Alex's Challenge (14 page)

“I'm seeing my ‘date' at the show!” Julie exclaimed, her blue eyes sparkling more than her shoulders.

“Who? Who?” Alex yelled.

“You have to tell us!” Valerie said, chiming in.

“Come on—just tell us!” Sarah begged.

“Oh, please,” Chelsea added sarcastically, rolling her eyes. No one paid any attention to her.

“You'll find out soon enough,” Julie said, spraying on just a tiny bit of perfume—too much, and the mosquitoes would eat her alive. Then she headed out the door.

The rest of the girls followed, going straight to the rec hall where
Peter Pan
was about to debut.

The music came out of a CD player, but it was still amazing. The instrumentals were light and airy, as if Tinker Bell herself had been playing them. Grace did a fantastic job in her role of Wendy. Alex loved how Grace made Wendy a lot more punk and hip than she was in the original. Grace wore leg warmers and had a pink ponytail extension in her hair. But that was just like Grace; she had a way of livening everything up. Whenever she spoke on stage that night, the rest of Camp Lakeview—nearly four hundred kids—literally went silent to hear her.

Not to be left out of the spotlight, Brynn did a great job as Peter Pan's right-hand man, as well. She played Nibs, the Lost Boy who was the main character's smart and debonair best friend. Alex laughed when Tinker Bell, played by a tiny eight-year-old girl, sometimes acted like she had a crush on Nibs. Brynn's Nibs never noticed anything but his best friend—Peter Pan—and followed Peter's every order. Alex figured all those yoga breaths that Brynn did were helpful—she didn't miss one line. She even delivered her words in a brisk, deep boyish tone. Alex was astonished at how Brynn could transform herself on stage. She was so girlie in real life but such a boy when she needed to play one.

Grace's real-life crush Devon played the minor part of another Lost Boy. Sparks flew when Grace was on the stage with him (though Grace did a good job of acting like she had a thing for the boy who played Peter Pan, too). But Grace and Devon were so flirtatious and sweet that Valerie kept nudging Alex. They'd had a thing for each other for a while—that much was clear just by the way they interacted on stage.

What does it feel like to have a crush?
Alex asked herself.
I don't think I get it.

“Oh my God, did you see those two?” Val whispered in a hushed, high voice of pure disbelief. “They are so into each other!”

Alex couldn't help herself: She thought of Adam and wondered if she would ever have a crush. She just knew he liked Valerie, and she had to admit she was a little disappointed by that, which made no sense, not even to her.

Just then, the kid playing Michael, Wendy Darling's youngest, most rambunctious brother, knocked down a ten-foot cardboard ship. It was an accident, but a big one. Once the ship came down, the other set pieces—a tree, a fake crocodile, a few hooks lying around—also came down.

Alex gasped. Her heart started to sink. All of the hard work that Grace and Brynn and the rest of the cast had done was brought down into shambles.

For a moment, everyone on stage froze. It was as though no one knew what to do.

Then Grace stepped forward.

“It is now time for our intermission,” she said, pulling the curtain closed. She shoved another kid, a seven-year-old girl who played Nana the dog, in front of the closed curtain. The kid stared, wide-eyed, looking as if she were about to cry. But just when everyone was least expecting it, Grace peeked her head out of the curtain and whispered something to the pint-sized dog. Then the dog started singing the song, “You Are My Sunshine.” The audience—especially Alex, Valerie, and Sarah—laughed so hard that their heads almost exploded.

“Grace is awesome,” Alex said, her face getting sore from so much giggling.

A few minutes later, the show went on, as the ship and other set pieces had been set back up (though they weren't as straight as they had been before). Even with a minor catastrophe, Camp Lakeview's
Peter Pan
had turned out great. It was definitely the best thing Alex had seen there.

She was so impressed with the actors—they had put so much emotion into their lines. And the set was cool, too; Sarah and Brynn had a done a fantastic job painting everything and setting it up. Alex couldn't help but think that Brynn would be a great set designer one day if she ever wanted to go that route. Brynn would be great at anything she set her mind to.

When Grace came out to take a bow after the show was over, the audience roared. Brynn bowed right after her, and Alex stood up and started a standing ovation. Since Alex was the first out of her seat, she could see clear to the back of the room. She nudged Valerie and couldn't help but point.

“Do you see that?” Alex said, jumping up and down, for the show and for what she was witnessing.

“Oh my goodness!” Valerie said, turning bright red.

“They are so cute together,” Alex said, tugging on Valerie and Sarah's arms.

Julie was sitting in the back of the room holding hands with their woodworking instructor, Jeremy. They two of them were nuzzling like love-struck puppies. Julie had never looked sparklier—and it wasn't from the lotion she had borrowed from the girls in 3C.

The applause continued throughout the drama shack. All the kids—four hundred of them—were standing and cheering for the young actors. Still smiling, Alex turned to watch Brynn and Grace take their final bows as Nibs and Wendy from
Peter Pan.

Alex was so proud of them.

chapter
TEN

 

After the play, Alex rushed to the stage to hug Brynn and Grace. Then she rushed to the mess hall with Natalie and Alyssa because she was helping with the banquet dinner. She helped pull several pans of vegetable lasagna and several more pans of meat lasagna out of the oven.

Pasta was especially good for kids with diabetes—the sugar released more slowly into their bodies—and so were vegetables. So she picked her favorites to help everyone make with the meal: green beans cooked with bacon, salad with cheese, and honey cookies for dessert. (She could have those because honey was better for her than other kinds of sugar.)

Alex was more careful about what she ate than most kids with diabetes were. She figured out when she was first diagnosed that if she watched her food carefully—saying no to all the yummy stuff she really wanted to eat—she didn't have to get as many insulin shots during the day. She was down to one per day, and she didn't have to sneak off to see Nurse Helen anymore. Now that everyone knew, she could walk there without making excuses. She realized how much more relaxed she was with the counselors' support, and without having to hide or sneak off and make excuses. And most of all, without someone like Chelsea tormenting her every other day.

When Alex worked in the kitchen, she was happier than ever. She and Brynn were better. Valerie and Sarah had patched things up. The play had been awesome. And even she had to admit it: Color War was still fun, even from the sidelines.

She was suddenly surprised by a towel that snapped in her direction. The whip of it just barely missed her right knee. Pete was at the other end of the weapon, laughing his face off.

“I
know
you're not really going to get me with that thing,” Alex said, grabbing a goofy-looking hairnet. She was required to wear it whenever she helped out. Pete and the others had them on, too.

“So I hear you whipped some tail at Scrabble this morning,” he said, turning around to stir a huge bubbly pot of bright red tomato sauce that was making a mess all over his stove. Alex thought she had better taste it. Pete wasn't the best cook—someone might have to sneak in and fix that sauce so it didn't wind up tasting like Play-Doh. He was busy fixing extra spaghetti in case the campers ate up all the lasagna.

“I did pretty well!” Alex answered, grabbing a towel to snap him. If she got his attention away from the pot, she'd be able to sneak in and taste the sauce.

“More than
well
,” Pete said, snapping her back as she washed her hands, preparing to dunk her finger.

What Pete said was true. Alex had taken the entire Scrabble tournament that morning. She had beaten the older kids, the counselors, even Chelsea. And she was beaming about it.

She didn't want to brag or anything, so she tried really hard to beam inwardly. The thing with Chelsea had been pretty easy. They wound up playing against each other in their division—after they'd already won for the Blues. So they played it out to see who could be the ultimate winner.

Alex, Natalie, Candace, and Alyssa helped Pete and the other cooks in the kitchen for fifteen more minutes before dinner was finally ready. Alex chopped while Marissa scrambled in and out to finish setting the tables. Alex couldn't wait to sit with her friends and have fun at the formal banquet that night.

“Alex, do you want me to save you a seat?” Brynn yelled into the kitchen.

“Yes, please!” Alex yelled, taking off her hairnet and rushing out to hang with her friends.

“Where do you think you're going?” Pete asked, pretending that he was about to flip sauce onto her navy blue shirt.

“I gotta eat,” she yelled, knowing that she was done for the night. She had helped plan and prepare, and now she just wanted to have some fun.

In honor of the banquet, the mess hall had been completely transformed. All of the banners that different campers had made for Color War were plastered across the wall, and red and blue streamers hung from the rafters. A centerpiece of red and blue balloons had been placed on top of every table. The entire room was abuzz with excitement—the fun and glamour of being dressed up for a special occasion, as well as the imminent announcement of the winners of Color War had everyone hopped-up like three-year-olds on a sugar rush.

“I'm sure everyone wants to know which team won the Color War,” Dr. Steve said, stepping up to the front of the room with a devilish glint in his eye. Everyone clapped and cheered in anticipation. “It should be no surprise to anyone that the victors were. . . the Blues!”

The campers went crazy, stamping their feet and pounding on their tables. Dr. Steve laughed. “The point totals were . . .”—he paused, dragging the moment out for all it was worth—“Red, three-seventy-five. And Blue . . . four hundred!”

The room shook with noise and energy. The Blues—what sounded like six thousand of them—whooped and hollered. The Reds booed in good nature. They were pretty upset, because if they hadn't broken Color War rules by raiding the camp the first morning—and losing twenty-five points for their team—then there would have been a tie.

“Ha! In your faces, Red!” Chelsea shouted, pumping her fist in the air.

“No one lost, Chelsea,” Brynn said. “Not really.”

Green beans and dinner rolls were thrown through the air until the Julie and Marissa convinced everyone to stop before the mayhem got out of hand. Alex was glad there wasn't a food fight that particular night: She had her good clothes on for once in her life!

As the Most Valuable Players were announced—in their division, Jenna was named for the Blues—everyone cheered some more. Alex was glad that Jenna had won. Jenna had played a great game of basketball earlier that day and she had two more overall points than Alex did. When Jenna got her award—an MVP necklace made out of clay—Alex clapped the hardest.

“And we can't forget Alex Kim,” Julie announced, still all rosy-cheeked. She stood up at the front of 3C's table. “She is our top-winning Scrabble player
ever
.” With that announcement, Alex turned the color of a lobster and picked up a ceramic necklace Julie had made just for the occasion. The gift was so thoughtful that Alex almost cried. Even if she hadn't been able to be in ceramics for her last free choice, she still got the necklace she had wanted to make.