the mud pit!” Sam yells. Courtney is standing next to her with a tiny palm camera. Guess the “no technology” rule is just for campers.
I huddle up with my team. “The guys are going to dive right in and do whatever it takes to win,” I hear Jeanie say. “We’ve got to do the same. I don’t care how dirty we get! If they win two games in a row the first week, there’ll be no dealing with them.”
“I agree,” says Camilla. “So what is our strategy? Do we fight dirty?”
Jeanie shakes her head. “We have to win this fair and square or we’ll just have to play the game twice. Everyone better bring her A game.” She eyes me skeptically. “Think you can manage that?” The girls look at me.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m ready to win.” Lina gives me a thumbs-up.
Addison surprisingly puts her arms around Lina and me. “Remember—never stop moving. Build, build, build, and beat them to the finish line!” We applaud, and I feel myself start to get pumped up.
I think I’m ready! Let my bunk call me Camping Barbie. The real Barbie has a camper, after all (I owned it). If I’m getting dirty, then I’m going to get dirtier than everyone here. I take a tentative step forward as everyone wades into the mud. I feel my foot sink into the ground and pull it back out. Maybe not….
Lina wades in quickly next to me. “You’ve got this,” she encourages me.
The mud feels weird, but it is not that deep. I dip a toe in again. Think of this as a mud body wrap at Red Door. That seems to work. By the time I’ve reached the center, I’m in up to my shins and I can feel my heartbeat slow back down. I stand perfectly still and pray mud doesn’t fly on me. Jeanie gathers our two bunks together for mud strategy. I don’t go over. What more is there to say about mud? Instead, I get my game face on.
“Are you guys ready to get dirty?” Cole yells, and the four bunks cheer. The mud pit is packed now.
I scream, too, because I’m trying to be super sporty. Yes, that’s me! Harper, super sporty girl. Maybe I have a whole new high school career ahead of me. I’ll play rugby! They do have the cutest uniforms. I hop up and down trying to psych myself up.
“Mission number one,” Cole says. “Build a giant turtle using whatever twigs, rocks, and mud you can get your hands on. You have two minutes.”
“A turtle?” Lina and I say at the same time, but Ethan, Justin, Kyle, Dirk, Heath, and the other guys are already molding mud with their hands, the stuff oozing through their fingers and making me ill. Jeanie and my teammates are working speedily, too. At the sight of all that mud, super sporty Harper
and her rugby dreams fly out the window. Lina is right in the middle helping them, but I am frozen with fear. It is one thing to wade in the mud. It’s another to actually touch it with my hands.
“Harper, come on!” Lina calls to me. “Get in here!”
I know Courtney is watching me. I know the future of my phone access is at stake, but the mud… there is just so much of it! I watch in amazement as our team holds up one giant ball of mud and then another and sticks some twigs in it. It doesn’t exactly look like a turtle, but they have to move because Ethan and Kyle are already running over to the judges with their version, slipping and sliding the entire way. Jeanie is right on his heels with a much bigger turtle, and she pushes past them. Ethan tumbles to the ground.
“Cheater!” Ethan grabs Jeanie’s leg and pulls her down. She screams and almost face-plants in the mud. I start to laugh, but quickly find myself less amused when they begin flinging mud at each other.
“People, hold it together,” Courtney tells them. “The girls win round one!”
Our team goes nuts. I flinch as pieces of mud hit me in the legs and land on my clothes. Eww! Eww! Eww! I try not to panic and jump out of the pit. I tap Kyle on the shoulder and hold up one finger. One point for me! Yahoo!
“Guys, we’ve got to get this next one!” I hear Ethan say as he wades over to my brother and the large group of guys, mud covering half his face and most of his body.
Addison nudges me. “Hey! What happened to you? You did nothing.”
“I was gathering intel on the boys,” I say as Jeanie glares at me. “I now know all their mud-building tricks.”
Addison looks intrigued. “And they are?” Lina bites her lip.
“They use a lot of mud,” I say, and Jeanie rolls her eyes.
“Your next assignment is a little tougher,” Sam says. “Build a cabin. Go!”
“What?” I hear some of my bunkmates cry, but Ethan is already wading deeper in the pit, sloshing past me and shooting mud everywhere as he grabs sticks. Justin sees what he is doing and pitches in. One of the guys grabs a branch and starts breaking it in pieces while Kyle starts dripping mud over the sticks to hold them together. My team, on the other hand, seems at a loss. I watch as Melody, Trisha, and Camilla try to use the mud as glue for the logs, but the four walls keep falling down. Lina tries to construct a chimney out of rocks she’s pulled off the ground, and I help her. I don’t actually stick my hands in the mud, but I do attempt to hold the chimney together. It’s no use. It falls apart. We watch Kyle slowly carry the boys’ house over to the edge of the field. It looks wobbly.
“Move faster, everyone!” Jeanie cries. She gathers more twigs, but it’s too late.
“Boys win round two!” Cole announces. “Round three is a tiebreaker.”
Kyle holds up one finger. “One for me!” he says.
“The third assignment is the toughest,” Sam says. “Build a snowman!”
“I am excellent at snowmen,” Lina tells us. “I make one every time we go skiing.”
“Good, then get in there,” Jeanie pushes her. “Everyone listen to Lina!”
The group gets to work as Lina drops a vat of mud into my outstretched hands. The mud is cold and I feel like I might retch, but Vickie and Jeanie are watching me, so I inhale sharply instead. Some of the girls from the other bunk grab rocks and twigs.
“Make me the fattest bottom you can,” Lina says.
Camping Barbie. Cell phone access. Beating Kyle. I can do this! I have to do this! Without giving myself time to panic, I stick my hands in the mud and mold a ball. I make it bigger and bigger.
“That’s it,” Lina says encouragingly. “Now give it to me.” I hand the squishy mess over, Camilla sticks eyes in it, and Trisha puts arms in the second ball.
“We have to carry it in pieces,” Jeanie yells, holding the head. I look at Ethan and Kyle. They’ve got their snowman together, too. Crud. “Otherwise it’s going to topple.”
“I’ll take one, you take one, and Harper takes the third,” Lina instructs us.
“Me?” My voice warbles.
“Yes,” Lina says and passes my piece of the snowman back my way. “Now go!”
Ethan and Kyle run quickly past me, sending mud in all directions, and for some reason it clicks. Kyle is not getting two points for this game. Ethan is not going to beat me. I pick up speed—well, as much speed as I can, running through the muck—and when Kyle fumbles with a piece of their snowman, the girls blow past them. Both teams are screaming as we near the finish. And that’s when it happens. Jeanie slips and drops the head into the mud.
“No!” She tries to find it, but it’s no use. It already sank. Determined, I mold a ball quickly and slosh over to Lina as mud splashes up around me. She has the middle in her hands, and I hand her a head. Then I drop to my knees and start forming another ball using a rock I grab as the base. While Jeanie continues to search in vain, I hand the ball to Lina, stick eyes and a nose in it, and watch as it all comes together. It is a drippy, gross snowman, but definitely a snowman.
I give it to her just in time, too, because Ethan and Kyle are back in the race, and my brother is barreling toward me. I know that look in his eye. He’s going to knock me down. Not this time. I kick mud up in their direction, and Kyle starts to flail around.
“What are you doing?” Ethan yells as he tries to hold the snowman steady. But it’s no use. He falls trying to hold the snowman, and he takes me down with him.
I scream as I land sideways in the mud. Mud is in my hair, on my face, all over me. “Oh my God!”
“No!” Kyle yells as the snowman crashes into the mud. Lina, meanwhile, hands our team’s snowman right over to the judges while Ethan and I continue to flail around.
“Winners of Mud-a-Thon are the girls of bunks 10A and B!” Sam crows. All the girls gather around and erupt in celebration. Everyone except for me.
“The mud is so cold!” I say, trying to stand up. I slip and fall down again, and Ethan starts to laugh. Then he drops a pile of mud on my head. “What are you doing?”
“Being a sore loser,” he says to me with a laugh and tosses more mud my way.
“This is because I’m a sore loser about the zip line.” I push mud in his face.
That shuts him up.
“All right, you two, that’s enough,” Courtney warns us, but she’s smiling. “You did good, Harper.” She lends me a hand.
I beam. “Thanks. So you mean…?”
“Yep,” Courtney says cryptically. “What I said before still stands.”
“Yes!” I cry, and Kyle comes over and glares at me. “Two points for me!”
“I still have four,” he grumbles.
“Did I miss something?” Ethan asks. He still hasn’t managed to get up yet.
“Yep,” I say happily. “This.” I pour more mud on him. Kyle knocks me down. I grab him and pull him down, too. Everyone is watching us, but I don’t care. Now that my outfit is completely ruined, anyway, playing in the mud is sort of fun.
“The girls pick a zumba class as their victory prize. Guys! Hello? Did you hear me?” Jeanie asks. She is staring at Ethan and me.
“I would have chosen doing laundry,” I say. Jeanie makes a face. Splat! Ethan sends more mud my way. I send it back with a laugh.
“Ethan! Harper! Kyle! Smile!” Courtney has a camera pointed in our direction.
I decide to give Courtney a picture she won’t forget. As she prepares to click, I grab Ethan and Kyle and push them down into the mud face-first.
Harper McAllister @HarperMc
Try a mud bath. They’re smelly, but it does wonders for your pores. It’s like a free facial. Beat that, Red Door Spa. #survivingthesummer
9
HOME NOT-SO-SWEET HOME
IT’S ALMOST MIDNIGHT. I’VE WAITED forty-five minutes, and there is still no sign of Courtney or Sam. Now is the perfect time to make a call, which is why I’ve jumped out of bed and quietly broken into Courtney and Sam’s room. Courtney’s phone is waiti
ng for me exactly where she said it would be. My fingers tremble as I put in the familiar number.
“Hello?” A sleepy voice answers.
“Margo, it’s me!” I whisper.
“Harper?” Margo instantly sounds more awake. “What number are you calling from?”
I need to be cryptic to protect the innocent. “A camp pay phone.” I keep my eye on Courtney’s bedroom door for movement.
“They still have those up there?” Margo says with a yawn.
“Um, yes! So how are you? Are you going to Hallie’s Fourth of July party this weekend?” I try not to sound wistful.
“We were going to, but now Kate has a new plan,” Margo says sarcastically. “She wanted to go to the Jersey Shore for the Fourth, but I said no. I am not leaving you out of that trip!”
“Thanks.” Margo is so good to me. “I can’t believe she wanted you to change it. We always said we’d go in August together when I got home.”
“You know Kate—once she gets an idea in her head, it’s all she can think about,” Margo says. “She has us hanging out with this girl we met at the cabana last weekend. Her name is Amber and her mom is that supermodel Anastasia. She’s getting her own reality show or something, and she gave Kate all these free clothes, so now Kate is obsessed with her. Get this: Kate asked if we could take Amber to NJ with us instead of you. Can you imagine? I told her—BEEP—and now I’m on her bad list, too. Oh, wait, that’s her beeping in. What’s with everyone calling at midnight? Hold on.” CLICK.
It feels like I am on hold forever when it is probably only thirty seconds, but when you’re not supposed to be using a phone in the first place, every second counts. I’m kind of regretting this phone call now. I feel worse than I did that time I tried a new spa for a facial and broke out in hives. How could Kate write me off so quickly? I’ve only been gone a couple of days. I’m about to hang up when I hear Margo again.
She groans. “Kate wants you to call her. I slipped and said I was on the phone with you.” She yawns again. “And don’t worry. You are not missing much. If anything, I wish I could get away. I need a break from Kate the Great.” I giggle. “Miss you tons.”