Sleepaway Girls

  "It?" I asked.

  Alexis laughed and I noticed she had a pretty smile. Ashley's mouth always seemed sullen, or in a permanent frown, but Alexis was always happy. The sisters may have looked alike with their blond hair and small waists, but in my opinion, Alexis's attitude made her ten times prettier. She also had Hitch's eyes, which were big and green. Ashley's gray ones reminded me of an impending thunderstorm.

  "The camp spark, as Dad and I call it," Alexis explained. "The sign of a camp lifer -- even if you did start a little late," she added. "It's something my dad said I've always had. I love this place so much I'll probably run it when Dad retires," she said with a laugh. "When I'm away at college, I miss it terribly. Unlike Ashley, who doesn't shut up about moving to New York City after she graduates high school and only returning to do her beloved camp videos and brochures."

  Ashley had said that? All she talked about in our cabin was how much she loved the Pines. It was probably better not to bring that up.

  "Anyway, I can tell when someone is going to fit in well here, and I think you will," Alexis told me. "You just have to stay sharp, and pay attention to everything going on around you. Especially with campers this little."

  "I will," I vowed, feeling charged. Alexis had a way of making you think you could run a marathon -- something she had already told me she loved to do -- even when you weren't a trained runner. I didn't want to let her down again. I just had to make sure Ashley didn't botch things up for me.

  The two of us headed back into the cabin and the girls all looked up expectantly. Their clothes were in large heaps on the beds. A few had posters and pictures with them, but no tape. Alexis and I quickly sprang into action. We showed the girls their beds (all singles because of their age), explained the shower situation, and helped them tape posters above their beds. Within an hour, the cabin looked like a Disney Store with all the Hannah Montana and The Cheetah Girls pictures, pillows, and bedspreads. When we were finished decorating, we sat down on the floor with markers and colored paper and helped each girl make a name tag to wear around her neck for the first day. You could tell the girls liked crafts.

  "Sam?" Alexis said as I was helping Mackenzie write a z on her tag. Alexis was reading over a list of memos on her clipboard. I excused myself and walked over. "So it seems one of our campers, Mackenzie Hammond, has to take allergy shots every day. The nurse already has her medication, but we need to take Mackenzie down there every morning for her shot. Apparently Mackenzie hates needles and cries every time." Alexis frowned. "I guess I can get the girls up a few minutes earlier, and bring them all down there and have them wait outside."

  "I'll do it," I said almost without thinking. I had to make up for what happened this morning, even though it meant I'd have to rise extra early to get Mackenzie to the nurse and then to breakfast on time. "It will be easier if you don't have to trek the whole bunk down there for the shots. I could take Mackenzie every morning before breakfast."

  Alexis looked concerned. "Are you sure? That's a lot of responsibility. And I'd hate for you to have to get up extra early to do this."

  "I don't mind," I said hurriedly. "It's the least I can do."

  Alexis grinned. "Great then. That would really help me a lot." In the distance, we heard the trumpet signaling the end of the morning free period. "Okay, girls, we have arts and crafts this morning. Let's all put our shoes on and gather our name tags and we can walk over. Sam has to go to her own activity so we'll see her later."

  I felt a tug on my shirt and turned around. Mackenzie was staring up at me. "I need my shot," she said.

  Alexis frowned. "Didn't you have it this morning, sweetie?" she asked.

  Mackenzie shook her head. "We left too early to do it. Mom said I would have it here." She was clutching a small brown bear in a red hooded sweatshirt and was stroking it nervously.

  Alexis looked at her watch. "Okay, I guess we could swing by the nurse and just go over to arts and crafts late --"

  "I'll take her," I offered, even though I was dying to get to the pottery class. I had grand illusions of making Mom a vase. "It's my job anyway, right? I can take Mackenzie there and then bring her to you for arts and crafts. I have pottery anyway and that's right down the hill."

  Alexis looked grateful. "Thanks, Sam."

  Mackenzie, her bear, and I headed down the steps of the cabin, and Mackenzie reached for my hand. Hers was all sweaty, but I didn't mind.

  "Is it dark at night, Sam?" she asked me in a tiny voice. "I hate the dark. I brought a nightlight, but I wasn't sure where to plug it in."

  "I'll help you find a spot," I offered. "But I do have a tip for you that should help. Your bed is closest to the exit sign. The exit sign lights up so think of that as an extra nightlight."

  She smiled, revealing two missing top teeth. "I didn't think of that!" she said happily. "How did you?"

  "Well, I've been here a few days already getting ready for you guys," I told her. We were swinging our arms now as we walked. "I have another secret to tell you -- I was scared of the dark when I was your age too."

  Her eyes grew wide. "You were?"

  "Yep," I said. "And when I was little my class went on a week-long camping trip and I was really nervous about sleeping in the dark. That's when I discovered the exit sign. I slept in the bed closest to it so I wouldn't be afraid."

  "Just like I'm going to do," Mackenzie said with a smile.

  Within minutes we were at the nurse's station. "Here we are," I told Mackenzie and she clutched my hand even tighter. "You're going to like Nurse Nancy. She's sweet. She may even give you a lollipop when you're done."

  When we opened the cabin door, I felt a rush of cool air. Ahhh, air conditioning. Maybe there was a benefit to taking Mackenzie to these daily shots. The nurse's office and Hitch's were the only two buildings on campus that had A/C units. Even five minutes inside would make all the difference on a 95 degree day. It was only late June, but already the temperature in the mountains was creeping up that high. Plus, the waiting room had a TV! It was the first one I'd seen in a week and I stared in awe at Rachel Ray making burritos. Maybe a news commercial would come on and I'd actually get a glimpse of the outside world. Camp was sort of like living in a bubble. I hadn't had a care package or letter yet so I had no idea what was going on off-campus.

  "Hey." Cole and a small boy in a Mets t-shirt were sitting on the waiting room bench. "Did you get hit in the head again already?"

  I laughed, surprised to see him. "I'm not here for me," I said. "This is Mackenzie and we're here to get her daily allergy shot."

  Cole nudged the little blond-haired boy next to him. "This is Caleb. He's here for his shot too."

  "Do you take them every day?" Mackenzie asked Caleb as she climbed on the bench next to him.

  He nodded. "Every morning."

  "Me too!" Mackenzie squealed.

  "I guess we'll be seeing Caleb a lot," I told Mackenzie. I looked at Cole. "I'm on shot duty so we'll be here every morning before breakfast."

  "That's pretty generous of you," Cole said. "I think I may have to volunteer for that job myself. A few minutes in this freezer is heaven. Now if I could just get a Mets score on TV I'd be all set."

  Cole looked cute today. He was wearing his red Pines tee and Nike track shorts. The color looked great against his tan skin.

  "What are you smiling about?" Cole accused me jokingly. "You're wondering how my CIT life with Hunter is, aren't you?"

  "No I'm not," I said defensively.

  "Yes you are," Cole teased. "Go ahead. Ask me how cute he is with the six-year-olds."

  "I wasn't going to ask you that," I stammered. But come to think of it, I did want to know how he was with them. Was he like a big kid? I could picture him joking around with them and carrying them around on his shoulders. Sigh.

  Static filled the air and Cole reached for his walkie-talkie. "Cole? Man? Are you there?" It was Hunter's voice.

  "Speak of the devil," Cole said with a grin. He lifted the walkie
-talkie to his face. "Yep, I'm here."

  "Go to a private channel," Hunter said. "What's taking so long down there?"

  "Nurse Nancy's already in with someone," Cole said, his eyes on me. "Some kid got stung by a bee."

  Hunter groaned. "Really? That blows. I was hoping you'd be back here by now. I forgot what we have for the next period."

  Cole looked amused. "Soccer, remember? I told you to take the soccer ball with you."

  "That's right! Thanks, mate," Hunter said and paused. "Do you remember what the period is after that?"

  I hoped my surprise didn't show on my face. How could Hunter not know his schedule?

  "I think it's arts and crafts," Cole said to the walkie-talkie.

  "Got it. Got it. I forgot," Hunter said. "See you soon."

  Cole clipped the walkie-talkie to the back of his shorts. "So what do you think of your crush now?"

  "He's not my crush," I said, even though I was blushing.

  "For your sake, I hope that's true," Cole said quietly. "Because Hunter isn't a one-girl kind of guy, as you may have noticed."

  The door to Nurse Nancy's office opened. "Who wants to go first?" she asked us as she walked out a sniveling little girl. I recognized a snotty CIT from 8A who was with her.

  "Can we go together?" Caleb asked nervously, looking at Mackenzie.

  Nurse Nancy smiled. "I don't see why not. Why don't you all come in?"

  The four of us filed into the nurse's office. The room reminded me of the nurse's office at school. Everything was white and there were silly cartoon drawings on the walls with nurse humor on them. The room had three cots, all unoccupied. We helped Mackenzie and Caleb up onto the first one. Caleb's shot was over in less than a minute, but when it was Mackenzie's turn, she burst into tears.

  "Mackenzie, it's okay," I said soothingly. "I'm here." I grabbed her sweaty little hand, but she just kept bawling and pulling her hand away. "Don't you want a lollipop?"

  "I need you to keep her still," Nurse Nancy told me. I looked helplessly at Cole. He quickly knelt down in front of Mackenzie and stroked her teddy bear.

  "So who is this guy, Mackenzie?" he asked her.

  She seemed to calm down for a moment. "My bear," she said tearfully.

  "I like his sweatshirt," Cole said. "Does this guy have a name?"

  Mackenzie smiled. "Snooky."

  "Snooky?" Cole said with a laugh. "What kind of a name is Snooky?"

  Mackenzie laughed too. "I made it up."

  "Well, I tell you what -- what if I give Snooky a shot at the same time Nurse Nancy gives you yours? Would that be okay? That way you'll both get your shots done together."

  Mackenzie looked thoughtful for a moment. "Okay."

  Nurse Nancy approached again with the needle and I cringed, but Mackenzie focused on Cole. He grabbed another needle, still sealed, not that Mackenzie noticed, and put it to Snooky's arm. "It will be over in a second, Snooky," he told the bear. Mackenzie was so delighted, she barely flinched.

  "Great job, Mackenzie," Cole told her with a smile. He whisked her off the table. "She's all yours now," he said to me.

  I was at a loss for words. Cole was so cute with Mackenzie and I had to admit, it was really appealing. "You were great," I marveled.

  Cole shrugged. "It was nothing. Listen, I better get Caleb back to the master." He grinned and I found myself staring at his lips. They looked soft. I felt like I could stare at them forever. "I'll catch you later?" Cole said, looking at me oddly.

  "Uh-huh. Yep. Sure!" I laughed nervously and I wasn't sure why.

  After dropping Mackenzie off at arts and crafts, I caught the tail end of pottery. Em and I were in the class together and she was already halfway through crafting her first vase. I didn't even have enough time to try the pottery wheel. Afterward we walked to the mess hall for lunch. I couldn't believe it was time for that already. Not that I was complaining. I was starved for anything -- even runny mac and cheese.

  "How was everyone's first morning as a CIT?" Meg asked as she joined us at the table with a plate of hot pasta. Since she was our senior counselor, she ate with us. I loved that we got to have lunch with our bunk instead of eating with our CIT charges. As a junior and senior counselor, you didn't have the luxury of dining with your friends.

  "I've got an athletic bunch," Grace said excitedly as she munched on her hot dog. "I'm so glad I got the pez. They actually know how to play games."

  "The marshmallows rock," said Court, and took a bite of her mac and cheese.

  "How was your morning, Sam?" Ashley asked innocently, and Gabby nearly choked on her bug juice. "Anything eventful happen?" Both of them had plates piled high with salad and nothing more.

  "Take any walks near the west side of camp?" Gabby seconded, and Ashley laughed.

  "What are you girls talking about?" Meg asked, confused. "Did everything go okay, Sam?"

  Ashley stared at me triumphantly. I wanted to say something so badly, but I just couldn't. I didn't have the guts to deal with the grief that would go along with Ashley's vehement denials. "Yeah," I said, avoiding Ashley's glare. "My campers are adorable, and Alexis is awesome." I couldn't help giving a little dig at least.

  "That's great, Sam," Ashley said, and took a sip of her iced tea. "I'm glad you're getting along with my sister. I wouldn't want to work with her, no offense. Don't any of you remember how she treated Patty last summer when she was her CIT? She ran her so much she didn't even have time for her hobby. She was so sick of Alexis, she didn't want to come back to camp this year."

  "Didn't Patty decide to go on a European backpacking trip this summer?" Gabby scratched her head. Ashley gave her the evil eye.

  "I think you were all given the perfect match." Meg smiled at me.

  "I'll say," Ashley seconded. "It sounds like Sam's making a great first impression right out of the gate."

  This caused Gabby to laugh harder. Everyone looked confused, except for Court. I got the feeling she knew something was up. She stared at me intently, almost willing me to respond to Ashley's taunting. But I couldn't. I didn't know how. Being obnoxious wasn't my strong suit. Helping my friends was. So instead I just stared miserably at my runny mac and cheese.

  7 Arts, Crafts, and Confession

  It was raining. Not that soft, misty rain that makes you want to run outside and twirl around in it. This was like a monsoon. Staring out our cabin window, I could see campers shrieking as they dashed through the large muddy puddles and held wet sweatshirts high over their heads. It was the first rainy day of camp that season -- the most we'd had was an occasional passing thundershower -- and the last thing I wanted to do was go outside.

  I didn't really have a choice. It was free period and I had to finally finish Mal's first tape and drop it in the mail. I was already majorly behind in my video messages. Camp was a lot busier than I thought it would be. And even when it wasn't, I was having too much fun with Court, Em, and Grace to even think about sneaking off to make a tape. Not that I would ever admit that to Mal.

  A clap of thunder overhead rattled my bunk bed. The storm was far from over, but I had to leave now if I wanted to get this done. I grabbed my green windbreaker and my backpack, slipping the palmcorder inside, wrapped in a sweatshirt. In this weather, the whole cabin smelled like wet wood. Grace had been on bug duty all morning -- apparently this kind of weather draws them inside -- and I moved out of the way as she used a fly swatter to squash another one.

  "Gotcha!" Grace squealed. You could barely hear her over the sound of the rain hitting the roof. A strong wind blew open the shutters nearest Gabby and Ashley and they quickly ran to shut it. Grace groaned. "Meg, isn't there some way you can get us out of activities today?"

  "I second that motion," Court piped up. "I say we head to the counselors' lounge and watch some soaps."

  The counselors' lounge was a CIT/counselor privilege I was dying to take advantage of, but so far none of us had made it there. Set high on the hill above our cabins, the lounge had a huge TV with
cable, which meant I might actually get to watch Access Hollywood at some point. The lounge also had the only video game system on campus (granted it was a PS2 and not a Wii, but at least they had Guitar Hero), big plushy couches, and free snacks.

  Meg laughed. "I'm sorry, girls, but just because it's raining doesn't mean all activities are off. Obviously your outdoor ones are not happening, but there are alternatives today. There's a movie starting in the mess hall in an hour, and I think they're playing charades in the gym." Meg looked at Grace. "But you might get out of arts and crafts. I heard there was a leak in the roof this morning so no classes have been held there today."

  Grace let out a whoop. She loved sports, but as I was quickly learning, papers, scissors, and glue were things she could do without. That gave me an idea. If the craft cabin was closed, I could sneak over there and film my video for Mal!

  "Meg? Do you mind if I run up to the office? I'm expecting a package," I said.

  My mom had sent a massive box yesterday with some cute throw pillows from Urban Outfitters, an Orlando Bloom poster, a sheet set, and a slew of candy. Thanks to her presents, my bed was finally starting to look like someone lived there and not like someone on a day pass. Seeing Mom's handwriting on her note made me a little homesick, I had to admit, but I was having too much fun to dwell on it for that long.

  "Another one?" Gabby griped. "Haven't you been lavished enough already?" She was one to complain! Gabby was the first to steal candy from my stash. She gorged herself on the Milky Ways my mom sent and then groaned afterward about needing to exercise.

  "If Sam wants to get soaked, I don't see the big deal," Ashley said, not looking up from her CosmoGirl!

  "Maybe you should go with her," Court deadpanned.

  "You can go, Sam, if you really want," Meg said. "But you're going to get soaked!" she added as a flash of lightning lit up the room. "Be careful. And meet us back here to find out if we have arts and crafts."