Friends ForNever (4 page)

I looked over and noticed that Nicole was in the “Only” group. I didn't give that a lot of thought until I remembered Mary Claire. If Nicole counted her as a little sister, then she could've moved to the “Oldest” too. At first I was a little annoyed that Nicole didn't remember Mary Claire. Or maybe she did and decided to ignore her existence. But then I reminded myself that I'd done the exact same thing—went to the group that matched my biological order instead of my step order. I couldn't really blame Nicole.

When the games were over, we had some time to just hang out. A group of us wandered out to the porch. It was already dark and it was nice and cool. The air smelled like pine trees, and frogs were croaking down by the lake.

Whitney had adopted Claudia, Natasha, and Ashlin, the new campers in 3B. She absolutely adored being a one-woman welcoming committee. “Oh, I'll help you learn all the songs. I have a songbook back in the cabin. Anyone who wants to can borrow it,” she was telling them.

While Whitney chatted away, Sarah very quietly walked over to her. Ever so slowly, she held her hand up, opening and closing it like a yakking mouth beside Whitney's face. The newbies tried not to laugh while Whitney kept talking, totally oblivious.

“Oh, this is interesting—there's this one song called ‘Camp Days.' My grandmother and some of her friends actually wrote that song. I always get so emotional whenever we sing it!” Whitney sighed while Sarah's hand made sock puppet expressions at her.

“I've been having some serious déjà vu,” said Nicole, finding an empty spot on one of the benches.

“Really? Me too. Tell me about yours,” I said, jumping up to sit on the handrail.

“Doesn't this remind you of our first summer, when we played that get-acquainted game?” asked Nicole.

“Oh my gosh. It totally does! We were in the same group. And we had to write down all the answers to those questions . . . hometown, birthday, favorite book, favorite food, favorite actor—there were lots of favorites on that list!”

The counselors had put us into small groups and gave us a sheet of questions to answer. Then, instead of reading off what we'd written down, we had to switch papers, and the other person “introduced” us to the rest of the group. Nicole and I happened to sit next to each other, so I introduced her and she introduced me.

“Yeah, and we figured out that both of us had parents who were divorced. You were a real mess that summer. I wasn't sure you were going to survive,” said Nicole.

That summer, Mom and Daddy had only been divorced a few months. Everything in our lives was so strange. My parents fought every single time they laid eyes on each other. I would just lock myself in the bathroom and throw up; then I'd come out and try to act like everything was okay when it wasn't. I hated all the fighting and yelling. I like things to be peaceful and happy, like they are now with Mom and Paul. At the time I hated that my parents were getting a divorce. But if I had to choose between my parents living together and fighting all the time or living apart and being happy, I'd definitely choose them being happy.

“Coming to camp was the best thing that ever happened to me,” I said. “It got me out of that crazy environment for a while.” I slapped at a mosquito on my arm. I should've put bug spray on before we came to the lodge.

“Yeah, and then we met. On the very first night of camp. And we were instant best friends,” Nicole added.

“I know! I was so glad I finally had someone to talk to about my family problems. You were a lifesaver.”

Nicole laughed. “You were always asking me a million questions: ‘Who do you spend the holidays with?' ‘Do you have your stuff at both houses, or do you keep everything at your mom's and just take what you need to your dad's?' ‘Have your parents started dating other people?' ‘Who comes to the parent-teacher conferences?' Yak, yak, yak!”

I smiled at her. “Well, you were the expert. Your parents had been divorced since you were six.” Nicole and I talked about everything that summer—all my worries and stresses and fears. All that private stuff about my parents I hadn't told anyone before. “I know this sounds weird, but what if we'd been in different groups for that get-acquainted game? Then we wouldn't have met each other.”

“Impossible. It was destiny that we got in the same group. Anyway, let's say we didn't meet at evening program. We had a whole month together. We would've met at some point for sure,” Nicole reasoned.

I laughed.

I'd like to think that Nicole and I were destined to meet and become BFFs, but sometimes I wondered if it worked that way. Mom had picked out two camps for me to choose from—Pine Haven and Camp Willahalee. The main reason I picked Pine Haven was because of the name. It was easier to pronounce.

What if I'd picked Willahalee instead? Then Darcy Bridges and Nicole Grimsley never would have met each other. Was it destiny? When good things happen, it's nice to think that it's destiny, but when stuff goes wrong, you have to wonder why destiny is giving you such a rotten life.

The counselors called us inside for graham crackers and milk, and then we got into the good-night circle to sing “Taps.”

Day is done, gone the sun,

From the lake, from the hills, from the sky.

All is well, safely rest,

God is nigh.

“This has been a great first day,” Nicole said, as everyone crowded through the doors of the lodge and started up the stone steps toward the cabins. A lot of the old campers were rushing to get to Solitary first so they wouldn't have to wait for a stall.

“Yeah, it sure has. We're going to have an amazing summer,” I said. I hadn't had that homesick feeling all evening. I was pretty sure it was gone for good. As much as I wanted this summer to be exactly like last year, or the year before, I knew it didn't really matter. Even though this new summer could never be exactly like the old ones, I was absolutely positive it would be an awesome one.

“Anyone who's interested in taking riding lessons, you do need to sign up for those—and it's a good idea to do it as early as possible. I'm going to the stables this morning. Feel free to join me.” Whitney was over on Side B getting her troops in order. Jamie loved the fact that Whitney had put herself in charge. The more Whitney took over, the less Jamie had to do.

“Are you going to sign up for riding lessons?” I asked Sarah.

“No. I'm allergic to those hairy beasts. Do you mind if I hang out with you and Nicole?” She glanced at Patty, who was looking for something in her trunk. “You should come with us,” she told her. “Stick with the normal people and you'll be safe.” She made a smirky face in Whitney's direction.

“If we're normal people, what does that make Whitney?” I wanted to know.

Sarah thought about it for a second. “Deranged. Oh, Whitney darling! I'll see you after your lesson!” she called over to Side B as we all left the cabin.

“Let's go to riflery. Jamie says she needs the company,” Nicole suggested.

“I miss Whitney already.” Sarah sighed. “Her little turned-up nose. Her dimpled, rosy cheeks. I wish she was right here with us this very moment.”

“You two have the weirdest friendship I've ever seen in my life. You obviously like her, but you make fun of her constantly,” I said. They were such completely different people, I wondered what had made them friends in the first place.

Sarah covered her mouth in shock. “I would never, ever make fun of Miss Whitney Louise Carrington, third-generation Pine Haven camper!” Nicole and I could not stop laughing. Poor Patty just walked along with us, not knowing what to think.

When we got to the riflery range, Jamie was thrilled to see so many of her Cabin 3 campers. Nicole and I took spots beside each other on the shooting platform, but Sarah and Patty ended up three spots down from us. Since it was the first day, Jamie had to explain to everyone what to do and tell us the rules.

There were bare mattresses lined up across the shooting platform. Prone was the first position in riflery—we had to lie flat on our stomachs and prop ourselves up on our elbows to shoot.

We all loaded our rifles and took aim at the paper targets tacked to the boards across the range from us. “Okay to fire,” said Jamie, and then the pops of the rifles firing exploded all around us.

“Hey, I have a great idea,” I told Nicole as I squinted through the sight and squeezed the trigger. “What if we ask our parents if you can come home with me on the last day of camp? You can stay for a week, and then we'll drive you home.”

“Nope, I can't. My dad and Elizabeth are picking me up on Closing Day. They get me for a whole month after camp is over.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot you usually visit your dad at the end of the summer.” Nicole's whole arrangement of splitting time between parents was different from mine. Blake and I spent every other weekend with our dad, but since Nicole's parents lived in different states, she had long visits with her dad during the summer and over the school breaks.

“It's the highlight of my year,” Nicole said sarcastically. “Maybe this summer Elizabeth might even let me use a towel. Most of the time I just drip-dry because the towels on the towel racks aren't supposed to be touched by human hands. Their house looks like a model home. Their trash cans are so spotless, I'm always afraid to throw anything away.”

Nicole's description of her stepmother always cracked me up. Since I was laughing so hard I could barely aim, Nicole kept going. “It's not that Elizabeth doesn't want me there. She just doesn't want me to eat, sleep, shower, or go to the bathroom. If I stand in the middle of the living room and don't touch anything, that's okay. Wait, that's not okay either! I'll leave dents in the carpet!”

When everyone had finished shooting, Jamie told us to put our weapons down and turn on the safeties before retrieving our targets.

When I saw my target, I burst out laughing. “I only hit the target three times!” I yelled. “That's your fault. You made me laugh too much.”

Nicole's score was much better than mine. At least all of her shots had hit the target. We took down the used targets and tacked up fresh ones. Sarah explained to Patty how to score her target.

“You can laugh all you want about it, but everything I'm telling you is true. I hate going there. I feel like I waste the whole month.”

“I know Elizabeth gets on your nerves, but at least you get to see your dad.”

“I don't need a whole month to visit him. The first two or three days, he asks me all about school and friends and stuff. After that, we're caught up and I might as well go home. It's a waste! I hate it. I don't consider that my home, and I don't consider them my family. Yeah, he's my father, but so what? We're not close. At all.” Nicole turned and walked abruptly back to the platform. From the way her shoulders were tensed, I could tell she was getting upset.

We both stretched out on the mattresses and waited for Jamie to give us the order to fire again. Once the rifles started popping, I felt like it was safe to talk without everyone else hearing us.

“But that could change. Maybe this trip, you could try to get closer to your dad.”

Nicole kept her eye trained on the sight and didn't look at me. She kept aiming and firing till she'd shot all of her bullets.

“Think of things the two of you can do together—like maybe go out to breakfast. Or go for walks. You could even get Elizabeth in on it. Tell her you need her help to get reacquainted with your dad, so she won't mind if the two of you do some stuff together.” Nicole stared at her target, even though it was fifty feet away and it was impossible to tell where any of the bullets had landed.

“It's just a suggestion,” I added. “I'm only trying to help.”

“I don't need your help.”

I sat up on the mattress and looked at her, but she was totally absorbed in putting the safety on. She wouldn't look in my direction.

“Don't be mad, Nic.” Now I felt all tense. It was like we had a giant rubber band between us, and if she got wound up, it would wind me up too.

Nicole made a grunting noise. “I'm not
mad
. What a stupid thing to say.”

“Okay to retrieve your targets,” said Jamie, and Nicole jumped off the platform and had her target down before I even had a chance to stand up. I ran to catch up with her, but she was so busy staring at her target, she didn't even acknowledge my existence.

“Wow. Good score. You beat me again.”

Nicole walked just enough ahead of me so that she wouldn't have to look at me.

“You know how sad it makes me to leave camp in July?” I said. “It's bad enough that we have to say good-bye to each other, but it's even worse when I think about you going to your dad's and being all depressed and lonely. I can't stand that.”