Hailey Twitch and the Campground Itch (4 page)

“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 whisper. 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?”

“What's going on?” Maya Greenbert asks. “Who is that? Who's there?”

And then Kaitlyn and Maya are running right back to where we are standing. “Hailey!” Kaitlyn yells. “You are supposed to be in bed! Mom and Dad are going to be really, really J mad at you!” She is « putting her hands on her hips she is so mad.

“Oh, hello,” I say. “Nice night for a walk, isn't it?” I quick give her a smile and try to make friends.

But Kaitlyn and Maya do not want to make friends. And so they march us right back to camp.

I am in a very big amount of trouble. Because I am not supposed to be sneaking out of the camper. My mom and dad are going to give me a good punishment. They have just not decided on what yet. Probably I am going to get that punishment when we get home. On account of them not being able to punish me when I have Addie Jokobeck at camp with me. They tell me all of this bad news. And then they send me and Addie right back to bed.

So the next morning I am not in a very good mood, thank you very much.

“Maybelle,” I grumble as I walk to the
shower building. “You should not have done that! Putting up a big light in the sky!”

“I did not know that was going to happen!” she says. “I thought it would only be a little bit of a light! And that only you would be able to see it!”

“Yes, well, you do not have a very good hold on your magic! You need to do some homework on it or something.” Homework is what you do when you are trying to get better at something. It is like practice. “Maybe I will talk to Mr. Tuttle about some magic homework for you to work on.”

“But I am really trying!” Maybelle says. “Cross my heart and promise!”

“I do not know if that is true, Maybelle Sinclair,” I say. “I am really trying” is what I say when I get in trouble. And I am not always trying too hard, if you want to know the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

When we get to the shower building, Maya Greenbert is running up behind me. She is very out of breath and very itchy and red from her poison ivy. I make sure I do not get too close to her.

“Hailey!” she says. “Your mom sent me to walk you here, since you are not allowed to be walking around camp all by yourself.”

“You are not the boss of me, Maya Greenbert!” I say.

“Hailey!” Maybelle says. “That is not very good manners.”

But Maya Greenbert does not even yell back at me! And that is because she has other things on her mind. “Who were you talking to?” she asks. She is looking around all suspicious.

“What do you mean?” I try to sound very innocent like I do not know what she is talking about not even one little bit. I blink my eyes at her like she is being very confusing.

“I just heard you talking to someone,” she says. She puts her hands on her hips. That is what people do when they are trying to boss you. “You told them they do not have a very good hold on their magic.”

“I did not,” I say.

“Yes, you did.”

“No, I didn't.”

“Yes, you did!” she says. And then she gets a big smile on her face. “Oh, I see,” she says. “You have an imaginary friend.” She gives me a pat on the head. “That is very cute.”

Maybelle gets very mad about that. She flies right up and yells into Maya Greenbert's ear. “I AM NOT IMAGINARY!”

But Maya Greenbert cannot hear her, of course.

So she does not say anything back.

And then Maybelle flies into the shower cabin. I do not know what she is doing in there. But something tells me it is not very good. I decide that I will not fight with Maya Greenbert. I am in enough trouble already. So I just go right by her and into the cabin.

Maybelle does not show up all through my shower. She does not show up when I shampoo up my hair. She does not show up when I get dressed in my most favorite pair of purple shorts and my most favorite shirt with the sparkly pink heart on it. She does not show up when I am done brushing my hair and putting in a beautiful glittery bobby pin that makes me look just like a movie star. She does not show up when I am posing right in front of the mirror, pretending I am famous.

And neither does Maya Greenbert. She is taking a very long time in that shower. Just like Kaitlyn does. That is what teenagers do. It is called being very annoying. So finally I gather up my shower caddy and head right back to the camper.

Everyone is there having a nice big breakfast at the picnic table.

“Hailey!” my mom says when she sees me. “Where is Maya?”

“She is still in the shower.” I take a big shrug and sit down next to Addie Jokobeck. Addie already had her shower before me. Her hair is very perfect and dry and smooth.

“Hello, Addie,” I say. “And how are you this fine morning?”

“Good,” she says. She giggles. There is a big plate of delicious-looking waffles sitting in the middle of the table. So I take one and put it on my plate. Then I squeeze a very lot of syrup all over it.

“Hailey!” my mom says. “You know you
are not allowed to be walking back from the shower cabin by yourself. You were supposed to wait for Maya to walk back with you!”

“I
was
waiting!” I say. “I was waiting and waiting and waiting forever, but she did not come, not even after fifteen whole minutes.” I do not really know if it was fifteen whole minutes. I do not have a watch. Also, I am not so good with clocks that have hands.

“Hailey, you know the rules,” my mom says. “I cannot believe you are misbehaving so much!”

But before she can even say anything else, we hear a big noise. And that big noise is Maya Greenbert. She is running down to the camper with a big towel on her head, scream, scream, screaming. Louder than anything I've ever heard even.

“What's wrong?” Kaitlyn asks. “Why are you screaming like that?”

And then Maya Greenbert takes that towel off her head. Kaitlyn gasps. I gasp. Addie gasps. My mom and my dad gasp. Maybelle pops up and just says, “Oops.”

Because Maya's hair is green. Green, green, green like a turtle.