Over & Out (15 page)

Jenna laughed so hard that her stomach ached as she pulled Silly String out of her hair and off her clothes and piled it on Andie and Mia instead. All the campers were making sure that the counselors and CITs were covered from head to toe in string, too. Jenna sang camp songs and yelled cheers until her throat hurt, smiling the entire time. She loved how everyone in camp was coming together tonight—the younger kids and the older ones. Everyone was a team, united in their love for Lakeview. It was this friendship and fun that made her keep coming back to camp, year after year. It was the best feeling in the world.

Once the Lakeview camp song had been sung, the campers all looked at Dr. Steve, waiting to see if he'd give any hint about the Color War team assignments, which they wouldn't get until the morning. But he wasn't about to give anything away.

“Okay,” Dr. Steve smiled. “Let's keep tonight prank free so you'll all be well rested for tomorrow's games. You'll get your team assignments when you wake up tomorrow morning.”

“Look at him,” Jenna grumbled. “He's so proud of the fact that he has a secret no one else knows.” She was especially impatient to get the assignments, because she couldn't wait to hand out her special surprise to everyone first thing tomorrow morning.

Suddenly, flashes of bright light filled the night sky. Jenna looked up as red and blue fireworks exploded over the lake, sending twinkling sparks that rained down on the water. She smiled. Even with her broken leg, she had a happy feeling that this was going to be one of the best Color Wars ever.

chapter NINE

Jenna's eyes shot open even before the sun peeked through the window of the bunk.

“Rise and shine, sleepyheads!” she sang to her bunkmates. “Don't you want to know your team assignments?”

“I'd rather sleep, thank you,” Alyssa said, pulling her sheets over her head.

“You are so warped, Jenna,” Chelsea quipped. “It's not even light out yet.”

“Wake up! Wake up!” Jenna singsonged, rapping on Nat's and Perry's beds with her crutches. Then she flipped on the bunk lights just as a barrage of pillows showered her from all corners of the room.

Tori sat straight up in bed. “I can't believe you woke me up before the alarm went off.” She pointed to her face, which was completely covered in blue goop. “This rehydrating mask needs at least six hours for full moisturizing potential.”

“Oh, get over it! It's the start of Color War!” Jenna cried jubilantly, throwing up her hands. “Hey . . .” she took a closer look at Tori. “What's wrong with your forehead?”

“What?” Tori gasped, her hands flying up to her hairline. “Oh please, please, please tell me I didn't get a zit.”

“You've got a big red dot right in the middle of all that blue,” Jenna said, “It looks like . . . paint.”

Her eyes flickered around the room. “We all have dots painted on our foreheads! Either red or blue.” She squealed. “Our team assignments!” She whipped around to see Andie and Mia giggling from their beds. “You sneaks!”

“We did it while you were sleeping last night,” Mia said, stifling a yawn.

Jenna went around the room, taking a tally. Once she finished, she had the breakdown. Nat, Alyssa, Chelsea, Tori, and Perry were on the Red team. Anna, Lauren, Jessie, and Karen were on the Blue. Then she froze. “But what color am I?” she cried. “Somebody help me.”

“Red!” Nat said, jumping out of bed to hug her.

“Red!” Jenna repeated, her smile spreading. “The color of victory!”

Maybe she'd spoken too soon. The Blues stood more than a chance. From the looks of things at the kickoff breakfast, the Blues actually had the upper hand. As Jenna made a mental list of who was on what team from the other bunks, her spirits sank. Grace, Abby, Priya, and Candace were all Reds, which was great. But Alex, Brynn, Sarah, Valerie, Tiernan, and Gaby were Blues, which was trouble. As soon as breakfast was over and everyone left the mess hall to head to the first event of the day, Alex and Sarah stopped on the lawn and yelled out a cheer with the rest of the Blues. Jenna tried to organize the Reds to give a countercheer, but she wasn't quick enough, and the chance slipped by.

“We'll get 'em next time,” Jenna said, struggling to make her voice sound optimistic.

But then Chelsea said what Jenna'd really been thinking but was afraid to say.

“We're going to get killed in sports,” Chelsea whined. “Alex and Sarah will be impossible to beat.” She glared at Jenna. “What did you have to go and break your leg for, anyway? Talk about stupid. How are we supposed to win the soccer tournament tomorrow with two prima donnas and a drama queen on our team?”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Chelsea,” Tori piped up. “But I'll have you know that Nat and I painted our nails with Nails of Steel strengthening polish last night so we wouldn't worry about breaking them. We're ready to do battle.”

Nat nodded. “And Simon's a Red, too,” she added proudly. “He's really good at sports, so I bet he'll bring home some wins for the guys, too.”

“We can take on the Blues, no problem,” Grace, one of the Reds from 4C, chimed in enthusiastically, her curls bouncing wildly. “I've been rehearsing my dribble for the last three days. A good actress can play all sorts of parts, including a soccer pro.”

“The Blues aren't going to know what hit 'em,” Jenna said encouragingly, doing her best to hide her doubts. She turned to Nat, Tori, Chelsea, Alyssa, and Perry. “I know we haven't played that well up till now.”

“That's an understatement,” Alyssa said.

“But we can,” Jenna said. “Lots of underdogs overcome the odds. We just have to do our best.” She banged her crutch on the mess-hall railing. “Can I have the attention of everyone in 4A and 4C, please?”

The girls from both bunks stopped outside the mess hall and turned toward her. Jenna slid her backpack from her shoulder and pulled out the surprise she'd wanted to give everyone last night but hadn't been able to until she knew the team assignments.

“I made these for everyone in both of our bunks.” She held up ten red and ten blue necklaces, each made with the ceramic beads she'd worked so hard on yesterday. Each red bead had just the tiniest flecks of blue in it, and each blue bead held a little red. “It turns out, jewelry was the only thing I made in ceramics that didn't fall apart,” she joked, making everyone giggle.

“I knew you'd be great at jewelry!” Nat said.

“They're friendship beads,” Jenna said, passing them out by color to the two bunks, “to remind us that before we are frenemies, we are friends, first and forever.”

“What a great idea, sweetie,” Andie said, hugging Jenna. “And you're right. Our friendships are what count more than anything, and no matter what, now everyone has a reminder of that. I'm so proud of you for remembering what's most important!”

“Most important,” Jenna agreed. “But we Reds are still going to make the Blues eat our dust!”

If fun included getting massacred in the first division event, then the Reds were definitely having a lot of it. The basketball tournament wasn't so much a competition as it was a catastrophe.

“Jenna,” Andie said from the sidelines, “you're pacing so much, you're digging a hole in the ground.”

Jenna looked away from the basketball court for the first time since the game had started and saw that she was actually creating a small dirt trail where her crutches had been clumping across the grass. “I can't help it. It's the only thing I can use this stupid thing for.” She gave her cast a frustrated thump with her crutch, feeling totally helpless watching from the sidelines.

She sighed, refocused her attention on the court, and clapped her hands encouragingly. “Come on, Reds!” she shouted. “You can do it!” Her eyes flickered briefly to the scoreboard, and it was all she could do not to throw in her crutches then and there. Fourth quarter and the score was 20 to . . . 2?!

As much as Jenna hated to admit it, she knew Chelsea had had a valid point at breakfast. The Reds had only managed to score two measly points so far, and that was only because the referee had granted the Reds two free shots after the Blues got penalties for holding. Miracle of miracles, Nat and Tori had each made a shot. But it seemed that they could only actually make it into the basket when they were shooting while standing completely still. Making a shot on the court while the game was in motion? Forget about it.

The sad truth was that the game had been one disaster after another. It all started when Chelsea tried to pass the basketball to Tori in the first quarter and Tori screamed and fumbled so badly that she dropped the ball straight into the hands of the Blues. Then, things went from bad to worse when Grace and Nat collided trying to catch the ball in the second quarter. By the third, it was obvious that this tournament was turning into Humiliation 101 for the Reds. Now, in the fourth, Jenna was just hoping her teammates would live to see the end of the game.

With one minute left on the clock, Jenna called a time-out and motioned her dreary-looking team into a huddle.

“You guys are doing great,” she said. “We still have time to make a comeback.”

“Are you kidding?” Chelsea cried. “Please tell me what grand plan you have for making up eighteen points in one minute.”

“I'm not talking about winning,” Jenna said. “Who cares about that? We're here to have fun. Right?”

Silence.

“Right?” she asked again louder.

“Right,” Alyssa, Tori, and Nat answered weakly.

“So,” Jenna said, happy that she'd gotten at least a lukewarm response from her teammates, “you may not win, but you can still play like a team. Right?”

“Right!” everyone shouted.

“Here's what we do,” Jenna said, leaning over to whisper her plan.

Once everyone was back on the court, the clock started again and Jenna watched, holding her breath, as Alyssa started dribbling the ball down the court toward the Blues' basket. Then, in the maneuver Jenna had laid out beforehand, Alyssa faked a pass to Nat, who screamed perfectly on cue, sending Alex and Sarah both racing over to her to try to intercept the ball. That left Alyssa free to pass the ball to Tori, whose extra-strength nail polish apparently worked as she caught the ball, spun around, and handed it off to Grace.

“Yes!” Jenna yelled. “Go, Grace, go!”

Grace scooted past Gaby and Brynn, but when Alex and Sarah both closed in on her, panic hit her face.

“Now!” Jenna cried, and Grace focused on the basket, crouched down, and shot the ball into the air. Up, up, up—over everyone's heads . . . and straight into the basket just as the final buzzer sounded.

“Woo-hoo!” Jenna hollered, rushing onto the court as fast as her crutches could carry her. She gave Grace a bear hug while the rest of the Reds whooped and clapped. “Grace, that was amazing!”

“But we didn't win,” Grace said quietly.

“Who cares?” Jenna blurted. “That was an incredible shot.” She smiled proudly at Nat, Tori, and the rest of her teammates. “That was awesome teamwork out there. Keep it up.”

“Great shot, Grace!” Alex said, walking over with Sarah.

Sarah nodded. “Good game, guys!” she said, and she and Alex shook hands with each of the Reds.

When Alex reached out for Jenna's hand, she hesitated for a split second, looking at Jenna's face uncertainly. Jenna closed the distance between them, shaking her hand. “That shot you made earlier was nothing but net, Alex. You played great.”

“And
you
were a great coach for your team,” Alex said. “I'm sorry you didn't get to play.”