Over & Out (8 page)

chapter FIVE

“Come on, guys!” Jenna yelled from the sidelines, waving her right crutch in the air. “Keep your eyes open out there!” Even as she said it, she covered her own with her hand. This was getting too painful to watch. The game was going badly, and that was putting it mildly.

They were scrimmaging against 4C again, and they were losing . . . again. Jenna sighed. Alex was tearing up the field, playing better than Jenna'd ever seen her play. Sarah had switched positions from goalie to center forward, and she and Alex were both scoring like crazy. Every time Alex kicked a goal, Jenna felt a tightness build in her stomach. Why couldn't
she
be out there, too?

“Our bunk's getting better,” Mia offered, setting up the water cooler on the grass. “You're doing a great job coaching.”

Jenna shook her head. “No, I'm not,” she said glumly. “Nat just passed the ball to the other team by mistake. She practically gave Sarah that goal. Karen got hit in the stomach with the ball a while ago, and now she ducks every time it comes her way. Alex and Sarah look great out there, and we look like idiots.”

“Nice coaching, Jenna,” Chelsea yelled sarcastically from center field as Alex scored another goal for 4C. “I thought you were supposed to be helping us play
better
, not
worse
. You don't have anything else to do, so what's the problem?”

“Ignore her,” Mia said. “She's just frustrated. This hot weather is making everyone grumpy.”

“Hey,” Jenna said, examining the field more closely. “We lost a player. Where's Tori?”

Mia and Andie both scanned the field, but Jenna spotted Tori first. She was standing underneath one of the pine trees on the other side of the field, talking to Blake. Tori wasn't paying attention to anything happening in the game. Instead, she was laughing and chatting away with Blake in full flirt mode.

“What's
he
doing here?” Jenna cried.

“Good question,” Andie said. “He's supposed to be in free swim right now.” She took off toward them. “I'll be right back.”

“Blake,” Jenna heard Andie say, “You're ten minutes late for free swim.”

Blake shrugged. “So? Uncle Steve doesn't care when I show up.”

“Dr. Steve cares about all of his campers being on time for their activities,” Andie said. “And that includes you.”

He just rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say,
Mom
. I'm going, I'm going.”

After he'd gone, Jenna caught up with Tori as she walked back onto the field. “What was that all about?” Jenna asked. “You're not supposed to leave the field in the middle of a game. You're supposed to work with everyone as a team.”

Tori giggled. “Blake was just saying hi.”

“Yeah, well,” Jenna huffed. “Don't do it again. You're never going to start playing better if you don't practice.”

Tori frowned as she joined everyone else. “It's just a game, Jenna. Relax already.”

But Jenna couldn't relax, especially when at halftime, Alex and Sarah started in with some razzing cheers.

Alex hooted and gave Sarah a high-five.

“Give it a rest, will you?” Jenna said to Alex. “We know we're losing. We don't need to be reminded with your stupid cheers.”

“Don't be mad, Jenna,” Alex said. “It's all in good fun. We always used to razz each other about stuff like this before you hurt your leg.”

Jenna sighed. “You're right. I'm sorry.”

Alex grinned. “No problem. You're not as sorry as you will be when we win.” She gave Jenna a friendly slug on the shoulder.

“Ha-ha,” Jenna said, trying to smile as Alex and Sarah headed out onto the field again.

“Don't pay attention to them,” Jenna told her team. “We can still beat them.”

“I don't think so, Jenna,” Nat said. “It's so hot, I can barely breathe. I'm exhausted.”

“Me too,” Perry said.

“Count me in for three,” Anna said.

“Come on!” Jenna said, mustering up an encouraging smile. “You can do this!”

She turned to Alex, Sarah, Brynn, and the other 4C players, and cheered:

“That was . . . forceful,” Andie said when Jenna finished, out of breath. But Alex and Sarah just cracked up laughing, which made Jenna even madder.

“Listen,” Jenna said, leaning toward her teammates. “You get out there and start playing, or none of you will stand a chance in Color War, no matter which team you're on.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Alyssa said, shaking her head and slowly heading back onto the field. No one else said one word. They just took their positions on the field and played even worse than before.

After a final score of 20-3, with 4C reigning victorious, Jenna headed to lunch in a foul mood. She definitely didn't feel like being social, and she wasn't feeling much better during the bunk's siesta time that afternoon. Everyone else was being ultra-careful around her, as if they didn't know what might set her off into grumpy mode again.

“Okay,” Andie said, pulling out her
Cosmo Girl.
“Who wants to take the ‘What Would You Do for a Million Dollars' quiz?”

“I'm in!” Nat said.

“Me too!” Chelsea, Karen, Perry, Laura, and everyone else echoed.

“I'll be right there!” Tori yelled from the bathroom. “I'm just brushing my teeth. I can't get the disgusting taste of those fish sticks we had for lunch out of my mouth.”

“Jenna,” Mia said, handing out sheets of flowered stationery to everyone to write on, “do you want to take the quiz, too?”

“Nah,” she said, holding up her copy of
Little Women
. “I think I'll read instead. I'm getting really into this. Beth's my favorite character.”

“Oh, that's a smart pick,” Chelsea said. “She's the one who kicks the bucket.”

“Chelsea!” Jessie said. “Don't give away the story.”

“That's okay. I knew it was coming anyway,” Jenna lied. Then she stared at the pages of her book. How depressing. Well, Chelsea had just put a damper on her plans for afternoon reading. She forced herself to keep turning pages, though, so that no one would bug her as the quiz started.

“What would you do for a million dollars?” Andie asked, reading from the magazine. “Would you rather eat a bucket of worms or show up naked to school for a whole week?”

“Worms,” Nat said decisively. “There's no
way
I'd get caught naked at school. That's my worst nightmare.”

Tori walked out of the bathroom with her toothbrush in her mouth.

“I know what I'd do for a million dollars. Or maybe just for a dollar.” She grinned. “Kiss Blake Wetherly.”

“Eeeuw!” Chelsea squealed.

“What?” Tori said, looking hurt. “I know he's a snob, but he's a cute snob.”

“It's not that,” Lauren said, her eyes widening. “It's your . . . your teeth!”

Tori's hand flew to her mouth. “What's wrong with them?”

“They're purple!” Alyssa said, rushing over to Tori. “Your whole mouth is purple!”

Tori screamed and ran for the bathroom, with everyone else following behind. Jenna took an extra long time to get to the bathroom door, but when she finally did, she saw Tori bent over the sink, frantically washing her mouth out with water, while Andie inspected Tori's toothpaste.

“It looks like purple food coloring,” Andie said. “Someone must have filled your toothpaste tube with it.”

“Why didn't I look before I stuck my toothbrush in my mouth? Why? Why?” Tori shrieked. “Will it come out? What should I do? I can't leave the cabin looking like this.”

Jenna stifled a giggle. Tori looked a little like she was turning into a grape from the inside out. Her lips were bright purple, and when she opened her mouth, her teeth were even worse.

“Keep rinsing with water,” Andie instructed her.

“The mystery prankster strikes again, huh?” Jenna said.

As soon as she said it, Andie, Mia, and all the girls turned, in unison, to look at her.

“What?” Jenna asked.

“Jenna, can I talk to you for a minute?” Mia asked, leading her out of the bathroom. When they were out of earshot from the other girls, Mia said, “I know you have a tradition of playing initiation pranks on new campers. You've been very good so far this summer, though, so I don't have any reason to believe that you would do this. But . . . should I?”

“No! Of course not.” Jenna grimaced. She'd been accused of pulling pranks before when she was innocent, especially when Gaby, Chelsea, or the guys from Adam's bunk planned something, but why did everyone have to
always
suspect her first?