Jenna's Dilemma

Table of Contents

 

 

 

 
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Copyright © 2005by Grosset & Dunlap. All rights reserved. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 345Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. .S.A.

 
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

 
Morgan, Melissa (Melissa J.)
Jenna's dilemma / by Melissa J. Morgan.
p. cm.—(Camp confidential; 2)
Summary: Eleven-year-old Jenna, contending with the separation of her
parents and the unwanted presence of her twin brother and older sister at
Camp Lakeview, is determined to make a name for herself by pulling the
ultimate prank.

eISBN : 978-0-448-43738-5

[1. Camps—Fiction. 2. Friendship—Fiction. 3. Brothers and sisters—Fiction. 4.
Practical jokes—Fiction. 5. Family problems—Fiction. 6. Pennsylvania—Fiction.]
I. Title. II. Series.
PZ7.M82545Je 2005
[Fic]—dc22
2004017190

chapter ONE

“Cupcakes for everyone!” Jenna Bloom called out, placing the big, foil-lined box in the center of the creaky bunk floor. She had returned from lunch to find yet another care package from her mom, this one filled with chocolate-on-chocolate cakes, each covered in sprinkles. Her mother had even put in these cardboard divider things she had invented a couple of years ago so each cupcake had its own little compartment, and there was hardly any mess at all. (Except for some icing on the top of the box. Jenna's mom was all about minimal mess.) As soon as Jenna set the box down, all her friends in bunk 3C dropped what they were doing and hit the floor in a circle.

“You know, I've been trying to get you guys to huddle up for ten minutes, and no one listens to me,” Julie, the bunk counselor, said. Jenna could tell by her half-smile that she was only pretending to be annoyed as she stood over them. “Are you telling me all I had to do was bribe you with sweets?”

“All you ever have to do is bribe us with sweets,” Grace joked. She dropped the book she was reading and quickly wrapped her curly red hair back in a ponytail. “We
never
get good desserts around here unless Jenna's parents send them to us.”

It was true. Jenna's mom and dad
had
been responsible for most of the sugar highs in 3C this summer. Jenna was proud and happy that her parents were so popular with her friends.

“I call the one with the most icing!” Chelsea said, leaning over the box until her long blond hair fell forward and almost got stuck in one of the cakes.

“Which one is that?” Valerie asked.

“I don't know yet, but it's mine,” Chelsea replied in her ever-bossy way.

“Well, I'm taking this one,” Brynn announced, her voice booming. She grabbed a cupcake from the center and licked half the icing off the top. As soon as one was gone, everyone in the circle attacked, laughing and fake-whining over how small or big their choice was.

“Sheesh. It's like they've never seen a cupcake before,” Jenna joked to Alex Kim, who was the only girl in the bunch not grabbing for the snacks. “Don't you want one?”

“Nah,” Alex said, shrugging one shoulder. “I'm still stuffed from lunch.”

Jenna felt her face flush, and she looked away. Alex was the only person who never took her up on her offers of candy bars and cookies whenever her mom and dad sent packages. It was like she thought she was too good for the Blooms' gifts. Jenna didn't get it. She and Alex had both been coming to camp at Lakeview for four years—the longest legacies in the bunk—and they had always been good friends. They both knew more about Lakeview than anyone else, and together they felt kind of like the leaders of the bunk. But as close as they were, there were certain things about Alex that Jenna didn't understand. Like how she was sometimes so blunt—even when what she said might hurt someone's feelings—and she acted like that was the only way to be. And Jenna
really
didn't understand this whole turning-down-chocolate thing.

“You sure?” Jenna asked.

“Yeah. Thanks, anyway,” Alex said, smoothing her hand through her short, dark hair.

“More for us, then,” Jenna said, diving in. She grabbed a cupcake and sunk her teeth in, savoring the gooey sweetness. Her mom was the best baker in the world.

“Your parents are so cool,” Sarah said, taking a napkin from the box to wipe her mouth. She pushed her Boston Red Sox baseball cap up on her forehead a bit so Jenna could actually see her eyes. “They send you, like, two packages a week!”

“Yeah! Like two packages! It's crazy!” Candace put in as she licked some icing off her finger. Short and pale with cropped brown hair, Candace was one of those people who agreed with everything anyone else said. Her parents didn't believe in sweets and only sent her letters, so Candace spent most of her summer at camp eating as much sugar as possible and feeling ill half the time.

“You're so lucky, Jen,” Natalie added with a grin. Her cupcake was neatly displayed on the floor in front of her, standing in the center of its wrapper. Clearly, Nat was trying to figure out the best way to dive in without ruining her new tank top. Natalie's clothes were very important to her.

Yeah, really lucky
, Jenna thought, her heart squeezing in her chest as she tried to smile.
Double the care packages. Yee-ha
. She didn't even want to think about the real reason she was getting so much mail this year, so she forced herself to ignore it.

“You know, it's really nice how you always share your goodies with the bunk,” Julie said, reaching out and tousling Jenna's curly brown hair.

Jenna brushed aside her unhappy thoughts and beamed over the praise. She glanced at Alex, who looked away quickly as if she hadn't noticed. Jenna knew Alex couldn't stand it when anyone else was singled out.

“Well, when you have two brothers and a sister, you kind of have to learn to share,” Jenna said, earning a laugh from her friends.

“Everyone! Let's thank Jenna!” Julie announced.

“Thank you, Jenna!” shouted ten half-full mouths. Then everyone fell into a group giggle fit, crumbs flying everywhere. Even Natalie gave up on trying to stay neat and took a huge bite of her cupcake, letting the sprinkles fall all over the place.

“All right! So now that I've got you all in one place, I have the list of electives!” Julie announced, tucking her short blond hair behind her ears. She pulled out her ever-present clipboard and sat down on Natalie's bunk.

Jenna's heart thumped with excitement. Every two weeks at Camp Lakeview, the campers got to concentrate on two elective programs. Last week, they had given Julie their top three choices, and now they would find out which two classes they had been placed in. Jenna was hoping for photography and sports. She had always wanted to learn how to take good pictures of her friends (and maybe how to take some secret, spy cam-style shots of her brothers and sister as well—very useful for bribery). Plus, sports was always a top choice. Jenna had a lot of extra energy to expend, and she loved all kinds of athletics. She, Alex, and Sarah were the biggest jocks in the cabin, and they always signed up for sports.

“So, Nat, going for nature again?” Jenna teased, nudging her friend as Jessie—the camper who always had her nose in a book—went up to Julie to get her electives.

“I don't
think
so,” Natalie replied, flipping her long, dark hair behind her shoulder. “The whole campout thing is a great story, but I
so
don't need to go there again. I'm hoping for the newspaper and ceramics.”

“Ceramics?” Alyssa asked, looking surprised. Alyssa was an artist, writer, and all-around creative type. Half her clothes were spattered with paint, and she was always doing cool and creative things with her dark hair, like twisting it into tiny braids or crazy buns. Jenna knew Alyssa had requested arts and crafts and the newspaper as her top electives.

“What? I could be artistic and not even know it,” Natalie replied. “This time next year I could have a line of high-end vases and bowls in all the best boutiques in New York.”

Jenna, Alyssa, and Valerie, another of Jenna's longtime camp friends, all cracked up laughing.

“Fine! See if I invite you to my red-carpet gallery opening,” Natalie grumbled, hiding a smile.