“Were you here last summer?” I asked her.
She shook her head. “No. Briana and Meg were here. But this is my first summer. I went to tennis camp last year.”
“I’ve never been to any kind of camp,” I confessed. “I–I guess I’m a little nervous.”
“Are you a good swimmer?” Briana asked.
I shrugged. “Pretty good, I guess. I don’t swim much. I don’t really like it.”
Meg turned from her trunk. “You don’t like to swim, and you came to a water sports camp?”
Briana and Jan laughed.
I could feel my face grow hot. I didn’t want to tell them that my parents made me come to this camp. That just sounded too geeky. I didn’t know what to say.
“I… uh… I like other things,” I stammered.
“Oh-I love that swimsuit!” Briana declared. She pulled a bright yellow swimsuit from Meg’s trunk and held it up in front of her. “This is excellent!”
Meg tugged it back. “Like it would really fit you!” she muttered, rolling her eyes. Her braces clicked when she talked.
Meg looked a little like a bowling ball next to tall, graceful Briana.
“Did you lose weight over the winter?” Briana asked her. “You look great. Really, Meg.”
“I lost a little,” Meg replied. She sighed. “But I didn’t get any taller.”
“I grew about a foot this year,” I chimed in. “I’m the tallest girl in my school. Everyone stares at me when I walk through the halls.”
“Boo hoo,” Meg said sarcastically. “You’ve really got it tough. Would you rather be a shrimp like me?”
“Well… not really,” I replied.
Ooops. I realized I’d said the wrong thing.
I saw a flash of hurt in Meg’s eyes.
Why did I say that? I asked myself.
Why do I keep putting my foot in my mouth?
I picked up my backpack from where I had tossed it on the floor. I carried it to my bunk to unpack it.
“Hey-that’s mine! Put it down!” Jan came rushing over to me.
I glanced down at the backpack. “No. It’s mine,” I insisted.
I started to unzip it-and it fell off the bed.
A whole bunch of things fell out and clattered across the cabin floor.
“Oh!” I cried out in surprise. The stuff wasn’t mine.
I saw pill bottles. Medicine jars. And little plastic inhalers.
“Asthma medicine?” I cried.
Jan dropped to her knees and began gathering it all up. She glared up at me angrily. “Thanks a bunch, Sarah,” she growled. “Thanks for letting the whole world know I have asthma. Why don’t you stand up at the campfire tonight and announce it to the whole camp?”
“Sorry,” I murmured weakly.
“I told you it was my backpack,” Jan snapped.
Meg bent down and picked up an inhaler for Jan.
“Having asthma is nothing to be ashamed of,” she told Jan.
“Maybe I like to keep some things to myself,” Jan snapped. She shoved all the medicine into the pocket and grabbed the backpack away.
“Sorry,” I said again. “Really.”
All three girls glared at me. Briana shook her head. Meg tsk-tsked.
They hate me already, I thought.
I felt sick. Really sick.
They hate me, and it’s only the first day. The first hour.
With a sigh, I slumped down on my bunk.
Can things get any worse? I wondered.
Guess the answer to that.
4
Later that night, we had our first campfire. It was built in a wide, flat clearing near the woods. Smooth logs were placed in a circle to be used as benches.
I dropped down on an empty log with my back to the trees. Flames from the big fire danced brightly against the gray evening sky.
The fire crackled and popped. It smelled so sweet. I took a deep breath.
Counselors tossed more sticks on the fire. Soon the flames rose up over their heads.
The night air was hot and dry. My cheeks burned from the heat tossed off by the fire.
I turned away and gazed into the woods. The dark trees shivered in a light breeze. In the gray light, I saw a squirrel dart between tall weeds.
I wondered what other animals lurked in the woods. I imagined there were bigger animals than squirrels in there. Bigger and more dangerous.
A loud POP from the fire made me jump.
It’s creepy outside at night, I thought. Why can’t they have the campfire indoors? In a fireplace or something.
I slapped a mosquito on my neck.
When I turned back to the fire, I saw Briana and Meg on another log bench. They were laughing about something. Talking to two girls I didn’t know.
I saw Aaron on the other side of the flames. He was goofing with two other guys. They were wrestling around, trying to shove each other off the log.
I sighed. Aaron has already made a bunch of friends, I thought.
Everyone has made friends-but me.
Aaron saw me staring at him. He waved quickly, then turned back to his friends.
On the next log, three girls had their heads tossed back. They were loudly singing the camp song.
I listened carefully, trying to learn the words. But they had a giggling fit halfway through and didn’t finish the song.
Two older girls sat down on the other end of my log. They looked about fifteen or sixteen. I turned to say hi to them. But they were busy talking.
One of them had a bag of Gummi Worms in her hand. She kept pulling them out of the bag one by one and slurping them slowly like spaghetti noodles.
Richard, the head counselor, stepped in front of the fire. He had a black baseball cap turned backwards on his head. His baggy shorts were torn and dirty from working on the fire.
He raised both hands over his head. “Are we all here?” he called out.
I could barely hear him. Everyone was still talking and laughing. Across the fire, I saw Aaron standing up, wiggling his whole body in a funny dance.
His friends were laughing their heads off. One of them slapped Aaron a high five.
“Can we get started?” Richard called out. “Can we start our welcoming campfire?”
A log cracked in the fire. Red embers shot up all around.
“Oh!” I let out a cry as a hand grabbed my shoulder.
“Who-?” I spun around, startled. And stared up at Briana and Meg.
They leaned over me. In the darting firelight, I saw their frightened expressions.
“Sarah-run!” Briana whispered.
“Get up-quick!” Meg tugged my arm. “Run!”
“Why? What’s wrong?” I sputtered.
5
I jumped shakily to my feet. “What’s wrong?”
“Those boys,” Meg whispered. She pointed across the fire. “They threw fireworks in the fire! It’s going to explode!”
“Run!” both girls cried.
Meg gave me a shove to get me started.
I stumbled-and then lurched forward. As I ran, I shut my eyes tight, expecting the blast any second.
Could I get away in time? Were Meg and Briana escaping it too?
I stopped short when I heard the laughter.
Shrill, gleeful laughter.
“Huh?” Swallowing hard, I turned back.
And saw half the camp laughing at me.
Meg and Briana slapped each other a high five.
“No. Oh, noooo,” I murmured. How could I fall for such a dumb trick?
How could they play such a mean joke on me?
They must have told everyone to watch. As I stood at the edge of the clearing by myself, I could feel all the eyes on me.
And I could hear kids laughing and making jokes.
I saw Jan laughing. And I saw Richard and some of the other counselors grinning and shaking their heads.