Camp Confidential 01 - Natalie's Secret (15 page)

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Authors: Melissa J Morgan

BOOK: Camp Confidential 01 - Natalie's Secret
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She seemed pretty unwilling to entertain any other version of the story, and Natalie decided she wasn’t too interested in correcting her, after all. It
had
been a pretty harrowing experience, and she deserved at least some of the glory, didn’t she? “Someone had to step up,” she said airily.
“Tell us, Nat, how does it feel to have barely escaped from the wilderness with your life?” Alex asked jokingly. She held out an imaginary microphone, pretending to be a newscaster.
“No comment,” Natalie said, cracking up. She saw Marissa talking to Pete, Brian, and Beth, and she ran over to them.
“Hey!” Marissa said, smiling. “You made it out alive.”
Natalie groaned. “Just barely.”
“Yeah, so we heard,” Pete teased. “Aren’t you glad all those hours in the nature shack finally paid off?”
“Ahem,” Brian interjected. “I believe it was her excellent training during sports that prepared her for the physical challenges of her outdoor adventure.”
“Definitely,” Natalie agreed, laughing.
“Too bad she
still
won’t go into the water for free swim!” Beth protested.
“Excuse me, but after my harrowing experience, shouldn’t I get a get-out-of-jail-free card?” Natalie asked.
“Fair enough,” Beth conceded.
“We heard that Chelsea, ah, isn’t recovering quite as well,” Pete said delicately.
“Well, she wasn’t exactly thinking positively when we got lost,” Natalie said, thinking back to how incredibly negative she herself had been when she got to camp. She actually felt a little bit sorry for Chelsea. Now that they were back, no one had a good word to say about her. “But, I mean, it was a hard day. It was hot, and we were tired—and we had
no
idea where we were going. I was just crossing my fingers that the compass was going to work. I can’t really blame her for being suspicious.”
“Oh, gosh, Nat, that’s so
generous
of you,” hissed a voice in her ear.
Natalie turned to find Chelsea shooting her a look of death. The girl had obviously overheard the entire exchange. “No, Chelsea, we were just—” Natalie began.
“—Like I care,” Chelsea spat, and stormed off.
“Yikes,” Pete said, raising an eyebrow.
“But, well . . . I guess at least things are back to normal?” Marissa asked, shrugging tentatively.
“Exactly,” Natalie agreed. “And you know what? You were right.”
“What about?” Marissa asked, puzzled.
At that moment, Alyssa emerged from the mess hall, notebook tucked under one arm and black hair piled up on the top of her head. She squinted into the sunlight, then spotted Natalie and smiled, making her way over to her friend.
“Hey there, superstar,” she said, tossing an arm around Natalie’s shoulder. “Let’s get going.”
“You were the one that told me, Marissa—that my true friends would always stick by me,” Natalie said, sticking out her tongue at Alyssa. “And you were right.”
 
 
“Trauma-rama or horoscopes?” Julie asked, waving two magazines in the air by way of comparison.
“Oooh, horoscopes,” Jenna said. “I need to know whether or not—” she stopped abruptly.
“What?” Julie asked, narrowing her gaze. “What have you got planned, my little terror?”
“Nothing,” Jenna sang innocently. “Nothing at all.”
“Trauma-rama,” Natalie put in. “Do they have one where, like, this city girl goes off to this weird place in the country where kids voluntarily sleep on threadbare mattresses and pee in beaten-up, bug-infested stalls, and then after almost two weeks of pretending she isn’t the hugest fish out of water, her big movie-star father shows up and outs her as a Hollywood brat?”
“Um, no, that one’s not in here, Nat,” Julie said sarcastically. “But have you got something on your mind?”
“First things first,” Natalie said, reaching under her bed and sliding out the economy-sized box of cookies. “Snacks.”
“Natalie, you know you’re supposed to tell us what you’ve got and clear it before giving it out,” Julie said, pretending to be more annoyed than she was.
“Do you want one?” Natalie asked knowingly.
“Actually, I kind of want two,” Julie admitted, scooting over to the box. “Okay, ladies, we’ll have a little extended evening activity before lights-out. Courtesy of Natalie.”
“Courtesy of Tad Maxwell,” Natalie said. “You are eating cookies purchased by Tad Maxwell.”
“That’s a very tough offer to turn down,” Alex said, pretending to swoon. But Nat noticed she passed the box without taking any cookies.
“Or, at least purchased by his assistant,” Natalie amended. “My dad can get a little busy.”
“I’ll bet!” Grace said.
“I owe you all an apology,” Natalie said, growing serious for a moment. “I didn’t mean to lie. Or omit. Or whatever. I just really wanted to have a chance to get to know you all without having the thing with my father be a part of it. I mean, I wanted you to like me on my own terms.”
“Well, come on, that would never be an issue,” Grace said.“’Cause of how we don’t really like you, anyway.” She grinned to show that she was teasing and reached for another cookie. “Hey, does anyone have anything to drink?”
“My dad also brought me some sodas,” Natalie said, feeling slightly embarrassed. “I guess sometimes he goes overboard.”
“Hey, when it comes to Diet Pepsi, he can go as overboard as he wants!” Valerie said. “Maybe now I’ll even go see his next movie!”
“I have an idea for lights-out,” Karen suggested quietly. Everyone turned to stare at her. She almost never spoke out in large groups. “How about Natalie tells us some good Hollywood dirt? That’s better than anything you read in a magazine, because we know it’s real.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Natalie hedged . . . But then she stopped herself.
Why not?
she thought.
It’s not like they don’t read all about him in
People
magazine every day. And since I’ve been keeping my dad a secret, I haven’t been able to dish about him since I got here.
“Cool, I’m in!” she decided. The girls whooped and cheered.
“Hey, the first two weeks are almost up and we have to pick our next electives,” Alex reminded everyone. “Does anyone have any idea what they want?”
“Ceramics,” Chelsea said sullenly. “I guess I’ll take ceramics and drama.”
“Photography!” Jenna said. “And maybe woodworking.”
“I really want to stay on the newspaper,” Alyssa said. “I’ll have to think about what else I want to do.”
“I wish they offered an elective for napping,” Grace quipped. “That or eating.” She stuffed another cookie into her mouth for good measure.
“What about you, Nat?” Sarah asked. “Are you and Simon gonna, like, pick your free periods together?” she teased.
Natalie laughed, feeling a little flustered. “Um, not quite,” she stammered.
“So is he your
boyfriend
now, or what?” Grace sang, kissing the back of her hand furiously in a bizarre imitation of, Natalie assumed, her and Simon.
Natalie shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s my friend. And he’s a boy. And maybe he’s also a little bit more than a friend. But I’ve never really had a boyfriend before, and I don’t know what that means.”
“Translated, that means she
likes
him, likes him,” Alyssa translated, smiling at her friend.
“Ugh,
gross,
” Karen said, echoing the sentiment of all the bunkmates. Everyone erupted into a chorus of, “eew,” and, “barf,” and Brynn leaned over and made hearty retching noises.
“Enough, people,” Marissa broke in. “Trust me—soon enough, you won’t be thinking that boys are all that gross.”
“Boys like Pete?” Natalie asked. “Or other boys?”
“
Any
boys,” Marissa confirmed, dodging the question skillfully. “And anyway, Nat, you never answered the question. What electives are you gonna go for next?”
Natalie scrunched up her face as if in deep concentration. “You know? I think I’ll stick with nature,” she joked.
Her bunkmates cracked up and pelted her with their pillows. Natalie found herself laughing, too. She couldn’t believe that just two weeks into the summer, she’d already made some amazing friends and a maybe-boyfriend—and survived overnight in the woods. She had no intention of taking nature again—and she knew Julie would say she’d already paid her dues. So now she could try anything else she wanted. Even something she’d never done before. Something that could be hard or scary or different. Something that she might not even be good at.
No matter what, Natalie knew she was ready. After two weeks at Camp Lakeview, she could handle anything that came at her. And more than that?
She’d probably even enjoy herself, too.
Turn the page for a sneak preview of
camp CONFIDENTIAL
Jenna’s Dilemma available now!
chapter FOUR
“Okay, Jenna, what scares you the most about diving?” Marissa asked as she, Jenna, and Alex stood on the edge of the beginner’s pier again that afternoon.
“Everything,” Jenna replied.
“It can’t be
everything
,” Alex said, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Okay, fine. I just don’t get how you’re supposed to go headfirst,” Jenna said, gesturing toward the water. “The water is so far down. And doesn’t it hurt?”
“It totally doesn’t,” Alex said. “You just need to do it.”
Jenna was starting to get tense with Alex breathing down her neck. It seemed like her idea of helping Jenna was to stand there telling her to just do it. She was like a walking, talking Nike ad. It was a good thing Marissa had offered to help. If the CIT hadn’t been there, Jenna probably would have given up by now.
“Okay, how about this?” Marissa said. “Why don’t you try jumping into the water feetfirst? You can do that, right?”
“Everyone can do that,” Jenna said with a scoff, stepping to the edge.
Marissa reached out and touched her arm before she could jump. “But this time, I want you to pay attention to your feet. Really think about how your feet feel when they hit the water, okay?”
Jenna blinked. Think about her feet? Was Marissa losing it? “Um . . . okay,” she said.
She jumped off the platform, closed her eyes, and concentrated on her feet. They hit the water, Jenna felt the splash, and then went under. The water rushed up around her, refreshing and cool. Jenna smiled as she swam back up to the surface. She really did love to swim. If only she could just avoid the diving.
“Well?” Marissa asked.
“Well what?” Jenna replied, paddling over to the ladder.
“Did it hurt? Did your feet hurt when they hit the water?” Marissa asked.
Jenna paused as she climbed, thinking about it. “No.”
“So if it doesn’t hurt your feet when they go in first, it’s not going to hurt your head, especially when your hands are breaking the water first,” Marissa said happily.
“Wow. She’s good,” Alex said.
Jenna couldn’t have agreed more. Marissa definitely had a point. Why would diving hurt any more than jumping?
“Okay, but what if I hit a rock?” Jenna asked, pulling her wet bathing suit away from her stomach to make the sucking sound she loved and then letting it go.
“Did you even hit the bottom of the lake when you jumped in just now?” Marissa asked.
Jenna felt her face flush slightly. “Um . . . no.”
“Well then you’re not going to hit it when you dive,” Marissa told her. “Besides, there are no rocks down there. It’s all sand.”
“Swear?” Jenna asked.
“Cross my heart and hope to never wear eyeliner again,” Marissa said. She crossed her heart with her finger and held up a flat hand like a Girl Scout.
“And for her, that’s serious,” Alex said.
Marissa and Jenna laughed, and Jenna walked to the edge of the platform once more, looking down. Suddenly, the water didn’t seem as far away. Her stomach was still full of nervous butterflies, but for the first time, she felt like she might actually be able to do this. Marissa had done it when she was scared. Even Alex had told her that she had been a little frightened on her first dive. If they could both do it, why couldn’t she?
Jenna turned to Marissa and Alex with a smile. “Okay! I think I’m gonna—”
“Hey, Marissa!”
Jenna’s face fell when she saw her sister Stephanie walking the planks toward them. She was wearing her new pink tankini and her hair was back in a perfect French braid.
“Hold that thought, J,” Marissa said.
“What are you guys doing out here?” Stephanie asked, slipping on her Hollywood-style tinted sunglasses.
“We’re helping Jenna with her diving,” Alex announced.
Stephanie looked at Jenna sympathetically. “Oh, yeah, I heard about that, Boo.” She stepped over and gathered Jenna’s hair behind her head, running her fingers through it like Jenna’s mother always did when Jenna was sad. Who did Stephanie think she was, Jenna’s personal babysitter? This whole mothering thing was worse than ever this summer. “Anything I can do?” Stephanie asked. She stuck out her bottom lip slightly like she was talking to a pouting baby.

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