Hailey Twitch and the Campground Itch

  But I am feeling very lucky today! So I put one quarter in the machine. Then I put that big claw right over this very wonderful stuffed dog with big brown floppy ears and a little black nose that is in there.

  But then something horrible happens. Maybelle flies right up into the machine! And when the claw drops onto that dog, it grabs Maybelle instead.

  “Ahhh!” she screams as the claw comes up and drops her into the chute. “Ahhh!”

  “Oh my God!” I scream. “Maybelle, are you okay?” She pokes her head out of the door of the chute and looks out at me.

  “Yes,” she says. She sounds very grumbly. And very cranky. Like maybe she is about to have a big fit or tantrum. Or maybe she hit her head when she got dropped.

  “Well, you should not have been flying into a machine!” I say. “What is wrong with you?”

  “Hailey,” Addie Jokobeck says. She is looking around and seeming very confused. “Who are you talking to?”

  “Um, no one,” I say real quick. “Your turn!” I push her right up to the game.

  Addie puts her quarter in, and Maybelle swoops out of that machine. Her hair is a very big mess. It looks like a rat’s nest. That is what you call your hair when it is all tangly and even a good brushing won’t get rid of all the knots, and you have to use a special spray that comes in a green bottle to get it back to being smooth.

  “Everyone wants those stuffed animals,” Maybelle says. “Because they are fun! I am going to get a stuffed animal for you and Addie!” She takes out her sparkly wand. And she points it at the machine. I have a very bad feeling about this.

  But when Addie puts the claw down, it grabs a stuffed animal!

  “Addie!” I gasp. “You won!”

  “I won!” Addie says. Her eyes are very big and round and shining. I do not think that Addie is used to winning things from video games. I am not used to it either. Of course she did not really win. Maybelle made her win. But still it is very wonderful and exciting!

  “You won, you won, you won!” I scream. And then me and Addie are hugging and jumping around and doing what is called making a big scene. Some boys turn and stare at us.

  “I cannot believe it!” Addie says. “I have never won anything in my whole entire life!”

  We are screaming our heads off. And then something very weird starts to happen. And that is that the claw machine starts to blink. All the lights on it are going craze, craze, crazy. They are going on, off, on, off, on, off. It is making me very dizzy in my head to look at it.

  Maybelle says very quiet, “Uh-oh.”

  I do not like when Maybelle says “uh-oh.” That is not a good sign. And then the claw machine starts moving. All by its own self! It is clawing up stuffed animals and dropping them down the chute very fast!

  “Uh-oh,” Addie says. “I think I broke that machine.” She looks very nervous, like maybe she is going to get a big punishment for that.

  “No, you didn’t,” I say. “That machine must have already been broken.” I give Maybelle a very dirty look. That dirty look says, “Me and you are going to talk about this later, young lady.”

  “Hey!” a boy with red hair who is in the corner playing Skee-Ball says. “The machine is giving out free stuffed animals!”

  And suddenly all the kids are rushing over to the machine and grabbing up stuffed animals. And I want to rush over there, too, and get some! Because it is not fair that all those kids are getting them! I should be getting them all. Since it is my sprite and her magic that have caused this big mess.

  But before I can jump right in there, someone is putting a hand on my shoulder. And that someone is Kaitlyn.

  “Hailey,” she says. “We have to go.”

  “But there are free stuffed animals!” I say, stamping my foot. Then that boy with red hair pushes against me very hard as he goes by to get those free toys.

  “Now,” Kaitlyn says. “It is an emergency.”

  And then I see Maya Greenbert. She is standing over by the door. And she is looking very miserable. And that is because she has itchy red bumps all over her legs.

  “I told you not to go in that poison ivy,” I say to Maya. It is later that night. We are all sitting on logs around the bonfire at our campsite. And we are toasting marshmallows. I found a very good stick for toasting. It is long and perfect and skinny. I helped Addie Jokobeck find a good one, too. Hers is long with a good point on the end.

  “That was not poison ivy,” Maya Greenbert says. “I must have walked into it somewhere else.” Maya Greenbert is covered all over in gross bumps. And red scratchy patches. And now she has poison ivy lotion all over her face and arms and legs. No one is wanting to go near her. That is because she is contagious.

  “That was definitely poison ivy,” Addie Jokobeck says. “‘Leaves of three, let it be.’” That is a rhyme that we learned last year in Young Adventure Girls! That was a very fun group! I want to be in it again this year, but I do not know if I am allowed. That is because of a situation with some broken snowshoes from a field trip last year that was blamed on me for no good reason.

  “What-ever," Maya Greenbert says. She is acting very grumbly. And also very snot, snot, snotty.

  “Look at my marshmallow!” I say. “It is the most delicious marshmallow ever!” I take a big bite of that ooey-gooey marshmallow. And it gets all over my face. It is very delicious.

  “Yum,” Addie Jokobeck says. She takes a good bite of her marshmallow, too. But she is a very neat eater. It does not go all over her face.

  “I do not know if I like marshmallows,” Maybelle says. She is toasting her own marshmallow on a teeny-tiny little stick. Her hair is still a very big mess from that big disaster at the arcade earlier.

  “Marshmallows are delicious,” I say.

  “Ewww,” Maya Greenbert says. “You are making a mess of your marshmallow. But I guess that is what little seven-year-olds do.”

  “Yeah,” Kaitlyn says. Kaitlyn is being very mean! And everyone knows that being messy does not have to do with how old you are. I have an uncle named Uncle James, and he is a very messy spaghetti eater and always gets tomato sauce all over his clothes. He is very old. Thirty-seven at least.

  Then I see Maybelle get a little bit mad in her face. Her eyebrows go squoosh, squoosh, squooshing together. And then she pulls her wand out. And she points it at Maya’s marsh-mallow! And suddenly Maya’s marshmallow is an ooey, gooey, disgusting mess. It is going all over her hands and getting all in her poison ivy lotion, and it is very gross.

  “Wow,” I say. “You are making a very big mess of that marshmallow, Maya.”

  “Ahhh!” she screeches. “Kaitlyn, get me a napkin! Ahhh!” It is getting in her hair now. And all over her lips and face.

  So Kaitlyn runs to get her a napkin. And Maya cleans herself all up.

  “Well,” I say. “I guess that some people are just not good with marshmallow messes. Some people who are fourteen and not just seven.”

  Addie Jokobeck is looking very nervous sitting on the log next to me. That is because she does not like fights too much. But this is not a fight. This is just two people talking about marshmallows and messy eating.

  “Well,” Maya says. “It doesn’t matter about the marshmallows. Because tonight Kaitlyn and me are doing something that little kids cannot do. No. Matter. What.”

  And that is when I sit up and pay very close attention. And that is because when someone says “no matter what” that is when I get the most excited. Because that means it is going to be something fun, fun, fun.

  “Me and Hailey are going to be playing Bananagrams in the camper tonight,” Addie says. She does not know that this is a very bad plan. Bananagrams is very boring. It is like making up words with tiles for no reason. It is just a game that grown-ups try to make you do and pretend it is not like school. But it is just like school. And we are on a long weekend! And that means no school allowed.

  “Hailey, Addie,” my mom says. “It is time for bed.”

  “Okay,” I
say. I quick finish up the rest of my marshmallow. My mom looks very shocked, shocked, shocked. This is because I do not like going to bed usually. But tonight is not a normal night. And that is because I have a plan. And that plan is to sneak right out of bed and right out to see what Kaitlyn and Maya are up to! I need to find out what that “no matter what” plan is!

  “Come on, Addie,” I say. “It is time for bed.” Addie does not know about our plan. So I do a real good yawn.

  “Good night, Mr. and Mrs. Twitch,” Addie says. Addie is very polite.

  “Good night,” I tell them. “I love you so much.” I give them both kisses on their cheek.

  “Don’t forget to brush your teeth,” my mom says. She is looking at me a little bit suspicious. That is because she knows I do not like doing all the things for bedtime like brushing teeth and hair.

  “We are not really going to bed now, are we?” Maybelle asks. She is flying behind me and eating her marshmallow on a stick. It is very stick, stick, sticky. “Because that is not very fun. And I am hungry for lots more of these wonderful delicious marshmallows.”

  I do not say anything.

  I just get into my pajamas with the glitter stars all over the pants. And Addie gets into her pajamas with the rocket ships and dogs. Rocket ships and dogs are a little tiny bit babyish to have on your pajamas. But I do not say that.

  Me and Addie climb into bed in the camper. My mom and dad are still outside sitting near the fire. And Maya Greenbert and Kaitlyn are sitting at the picnic table out there.

  “Now, Addie,” I say. “I have a very fun game for us to play. And that game is called Russian Spies.”

  “Russian Spies?” Addie says. “Uh-oh.” She does not like when I have fun games for us to play. That is because sometimes they involve some things that turn out to be disasters. But not this time!

  “Yay!” Maybelle sings. “I want to be a Russian spy! I love Russia, especially Siberia, it gets very cold there in the winter.”

  I give her a look. And that looks says that she does not know as much about Russia as she thinks. Plus, I do not want to learn about Russia. Russia is what you would learn about in school. And I do not want to do schoolwork right now, thank you very much.

  “I don’t think so,” Addie Jokobeck says. She is pulling out her green sleeping bag and spreading it down on the mattress in the camper. “I think we should just probably go to sleep now.” She gives me a smile and shows her two missing bottom teeth. “And then we can maybe play Russian Spies in the morning!”

  “Russian spies do not work in the morning,” I say. “They only work in the dark of the night.” This is very true. Spies cannot just be running around in the day. They work when it is very dark, dark, dark. Usually I do not do so good in the dark. But in order to be a Russian spy, I will have to face my fears. That is what being a spy is all about.

  “Now,” I say. “I will wear this.” I go into my suitcase. And I pull out one black sweatshirt. And one pair of black sweatpants. “What will you wear?” I ask Addie.

  “I did not bring any black clothes,” she says. “Plus, I think going out to play Russian Spies is against the rules.”

  “Yes, but,” I say. “Russian spies are always breaking the rules. That is why they are spies.”

  Addie Jokobeck does not want to do this plan. I can tell. But I think maybe she just needs some convincing. So I say, “Maya and Kaitlyn are going somewhere. And they might get hurt! So we need to go after them and make sure they are okay.”

  Addie looks at me real serious. “Maybe we should tell your mom and dad,” she says. She pokes her head up, up, up. And looks out the window to where my mom and dad are sitting on their lawn chairs. “Hey!” she yells. “Mr. and Mrs. Twitch, we have something to tell you that involves some safety issues!”

  “Shhhh!” I say. I pull on her arm and take her back away from that window. “You cannot tell them! Then we will be tattletales! Do you want to be a tattletale?”

  “No,” Addie says. She shakes her head no, no, no.

  “Okay, good,” I say. “Now I wonder what we are going to do about you not having any black clothes.” I raise my one eyebrow and give a look to Maybelle. And that look says to go and make some of Addie’s clothes black. Using her magic. But Maybelle does not really notice.

  And that is because she is working on making her own clothes black! She is giving herself a black T-shirt and black pants, and she is giving them sparkles all over! Which is not really fair when you think about it, since she knows that sparkles are one of my most fave, fave, favorite things in the whole world!

  “I WONDER WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO ABOUT YOU NOT HAVING ANY BLACK CLOTHES,” I say a lot more loud this time. Finally, Maybelle looks up from her own self.

  “Oh!” she says. I take in a big breath and push it out in a sigh. Someone should really teach that sprite about not being so selfish.

  Maybelle pulls out her wand. And she points it at Addie Jokobeck’s suitcase.

  “Now,” I say to Addie. “Maybe you should look in your suitcase. There might be a black sweatshirt in there after all.”

  “No, there isn’t,” Addie says.

  “Maybe there is.”

  “No, there isn’t.”

  “Yes.”

  “No.”

  I take another big sigh. “Just. Check.” So Addie does a big sigh back, and then she opens up her bag. And when Addie Jokobeck opens her suitcase, all her clothes come tum, tum, tumbling out! And it is a very big shock to her! Because all of her clothes are black. Black jeans. Black shirts. Black pajamas. Black underwear even!

  “Oh my God!” Addie Jokobeck yells. “What happened to my clothes?!”

  I look at Maybelle. “Sorry,” she says and gives a shrug. “I guess I didn’t know how to take control of my magic.” She is looking at her wand very confused.

  What a disaster of magic! “Well,” I say to Addie. “You must have had some kind of a laundry accident.” I know all about laundry accidents. That is because one time Kaitlyn washed her red school dress with my brand-new white costume of Little Bo Peep when it was almost time for Halloween. And that whole costume got ruined even. But I was not too mad because Little Bo Peep for a Halloween costume is not even that fun. What is fun is a witch. Or a vampire. Or a ghost with lots of drip, drip, drippy blood.

  “A laundry accident?” Addie Jokobeck is looking like maybe she does not believe that.

  “Yes,” I say, patting her on the back. “Probably your dad tried to do the laundry. Dads doing laundry is always a very big disaster.”

  Addie Jokobeck looks like maybe she is going to cry. “Don’t worry,” I say. “We are going to be Russian spies, and that is going to cheer you right up!”

  I give her another very big pat on the back. And then Addie Jokobeck and I change into our black clothes and head out of the camper.

  I am very good at sneak, sneak, sneaking if I do say so myself. That is because I have had lots of practice in it. But Addie Jokobeck is not a very good sneaker. And neither is Maybelle. She keeps flying around and saying, “Russian Spies is very fun! Do you hear that, Mr. Tuttle?! I am being very bad and naughty by flying around and sneaking out!” It is a very good, lucky thing that no one can hear her.

  “Come over here,” I whisper to Addie. We sneak around to right behind the picnic table where Kaitlyn and Maya are sitting. They are looking through magazines and eating up the rest of their s’mores.

  “What do we do now?” Addie asks.

  “Now we wait for them to go somewhere,” I say. I hope we do not have to wait that long. It is just a little bit cold out here. And my sweatshirt is not keeping me that warm. I pull the hood up over my head. But it does not really help.

  But it turns out that we are very lucky! And that is because Kaitlyn and Maya tell my parents they are going for a walk! And they get right up! And start walking! This is not fair at all. My parents sent me right to bed. And they sent Kaitlyn and Maya right for a walk!

  “Come on,” I wh
isper. I put a finger to my lips, and we start to creep, creep, creep right after Kaitlyn and Maya. Addie looks very nervous about all this. But she really should not be so scared. Because there is no reason to be nervous. She needs to get used to breaking the rules more. And I am just the girl to help her with that.

  Then I step on a branch. CRACK! We both stop right in our tracks. I am expecting to hear my parents say, “Hailey, is that you? Get back here this instant!” But I do not hear anything. So I keep going.

  We follow Maya and Kaitlyn down the dirt road. We follow them back into the bushes. We follow them a little bit into the woods.

  “It is supposed to be right here,” we hear Kaitlyn say. “It should be up in one of these trees.”

  “I don’t see anything,” Maya says.

  “What are they talking about?” I whisper to Addie. It is very cold out here. And pitch-black and dark. I cannot see a thing. Not even right in front of my face! Next time we play Russian Spies we will have to steal my dad’s flashlight for definite.

  “I don’t know,” Addie says. “Maybe we should go back to the camp.”

  “No!” I say. “That would be being a quitter!” Being a quitter is not very good. It is what you do when you give up. And we have to find out what Kaitlyn and Maya are talking about that is up in one of those trees!

  “But, Hailey—”

  “I will make you see!” Maybelle yells. And before I can stop her, she is moving her wand all around. And she shoots a light out of it! And it is lighting up the whole woods even! Like a big huge sparkler!

  “No, Maybelle!” I say. “Stop that!”

  “Maybelle?” Addie asks. “Who is Maybelle?”