Read Camp Confidential 01 - Natalie's Secret Online

Authors: Melissa J Morgan

Camp Confidential 01 - Natalie's Secret (9 page)

BOOK: Camp Confidential 01 - Natalie's Secret
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Natalie knew that whatever joke Jenna had pulled, it was probably really funny. Just like last week, when she had hidden all the silverware from 3A’s lunch table. But she was worried about her friend. That was just Natalie’s way, when she cared about someone. What if Jenna’s little practical schemes were actually a sign of a bigger problem, like something that was on Jenna’s mind? Or, if they weren’t a sign of a problem, they were going to be the cause of one, soon. How long could she get away with these pranks before she got into serious trouble?
chapter EIGHT
“So, making s’mores is actually really easy—” Jenna explained. She held out a graham cracker and a square of milk chocolate in preparation for a big demonstration.
“—believe it or not, J, I’ve actually had s’mores before,” Natalie said, cutting Jenna off before she could launch into the full-blown lecture. She really liked Jenna, but the girl had at some point decided to “adopt” Natalie and show her the ins and outs of camp. Which was great in theory, but Natalie was independent by nature, and not too crazy about being adopted. Still, she tried to be patient. She knew Jenna was just being nice.
“I thought you’d never been to camp before. When did you make s’mores?” Alex asked, overhearing the girls’ conversation.
“Oh, there’s a restaurant in New York that will bring them right to your table for you. You cook the marshmallows on these little burners. It’s so cool,” Natalie said, feeling a little wave of homesickness pass through her. What surprised her, though, was that it was just that—a
little
wave of homesickness. Could it be
that she was actually starting to
enjoy
herself at camp? Too weird.
“Maybe you’re just too
sophisticated
for sleepaway camp,” Chelsea said. She didn’t make it sound like a compliment.
“Yes, well, I left my diamonds back in the city. I figured I can do without them for the summer, dahling,” Natalie laughed, putting on a fake “proper” accent. She had decided that the best thing to do with Chelsea was to pretend that her comments were intended as light-hearted jokes—even when they obviously weren’t. So far, the tactic seemed to be working. Chelsea pursed her lips but she didn’t say another word.
From across the campfire, Alyssa nodded to Natalie—a tiny, almost imperceptible gesture. Someone else might not have even noticed it, but Nat knew that her friend was giving her props for not letting Chelsea get to her.
It was Tuesday night, and bunk 3C was having a cookout. After all the camp food, Natalie could understand why so many campers got so excited over barbecued hot dogs and hamburgers. She had eaten one of each, herself, and even though she was stuffed, she still managed to find a tiny bit of room leftover for s’mores. She hated to admit it, but there was something cool about roasting marshmallows over an open campfire—not more special than having them brought to your table in a New York City restaurant, but different. Good different.
The girls in her bunk were good different, too, Natalie had decided. Even though she still wasn’t thrilled with things like spiders in the bathrooms and bug juice for lunch, the girls in 3C had a nice chemistry. Even now, they were all huddled in one large circle, stuffing themselves with graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows. Julie and Marissa were off to one side of the barbecue talking to Pete, who had manned the grill, and a few of his kitchen buddies, including one named LJ who Natalie really liked. LJ was really funny. He refused to tell her what his initials stood for. He told all the girls in 3C that if they were lucky, he’d let them know at the closing banquet, at the end of the summer.
“Have you girls had your fill?” Kathleen, the head of the third division, walked by, smiling knowingly. Kathleen was energetic and always friendly, and could tell by the girls’ expressions that they had eaten more than enough for the evening.
“Oh, gosh, I’ll never eat again,” Grace moaned, dropping the long stick with her marshmallow to the ground beside her. She bent over and clutched her stomach dramatically.
Kathleen grinned again. “I sort of doubt that,” she said, and wandered over to speak with Julie and Marissa.
“Alex, you were smart not to have any,” Grace said, still feigning her stomachache. “I really need to learn some limits.”
“Oh, well, uh, you know—I like to take care of myself, for soccer, you know,” Alex replied. Natalie looked up. Was it her imagination, or did Alex look slightly uncomfortable? But what would she have to feel uncomfortable about? So she didn’t eat junk food. So what?
Natalie offered up her best fake burp. All the girls shrieked with laughter.
“Ugh, that is
so
gross,” Brynn said, giggling. “Does
Simon
think that’s cute?”
Natalie blushed. “What are you talking about?”
Brynn rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on, it’s so obvious. You completely stare at him every time we’re in the mess hall. You luuuuuv him,” she sang.
“Okay, fine, he’s cute, so what?” Natalie protested.
Grace made little gagging noises. “Cute, yak. Boys are icky, not cute.”
“Oh, come on,” Natalie insisted. “You’re telling me there’s not a single boy in camp you’d be into?”
All the girls shook their heads emphatically. “It must be something in the Manhattan water, Nat,” Sarah said. “You’re the only one so far.”
“You make it sound like I have some kind of disease,” Natalie said, laughing. “Whatever. At least this way I don’t have to worry about any of you guys going after him!” She glanced at Chelsea as she said this. But Chelsea was focused intently on fishing out a graham cracker from a newly opened box and didn’t—or wouldn’t—look up.
“My dad says I can’t go on a date until I’m in high school,” Karen said. “That’s fine by me. Anyway, we play board games on Friday nights. He’s a teacher, and sometimes he makes up cool games all on his own.”
“Oh, that’s so fun!” Candace said. “My dad’s a boring lawyer and the only thing he brings home is his laptop.”
“Mine’s a lawyer, too,” Alex put in. “It looks like the dullest job in the world. Whenever we go on vacation, he spends half the time screaming into his cell phone.” She shifted her weight and stretched her legs out in front of her, closer to the warmth of the fire. “What about you, Natalie? You never talk about your father,” she said.
“Huh?” Natalie said, stalling for time. “He’s, uh . . . well, my parents are divorced.”
“Oh, that’s hard,” Sarah said sympathetically. “Do you see him often?”
Natalie shrugged. “Sometimes,” she said. “He lives out west. What about yours?” she asked, trying to push the spotlight off herself.
“He’s an orthodontist,” Sarah replied. “So my older sister got her braces for cheap!”
“Hey, Natalie, when’s your campout?” Jenna asked suddenly, a twinkle appearing in her eye.
“Thursday night,” Natalie answered, suddenly suspicious. “Why?”
“Well, speaking of boys, I have a fun idea of how we can pass the time between now and then.”
“What, you mean instead of evening activity?” Natalie asked. She wouldn’t have minded getting out of evening activity. But for some reason, she didn’t think that was quite what Jenna was getting at.
“Oh, no—I meant for after,” Jenna said quickly. “Later—
much
later—I’ve got plans for us.
All
of us,” she added dramatically.
Natalie glanced around the campfire nervously. She wasn’t so sure she liked the sound of that.
 
 
That evening after the cookout, the girls were all excitable as they prepared for bed. Even Julie could see that something was up.
“Ladies, you’re all so hyper tonight. I hope you don’t have some sort of mischief planned,” she said.
Natalie sort of hoped so, too. But then, a part of her thought that whatever Jenna had in mind could really be fun. So basically, she wasn’t sure what to think.
After the girls had all gotten into their bunks, Marissa read to them from the “Trauma-rama” section of
YM
. This was their favorite thing to do before lights-out. Usually, the stories were completely outrageous, and Marissa made the girls vote which ones they thought were true, and which were made-up.
“MADE-UP!” Alex shouted from her bed after an especially colorful entry. “Please. Who ever really sneezes that much snot?”
“Point taken,” Marissa said, closing the magazine.
“Okay, girls, Marissa and I have to go out for a little bit,” Julie said. This wasn’t a surprise. Julie and Marissa usually went outside for a while after lights-out. No one was totally sure what they did. The counselors rotated their evenings off, and those that had off definitely left camp. Natalie couldn’t blame them. There were always two counselors per division—one guy and one girl—who were “OD,” or “on-duty,” as well, and it was their job to patrol at night and make sure that things were okay with all the campers in their division. But those who weren’t off or OD managed to disappear just the same. Jenna’s theory was that all the counselors met at the big rock where afternoon snack was held, not too far away from the bunks. “We have a meeting with the rest of the staff. Mark and Kerri are OD tonight. Do you promise you’ll all behave?”
“Yes, Julie,” the girls chorused in a mocking singsong.
After the door had swung shut behind them, the bunk was quiet for a moment. No one wanted to be the first to speak what was on everyone’s mind.
Finally, Jenna sat up in bed. “Do you think they’re gone?”
Alex got out of her bed and walked over to the front door. She opened it and peered out. “The coast is clear. No Mark, no Kerri, no problem.” She padded back to her bed and sat on the edge of it. “So what were you thinking?”
The lights were still out, but Natalie could practically feel a sly grin creep its way across Jenna’s face. “Raid,” she whispered.
“Awesome!” Alex said. Even though Alex hated to get in trouble, she was willing to risk it for something like a raid, because raids were just too much fun to resist. She slid back off her bed and poked around in her cubby, pulled out her flashlight, and flicked it on.
“Careful with that thing,” Chelsea said, squinting from the bright light. “What is a raid, anyway?”
Natalie was glad Chelsea had asked, since she herself had no idea.
Alex squealed and settled back down on the edge of her bed. “Oooh, it’s SO much fun. We sneak out and into someone’s bunk—”
“—a
boys’
bunk—” Jenna cut in.
“—yeah, yeah, boys’ bunk,” Alex continued, looking slightly annoyed at being interrupted. “And, you know, we tp—toilet paper—their bunk and do all sorts of other things while they’re sleeping. Like we can put toothpaste on their toilet seats or hide all their toilet paper—”
“So basically we’re sabotaging their bathroom?” Natalie asked.
Alex shot her a look. “Well, not necessarily. But that’s the kind of thing that’s going to get to them.”
“
I
always like to tape their bathroom doors shut and pull all their covers down while they’re sleeping,” Jenna said. There was an edge to her voice that suggested that she didn’t really like being upstaged by Alex.
“Do you ever get caught?” Karen asked softly.
“Nah,” Jenna bragged. “I mean, it’s harmless.”
“Counselors practically
expect
you to do it,” Alex agreed. “So if you keep it safe and stuff, no one ever says anything.”
Natalie found herself warming to the idea. But she still had one question. “Um, which bunk are we going to raid?” she asked.
Jenna snorted. “Every year, I like to raid Adam’s bunk,” she said. “So, 3F. Is that okay with you,
Nat
?” she finished meaningfully.
Simon’s bunk
, Natalie thought.
Of course.
“Yeah, sure,” she said, trying to act casual.
“I had a feeling it would be,” Jenna teased. “Okay, who else is in?”
It turned out that almost everyone was game. Karen was nervous, but she put aside her fears after Alex and Jenna both reassured her that they wouldn’t get in any trouble. Candace said she’d rather stay back and read, but she gave in when Sarah guilted her about “acting as a bunk.” And that was really it. Chelsea, in particular, seemed very excited. As soon as Jenna had explained her plan, she had hopped out of bed to change into her cutest drawstring capris. Natalie guessed it probably didn’t matter what they wore.
But she put on a clean pair of jeans, just in case.
 
 
“Well, I guess you were wrong about where the counselors go at night,” Alex said to Jenna. The bunk was maneuvering slowly, ducking behind bushes when possible, and they were just rounding the big, central rock. They had tiptoed out the front door of the bunk un-detected easily enough—the OD counselors were clearly otherwise occupied. The rock was completely unpopulated. Alex sounded fairly pleased about it. To Natalie, it seemed like Alex and Jenna were locked in a bizarre competition to be the one who knew the most about camp.
Silly
, she thought.
So not worth it.
BOOK: Camp Confidential 01 - Natalie's Secret
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