Acting Out (13 page)

“Do you guys really think I should be in the talent show?” I asked. “Be honest. Because if somebody else wants to do an act, I don't mind.”

“I think you're perfect for the talent show, JD. You have the best sense of humor of anyone in the cabin,” said Amber.

“Yeah, you do it. Nobody else wants to,” said Katherine as we walked along. The sunshine made everything look wavy, like a mirage. “If you guys really want to catch some people, we should hotwire one of the counselors' cars and drive downtown to Sonic. Half of them are down there now drinking cherry limeades while we get heat stroke looking for them.”

“They can't leave camp, Katherine,” Meredith reminded her.

“They cheat, you lamebrain. Some people never get found. Caroline Heyward? She's worth fourteen points, and nobody's ever found her. Why? Because she and a bunch of counselors jump in their cars and leave camp before we're even out of the dining hall.”

“But what kind of act should I do?” I asked. I felt like everyone had dropped the talent show in my lap and told me to figure it out for myself.

“You'll think of something. It'll be great. Don't worry about it,” Meredith assured me. “I hope we find Alex and Michelle. Together they're worth seventeen points.”

We were at the edge of the woods now, and Katherine was complaining about ticks. “Just what I need—a raging case of Lyme disease.”

“Oh, don't think of the woods like that,” said Amber. “ ‘Deep green in summer, golden in fall/Barest in winter, spring blooms for all.' That's how I like to think of the woods.” We crept through the underbrush, keeping our eyes out for any signs of people hiding.

“That's nice. Where'd you hear that?” I asked her.

“Oh, that? Uh, I made it up. It's part of a poem I wrote about trees.” She blushed a little. Amber spent almost every rest hour either reading poetry or writing some of her own. I'd never thought of writing poetry as something to do for fun.

“I see someone!” yelled Meredith. We crashed through tree branches and caught Gloria, a counselor who worked in the Crafts Cabin. She'd been hiding behind a vine-covered tree stump.

“We got you! Middler Cabin Two. How many points are you worth?” I asked her, as she stood up and brushed leaves out of her hair.

“Uh, just one,” she said. “This is my first year.” She gave us a little smile, like she was sorry she wasn't worth more.

Gloria walked away to report back to the dining hall, and Katherine nodded knowingly. “See. The rookies don't know any better. They actually hide in camp. One lousy point. What a waste of time.”

“Shut up, Miss Sunshine!” I snapped at her, but Meredith quieted me down and we kept looking.

Our group actually did pretty well overall. We found five counselors who totaled twenty-two points. At five o'clock the bell rang, and we all went back to the dining hall.

“We caught four people,” Mei announced when we met up with the other half of Cabin 2. “They were worth nineteen points.”

“Cool, that gives us a grand total of forty-one,” said Meredith. But it still wasn't enough to beat out Senior Cabin 7, which won with fifty points.

“Senior Cabin 7 will be first in line for ice cream at dinner,” announced Eda to the whole dining hall. “And tomorrow you can all sleep late, because you get a day off from inspection!” They all cheered while the rest of us groaned in envy. Getting a day off from cleaning the cabin was one of the best rewards to get. Our cabin kept getting demerits during inspection, thanks to Katherine.

Nobody found Caroline Heyward, the counselor worth fourteen points, but Michelle got caught down near the archery range by Junior Cabin 3, and Middler Cabin 1 found Alex near the campfire circle, so at least we knew
our
counselors hadn't cheated.

There was a big fireworks show planned for that night, so instead of eating in the dining hall, we had dinner out on the hill—hot dogs, baked beans, chips, and lemonade in little Styrofoam cups. A lot of campers were already lined up in front of the long food tables, and others sat around in groups in the grass, eating off paper plates. Once we got our food, we all found spots in the grass to sit down.

I couldn't stop thinking about what Michelle had said earlier.

“Hey, guys. About the talent show Michelle mentioned. Am I . . .”

“Yes, you're doing it,” said Courtney, like that was the end of the discussion. She reached down and carefully picked up a ladybug from a blade of grass.

“Well, okay. But what should I do?” No one but me seemed to consider this a big deal.

“Whatever you want to do. You'll come up with a great idea, JD. You've got such a fabulous sense of humor,” Courtney assured me. She blew softly on the ladybug, and it opened its wings and flew away.

“I could use some help. Maybe all four of us could do something together. We just need to think of something.” After all, Michelle hadn't said only one person had to do the act. Doing it as a group would be a lot better. At least some of the pressure would be off me that way.

“I get stage fright,” said Mei, licking the barbecue seasoning off her chip before popping it into her mouth.

“And I'm not funny,” Lauren put in.

“Well, it doesn't have to be funny, does it?” I pointed out. “We could do . . .” My brain strained to think of what kind of act the four of us could do, but nothing came to me.

“Yeah, but funny is best. Funny always works,” said Mei. “My school has a talent show every year, and sure, some kids play the violin or sing, but the acts people remember are the funny ones.”

“Like what? I really need some ideas.”

“You'll think of something. You've got a whole week to plan it,” said Courtney.

“Yeah, it'll be great. I bet Cabin Two wins the talent show with JD as our act,” Mei predicted. “Then maybe we'll get a day off from inspection like those Seniors in Cabin Seven.”

I had this horrible tense feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was like a teacher had just announced a big research project due next week, and half our grade was riding on it.

How would I ever come up with an idea? And what if I couldn't think of anything? Then what? I could see myself up on a stage, standing all alone in a spotlight with a silent audience staring at me, waiting for me to do something.
Something funny.
But my mouth felt like it was full of cotton, and my feet were two lead weights, glued to the stage.

I was going to bomb. There was no doubt about it.

“Come on. We're your friends. You
have
to tell us,” pleaded Mei.

“There's no secret to it, really,” I said. “Just walk up to one of them and start talking. That's all I did the last time.” I glanced at my reflection in the little mirror on the wall. We were all making last-minute touch-ups before leaving for the dining hall. Tonight was the second dance with Camp Crockett. This time the boys were coming to Pine Haven. I was just glad to have a break from worrying about the talent show for a while. And I was looking forward to seeing Lance again.

“But what did you say to them? You had to talk to them about
something.”
Mei kept pumping me.

“You're definitely holding out on us,” said Lauren. “I helped you guys with some dance moves. The least you could do is tell us how you got all those boys to start talking.”

All afternoon my friends had been trying to get me to reveal my secret. It was fun to keep them all guessing. It was like being the only one who knew a cheat code to a game that would get me to a certain level. If I kept it a secret, I would continue to amaze them with my abilities. On the other hand, if I did tell them, they'd all be grateful.

“Okay, you guys. I'll tell you. But don't go telling everyone. There's one subject all boys are interested in,” I announced. They all stopped primping and looked at me.

“Sports?” asked Lauren.

“Girls?” guessed Mei.

“No. I mean, lots of them are interested in sports and girls, but the one thing that all boys are into”—I paused for effect—“is . . . video games.”

“Video games?” Courtney said.
“That's
your secret?”

“But I don't know anything about video games!” Mei groaned.

“Start off by asking them what systems they own and what their favorite games are,” I told her. “Then ask them what games they want to buy. All guys have a video game wish list.” I gave them a quick briefing about systems and games. They didn't really need to know that much, as long as they could ask the right questions.

“We'd better go,” said Courtney. “A lot of girls are already down there.” We left the cabin and walked down the hill toward the dining hall.

“So what are you and Lance planning this time?” asked Lauren. “If you elope, should we write to your parents and tell them?”

I tried to think of something funny to say, but I was stumped. A few people had been teasing me, asking if I was going to get caught by the Porch Patrol again. I didn't really know what to say. How was I supposed to top getting caught during the last dance? That was the trouble with having a reputation: People expected a lot from you.

“I have to behave myself tonight,” I said finally. “Michelle warned me to be good.” That part was true. After the first dance, Michelle had pulled me aside and grilled me about what Lance and I had been up to. I'd sworn to her that he hadn't laid a hand on me, that we'd just talked about video games all night and he'd offered to show me his
Tips & Tricks
magazine. She hadn't looked very happy with me, though, and today she'd told me not to pull any “stunts” like last time.

“I thought you said this guy kissed like a fish,” said Mei. “Do you really want to see him again?”

“Yeah, I do. He happens to be a very nice guy,” I said, regretting my fish pucker joke. Tonight my goal was to get Lance to slow dance with me. And not because I wanted to impress everyone. Last time I'd been so concerned about working on my reputation, I hadn't even danced a single dance. Tonight that was going to change.

Inside the dining hall we had to wait around for the boys to arrive. When they started coming in, I looked for Lance, but he wasn't the first guy I saw.

Brandon Matheson came walking in with a group of boys who must have been from his cabin. As soon as I saw him, I stepped behind Courtney. I hoped her hair would hide me, and it did a little, but it didn't help that I was a head taller than she was.

Brandon! I hadn't even thought about him. I'd have to dodge that chatterbox all night! I pretended I was scratching my forehead and managed to peek through my fingers in his direction. He wasn't looking over here. The last thing I needed was for him to start talking to me again when all my friends were around.

“JD, there he is!” said Courtney, and for a second I thought she was talking about Brandon. But it was Lance she was pointing to.

“Let's go tell him he kisses like a fish!” said Mei, really loud.

I grabbed both her arms and squeezed. “Don't you dare! I'll never speak to you again!
And
I won't tell you any more stuff about video games.”

Mei burst out laughing and wriggled away from me. “Calm down. I'm just joking with you.”

Courtney and Lauren were laughing too. “I've never seen you so worried, JD. It's not like you,” Courtney said.

I was about to snap at them all,
Maybe you don't know me as well as you think.
But I stopped myself and tried to act casual. “Look, I'm gonna go say hi to him. If you need any help, just come ask me.”

I left them and squeezed through the crowd of people to get to Lance. He was with Mike and David again, and when they saw me walking toward them, David punched Lance in the arm.

“Hi, guys,” I said.

They all said hi. Lance smiled, and his dimple appeared in his cheek. I loved that dimple. And I noticed something else about him. The reason he had such gorgeous eyes was that he had really long eyelashes. I wondered what he'd look like without his glasses. I was glad to see that tonight he'd actually combed his hair—no more bed head.

We talked for a few minutes, and then luckily, David and Mike walked off. Lance and I found some chairs to sit in on the edge of the dance floor.

“Hey, do you like the
Ratchet and Clank
games?” asked Lance.

“Sure, I've played the first one, Going Commando, and Size Matters. Which one's your favorite?” I asked him.

The only problem with getting guys on the subject of video games was figuring out how to get them off it later. We talked about
Ratchet & Clank
for about ten minutes until Courtney came over.

“JD, I need to talk to you!” She insisted that we talk in private.

“What does WoW mean? This guy keeps talking to me about it,” she whispered when we'd walked away from where Lance was sitting.