Jenna's Dilemma (13 page)

“Everything okay out there, Karen?” Valerie asked, glancing toward the door.

Karen moved the curtain slightly and peeked out. “Yep,” she whispered with a nod. “She's still asleep.”

“Okay,” Natalie said when the bottle of dye was empty. “Now we just wait fifteen minutes and rinse it out.”

Sarah pressed a few buttons on her watch and nodded. “Okay. Timer's set.”

Jenna looked around the bathroom. What were they going to do for fifteen minutes? With no other options in sight, she finally shrugged and sat down on the rough wooden floor. The other girls soon joined her and they all sat in a circle, breathing in the fumes from Alyssa's head.

“How does it feel?” Jenna asked.

“It burns a little, but the box said it would,” Alyssa replied calmly. Jenna couldn't believe how brave she was, sitting there like there was nothing going on. If Jenna was changing the color of her own hair, she would be losing it right then.

“I can't wait to see how it looks,” Grace said.

“Me neither,” Jessie put in. “I just read the part in
Anne of Green Gables
where she tries to dye her red hair black and it comes out all green and horrible . . .”

Everyone stared at Jessie until she realized what she was saying and all the color drained from her face.

“Not that your hair's going to be green and horrible,” she added quickly. “I'm sure it's gonna look great.”

Jenna rolled her eyes and leaned back on her hands. Sometimes Jessie could say the most spacey things. There was a moment of awkward silence, which Grace finally broke.

“I love the movie version of
Anne of Green Gables
,” she said. “Actually I think it was a miniseries. My mom bought it for me on tape.”

“Have you read the book?” Jessie asked.

Grace flushed slightly. “No . . . just seen the movie.”

“Oh, well, the book is
so
much better,” Jessie said. “I can lend it to you if you want.”

“That's okay,” Grace said.

“Actually, you kind of look like Anne, Grace,” Karen said. “Your hair is the exact same color as hers.”

“Really? Well, soon Alyssa's gonna look like her, too!” Grace announced, bringing the attention back to the hair dye at hand.

“I was actually hoping for more punk rock than prairie-girl chic,” Alyssa said.

Everyone laughed, and after that they pretty much stayed quiet until the beeper on Sarah's watch went off again.

“Time to rinse!” Natalie said, jumping up.

Alyssa scrambled to her feet and followed Natalie to the sink. She dipped her head forward under the spout.

“How does it look?” Alyssa asked. Her eyes were scrunched shut to keep the dye out.

Jenna's mouth was totally dry. The water pouring from Alyssa's hair and down the drain was bright red, like the color of blood. It was totally gross. Jenna was really worried. If Alyssa's hair was the same color as that water, she wasn't going to look as
fahb
-u-lous as Natalie had predicted at the newspaper. She was going to look
scary
.

“It's . . . hard to tell,” Grace said. “Because, you know, your hair is still wet and the color always looks different when it's wet.”

“So let's dry it,” Chelsea said, pulling her hairdryer out. The girls all kept their toiletries in plastic crates near the wall and Chelsea's was on the top shelf, always overflowing with headbands, barrettes, and various ribbons.

“No!” Alex whispered. “You can't turn that on!”

“She's right,” Alyssa said, lifting her head and wrapping the towel from her shoulders around her hair. “I know Marissa's a deep sleeper, but that could definitely wake her up.”

Jenna felt as disappointed as the rest of her friends looked. “So what do we do?” she asked.

“We just wait until the morning,” Alyssa said. “It'll dry overnight.”

“Wow. Can you really wait that long?” Jenna asked. There was no way she would be as calm as Alyssa was right then. Dyeing her hair was a huge thing! How could she not be freaking out?

“I kind of have to,” Alyssa said, leading the way to the door. “Come on, girls, let's get some sleep. Tomorrow you'll get to see the whole new me!”

 
 
The next morning Jenna woke up super early, just like she always did on Christmas morning. For a moment she couldn't figure out why she was so excited, and then she remembered. Alyssa's top bunk was across the room from Jenna's, so she rolled over to take a look. Maybe she could be the first person to get a look at the hair! Unfortunately, Alyssa must have been sleeping all the way back against the wall. All Jenna could see was her blanket and the edge of her pillow.

As patiently as she could, Jenna waited until reveille. She must have dozed off again, because when the trumpet went off, she sat up so fast, she smacked her head into the ceiling.

Alex, Chelsea, and Natalie, always up before the trumpet, all ran in from the bathroom. The rest of the girls shot one another glances from their bunks, grinning with anticipation. Finally Alyssa, the second heaviest sleeper next to Marissa, sat up and swung her feet over the side of the bunk.

Jenna let out a gasp that was echoed by the rest of the girls. Suddenly she felt sick to her stomach. Alyssa's hair, all knotted and stringy from being slept on wet, was Ronald McDonald red!

“What?” Alyssa said, her eyes still closed as she stretched her arms out at her sides.

“Alyssa! Your . . . your hair!” Natalie wailed.

Suddenly Alyssa's eyes popped open, and her hands flew to her head. She grabbed her long hair and slowly brought the ends in front of her face. Her eyes widened to the size of softballs.

“Omigod!” she gasped, sliding down off her bunk and dropping to the floor. She ran to the bathroom, followed by the rest of the bunk, and stared into the mirror. “Oh . . . my . . . God!”

It looked even worse in the bright lights of the bathroom. Alyssa's hair wasn't just red. It was flaming, fire-engine, hot-sauce, ketchup red. She looked like a Raggedy Ann doll. All around her reflection were the faces of her eleven stunned bunkmates. It was clear to Jenna that no one knew what to say. It was Natalie who finally broke the silence.

“Alyssa, I am so, so, so, so sorry,” she said, holding her hands over her mouth. “I swear I followed the directions. I don't know what happened.”

Alyssa was just opening her mouth to say something when Julie walked into the room, all smiles in her gray sweats and white T-shirt. All the campers froze in place.

We are so dead
, Jenna thought.
So very, very dead
.

“Good morning, girls!” Julie said, grabbing her toothbrush and taking it over to the sink. “Are you guys ready for another beautiful—ACK!!!”

Julie dropped her toothbrush in the sink with a clatter and whirled to face the little group of campers. Everyone tightened in around Alyssa as if to protect her.

“What happened?” Julie asked. “What did you do to yourself?”

“I . . . I . . . dyed it,” Alyssa said, looking at the floor.

“With what? Paint from the arts-and-crafts cabin?” Julie cried. She reached out and took a few strands in her hand. “Oh, Alyssa, what were you thinking?”

“I thought it was just going to be highlights!” Alyssa said, lifting her big brown eyes to look at Julie. “I didn't know!”

Julie sighed and put her hands on her hips. “Did you girls help her do this?” she asked, looking around.

“No!” Alyssa piped up immediately. “They didn't even know until this morning.”

“Lyss,” Natalie said.

“I swear, Julie. If anyone should get in trouble, it should just be me,” Alyssa said, turning to look in the mirror again. “Ugh! I look like a horror movie!”

Julie sighed again and shook her head. “All right, everyone but Alyssa, back outside,” she said, pointing a thumb at the door.

Everyone shot sympathetic looks at Alyssa. On top of looking like an oversized rag doll, she was about to get in major trouble. It didn't seem fair. Back outside the bathroom, Jenna and Alex both hovered near the door to hear.

“Alyssa, why did you do this?” Julie asked, her voice low.

“I thought it would be cool for the social tonight,” Alyssa replied.

“And who gave you the dye?” Julie asked.

There was a pause. “No one. I brought it with me to camp.”

Wow. Alyssa's a good person to have on your side
, Jenna thought, sharing a look with Alex.
She's not even giving Daphne up.

“Well, technically, I should revoke your privileges and at least make you stay home from the social,” Julie said, causing Jenna and Alex to gasp. “But I won't,” she added.

“Really?” Alyssa said.

“I think looking at your reflection for the rest of the summer will be punishment enough,” Julie said. “Now go tell your friends you're not in trouble. Except for the two nosy nosersons standing by the door, because they already know.”

Caught, Jenna and Alex jumped back and joined the rest of their friends to wait for Alyssa to come out.

“I'm not in trouble!” Alyssa shouted, throwing her hands in the air.

Everyone cheered and started to go about getting ready for breakfast. Natalie, Grace, and Alyssa huddled in the corner, brushing out Alyssa's hair and trying to figure out a way to make it look better. In the end, they borrowed a baseball cap from Sarah and decided to deal with it later.

As Jenna headed for the sink to wash her face and brush her teeth, her mind was working overtime. She couldn't believe Alyssa hadn't gotten in trouble. If Jenna had dyed her own hair, she was sure Julie would have sent her right to Dr. Steve. Jenna
always
got in trouble when she was caught.

Or maybe not
, she thought, looking at her reflection in the mirror. Maybe Julie was softening a little. And there hadn't been any big drama over either one of her last pranks. As far as Jenna knew, the camp director and the counselors still didn't know for sure who had pulled them. Maybe the whole camp was getting a little easier on pranksters and jokesters. If Alyssa could turn herself into a clown and not get in trouble, there was no telling what Jenna might be able to get away with.

Tonight was the social, and she could still pull the all-time greatest prank . . . if she dared. Sizzling with excitement, Jenna brushed her teeth quickly and headed outside for some alone time while everyone else got ready. She had a lot of thinking to do. Tonight, Jenna Bloom could become a legend.

chapter ELEVEN

That night, the social was in full swing in the mess hall and all the campers seemed to be having a great time. Jenna hung back against the wall behind the huge punch bowl and took in the scene. Nate had been right. Instead of everyone being divided, boys against one wall and girls against the other, most of the kids were in the center of the floor, laughing while the counselors tried to teach them some square-dance moves. A lot of the girls had done their hair in double braids, and many of them had tracked down plaid and denim clothing to go along with the theme. Some of the boys were wearing brown plastic cowboy hats that Pete had found at a local party store, and Julie stood in the corner, handing out colorful bandannas for the campers to tie around their necks.

Bales of hay were stacked against the walls and around the snack tables. Silver and gold stars were hanging from the ceiling—the only idea left over from Chelsea's Hollywood plan. But now they were stars of the desert night instead of stars of L.A. There were even a few inflatable cacti leaning against the DJ table where Pete played old square dance records someone had dug up from the AV room. Everything had come together just as the planning committee had dreamed it.

“Hey, Jenna! Aren't you going to dance!?” Natalie called out as Simon grabbed her arm and swung her around. Natalie tipped her head back and laughed, and Jenna couldn't help but smile. Nat looked like she was having an amazing time.

“Maybe later,” Jenna said. “I'm in charge of punch right now!”

Natalie waved and twirled away. Jenna looked down at her lavender dress and sighed. She wasn't actually in charge of punch. The punch could take care of itself. The problem for Jenna was, she just couldn't get into party mode. It turned out that dancing with boys, even silly square dancing, was not her thing. The very thought of letting one of Adam's grubby friends spin her around and grab her hand made her cringe.

But everyone else seemed to be enjoying it, so what was wrong with Jenna? She always had fun at the camp dance, even when she just spent the night talking to her friends. What was wrong with her this year?