Over & Out (13 page)

After the lights went out in the bunk that night, Jenna waited until everyone had grown still, breathing deeply. Andie was OD tonight, the on-duty counselor, so she'd be gone for the next couple of hours. And since Mia slept deeper than a hibernating bear, there wasn't much chance of her waking up. The coast was clear. Jenna slipped out of bed as quietly as she could and put on the shorts and T-shirt she'd hid under her pillow earlier. There was no way she could sleep right now, especially when all she'd been doing for the last half hour was rehashing all the awful things she'd said to Alex yesterday, wishing she could take them all back. Alex had blown her off all day today, so Jenna figured her only chance was to catch her off guard so that she wouldn't be able to ignore her anymore. Now was her chance. If the two of them could laugh with each other again, then Jenna would know that everything was okay between them. And Jenna knew just how to get Alex to laugh tonight.

She grabbed the photo Adam had taken of Alex and slid it into the front pouch of her pullover. Then she propped herself up on her crutches and stealthily made her way to Natalie's bed.

“Nat,” she whispered, giving her a gentle nudge. “Wake up.”

“Huh?” Nat said groggily. “What's the matter? Do you need help getting to the bathroom?”

Jenna grinned in the dark. “Nope. I need to borrow your makeup bag. Just for a little while. I'll bring it back in perfect shape. I promise.”

Nat sat up, eyeing Jenna suspiciously. “What are you up to, you little sneak?” she whispered.

“Let's just say, there's a certain boy in a certain bunk tonight who's not going to recognize himself when he looks in the mirror tomorrow morning.”

“Okay,” Nat finally agreed, giggling quietly. “But if anyone asks, you took my makeup bag without permission. I'd prefer to be an anonymous accomplice.”

“Got it,” Jenna said. “Thanks.” She slid the makeup bag into the pocket of her pullover and took a few steps to the door. She froze when her crutches squeaked loudly on the floor, but no one budged, except Nat, who just buried her head in her pillow to stifle a giggle.

Once Jenna was safely outside, she sighed with relief. So far, so good. But before she headed to the boys' bunks, she needed to make one important stop. She had to talk to Alex, and she had to talk to her now.

It was tough to maneuver in the dark on crutches without being noisy, especially with the makeup bag in her front pocket throwing her a little off balance. She stumbled a few times but caught herself. And lucky for her, tonight the crickets and cicadas were out in full force, filling the night air with deafening singing that drowned out the crunch of her crutches in the dirt. With a full moon to help light her path, Jenna finally managed to find her way to the 4C bunk, and then inside to Alex's bed.

Jenna was just about to wake her up when Alex's eyes popped open. She took one look at Jenna and pulled her pillow over her head. “If you're coming to murder me in my sleep, I'm sure there's a camp rule about that sort of thing,” she mumbled through the pillow.

Jenna lifted one corner of the pillow and smiled at Alex. “I come in peace,” she said in her best imitation of an alien, and Alex, much to Jenna's relief, broke into a quiet laugh.

“Can we talk outside?” Jenna asked.

“No more wicked-witch routine?” Alex asked tentatively.

“Not unless you steal the Swedish Fish out of my candy stash.” Jenna giggled. “Come on. I need your help.”

When they were safely outside and heading toward the boys' bunk, Alex turned to Jenna. “Okay, spill it. And this better be good.”

Jenna took a deep breath. “First, I wanted to say I'm sorry for how I acted the past couple of days,” she said. “I know I've been a real jerk to you lately.”

“True,” Alex said, “but I owe you an apology, too. I'm sorry I didn't believe you weren't pulling the pranks.”

“So you know it was Blake?” Jenna asked.

Alex nodded. “Tori filled me in during free swim today. I'm sorry I didn't trust you.”

“Thanks,” Jenna said. “But I don't blame you for losing your patience with me when I was acting so bratty. I guess I'm just a little jealous that you're getting to play all my favorite sports and I'm not. And on top of that, I'm going to have to watch you kick butt in Color War, too.” Jenna sighed. “I'm missing the whole thing.”

“Not the whole thing,” Alex said. “Did you talk to Andie? Why can't you be in the Scrabble tournament or something?”

“Are you kidding?” Jenna said, “You and Chelsea are the Scrabble queens. The only thing I've ever been really good at is sports.”

“You might be good at other things, too, if you give it a try,” Alex said. “I can't always do the things I want to do, either, because of my diabetes.”

“You can still play soccer,” Jenna said.

“Yeah.” Alex nodded. “But I'd kill for a chocolate bar right now. And you can have one of those, and I can't.”

Jenna sighed. “True. I don't think I could survive without candy the way you do. But that still doesn't fix my Color War problem. The rally is tomorrow night, and after that, I'll be benching it until the banquet.”

“We'll figure something out,” Alex said. “Besides, you'll be back next year, kicking my tail all over the soccer field and basketball court again. Your leg will be back to one hundred percent. And who knows? Maybe it will be a superstrong bionic leg after you get your cast off.”

“I can only hope,” Jenna said, laughing. “Thanks for putting up with my attitude.”

“No problem,” Alex said. “You'd do the same for me if I couldn't play. Just make sure the attitude doesn't make a sudden comeback. Deal?”

“Deal,” Jenna said, giving Alex a hug. “Oh, and I have something for you, too.” She pulled the photo from her pocket. “Adam asked me to give this to you a few days ago. I know I should've given it to you earlier, but with things all weird between us, I didn't want to. And I'm so sorry for that.”

Jenna waited for Alex to yell at her, which she knew she deserved. But instead, Alex took the photo and slowly held it up so she could see it in the moonlight. Then a huge smile spread across her face. “Did he really take this?” she whispered excitedly, her eyes lighting up. “What did he say when he gave it to you?”

Jenna groaned. “I take it back. I should've kept the photo.” But when Alex slugged her on the arm, she smiled. “If you ask me, I think he likes you. I mean, come on, he sure has been talking about you a lot lately.” She shuddered at the thought. “And that's a pretty strong hint, if you ask me. But playing matchmaker for you guys has been creeping me out, so here's the deal. From now on, you and Adam talk to each other, instead of to me. Do you think you can handle that?”

Alex nodded enthusiastically. “I can't believe he printed this for me,” she said dreamily.

“Earth to Alex,” Jenna said. “Can we continue on our mission now?”

“All right.” Alex reluctantly tucked the photo into her jacket as they reached Adam's bunk. “But aren't you going to tell me what we're doing here?”

“Preppy boy Blake is going to get an extreme makeover tonight,” Jenna said, pulling the makeup bag out of her pocket. “Do you think purple or pink eye shadow goes better with his complexion?”

“Let's try both and find out,” Alex said, and they both giggled.

Blake was one sound sleeper. He didn't move once, even when Jenna dabbed some blue glitter mascara on his eyelashes. Of course, the fact that Kenny's snoring was louder than a freight train made their task a lot easier to accomplish. Jenna was sure that none of the boys could hear their footsteps over Kenny's snore symphony.

“Perfect,” Alex whispered as Jenna put the finishing touches on Blake with some Pomegranate Passion lipstick. “He's a masterpiece.”

“He sure is,” a voice said behind them, and Jenna and Alex both nearly jumped out of their skin. There was Adam in his pajamas, grinning at them.

“Oh my gosh,” Alex said. “Adam, you're not going to tell, are you?”

“No way,” Adam said. “I'm going to set my alarm so I'll be the first one up to take a picture of the newest Lakeview cover girl. The photos will be perfect for the camp newsletter.” He bent down to inspect Jenna's handiwork. “He could use a little more blush, though, don't you think?”

Jenna dabbed on a little more while Blake slept on, and then she and Alex turned to go.

“You go first,” Alex whispered. “I'll be right there.”

Jenna waited just outside, and a minute later Alex scooted out the door, beaming.

“If this involves kissing,” Jenna said, “I don't want to hear it. I'll never be able to look at my brother without gagging again.”

“Of course not,” Alex said. Her eyes glowed happily. “I just wanted to tell him thank you for the photo. And he asked if he could call me after camp is over.”

“Too much information,” Jenna said, making sure she sounded as melodramatic as possible. “Come on, let's get out of here before someone other than Adam wakes up.”

Jenna smiled as she and Alex walked back to their bunks. She was happy that everything was okay with Alex again, and she was even happier about the prank she just pulled. There were times in life when revenge was oh-so-sweet.

chapter EIGHT

Even with her crutches, Jenna still beat the rest of her bunk to breakfast the next morning. The other girls weren't too far behind her, though, because with everyone in camp preparing for the Color War kickoff that night, the adrenaline was pumping. Jenna was getting excited, too. Not about Color War, but about what she'd accomplish after Color War with Operation Drowned Rat. And this morning she had another reason to be excited, too. She wasn't even surprised when Alex met her at the mess-hall doors.

“You couldn't wait, either?” Jenna asked, grinning.

“No way,” Alex said. “I'm dying to see if some of our makeover survived the night.”

They walked through the doors together, and sure enough, there was Blake, his head bent low—a bit too low—over his bowl of oatmeal.

Jenna struggled to hold in her laughter as they walked over to his table. She could still see smudges of mascara around his eyes, and his lips did have a pinkish glow to them. Poor guy. Too bad she had used long-wearing makeup.

“Hey, Blake,” Jenna said sweetly, with the most innocent smile she could muster. “How'd your enjoy your beauty sleep last night?”

Jenna wasn't sure what to expect—a temper tantrum or the cold shoulder. But amazingly, Blake broke into a good-natured laugh instead. “So
you
were the ones who glamorized me last night. I knew it!”

“You're not mad?” Alex asked.

“Hey, all's fair in pranks and war, right?” he said. “Besides, my skin feels so soft and clean,” he caressed his cheek, doing his best impression of a model in a makeup ad. “Just like a baby's.”

Jenna grinned. “That purple was the perfect shade for your eyes.”

“I agree.” He batted his eyelashes. “But did you have to use waterproof mascara?”

“It's the only way to go.” Jenna nodded as she walked away with Alex. “It comes out way better in photos.”

“Photos?” Blake called after her. “What photos?”